2019 was quite a year for speculative fiction TV. Sci-fi to fantasy, drama to comedy, high-quality to crap, it ran the gamut.
And, while I have seen far from all of the spec-fic TV that came out this past year, I have seen a decent cross-section.
I’ll give you the run-down of what I liked, what I didn’t, and what I think is worth checking out. Feel free to give your own takes in the comments!
The Finale
Game of Thrones
The biggest TV sensation of the decade ended and… just… wow.
Game of Thrones has revolutionized TV. Thanks to its success, pretty much every fantasy book or series with a halfway decent following is getting snatched up for adaptation. And with good reason! Game of Thrones showed that TV could be bigger and more epic than movies, and that a giant budget for a fantasy show could pay off in a big way.
But this show, which, at its best, was some of the best television I’ve ever seen, could not stick the landing.
There are plenty of hot takes out there about why Game of Thrones‘ final season(s) were so much worse than what we got before, so I won’t add mine here. Instead, let me just say that I will probably never go back and rewatch what was one of my favorite shows ever just a few years ago.
The Debuts
The Umbrella Academy
I didn’t know anything about this series before I saw the trailer for it on Netflix. But when I saw the trailer, I thought, “Huh, that looks interesting. Sort of an X-Men with a twist.”
I decided to give it a shot. And I am glad I did!
The Umbrella Academy is weird and funny and dark and silly and tragic. There is nothing terribly deep or thought-provoking about it, but it is a fun ride with great characters.
If you are looking for something comic book-y, but want something a little weirder and more stylized than your typical MCU or Arrowverse fair, or if you are a big fan of dysfunctional found-family dynamics, then I recommend trying out The Umbrella Academy.
(Fair warning, this show does take a little while to build momentum, but once you get to about four episodes in, it is off to the races.)
Good Omens
Good Omens is unique to this list of debuts, in that, since it was a miniseries, this was also its finale.
Which means that, in just six episodes, you can experience the entire heartwarming story of an angel and a demon teaming up to try to stop Armageddon.
This show, created by Neil Gaiman and adapted from the book by the same name he co-authored with Terry Pratchett, is fantastic. The performances are wonderful, especially those of Michael Sheen and David Tennant as the angel and demon respectively.
So it is definitely worth checking out. And if you don’t believe me, just ask Tumblr, where the fandom for this miniseries has exploded with an astoundingly high concentration of wholesome content.
Or ask my wife. It is her new favorite show.
The Boys
Apparently, 2019 was the year of “Let’s try branching out with our graphic novel adaptions for television.”
First, Netflix gave us The Umbrella Academy, then a few months later, Amazon gave us The Boys.
Like The Umbrella Academy, The Boys takes on a different tone from your typical comic book fair. More specifically, The Boys uses a tone that I will call grimdark comedy.
In case you aren’t familiar with the term, grimdark is a subgenre of fantasy in which most characters, including the protagonists, are selfish and extremely flawed at best, and the world is horrible.
The Boys takes that, applies it to the superhero genre, and adds a layer of comedy to the whole thing, to great effect.
This show is disturbing. Horrifying even. But also so well done. I couldn’t look away.
I recommend The Boys, with the caveat that if you are easily disturbed, grossed out, or sensitive to violence, you should probably skip this one.
The Mandalorian
The Mandalorian is a lot of firsts: It is the first live-action Star Wars show. It is the first Disney+ Star Wars original. It is Disney+’ first tentpole project. And it succeeded on all three of those fronts.
A lot of people were wondering what Star Wars would look like, now that the Skywalker Saga is over. And if The Mandalorian is the answer to that question, I have no problem with that.
This show, while it could be a bit slow at times, had some interesting stories, fascinating worldbuilding, some great acting (I can only imagine how difficult it is to convey that much nuanced emotion with a mask on), and, of course, Baby Yoda (or The Child, or The Asset; don’t get pedantic on me).
The Mandalorian is definitely worth checking out. If you have Disney+, but haven’t watched it yet, what are you even doing? If you don’t have Disney+, then now is a great time to use that one-week free trial, since the whole first season is available.
V Wars
Have you ever watched a trailer for a show or a movie and thought, “That looks stupid, but maybe in a fun-to-watch way”? That is what happened to me with V Wars.
Have you ever then thought, “Wow, that was actually a lot better than I expected”? That is NOT what happened to me with V Wars.
I convinced my wife to try it out with me, not really expecting much from it, but curious about its take on vampires. We watched the first episode, and it had some intriguing ideas that got us to keep going.
It only got worse, though. We decided to stop watching after the fourth episode and move on to better stuff.
I don’t recommend this one, in case it wasn’t obvious.
The Witcher
With Game of Thrones at an end, all of the studios are trying to find that next epic fantasy moneymaker.
Enter The Witcher. This series is adapted from a fantasy book series by the same name. That book series was also adapted into a series of very successful video games. So The Witcher comes onto the scene with a sizable following already.
