‘Way Back Love’ Review: Rushed Story, Shallow Pain, and a Wasted Premise

A six-episode journey that somehow managed to feel rushed and dragged out at the same time

Korean Drama Name: 내가 죽기 일주일 전 (A Week Before I Die)

Where To Watch: Viki ← *Click for direct link*

Average Rating: 8.5/10 (MyDramaList)

My Rating: 3.0/10

One Sentence Description: A beautiful premise wasted on weak pacing, underdeveloped characters, and a finale that forgot to earn its own tears.

Trailer:

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Disclaimer: This review is 100% my opinion — I’m not here to hate, just to share my thoughts! Also, SPOILERS AHEAD, so proceed with caution if you haven’t watched yet. Watch it, come back and let’s see if you agree. Let’s keep the discussion respectful and fun! 💕

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WARNING:I hope you’ve already seen this show and know what the deal is. But in case you don’t, I felt like I should add in a little warning. This show has heavy mentions of suicide. And since this is a review, I do also talk about this (in relation to the show only). Please be aware of that before you continue and be mindful of it. Stay safe ❤️

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Simple Description

Way Back Love follows a girl haunted by the death of her first love, only for him to suddenly show up at her door, as a grim reaper, telling her she has one week left to live. 

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⚠️Length Note: This post includes a detailed (and long) story breakdown. Want to skip straight to the review? Jump to the Review

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The Review

The Good

A Strong, Twisted Premise

The core idea of this drama is actually really solid: the person whose death she’s never recovered from suddenly returns only to tell her she’s going to die in a week. It was a twisted romance that had the ability to be absolutely heart shattering, had they gone a slightly different direction. 

No Magical Resurrection Nonsense

As messed up as it sounds, I appreciated that they didn’t try to force a fairytale ending. Ram Woo stays dead. And while it’s bittersweet, Hee Wan finds healing and chooses life — it’s still grounded in emotional realism. They didn’t pull a last-minute resurrection or cheat the rules for a “happily ever after.” Sometimes, a beautiful ending is just one where someone chooses to keep going.

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The Bad

Storyline was meh.

This storyline had so much potential and it just didn’t deliver. It’s supposed to be about a girl who’s ready to die but finds reasons to live by checking off a bucket list with her first love, who’s now a grim reaper. Sounds poetic, right?

But we barely got that. Ram Woo’s list? Completed in like an episode and a half. Her list? Knocked out in half an episode. The bucket list idea could’ve carried the entire show emotionally but instead, it felt like a rushed formality. After that, it’s just her saying goodbye to people we barely got to know. The emotional beats fell flat because the buildup wasn’t there.

Even the flashbacks dragged. And worse, they didn’t even show us anything new. I wanted more from the present, more growth, more tension. Not recycled memories that told us what we already knew.

It was just… boring. And that’s a shame, because the premise deserved so much better.

Too Short For Its Own Good

I never thought I’d say this, but this drama was too short. There wasn’t enough time to flesh out the storyline or characters, making everything feel rushed. They jumped straight from his death to four years later, without ever showing how Hee Wan changed in between. She supposedly isolated herself, pushed friends away, and even dated Hong Suk to cope, but where was that in the show? We never actually saw her fall apart, which made it hard to connect with her journey. Because of that, in moments like her reunion with Hong Suk or final days, it felt like she was closing a chapter the audience barely got to read. So when she said her goodbyes, I wasn’t emotionally invested. I barely knew the characters she was leaving behind.

Then we had Yeong Hyun, who was randomly thrown in with supernatural abilities where she could see ghosts, predict how people would die, and apparently pinpoint exact locations. How? Why? No explanation. Her powers were just there, with zero backstory or logic behind them. Even her attempts to reach Hee Wan felt sloppy, with excuses so weak anyone would’ve thought she was crazy.

Too much was crammed into the story, with not enough time to develop it properly. I’m not saying they needed 16 episodes, but at least 8-12 would’ve given the plot space to breathe.

The Underwhelming Death

Okay but… was anyone else underwhelmed by how Ram Woo died? They built it up like the name-switching was going to be this massive, tragic twist. I genuinely thought he died because of some fatal name mix-up—like he was mistaken for Hee Wan, or died protecting her. But no. It was just a freak accident at an observatory after she gave him a ticket. That’s it.

