This review may contain spoilers
A Strong Case Against Hiking
So many variety shows feel like everyone arrived with a group assignment and a pre-decided personality. This one feels refreshingly unplanned. It’s basically four men subjecting themselves to freezing temperatures, physical suffering, and repeated disappointment, then reacting exactly how normal people would: by complaining the entire time.
That’s what makes it so good. The chemistry feels completely unmanufactured. Nothing is polished, nothing is overly performative. It’s just raw, unfiltered bro energy and the ongoing question of why hiking exists at all, especially in sub-zero conditions. Honestly, where else are you going to find four guys stuck in a variety show that is genuinely bad at being a variety show? The games barely register. But the four of them are such peas in a pod that I stopped caring about the format entirely.
Car, the Garden, is particularly entertaining because he has the aura of a leader and the actual leadership style of someone being mildly inconvenienced against his will. He whines constantly, contributes to the collective misery, and yet still somehow gives off a real sense of responsibility. Which is also the general vibe of the group: deeply reluctant, visibly exhausted, but quietly very caring.
The one who snores choosing the living room. The fittest one slowing down so nobody gets left behind or outshined. The one willing to drive all those miles in his own car so everyone could travel more comfortably. The youngest inviting the others over for a home-cooked meal. None of it feels staged in that “look how wholesome we are” way. It just feels natural. I also still cannot believe Dowoon screamed “Christian Bale” as his answer for a luxury fashion brand. No notes. Perfect contestant. Terrible at trivia.
What I liked most is that this never tries to sell hiking as some life-changing spiritual experience. If anything, it presents it as cold, tiring, and frequently unnecessary. But watching four reluctant men persist through it with this much sincerity, mutual care, and complete confusion is weirdly charming. I still have no interest in hiking, but I would absolutely pick these four as travel buddies.
That’s what makes it so good. The chemistry feels completely unmanufactured. Nothing is polished, nothing is overly performative. It’s just raw, unfiltered bro energy and the ongoing question of why hiking exists at all, especially in sub-zero conditions. Honestly, where else are you going to find four guys stuck in a variety show that is genuinely bad at being a variety show? The games barely register. But the four of them are such peas in a pod that I stopped caring about the format entirely.
Car, the Garden, is particularly entertaining because he has the aura of a leader and the actual leadership style of someone being mildly inconvenienced against his will. He whines constantly, contributes to the collective misery, and yet still somehow gives off a real sense of responsibility. Which is also the general vibe of the group: deeply reluctant, visibly exhausted, but quietly very caring.
The one who snores choosing the living room. The fittest one slowing down so nobody gets left behind or outshined. The one willing to drive all those miles in his own car so everyone could travel more comfortably. The youngest inviting the others over for a home-cooked meal. None of it feels staged in that “look how wholesome we are” way. It just feels natural. I also still cannot believe Dowoon screamed “Christian Bale” as his answer for a luxury fashion brand. No notes. Perfect contestant. Terrible at trivia.
What I liked most is that this never tries to sell hiking as some life-changing spiritual experience. If anything, it presents it as cold, tiring, and frequently unnecessary. But watching four reluctant men persist through it with this much sincerity, mutual care, and complete confusion is weirdly charming. I still have no interest in hiking, but I would absolutely pick these four as travel buddies.
Was this review helpful to you?
