TV shows I completed or caught up on in 2019

Last year, I didn’t manage to watch as much TV as I would’ve wanted to. Especially towards the latter half of the year. I just didn’t have the time or energy to commit to a series. Looking back at my TV tracker however, I noticed that I managed to complete or catch up on more series than I thought I had. Here’s what I watched, and what I thought of it.

I started off 2019 by binge-watching Tidying Up With Marie Kondo. This might be the most adorable reality show I have ever seen. Mario Kondo seems like the kindest and most understanding person. If everyone in the world was a bit more like her, we would live in a better place.

🌟 I would give Tidying Up With Marie Kondo 4/5 stars

I then continued to binge-watch What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim, which managed to climb up my list of favorite K-dramas I’ve seen so far. It’s about a boss who depends on his secretary for literally everything, until she tells him she is resigning. It was fun, sweet and adorable.

🌟 I would give What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim 4.5/5 stars

After that, I finally watched the last few episodes of Because This Is My First Life. While this drama wasn’t bad at all, and I rather enjoyed the performance of Jung So-min, this show failed to capture my attention. I liked it while watching but never felt like it was one I needed to return to.

🌟 I would give Because This Is My First Life 3/5 stars

Continuing the trend of binge-watching K-dramas, I went on to watch Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo which I really enjoyed. It’s a show centered around sports which is usually a true hit or miss for me. What I loved most about this show is that the female main character is a competitive weightlifter and the guy is a swimmer. A female weightlifter? YES PLEASE.

🌟 I would give Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo 4.5/5 stars

After finishing that one, I decided it was time to tackle one of the most beloved K-dramas of all time: Coffee Prince. This is about a girl who starts to work in a coffee shop, and falls in love with her boss. The only downside is that everyone thinks she’s a boy. What I loved most about this show is that it shows the guy recognizing his feelings for her and wanting a relationship, even though he thinks she’s a guy and always considered himself straight.

🌟 I would give Coffee Prince 4/5 stars

After all the Korean shows, I decided to go back home and watch a Belgian show. I watched the entire first season of De Luizenmoeder in one go, which is a comedic show centered around the life of parents and teachers in an elementary school. It’s absolutely hilarious, and so relatable!

🌟 I would give De Luizenmoeder 4.5/5 stars

Back to Korea we go, because I watched the Netflix show Romance Is a Bonus Book afterwards. This is a show I actually had to wait for, as Netflix released 2 episodes per week and I was hooked a few episodes in. I hadn’t watched a show weekly in months (years, even?) but I couldn’t help myself. Every episode just had to be watched immediately. This is a show about a woman who tries to join the workforce again after being a stay-at-home mom for years, now being divorced. It’s set in a publishing house, has a friends-to-lovers relationship and has healthy communication and little to no relationship drama. It’s perfect.

🌟 I would give Romance is a Bonus Book 5/5 stars

The previous show made me an enormous fan of Lee Jong-suk, so I immediately started watching one of his “older” shows, called W. W – Two Worlds Apart is an action-packed show in which the main character’s father creates graphic novels. The world inside the graphic novels come to life, however, and whatever he writes happens. The main character falls into the story and saves the male character, which sets off a chain of reactions.

🌟 I would give W 4/5 stars

After Korea, I hopped over to China by watching Put Your Head On My Shoulder. This is definitely one of the most adorable romance shows I have ever watched. It’s about a girl who studies accounting in university but actually wants to work within marketing and advertising, and a physics student at the same university. They end up sharing an apartment so the girl can easily go to her part-time job, and fall in love. The soft boy easily wins over the “best friend” who took her for granted for years and I am LIVING for it.

🌟 I would give Put Your Head On My Shoulder 5/5 stars

Obviously, I couldn’t go through 2019 without watching the latest season of Stranger Things as soon as it was released. My love for this show is no secret, and I happened to adore season 3. I actually liked it better than season 2, although nothing can top the brilliance and atmosphere of season 1.

🌟 I would give Stranger Things Season 3 4.5/5 stars

Then, I watched the entire first season of Jinn. Jinn was a new Netflix release, and if I’m not mistaken, their first Arabic Original Show. I was excited to watch this because Netflix branching out of English shows and actors is always something I want to see. However, this show is kind of ridiculous. After watching it, I saw a lot of comments online that the Arabic speech and sentences in this show make no sense. That no one would actually speak like this. Then I found out that the writer is American. So no thank you.

🌟 I would give Jinn 2/5 stars

After watching Jinn, I finally gave in to my brother’s reminders to watch this show and I started La Casa de Papel (or Money Heist, for the English speakers). In Europe, La Casa de Papel is one of the most popular tv shows. The majority of people I know have watched it, and those who haven’t at least know about it. After watching a YouTube reaction video, it appears as if this is not very popular in the US? Which is RIDICULOUS because this is one of the best shows ever. Also, don’t watch the dubbed version. Just use subtitles. You need to listen to the original Spanish…

I never actually said what this show is about but it follows a group of people who have taken codenames (city names) and are robbing The National Mint in Madrid.

🌟 I would give La Casa de Papel 5/5 stars

After Spain, I went back to China to binge-watch Go Go Squid, another drama to add to the favorites list. This follows a talented computer major who falls for a CTF player /owner of a CTF club. At first, I wasn’t quite sure because she seemed to like him for no reason other than his appearance. After a while, though, I became so attached to all the characters! I’m not just talking about the two main characters but also about her best friends, the players in his club, etc. Their relationship turned out so sweet as well.

🌟 I would give Go Go Squid 4/5 stars.

Lastly, I watched seasons 3 of both Skam France and WTFock. Both are remakes of the original Norwegian show Skam, which I absolutely adored. WTFock is the Flemish adaptation (Belgian), which I was hesitant to watch. I’m not really used to watching shows in my own language, especially ones about teenagers, so I was afraid it would end up being cringy. I fell in love with both adaptations of season 3, however.

🌟 I would give both Skam France and WTFock 4/5 stars

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Those are all the shows I either finished watching in 2019, or caught up on! Obviously, I watched a few more shows but haven’t completed them yet. I’m quite pleased with this years’ TV watching, I seem to have visited quite a few countries through TV.

What did you watch in 2019? Have you watched any of these shows?