And look, I get that guilt doesn’t have to be logical. People blame themselves for things all the time. But if Hee Wan’s been unable to move on for four years, you’d think there’d be a stronger link between her and his death. Even his mother managed to heal. Meanwhile, Hee Wan was stuck in this guilt-box she built for herself and the trigger was… giving him a gift that went sideways?

If the name-switching had directly caused his death, it would’ve hit so much harder. It would’ve made her inability to move on feel more grounded and emotionally justified.

(Check out “What I Would Do” for a way this could’ve actually worked.)

I Wanted to Feel Her Pain… But Didn’t

I’ll be honest: I never truly felt her pain. She was supposedly trapped in guilt, haunted by his death, but aside from a few panic attacks, there wasn’t enough to showcase her emotional torment. By the end, when she seemed sad about dying, it didn’t feel earned. Throughout the episodes there was no gradual shift in her mindset, no subtle evolution from wanting to die to fighting to live.

Maybe it was because the pacing was off, but the transition just didn’t hit. Especially since, in the end, she was ready to jump anyway. The emotional impact would have landed better had we seen her initial relief that her time had come, slowly shifting into genuine devastation that it was actually over. If you’ve seen Mr. Plankton (Check out that review here!), you know exactly what I mean—the way a character’s subtle change in wanting to live makes the final moments so much heavier.

The fact that the week passed, yet nothing truly changed, was disappointing. A character finally realising they want to live is supposed to be one of the most gut-wrenching moments, especially after an entire story spent in apathy  but this drama just didn’t deliver on that. And to make matters worse, she literally says she’ll live for both of them in one scene, then heads to the roof the next. It undercuts everything the story tried to build.

Acting That Didn’t Hit

I’ll start by saying I’m not an actress, and I could never do even half the job they did. That being said, the crying scenes just didn’t hit the way they should have. The everyday moments were fine, but the really emotional breakdowns felt forced. Her eyes were never red, her tears were minimal, and when the scene called for full sobbing, it barely looked like she was crying at all. I wasn’t expecting IU-level devastation, but I was expecting more. Especially for a story built around grief and loss.

You could see her effort, especially in her facial expressions, but the crying itself felt too staged, making it hard to connect emotionally with those moments. Because of this, I’m not going to pretend that a huge part of my disconnect wasn’t the acting itself.

He Died… and Then Was Erased

This isn’t necessarily bad, but I wish Ram Woo hadn’t disappeared forever. The show establishes that if a Grim Reaper prevents a death, they cease to exist entirely and yet somehow, Ram Woo was included in this rule. While I get that he helped Hee Wan realise she wanted to live, her choice to live was ultimately hers—not something he physically prevented. Had he actively saved her, by stopping a car crash or pulling her out of danger, it would have made more sense for him to be erased. But instead, he just encouraged her, and that was enough for him to vanish forever.

A better ending? He doesn’t cease to exist, but instead, she can no longer see him—since she’s no longer destined to die. That way, the final scene could have shown him watching over her and quietly letting her go before quitting his reaper job and moving on to the afterlife.

The description was wrong

This is a minor issue, but I noticed that the show’s descriptions weren’t accurate. I thought the story was about a girl who refuses to say her first love’s name three times, unable to let go. But that never happened.

Instead, he was the one who had to say her name three times, which is not what was originally advertised. Then, the descriptions also made it sound like she writes a bucket list early on, and they carry it out together before she dies—which was only half true. She didn’t make a list until the final episode and for most of the story, Ram Woo was the one with unfinished wishes that they completed instead.

It’s not a huge deal, but when the actual plot strays from the advertised premise, it throws you off. Especially when the version we were expecting sounds way more compelling than what we got.

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What I Would Do

He’d Die Because of the Name Switch

The way Ram Woo died in the original storyline felt disconnected from the actual premise. So I’d make his death properly linked to Hee Wan’s name-switching mistake.

Instead of a random observatory collapse, his death would occur in a fire— a tragedy caused by miscommunication over their swapped names.

Here’s how it plays out:

A massive fire breaks out in Ram Woo’s apartment building, and due to the chaotic name mix-up, people mistakenly believe both Hee Wan and Ram Woo are safe, when in reality, only Ram Woo has been accounted for. Ram Woo, seeing the flames, remembers Hee Wan mentioned coming to his place to pick up art supplies earlier. But since nobody realizes the truth about their name-swapping, and most people think Ram Woo and Hee Wan are the same person (Ram Woo), nobody is looking for Hee Wan inside the burning building. With both names being thrown around, Ram Woo, unsure whether she’s safe or not, rushes in desperate to find her and save her… except, she never went in at all.  She got sidetracked by her father, and has been with him the whole time—completely unaware of the chaos unfolding.

