Korean Drama: 내 뒤에 테리우스 My Secret Terrius (2018)

Genre: romantic comedy, mystery
Starring: So Ji Sub, Jung In Sun, Son Ho Jun, Im Se Mi
Episodes: 32 half hour episodes (=16 episodes)
Aired: September-November 2018 / MBC
Watched: April 2019 on Kocowa

I could frustratingly only watch this on Kocowa, so I needed to sign up for a trial. There’s a free 14-day or month trial, but then when I first tried to watch it, it kept erroring on me… So then I actually didn’t watch it during my free trial. I went on to pay for not ONE but TWO months before I actually watched it, because every time I wanted to watch it, it errored. I also wasn’t able to chromecast it from either my phone app or laptop, so I had to watch the whole thing on my computer. Good call, Huay. But also. It’s fine, because it was worth it because So Ji Sub.

WATCHED IT BECAUSE…

So Ji Sub.

THE REVIEW

So as much as I am a So Ji Sub fangirl, it took me a while to get into this. The beginning (like the first 5-10 minutes) wasn’t as intriguing to me for some reason, so every time the app/site kept erroring me, I didn’t keep trying to watch it. HOWEVER, on my third try, it played and it quickly became super addictive and then I binge watched it like my life depended on it.

So Ji Sub plays Kim Bon, a secret agent (code name Terrius) who is actually in hiding. In the beginning, we see a lot of Go Ae Rin (played by Jung In Sun)’s life. She is married with two toddlers, busy, trying to find a job. Her husband is busy as well, and their marriage isn’t perfect. We don’t see a lot of interaction between them, which I think is intentional—he is quickly killed off by the writers, so we (as the audience) are supposed to feel bad and sad about his death, but not SO SO much. Ae Rin is now a widow, single mother of two. Kim Bon is her new neighbor and he quickly becomes entangled with her life, voluntarily babysitting for her children.

Turns out that the cause of death of her husband wasn’t as innocent and natural as they thought, and the whole drama revolves around confusion and the mystery of this.

Bon’s relationship with Ae Rin’s kids is one of the main highlights of this drama. It’s soooo cute, how he learns to take care of them and how they warm up to him. (Also, 코코코코코 forever.) Ae Rin’s three friends (part of “KIS”, King Castle (their apartment complex) Information System; a play on “NIS”) are great additions to the drama as well, as they provide comic relief, and are also strong supports for Ae Rin. Son Ho Jun’s character, Jin Yong Tae, is another source of fun and confusion, always leading the viewers to try to figure out what he’s thinking.

The drama is light-hearted while dealing with some sad back stories. Overall there’s a lot of goofiness that makes this a super fun watch.

SPOILERS

(highlight to read)

“- IT WAS THE DIRECTOR. I belatedly saw this (but Wei figured it out pretty fast, wut.) He was the evil one, the one that got the North Korean agent killed, the one who tried to kill Bon, etc., etc.

- After you realize Kwon Young Shil is good, she’s pretty cool :P.

- Jin Yong Tae is good after he stops being bad. He gets shot… but doesn’t die! And he becomes Kim Bon’s “브러더’“ brother :).

- I love my romanceeee!! So I was waiting for their romance. But given the audience (Korean people) I think they did it pretty respectfully. Since Ae Rin was a new widow, it would be insensitive for her to jump into a new relationship. So other than a few hugs and 코코코코 (eskimo kiss thing) they didn’t kiss. But at the end of the drama, they are sent on a mission to New York with Tiffany wedding bands and they’re supposed to pretend they’re in a relationship/married, and the both accept the mission with laughs, so that signifies that their relationship is becoming a relationship. Fine. ”

</spoilers>

MUSIC/OST

I was actually disappointed with the OST overall. There were no strong stand out songs in my opinion. I guess if anything, Yang Da Il’s song there is nice, but the chorus didn’t get as pretty as I wanted it to.

OTHER COMMENTS

- I think this was one of the first 30-min episode dramas I watched so it felt like it passed so fast.

- So many advertisements. Like more than before, I think it’s so easy to spot them. Quiznos everyday. Tiffany watch, Tiffany bangle, Tiffany colored box. OH. And North Face too. It was sort of hilariously ridiculous.

OVERALL

Did I cry? Yes. But I can’t remember (Barely a month and a half after I watched it…)

Should you watch it? YES. IF YOU LOVE SO JI SUB YES. But also there’s enough action that could appease people who don’t just want romance, and also if you loveee family men, this drama will warm your heart. Wei also loves So Ji Sub (hehe) and he devoured this drama almost as quickly as I did once he was on break. I was basically able and willing to watch this drama two times in a row.