South Korea · Drama · 2015
To Be Continued
Binge Brief
- Twelve short episodes on Naver TV Cast, Mondays to Thursdays at 18:00, from 18 August to 3 September 2015, about fifteen minutes each
- MBC every1 also carried it, bundling the web episodes into three hour-long Thursday broadcasts from 20 August
- This is ASTRO's pre-debut drama, not a 5urprise drama; the six members play themselves six months before their first EP
- Kim Sae Ron plays Jung Ah-rin, the only lead with a written character
- Seo Kang Joon appears in episodes 1 and 2 as Ah-rin's unemployed older brother, a cameo
- Time-travel premise: a birthday party and a storm send four members two years into their own past
Synopsis
Six boys are close to debuting as an idol group and have not debuted yet. At a surprise birthday party for Jung Ah-rin, a storm arrives that the drama does not bother to explain, and four of them are thrown two years into their own past, to the weeks just before their debut. They have to get back, and Ah-rin is the only person who can help them do it.
The conceit is doing a specific job. ASTRO had not actually debuted when this was made; their first EP was still six months away. So the drama is letting an audience meet a group that does not exist yet by sending that group backwards to the point where it almost does. The members play themselves under their own names, which makes the fiction and the marketing the same object.
Around the time-travel plot sits an ordinary school-and-agency story: rehearsals, a rival team, a homeroom teacher, a first kiss for Yoon Sanha that the others did not let him forget. The musical numbers are staged as embedded music videos. Episode 1 carries a Rocky dance solo; episode 2 showcases "Puppy Love", a track that was then still unreleased.
Seo Kang Joon is in the first two episodes as Ah-rin's older brother, unemployed, on the sofa, with beer and dried squid.
Why it still gets watched
People find this now because of who is in it. Cha Eun-woo is credited here simply as himself, a trainee in a fifteen-minute web drama, and is now one of the most recognisable actors in Korea. The whole of ASTRO is in the same position: this is the record of the group before it was a group.
It is also the clearest surviving example of how Fantagio launched a rookie act in 2015. The agency put an unusual density of its own established names into the cameo roster: Seo Kang Joon, Kang Tae Oh and Yoo-il from 5urprise, plus Kang Han Na, Jung Gyeo Woon, Lee So Yeon, Kwon Nara, Choi Yoo Jung and the girl group Hello Venus. Almost nobody in the cast list is there by coincidence.
For Seo Kang Joon's filmography it is a two-episode favour done at the busiest point of his year. Korean press ran his sofa stills against his prime-time sageuk costume from Hwajung, which was airing at the same time, and he told reporters the jobless-brother part had suited him as he played it.
Kim Sae Ron, who anchored the drama as its only written lead, died on 16 February 2025 at the age of 24.
To Be Continued cast
Themes and messages
The debut is the whole horizon. Everything in the story is measured against a date that has not happened yet. That is true of the characters and it was true of the people playing them, which gives a slight, unintended weight to a drama that is otherwise very light.
Going back does not help. The four who travel land just before the debut they have been working towards, and the past turns out to be a place you have to leave rather than a place with answers.
The outsider does the work. Ah-rin is the only one who is not a performer and the only one who can fix anything. The drama gives its written character the agency and its real people the passivity, which is an odd and quite honest structural choice for a promotional vehicle.
Interesting facts
- The cast had not debuted. ASTRO's first EP, Spring Up, did not arrive until 23 February 2016, six months after this finished. The drama existed to introduce them.
- The episode count depends on which version you mean. Naver TV Cast carried twelve episodes of about fifteen minutes; MBC every1 bundled them into three hour-long Thursday broadcasts. Korean Wikipedia says three episodes and MyDramaList says twelve, and both are right about different things.
- The premiere date has the same problem. Two contemporaneous Korean newspapers put episodes 1 and 2 online together on 18 August 2015; Korean Wikipedia gives 20 August, which is the MBC every1 premiere. MyDramaList's own episode table says 17 August, contradicting its own header, and appears to be shifted by a day.
