Better Late Than Single Episodes 9-10 Review: Emotional Goodbyes, Hard Choices, and an Unexpected Kiss

Better Late Than Single Episodes 9-10 Review

Director: Cho Wook-hyung, Kim Noh-eun, and Won Seung-jae

Date Created: 2025-07-30 03:36

Editor's Rating:
4.5

Better Late Than Single Episodes 9-10 Review: After weeks of awkward confessions, tearful misunderstandings, and surprisingly rich emotional growth, Netflix Korean reality show (모태솔로지만 연애는 하고 ì‹¶ì–´) has finally arrived at its long-awaited conclusion with episodes 9 and 10, and it’s safe to say, the home stretch delivers. Though the cast has come a long way from the agonisingly introverted introductions of episode 1, it is apparent that some stories still conclude with a touch of heartbreak. With the return of hosts Seo In-guk, Kang Han-na, Lee Eun-ji, and Car the Garden, the finale episodes ring a chord of joy, awkwardness, and closure that perfectly match the tone of the show.

Better Late Than Single Episodes 9-10 Review

The attention in these last episodes heavily shifts to Jeong-mok, whose actions become the largest emotional hot button of the finale. Weeks earlier, he was comforting Yi-do with words and promises. But suddenly, without warning, he turns and overtly favours Ji-yeon over him, startling both the panel and the audience. Although the show does not necessarily depict it as betrayal, it’s hard not to feel disappointed for Yi-do, who accepts the rejection graciously but with unmistakable pain.

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Better Late Than Single Episodes 9-10 Review Still 1

What’s jarring is not so much that Jeong-mok chose some other woman, it’s that he never cleared himself with Yi-do and especially Min-hong, even when she’d clearly wished that he would. She eventually stands up to him in the final episode, and the way that she lays out her disappointment, telling him that she liked him as a human, but not anymore as a man or even as a human, it is one of the show’s best moments. Her dignity and poise stand in contrast to the emotionally clumsy behaviour of the men, and particularly mok.

If any of the contestants learned the most, it’s Yi-do. At the conclusion of the final episode of Better Late Than Single, her honest and frank conversation with Jeong-mok is a masterclass in self-respect. She smiles in hurt and tells him, “We probably won’t see each other in Seoul,” a line that is a gut-punch to anyone who has ever had to quietly walk away from someone who once had more to give. Her transition from cheeky hope to elegant goodbye is one of the season’s strongest.

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Better Late Than Single Episodes 9-10 Review Still 2

While some swoon at the prospect of romance between Ji-yeon and Jeong-mok, others are left in a pickle. Their on-screen chemistry on the overnight villa date in episode 9 of Better Late Than Single is undeniable, brimming with guffaws, cuddles, and naturally, a blanket-under-the-kiss that left the cupid panel in a meltdown.

It was cute, of course—but it also brought to mind a scene on Netflix’s Japanese reality series The Boyfriend, in which Shun and Dai shared a similar under-the-blanket smooch that drove internet craziness. The feel was so alike, softer, unexpected, and saucy, that Ji-yeon and Jeong-mok’s moment felt all the more movie-like.

Also Read: Better Late Than Single Episodes 4-6 Review: Quiet Growth,  Honest Hearts & Sweet Surprises

But we can’t deny that, looking at Jeong-mok’s past with the other women on the show, the timing of the intimacy is questionable. Nevertheless, Ji-yeon is courteous, apologising to Min-hong and Yi-do for possibly causing them pain by being with Jeong-mok and herself.

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Better Late Than Single Episodes 9-10 Review Still 3

Meanwhile, the chemistry of Seung-li and Ji-su confounds the viewers and contestants alike. In episode 9, Ji-su refuses the overnight stay with him and stays back at the villa instead. Her reasons are understandable; she didn’t want to be left alone at the villa. Seung-li does not take it well. He emotionally distances himself and later on forgets a highly intimate anecdote Ji-su shared with him regarding her past struggles with mental illness. His own half-hearted attempt to apologise in episode 10 of Better Late Than Single is not taken up by Ji-su, who is manifestly not going to consider him to be the right man for her.

By the close of Better Late Than Single episode 10, they’re together—at least, sort of. When asked whether she believes they will bump into each other in real life, Ji-su only has a 90% chance, she grudgingly confesses, while Seung-li appears to be realizing at last the worth of what he almost lost.

Better Late Than Single Episodes 9-10 Review Still 4
Better Late Than Single Episodes 9-10 Review Still 4

Talking about my favourite girl, Min-hong was definitely the underappreciated MVP, using her last minutes on the show to provide genuine criticism to Jeong-mok, even words of encouragement to Ji-yeon. Her emotional intelligence remains unparalleled, and her capacity to separate personal disappointment from rage is a blessing. Do, still heartbreakingly open, lets Jeong-mok know she had genuinely felt that they were destined to be together, a moment in the finale as poignant as any.

Even Jae-yun and Yeo-myeong have some closure, Jae-yun at last admitting to the white lies he’s been telling in order to avoid hurting people’s feelings. Though they don’t couple up, there is mutual respect between them by the end.

Better Late Than Single Episodes 9-10 Review Still 5
Better Late Than Single Episodes 9-10 Review Still 5

In a final gesture of closure, each member must decide if he or she will leave behind his or her photo card in the “library” of the one he or she wants to be with. The majority of the girls opt to forfeit—well aware their loves are not reciprocated—leaving two couples. Ji-yeon and Jeong-mok make their decision with some determination. Ji-su and Seung-li are less sure, a couple bound less by “forever” than by “maybe.”

Better Late Than Single Finale Review: Summing Up

As the curtain falls on the Better Late Than Single final episode, one thing is for sure that this show did have something quite different to present. In its approach to late bloomers, it prized vulnerability over sheen, sincerity over spectacle. And even though a few of the storylines were wrapped up in tears, particularly for Yi-do, Min-hong, their grit and integrity were what really stole the show. Whatever Ji-yeon and Jeong-mok or Ji-su and Seung-li do end up leaving the villa, it is the process of self-realisation that leaves one with the deepest impression.

Also Read: Better Late Than Single Episodes 7-8 Review: Jeong-mok’s Cold Turn Leaves Hearts Shattered

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Better Late Than Single Episodes 9-10 Review: The finale tugs at the heartstrings with raw confessions, emotional growth, and one unforgettable overnight date.Better Late Than Single Episodes 9-10 Review: Emotional Goodbyes, Hard Choices, and an Unexpected Kiss