MizuRyuu

I think it depends on your definition of what is successful. True, it doesn't seem like Hangyeol is going to exit the show with a partner, but his feelings and outreach was returned, even if temporarily. For me, the core of the show is to explore whether there is any sparks between the guys, and Hangyeol (and Taichi) have definitely explored the possibilities with almost every cast member who isn't locked in a relationship.

Production could have better editing, for sure. But they are limited by the footage they got. YunJae's entire stay in His Man was focused on HyunJun. There is no editing around that unless you basically drop all his scenes, which is not possible cause they have to explain what lead to the phone calls, journal entries, and dates. It is also impossible for the producers to know how beloved YunJae would become, instead of just being one of the many unreciprocated love storylines that happened in previous seasons. They probably thought he will be treated like Sumin, who is also focused on one person and it didn't work out.

That has been what I been thinking for a while now. The "unfair" label is only applied to YunJae, despite it being the same for two other cast. The reason is probably because they were more "successful" in their journey. But it doesn't make the situation any more fair to them than YunJae

Also, depending on when the scandal from that problematic contestant was discovered, the show may have already have sold the new season to platforms with a set air date already. That would explain the scramble to get the reshoot done quickly so they have something to provide the platforms. If they had limited time to do the reshoot, it simply made the most sense to ask the old cast to return instead of going through casting and background checks for a whole new cast instead of just 2 new people.

I think both Hangyeol and Taichi are doing what the point of the show, which is a dating show. Once Taichi clarified that he doesn't feel romantic sparks with Hangyeol, both of them have been basically doing some speed-dating to see if there is any spark with the remaining cast. Which is understandable and expected for a dating show. If they find spark with someone, great. But if they don't, that is also fine. After all, the cast is just a small sampling of the LGBT scene

I didn't like the elimination either, but I can kinda see the reason why it was needed. His Man usually max out at 8 ppl after all the catfishes have entered the house. Which allow enough screentime to show some friendship and general bonding scenes. Instead, we had it almost instantly balloon up to 11 ppl so they can quickly introduce all the new people in. I can kind of see the appeal of having elimination to remove the two that is least appealing to the rest of the group as their storyline is less likely to impact the main pairings.

This is a nice followup to HeHe&He. I heard that this show is easier to put together compared to the other one. So hopefully this mean we will get more episodes consistently compared to HeHe where we sometimes have year long breaks

There is no confirmation on how many episodes there are this season. The number you see on MDL is user-edited and is people's best guess. At their current pace, there is no way they can wrap everything up in 3 episodes unless they do basically nothing per episode or make every remaining episode double sized like ep 7

Housing: I am pretty sure the current house is because it was the only available housing due to the scramble for the reshoot. They need a house that is available at short notice, that they can book out completely for 1+ week, allow them to do filming for a gay dating show, and let them make some temporary modification to the location. You can see from the unreleased clip on youtube that the house in the original shoot seems more like the regular house you see in previous seasons.

Winter Season: This is again due to the reshoot. The original shoot took place around Sept or Oct, when the weather was much warmer. Considering they had to make the release date of Jan 2026, it pretty much meant they had to film it during the winter season

Selection: Agreed that it seem to be the same people going on dates over and over again. Hopefully now that the number is cut down, they can do the usual select a date with someone you haven't been on a date with before.

It isn't very clear what he got, just that he is happy with any heart above 5. But the only viewable heart you can see on the table are two 9s. I think it is just a case of bad subtitles?

I liked the bowling, but my issue with group outings is that it usually never advance any budding relationships and for a show with limited time, it just isn't very conducive to the purpose of the show which is finding a relationship

Since they seem to be doing 2 ep = 1 day in the house, we probably have 3 weeks of 2 episodes lefts?
* 10-11: Day 4 Phone call + Day 5 dates
* 12-13: Day 6
* 14-15: Finale Day 7 + catching up with the end couple(s)

I still think there is a chance that HyeongJun won't chose anyone in the finale and chose to reconcile with JaeHa afterwards. Maybe JaeHa's absence would remind HyeongJun of the love he has for JaeHa.

As you said, it is a week long dating show. Expecting a lasting couple is too much to ask for considering their format. There been multiple couples that lasted a little while before breaking up, and that is probably as much as we can expect from a show like this. Do the non-gay dating shows that last a week have a much better last couple rate than His Man?

My reasoning is that the cast is too large at 11 ppl when the usual max size after catfishes are 8. So eliminating 2 just get the number back down the the usual size so it is more manageable

Now that they are down to the usual max cast size, that probably mean there won't be any more elimination or midweek catfishes

It is also something safe for them to release that for sure won't contain the problematic contestant. I assume they haven't released much of the non-date content from the old shoot is that the problematic person was such a social person that it is hard to find interactions that doesn't have him as least partially involved.

I agree with your assessment. Personally, I think Lee Hyeok Jin and Min Seong have the highest chance of being eliminated. The others, while they don't have people crushing on them, are pretty friendly with the other cast. So they will probably get enough points from their friends ranking them middle of the pack to keep them in the house. LHJ and MS however, don't seem too friendly with the others (aside from HyeongJun for MS), so they are probably at risk

Yes, SW and HY had more time together from the first shoot, but you could also say that they already had a week together and didn't end up a couple then. If there is no spark (at least on HY's side), having more time may not make any difference.

I thought there was one couple that was keeping things private (the one that didn't get featured in the finale). Did that one not last either? Oh well, even if they didn't last long term, they had a decent length relationship at least, so I wouldn't say the season was unsuccessful.

Considering how messy the relationship was during the show, not surprised that not everyone is friends with each other. Especially between Youngjoon and Meongkyun. Not every season can be S2. After all, you are only living with a bunch of stranger for a week. Hard to expect all the cast to hit it off with each other

Meongkyun doing BL isn't too surprising, he was introduced on His Man as an aspiring actor,