Meanwhile, as she arrives at the scene, she hears panicked voices talking about someone rushing into the fire. They’d be yelling “Hee Wan ran inside!” and suddenly, it clicks.  Ram Woo ran in to rescue her, not knowing she wasn’t in danger at all. She tries to rush inside, tries to explain the situation, but before she can, the building collapses.

Ram Woo is gone.

While she didn’t kill him, his death resulted directly from the name mix-up, making her guilt feel heavier and more justified. Instead of feeling bad just because he happened to die, she would feel like her reckless game caused the confusion which lead to his death making it more believable that she couldn’t move on.

She’d Eventually Want to Live

Instead of a single week, I’d give her a month. At first, she’d be waiting for death, simply going through the motions, ticking off Ram Woo’s bucket list without truly feeling anything. But as they tick things off and go on spontaneous trips, her smiles shift from fake to real. Slowly, she finds joy again.

At first, she’d need Ram Woo constantly. He’d be her emotional crutch. But over time, she’d start to reclaim herself. She’d begin hanging out with her classmates again, participating in life more. We’d see her light come back in pieces. By the final episodes, she wouldn’t cling to him anymore. Not because she didn’t love him, but because she’d finally learned how to stand on her own.

There’d be a montage of her going to classes, working on projects, laughing with friends. All while Ram Woo watches from the background, silently proud, quietly letting go.

The Final Days

In the final days, she’d be a whole new person. Well, she would slowly become herself again. Not trapped in guilt, but finally embracing life. Then, a day before she’s set to die, Ram Woo suddenly disappears. At first, she doesn’t realize, but when she figures it out, she panics. She searches for him everywhere, until she finally finds him sitting at the beach, watching the sunset.

Here, he explains that she no longer needs him, and that it’s time for him to go. She insists that she can’t do this without him, that she doesn’t know how to go on alone. But Ram Woo reminds her how much she’s changed, how different she has become and how, even though she won’t see him anymore, he will always be there in spirit. Music swells, intense and heartbreaking, and she sobs uncontrollably—I’m talking full IU-level devastation. (If you’re new here, IU is an actress 😊)

Remember the description that mentioned calling his name three times? Well, in my version, that rule actually exists. She realizes that saying his name three times will let him go for good, allowing her to fully step into her new life. He realizes he can’t hold her back, that he has to let her move on.

And so, she slowly calls his name—once.

Twice.

A third time.

As the final syllable leaves her lips, Ram Woo fades away, the sun setting behind him.

A Properly Earned Conclusion

Time passes. She writes diary entries as letters to him. As she reads them out loud, we watch her living again, fully. She hasn’t forgotten him, but she’s no longer frozen in the past.

Every now and then, we’d see glimpses of Ram Woo watching over her from the background. Quiet. Peaceful. The show ends not with grief, but with growth.

She still carries him with her but finally, she’s free.

And that’s how I’d end it.

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Final Thoughts

In the end, this show was boring. 

The description set it up to be a soul-crushing, gut-wrenching heartbreak, but instead it delivered six episodes of nothing. The entire premise revolved around Ram Woo getting Hee Wan to want to live, and yet, in the final moments, she still wanted to die—effectively making the entire journey pointless.

So while the concept had potential, the execution completely missed the mark. The show was too short considering all the plot holes that weren’t filled. On top of that, the ending wasn’t that good, and the way he died was a bit of a letdown. 

But if you ignore all of that and think of what it could have been, it’s not so bad. If you’re looking for a show to break your heart, don’t even bother. But if you’re looking for a show with drawn-out flashbacks that add little to the story, this is just the show for you.

The worst part is that there was a beautiful story buried in there somewhere and it just never made it to the screen. And it never will.

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What did you think of this drama? I was surprised to see how high the average rating was, just me? I think my problem was that while I was watching it, I was actively thinking of what I’d do (ahead of the story), so when the scenes came, it wasn’t as good as my thoughts (she said as humbly as possible 🤭🤭).

I’m thinking for next week, I’ll do a movie. I’ve only done two movies and yet I created a whole section just for them. What movie in particular? That’s to be decided later…

See you next week!! 💕

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