Television series

Go Back Couple

Name: Go Back Couple
Genre: Drama, Family, Fantasy
Released: 2017
Cast: Son Ho Jun, Jang Na Ra, Huh Jung Min, Han Bo Reum, Jang Ki Yong

A married couple on the brink of divorce mysteriously time-slip back to their university days, reliving the moment they met as hopeful 20-year-olds. This South Korean fantasy-drama asks whether knowing everything you'd learn could change everything you'd choose. It's tender and wistful, occasionally funny, with real weight given to how love curdles into resentment over years of small compromises.

TVMaze rating

3.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like a time-travel premise used to poke at the ordinary friction of a long marriage, where the comedy comes from recognising yourself in it.

Skip it if you want the time-travel to be a clever puzzle with tight rules, since this cares more about feelings than mechanics and is happy to dwell on its sharper domestic arguments.

What it asks of you: Around seventy minutes an episode over twelve episodes, so a real commitment, and a mood that swings from sharp bickering to quieter, heavier sadness.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Something in the Rain2018

Same emotional honesty about adult relationships and marriage, with that distinctly Korean willingness to let disappointment sit alongside hope. Beautiful, slow-burn romance that understands how people hurt the ones they love most.

But The pacing is glacial by design—if you want plot momentum over quiet introspection, this will feel static.

Oh My Ghost2015

A supernatural premise serving a story about second chances and self-worth, anchored by warm chemistry between leads. Balances whimsy with genuine emotional stakes, and never loses sight of why the fantasy matters.

But The tone whipsaws between comedy and pathos more sharply than Go Back Couple, which can feel uneven.

Romance Is a Bonus Book2019

Returns to the central question: can you rebuild a life with someone you've grown apart from? Older leads, messier situations, and real vulnerability about the work love demands. Quieter than most K-dramas, which is exactly the point.

But If you need external conflict—villains, obstacles, disasters—this will feel too domestic, too small.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Go Back Couple

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

In the Mood for Love2000

Both are about married people recognizing the distance between what was and what is—but In the Mood for Love finds that distance tragic and irreducible, where Go Back Couple asks if it can be bridged.

Wong Kar-wai's masterpiece about two neighbours discovering their spouses are having an affair. Explores the weight of unspoken longing and roads not taken with such visual precision it feels like poetry. Explains how desire, regret, and tenderness can occupy the same space.

But Shot in extreme close-up in tight spaces, with minimal dialogue and gorgeous but sometimes impenetrable visual storytelling. Demands patience and surrender.

Odds Against Tomorrow1959

A Korean drama equally concerned with how people arrive at despair and how they might claw their way back. The fantasy element serves genuine emotional excavation. Surprisingly funny and ultimately moving.

But Deals with suicidal ideation and depression; even with its hope, that's heavy material not everyone wants to sit with.

My Mister2018

Observes marriage and disappointment with such clarity it feels almost anthropological. No magic, no time travel—just two people in crisis who learn to see each other again. Devastatingly adult.

But Sixty-hour commitment to people in pain, with slow resolution. Requires real emotional stamina from the viewer.

Just Between Lovers2017

About trauma, healing, and two damaged people building something real together. Shares the wounded tenderness and the belief that knowing someone's worst doesn't mean abandoning them.

But The trauma elements are serious—structural collapse, PTSD—and the show doesn't lighten them for comfort.

Crash Landing on You2019

A woman falls into North Korea and meets a soldier. Sounds silly; it's utterly charming. Carries the same warmth about seeing someone fully and choosing them anyway, wrapped in a more buoyant package.

But Unabashedly romantic and light—if you want the weight and regret of Go Back Couple, this trades some of it for charm.

Her Private Life2019

Older leads, second-chance romance, and real recognition of how we can be different people in different parts of our lives. Funny, sexy, deeply fond of its characters. Shares that sense of rediscovery.

But Lighter in tone and stakes than Go Back Couple; more a comfort watch than an emotional reckoning.

You Are My Spring2021

Both center middle-aged characters confronting how the lives they built don't fit anymore—but this one suggests that sometimes you have to burn it down and start over rather than reclaim what was.

A therapist and her new neighbour, both carrying secrets and damage, slowly trust each other. It's a mystery-drama that prioritizes emotional truth over plot. Quieter than most thrillers, more honest about how people actually heal.

But The mystery elements feel secondary to character work; if you're after a puzzle-box thriller, you'll feel shortchanged.

Shards

The inverse of Go Back Couple's premise—instead of going back to see what you had, you stay in the present and excavate what remains of it. Same marriage, opposite direction.

A Japanese film about a middle-aged couple whose marriage has frozen into routine. A single day, almost no plot, just the weight of decades and whether there's anything left to hold onto. Painfully observant about intimacy eroded by time.

But Glacially slow, almost entirely internal, and ends with ambiguity rather than resolution. Will feel like watching paint dry to anyone not primed for quiet devastation.