MizuRyuu

In the latest ep, the diary section mentioned the date as Dec 4, 2025

One thing I wonder is whether some of the interview segments from the returnees are from the original shoot from their original impression. Otherwise, it would be hard to film new "first impressions"

I guess you have to take from it what you will. He believes that he won't have the strength to come out otherwise, unless he do it in a way he can't take back.

I assume there is a lot of awkwardness between the returnee, depending on how things ended in the original shoot. The newbie just thought it was awkwardness with meeting new people

Yeah, it is hard to tell if the opinions that was given in Ep 1 was from the original shoot or the new one

It may not be entirely unfair to the new participants, as it does seem to be focusing all the attention on them right now.

A little bit, that is why the rules for the first meeting told them to keep it a secret for now and to keep a poker face. It is probably also why the next card allowed them to reveal their age and job when that is usually kept secret for a bit longer. Probably because there is no point keeping that a secret when most of them are returnees

That problematic contestant probably got involved in some big scandal or something. So the alternative is to scrap the season or to scramble a reshoot.

Also, they acted like they didn't know each other in the first meeting because the chalk board's rules said they were not supposed to reveal it right away and to keep a poker face.

My guess is that the problematic contestant is part of an end couple or played a big part in love web that develop that it isn't possible to be clear without mentioning that person. Like multiple boys mentioned liking Lee Hyun Jun, but why didn't anything developed in the failed shoot? Probably because Hyun Jun liked that problematic contestant?

They did not say anything beyond there being a problematic contestant. The only known couple that was formed was Park Jae Ha and Lee Hyeong Jun, who broke up after Park Jae Ha was determined to return for the reshoot

I don't blame the show too much for what happened. Obviously, it would be better for a whole new cast, but as mentioned in previous seasons, the pool of candidates for a show like this isn't very large. And assuming the reshoot decision came after they already set a release date, they were on a tight schedule to do a reshoot to get everything done on time. There may not have been enough time to select a new cast and it was easier to use the old cast with some new boys that almost made it for the first shoot.

It sounds like the entire season was filmed already, with at least 1 confirmed couple at the end too. Then the news about the controversial contestant came out, and they had to scrap the whole shoot. I assume they invited everyone but that one contestant back, but probably not everyone can take another week off school/work almost immediately after already taking a week off for the first shoot.

Yeah, Park Jae Ha mentioned there was a huge problem with one of the previous participants, but I wonder what is bad enough that could cause them to scrap the entire shoot. I'm not surprised there would need to be new boys, as they need one to replace the problematic participant, and not every one can take another week off work so soon after taking another week off for the first shoot. I'm surprised they were able to get 2/3 of the cast back.

Their budget went into the CGI for Barcode's crow and crow transformation

This was a great finale with out too much surprise, as everyone seems to have ended up with their consensus pick. It was a little surprising that there was 4 mutual sparks out of a group of 10. It is also crazy Spark Camps this season was only 4 days and 4 nights?? That makes it a little sad for Julio and Julian, who were both a little too passive until the end, which make no sense when the Camp was so short.

I still believe that HaroldAaron was clearly going to end up together since Ep 2, but the production don't want to make it too obvious, so did a villain-edit to add some doubts. Every camp scenes, they were clearly interested in each other. It was only the interview segments that you hear Aaron expressing doubt or saying Harold is "delulu". And we all knows that production can edit these interview to say anything they want basically. So I was not surprised that they were mutual sparks at the end. Now whether they are still together at the reunion is harder to say since now they have to deal with long distance.

Yep. Now the question is who are still together at the reunion, since there is usually several months in between the finale and the reunion.

My guess:
JoerEdward & KimAnts: 100% still together
HaroldAaron: 80% still together. I was leaning more towards 50/50 when I learned that they are LDR, but Harold also posted a bunch of couple photos after the finale aired, so that increased the odds for them being together still
KhaliAndrew: 30% still together. They were great pre-fight, but that fight was bad. Andrew is willing to start over again, but I think it depends on how much Khali can change, and most of the time, people don't change.

The preview also mention something about Temptation Sparks, which would be a weird thing to add during the final Spark Giving ceremony. My guess is that next episode will be a regular Spark Giving ceremony during this final night, then the final day, we will have some kind of speed dating component with the people who you give the Temptation Spark to. Then Ep 9 will be the final Spark Giving ceremony we see at the end of the season

Yeah, but MDL is fan-edited, so could be wrong. But it is possible they drag the finale out til the 9th episode, then the 10th episode will be reunion. It make sense since the preview mentioned something about Temptation Spark.

Two updates for today for anyone still keeping up with the show. They announced during the Fan Meet that Chang won the most votes and Pond had the 2nd most. So I guess they would chose their partner for main and second main couple on the BL? Would make the most sense than forcing a ChangPond pairing.

Also, they released the BTS for Ep9, which included some kisses!!
https://youtu.be/bpKaU3rPzPE?si=99YWtkzWYb_S2TzB&t=60

Now I am just waiting for the BTS for Ep10, which would hopefully include the TinoChang outside swing scene that they cut from the preview

Well, it is also possible they are saving that clip for the fan meeting on the 15th. Or they could air it later on the youtube channel, similar to how they put up the full acting exercise clips