A Twist in Time That Misses the Mark — A Disappointing Drama with Wasted Potential.
I stepped into this time-slip drama with tempered expectations.. and walked away feeling vindicated for not hoping for more.
Let’s get one thing straight: this series isn’t a complete disaster. It’s not the kind of show that leaves you angry for wasting your time, but more the kind that earns a slow blink and a shrug.
“That was it?” sums it up well. There’s a shell of a great idea buried somewhere beneath the half-baked character arcs and incoherent narrative threads, but it’s a shell that never quite gets cracked open.
Moon Ji-yong’s performance is one of the few commendable aspects of the series. He clearly put effort into his portrayal, delivering emotion with conviction, especially during some of the more tender or desperate moments. Unfortunately, his character is written with the complexity of a soap bubble. His portrayal can only do so much when the script hands him so little.
The central conceit had serious promise: Shin Jaewoo travels back to 2007 to prevent the murder of Kang Jihoon, a tragedy rooted in Jihoon’s brave attempt to save 10-year-old Jaewoo from being kidnapped. As the narrative unfolds, the two form a romantic connection.. a storyline that could have been emotionally resonant, had the show earned that emotional payoff.
Instead, what we get is a rushed, underdeveloped mess. The story races through critical turning points without giving them space to breathe. The emotional beats feel unearned, largely because the writing doesn’t allow the characters to make believable or even remotely logical choices. Every decision made by the leads feels driven not by character motivation, but by a writer’s need to keep the plot limping forward.
Frankly, the logic of time travel isn’t even the issue here. Time travel is hard to get right, sure, but many successful dramas (“Signal”, “Someday or One Day”) have navigated its paradoxes with elegance. This show doesn’t even try. The problem isn’t temporal mechanics; it’s narrative laziness.
No one in this series acts in a way that makes emotional or logical sense. The motivations are paper-thin, and some actions are so absurd they border on parody. As a result, it’s nearly impossible to care about the characters’ fates. When the ending arrives, it carries little to no emotional weight. We’re told to care, but we’re never shown why we should.
Jaewoo’s and Jihoon’s romantic relationship could have been its emotional core, but it barely registers. There’s no spark, no real tension, no compelling buildup. It’s a romance that feels less like a development and more like a bullet point on a planning board.
Oddly enough, the only parts that do work are the lighthearted interludes. Hyungjin’s supporting role injects the kind of levity the show desperately needs more of. His few comedic moments, particularly a short scene where Jihoon carries Jaewoo back to the dorm, are the only times the series feels alive. But even that glimmer of charm is fleeting.
Had the creators leaned into a more slice-of-life, romantic-comedy angle, embracing the fluff, the absurdity, and the sweetness, it might’ve carved out a memorable identity. Instead, it feels like they dumped a bunch of disparate story elements into a blender and served it half-mixed.
If you’re seeking a drama that will stir your emotions, draw you into a compelling narrative, and leave you thinking long after the credits roll… this isn’t it. What could have been a touching, thought-provoking story about fate, regret, and love becomes a paint-by-numbers time-travel drama with characters who feel like strangers and a plot riddled with holes.
This is one of those rare shows where more episodes might have actually helped. An additional two to four hours to develop emotional arcs and resolve narrative threads would have gone a long way. But without stronger writing and a clearer sense of purpose, even that might not have saved it.
Let’s get one thing straight: this series isn’t a complete disaster. It’s not the kind of show that leaves you angry for wasting your time, but more the kind that earns a slow blink and a shrug.
“That was it?” sums it up well. There’s a shell of a great idea buried somewhere beneath the half-baked character arcs and incoherent narrative threads, but it’s a shell that never quite gets cracked open.
Moon Ji-yong’s performance is one of the few commendable aspects of the series. He clearly put effort into his portrayal, delivering emotion with conviction, especially during some of the more tender or desperate moments. Unfortunately, his character is written with the complexity of a soap bubble. His portrayal can only do so much when the script hands him so little.
The central conceit had serious promise: Shin Jaewoo travels back to 2007 to prevent the murder of Kang Jihoon, a tragedy rooted in Jihoon’s brave attempt to save 10-year-old Jaewoo from being kidnapped. As the narrative unfolds, the two form a romantic connection.. a storyline that could have been emotionally resonant, had the show earned that emotional payoff.
Instead, what we get is a rushed, underdeveloped mess. The story races through critical turning points without giving them space to breathe. The emotional beats feel unearned, largely because the writing doesn’t allow the characters to make believable or even remotely logical choices. Every decision made by the leads feels driven not by character motivation, but by a writer’s need to keep the plot limping forward.
Frankly, the logic of time travel isn’t even the issue here. Time travel is hard to get right, sure, but many successful dramas (“Signal”, “Someday or One Day”) have navigated its paradoxes with elegance. This show doesn’t even try. The problem isn’t temporal mechanics; it’s narrative laziness.
No one in this series acts in a way that makes emotional or logical sense. The motivations are paper-thin, and some actions are so absurd they border on parody. As a result, it’s nearly impossible to care about the characters’ fates. When the ending arrives, it carries little to no emotional weight. We’re told to care, but we’re never shown why we should.
Jaewoo’s and Jihoon’s romantic relationship could have been its emotional core, but it barely registers. There’s no spark, no real tension, no compelling buildup. It’s a romance that feels less like a development and more like a bullet point on a planning board.
Oddly enough, the only parts that do work are the lighthearted interludes. Hyungjin’s supporting role injects the kind of levity the show desperately needs more of. His few comedic moments, particularly a short scene where Jihoon carries Jaewoo back to the dorm, are the only times the series feels alive. But even that glimmer of charm is fleeting.
Had the creators leaned into a more slice-of-life, romantic-comedy angle, embracing the fluff, the absurdity, and the sweetness, it might’ve carved out a memorable identity. Instead, it feels like they dumped a bunch of disparate story elements into a blender and served it half-mixed.
If you’re seeking a drama that will stir your emotions, draw you into a compelling narrative, and leave you thinking long after the credits roll… this isn’t it. What could have been a touching, thought-provoking story about fate, regret, and love becomes a paint-by-numbers time-travel drama with characters who feel like strangers and a plot riddled with holes.
This is one of those rare shows where more episodes might have actually helped. An additional two to four hours to develop emotional arcs and resolve narrative threads would have gone a long way. But without stronger writing and a clearer sense of purpose, even that might not have saved it.
Was this review helpful to you?