- Seo Kang Joon was on two screens at once. While these episodes went out he was appearing in MBC's prime-time historical drama Hwajung as the nobleman Hong Ju-won. Korean press ran the contrast deliberately: silk and court protocol on one channel, a sofa and dried squid on the other.
- Two more 5urprise members turn up later. Kang Tae Oh and Yoo-il both appear as gang thugs in later episodes.
- Yoon Sanha filmed his first kiss scene in it, and the other members teased him about it publicly.
- There was never an official soundtrack. The music is ASTRO's own pre-debut recordings rather than commissioned songs. Files circulating as a To Be Continued OST are fan uploads.
- It is now almost impossible to watch legally outside Korea. JustWatch checked 1,620 services and found no United States availability at all; the only listing anywhere is Watcha in Korea.
Episodes
| Ep | Title | Air date | Status | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2015-08-18 | Aired | ||
| 2 | 2015-08-18 | Aired | ||
| 3 | 2015-08-19 | Aired | ||
| 4 | 2015-08-20 | Aired | ||
| 5 | 2015-08-24 | Aired | ||
| 6 | 2015-08-25 | Aired | ||
| 7 | 2015-08-26 | Aired | ||
| 8 | 2015-08-27 | Aired | ||
| 9 | 2015-08-31 | Aired | ||
| 10 | 2015-09-01 | Aired | ||
| 11 | 2015-09-02 | Aired | ||
| 12 | 2015-09-03 | Aired |
Frequently asked questions
Is To Be Continued an ASTRO drama or a 5urprise drama?
An ASTRO drama. All six members play themselves and it was made to introduce the group before it debuted. Three members of 5urprise appear, but only as cameos: Seo Kang Joon in episodes 1 and 2, and Kang Tae Oh and Yoo-il later as gang thugs. Anyone describing this as a 5urprise drama has it the wrong way round.
Which episodes is Seo Kang Joon in?
Episodes 1 and 2, confirmed by a contemporaneous Korean newspaper report on 19 August 2015 that names him among the cameos in the first two episodes alongside Lee So Yeon, Jung Gyeo Woon, Kang Han Na and Lim Hyun Sung. Whether he returns later is not documented either way.
How many episodes are there, 3 or 12?
Twelve, if you mean the Naver TV Cast release: twelve episodes of about fifteen minutes each, Mondays to Thursdays at 18:00. Three, if you mean MBC every1, which bundled four web episodes into each of three hour-long Thursday broadcasts. Korean Wikipedia gives three and MyDramaList gives twelve; both are correct about different releases.
When did it actually start?
18 August 2015 online, with episodes 1 and 2 dropping together, per two independent Korean newspapers. The MBC every1 television premiere was 20 August, which is the date Korean Wikipedia gives. MyDramaList's episode table says 17 August, which contradicts MyDramaList's own header and looks like an off-by-one error.
What is the story?
A surprise birthday party for Jung Ah-rin is interrupted by a storm that throws four of the boys two years into their own past, to just before their debut. Getting home requires Ah-rin, and the drama uses the trip to stage performances of songs the real group had not released yet.
Where can I watch To Be Continued?
Almost nowhere. JustWatch checked 1,620 services and found no United States availability at all. Watcha carries it in Korea and Apple TV has a Korean catalogue listing. Unofficial uploads exist.
Is there an OST?
No official one. The music is ASTRO's own pre-debut material rather than commissioned soundtrack songs; episode 2 features "Puppy Love", which was still unreleased at the time. Recordings circulating online as a To Be Continued OST are fan uploads, and there is no Spotify album.
Who plays the girl?
Kim Sae Ron, as Jung Ah-rin. She was already an established child actor and is the only lead in the drama playing a written character rather than themselves. She died on 16 February 2025, aged 24.
Is Cha Eun-woo in it?
Yes. He is credited as himself, alongside MJ, JinJin, Moonbin, Rocky and Yoon Sanha. ASTRO's first EP did not arrive until February 2016, so this is six months before the group formally existed.
Is To Be Continued worth watching?
As a drama, no, and it does not really try to be one. As a document it is genuinely interesting: fifteen-minute episodes made to introduce a group that had not debuted, with a cameo roster that shows exactly how a Korean agency spends its own talent to launch a new act.
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