I went into this show without having read the books or played the games, and I enjoyed it immensely. There were some pacing issues, but overall, I found it to be a lot of fun. I especially liked the four main characters, and thought the actors and actresses who portrayed them did a phenomenal job.
So, if you are looking for a show to give you that epic fantasy fix, and you think you’d like a show that balances the quest/monster-of-the-week feel with that more grand epic fantasy feel (even if that balance isn’t perfect), then I definitely recommend this one for you.
Just know going in that the show is not in linear order. Here is a helpful interactive map with a timeline just in case you get confused.
(Disclaimer: if you do watch The Witcher, the song “Toss a Coin” will probably get stuck in your head. You get to decide if that is a good thing.)
The Ongoing Shows
The Handmaid’s Tale
The Handmaid’s Tale continues to be excellent, with fantastic acting, fascinating worldbuilding, and beautiful cinematography.
That being said, season 3’s plot is very uneven. The middle of the season seems to be unsure of where it is going, especially in the parts following June. But the last couple of episodes bring it home in a really big way.
If you have enjoyed The Handmaid’s Tale up to this point, I would recommend continuing with season 3. I just hope that they tighten things up for season 4.
If you have not yet watched The Handmaid’s Tale, but are intrigued by the idea of a long-form thought-provoking dystopian drama, you should consider checking it out. Just know going in that it is very bleak.
Disenchantment
On the lighter end of the spectrum, we have Disenchantment. Season 2 was a lot more ambitious than season 1, greatly expanding the worldbuilding and lore of this fantasy series. This elevated the show for me from a fun, silly fantasy show to and interesting story that I want to know more about.
For those who have seen the first season and liked it, I would recommend continuing. The first part of season 2 is a little messy, but I greatly enjoyed the arc in the second half of the season.
For those of you who have not yet watched Disenchantment, I would describe its feel as like Gravity Falls, but less family-friendly. If that sounds interesting to you, or if you are just looking for something more fantastical to watch when you’re looking for a comedy, this one might be for you.
Stranger Things
Stranger Things season 1 was phenomenal.
Season 2 was good, but the story was a bit all over the place, including one episode that had some interesting stuff in it, but felt disconnected from the rest of the show. Still, it had some really great things to add to the show, like Bob and #SingleMomSteve.
So the question going into season 3 was, would it turn things around, or would the problems continue getting worse?
I am happy to say that season 3 of Stranger Things really tightened things up from where they were in season 2. And while it did not quite reach the level of season 1, it is still really good.
If you enjoyed the first two seasons of Stranger Things, or if you really liked season 1, but were disappointed in season 2, then I definitely recommend that you give season 3 a try. While not quite a complete return to form, and with a few character and plot points that were less than great, it is still a fantastic ride with this band of misfits we have come to love.
If you have not watched Stranger Things at all, but the idea of a show that combines the sensibilities of Steven Spielberg and Stephen King appeals to you, you should at least give the first season a try.
Season 4 is set to be the final season of Stranger Things.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Something happened at the end of season 5 of Agents of SHIELD that might cause some viewers to stop watching the show at that point.
If you choose to watch past that point, it pretty much means that you are ride or die with this show, since the upcoming season 7 is the final season.
As far as season 6 goes, it was a lot of fun. For a show that has run the gamut from really bad to great, this season was decent. We still have (most of) the characters you love, and while nothing about this season really drew me in or blew me away, I had a good time watching.
So, if you were on the fence about quitting after season 5, I’d say give season 6 a shot.
If you have not watched this show at all, or quit watching during the first season, at this point, trying to watch the whole thing might not be a good idea. I think this show is well-served by weekly drops, and isn’t consistently good enough to justify a major binge at this point.
The Good Place
I have a confession to make: I did not start watching this show until this year. So even though what aired in 2019 was the last few episodes of season 3 and most of season 4, I watched all of it from episode 1 on this year.
And here is the thing: this show is great. I mean, really, truly great. The characters, the theme, the plot, the worldbuilding, the acting, the comedy, it’s all fantastic.
I can’t say that this is one of my favorite shows. But that is only because we haven’t gotten to the series finale yet, and I got burned with the end of another show I loved this year (*cough* Game of Thrones *cough).
But come that final episode, which is just a few weeks away, so long as they stick the landing, The Good Place will likely become the first comedy that I consider to be one of my favorite shows of all time.
So if a show that combines the comedic genius behind Parks & Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine with thought provoking afterlife fiction and deep thoughts about ethics sounds appealing to you, then you should be watching this show.
(Seasons 1-3 are available on Netflix now. Only the most recent 5 episodes of season 4 are up on Hulu, though, so you will have to wait until after sometime after the series finale for it to be uploaded to Netflix if you are not caught up with the show.)
So, which of these shows did you like? Which do you want to see? What shows from 2019 should I watch that I missed? Let me know in the comments down below!