Of all in your list, I have watched only two: "It's ok not to be ok" and "My unfamiliar family".
I really want to watch "start up" and "a piece of your mind"... I just haven't had time.
Thank you for contributing to the year's review.
2020 with crazy lock downs and bad news and so many changes in the system has been a weird and somehow bad year for millions.
If we are alive and relatively healthy and are able to be here commenting about what we learned in dramas, we are very lucky.
As usual, drama-wise, 2020 is not a waste. At least two, three or five dramas were great.
For me, personally, even though I didn't watched them all, My unfamiliar family stands up.
Greetings to everybody here!!!!!🙂😇🙋

Great review @jorobertson!

APOYM is the only drama that I could not finish in this list, and I've been reading various reviews about it so I might pick it up someday. I could not get past what happened in ep4 when the ex-gf went to Norway and called CSB's character then something happened to her.

MUF is such a gem. I related to it more than I expected esp the dynamics of the family.

Shi-mok & Yeo-jin's passion towards their work is what I aspire to be.

2020 without dramas would be empty but 2020 without DB/Beanies would be a disaster. Who else will I be able to share this love for dramas and everything in between?

The Zombie Kid was a story/theme in the drama (IOTNBO) which I could really relate too.

Ko Mun Yeong calling Gang Tae a hypocrite was one of my favorite Kdrama moments ever. Her voice makes everything better and his eyes make it more intense.

P.S. lots of love to Sang Tae as well

Thank you @jorobertson for your wonderful essay. I watched two of ‘your’ dramas: THE GOOD DETECTIVE and FOREST OF SECRETS 2. I enjoyed FOS2 but loved TGD.

Re: TGD. Son Hyun-joo and Jang Seung-jo were so good together. Both their characters had serious issues from the past to deal with and resolve. The writing was wonderful. SHJ was wonderful in both of his dramas in 2020. He played Park Seo-joon’s father in ITAEWON CLASS and the scenes in episode one where the fathers affirms the dignity of his son were my favorite in the drama especially when the father taught his son the proper way of serving and drinking soju. A wonderful father/son moment.
Re: FOS2. It probably sound strange to many but one of the lines of dialogue that I remember is when Shi-mok got a “great job” over the phone from Chief Prosecutor Kang Won-cheol. For me it was such a sign of respect from Senior to Junior.
That is a great pic from the ending of FOS2.

I knew It's Okay to Not Be Okay delivered a very poignant message about self-identity, but I couldn't exactly pinpoint what made that message so special in words. Thank you for describing it as "Be at home with yourself" - it's perfect! Home is where you feel safe and at peace; it's where you want to run to when things get tough. So often, Kdramas illustrate a romantic interest as that "home", but it was beautiful for Moon-young and Kang-tae to find their homes in themselves first.

First of all, congratulations for being published and thanks for sharing your thoughts with us all. I’m specially happy to see your reference about The Good Detective here, you know I love this drama and what it means to me!

I’ve also watched all the other dramas you’ve mentioned and love them all but Start Up, not that I don’t like it, but I was disappointed about the missing opportunity of something bigger and better, but I totally agree with you about the lesson it teaches us.

Thanks for sharing this beautiful thoughts with us. We should apply this lessons in our everyday life.

This year was a good one in Kdramas.

Forest of Secrets 2 : I really loved this season, it was slower but more realistic. The theme of integrity was really well written and touching.

My Unfamiliar Family : It was so good. For me, the main theme was communication. The parents failed to communicate and it carried over to their children.

A Piece of Your Mind : I need the missing episodes >_<

The Good Detective : I really liked the team, they worked well together. But the investigation wasn't really interesting and there were weird choices.

It's Okay : I loved the brothers together and how they healed and grew up. For the FL, I wished she worked on her trauma. And the mother's plot was so disapointing.

"I love how K-dramas never tire of teasing out the complexity of being human and dealing with injustice. They seem to get into places that TV and dramas from other places don’t." This is really true of KDramas. Although we did get the occasional drama with one-dimensional characters, many dramas had characters that felt like real people. Few dramas also had the method of story telling by showing the same event from the point of view of multiple characters. KDramas also show the same themes in different manners for eg. the theme of bullying, or even making use of a trope like amnesia. You write really well @jorobertson! :D

I watched A Piece of Your Mind because of your review and I loved it. Thank you for pointing out its theme because I don't think I would known what a heartfelt story this drama had to offer otherwise!

I love your description of the lessons from MY UNFAMILIAR FAMILY. It rang so true.

And I really your take on START UP. You really have a very good point about what motivated the characters. Start up had so much depth to it- it inspired many comments for a reason .