2020 Top Three Dramas of the Year

Being a newbie to the kdrama/Asian drama scene in 2020, it was hard to pick my three best. In the end, it was the only three I gave a 5/5 rating the entire year for 2020 dramas. I maybe could have done a top ten but I didn't feel as strong about ten as I did three so don't miss my honorable mentions at the bottom!

#3 Memorist

This was maybe the most perfect script of the list. When it finished airing, I couldn't find a plot hole or fault really. It was gritty and hard to watch. I remember I got to episode 3 and it was so tough to watch for me at the time that I had to stop. I picked it back up a few months later and binged it until it was over. The case, the acting, the team. I just loved it all! If you need a great crime case with no romance, this is it.

#2 Start-Up

This show completely captivated me and that's saying something because the episodes were really long! Rarely did I look away or get distracted. I loved all the characters. Even Ji Pyeong, though to be fair I didn't like him about half the time. The cast was wonderful! I loved the characters of Do San the most though because I could see myself in him. The one that always felt the pressure to succeed even when you might not have been given unconditional support to do so. Dal Mi was the glue though of this drama. For the first moment they both came on screen I was just enthralled. The growth of the character, the relationships, the life lesson that words hurt, the found family, the boy's friendship being so solid, even the sub-plots gave me the feels. The oh so solid finale. I will really miss it. I haven't re-watched a drama yet but I think I could this one.

#1 Hospital Playlist

Recency bias had me wanting to put Start Up as number one but when I truly thought about it, Hospital Playlist had been number one for so many months waiting to be unseated. I decided to keep it number one but with I am reserving the right to change it to Start Up after I marinate in the Start Up finale a bit longer.

Hospital Playlist did have everything. The cast. The music. The stories. The supporting cast. The dedication this cast and crew gave to each show. The dedication of the cast learning musical instruments. The weaving of the stories. I remember the second or third episode really focused on the supporting cast and I was at that time kinda annoyed but by the end of the episodes I was just as much a fan of them as I was the leads. No one character was given importance. No one story take more importance over the other. Cried several times during the whole drama.

One of the other offshoots of this drama was my first "group chat" and it brought me some of my best twitter buddies! We don't always agree on other dramas but we are simpatico on this drama and that speaks a lot on the quality.

Honorable Mentions:

Find Me In Your Memory- The two actors in this were captivating but it wasn't that original a script and was pretty tropey. It had some really beautiful cinematography and several really beautiful songs.

Tale of the Nine Tailed- Lee Dong Wook has a magnetism on and off screen that just draws me in. Jo Bo Ah was delightful in Forest and she managed to save that drama almost single-handedly. It weaved such a lovely tale of love and forgiveness and folklore but all with a flair of humor and warmth. Great supporting characters. The last episode felt choppy and like it was checking boxes. Plus the ambiguity of what Lee Yeon was in the final scene.

Dr. Romantic 2- Crash Landing may have brought me to kdrama land but Dr. Romantic series was the deal maker. I started watching DR2 and enjoyed the first few episodes so much that I knew I needed to see DR1 first. So my noobie self found it and that drama was actually my first finished drama. I will never forget the kissing scene in episode of that drama and Yeo Yeon Seok hooked me. So I give DR2 part of the HM List for 2020. I enjoyed DR1 better than DR2 so that's why DR2 isn't in the top five.

Dinner Mate - Great couple! Such an adult couple but the second leads were a hot mess

Train- Overall a fun ride, but the end was rushed and little muddled.

Team Bulldog-Off Duty Investigations- Great team crime drama

Nobody Knows- Best non-couple of the year. Great crime solving drama with a disturbing villain.

Into the Ring- On the best couple list! Didn't think I would enjoy a political show and it take me three tries to get into this one but once I did, I loved it. Finale was a bit of miss though.

The Good Detective - The focus on the crime was almost secondary to the family aspects that were built from the team to the found family. I did cry a lot in one certain episode and I smiled a lot at the teeny, tiny bit of flirtation between two characters.

Flower of Evil- Crazy good acting. The show's story overall wasn't what I wanted it to be but you can't find fault with the acting.