Netflix's 'True Solo But Want to Date 2' drew 17,000 applicants — here's what season 2 brings

Netflix's 모태솔로지만 연애는 하고 싶어2 (True Solo But Want to Date 2, or 모솔연애2) dropped July 7. Seventeen thousand people applied.

The cast is older this time. Season 1 skewed mid-to-late 20s. Season 2 runs late 20s to mid-30s. Four catfish participants were added, up from the previous format. New mechanics include 5분 책방 (5-Minute Bookstore), a real-time affection-check system with a new book selection feature, and 모솔 우체국 (True Solo Post Office), where participants send feelings via letters and gifts.

Gallery curator intern Choi Hyun-seo (최현서) introduced himself as a 2D character otaku. Jin Seo-yoon (진서윤), an Ewha Womans University architecture graduate working B2B sales at an insurance company, said her habit of following NCT DREAM on overseas tours and music show appearances kept her out of relationships. Second-year Korean medicine doctor Lee Han-ju (이한주) gets asked for second dates at blind meetings but makes crude remarks when drinking, which kills any confession before it happens.

On the catfish side: Lee Jin-woo (이진우), born in 2000, disclosed that his only relationship lasted a year entirely through an anonymous online chat app. They never met in person. That was enough to classify him as a catfish rather than a true solo. Game developer Kim Jae-seo (김재서), 32, arrived with a beard so thick viewers compared him to participants on 나는 자연인이다. His post-makeover visuals became a talking point.

Host 카더가든 (Car, the Garden) had the most quotable reaction while watching the cast: "This is driving me crazy. Unlike season 1, these guys are annoying." Then: "It's more frustrating." (Frustration as a compliment is very much a dating show thing.) Co-host 강한나 said the older age range meant "deeper concerns and conflicts," while 이은지 said there's an unwritten rule that season 2 of dating shows is always the most fun, and "this season seems to be made more fun and authentic."

Episodes 5–6 air July 14, episodes 7–8 on July 21, and episodes 9–10 on July 28, all on Tuesdays, for a total of 10 episodes.