Hi,
Welcome back to the last issue of Continue Watching for 2021! YOU GUYS. End of another year. Beginning of possibly another lockdown. Everything the same, everything different. Both of us, like countless others, had a very tough year, with lows we could have never prepared for and highs that never came. Often, we had no words to express how we felt, but we continued writing here, projecting all our feelings on the shows we were watching, centering the newsletter around themes we did not know how to address in real life. Thank you so much for sticking with us for another year, for reading our unchecked thoughts, for recommending us to your friends, and for sending us emails to say you did not agree with our TV Boyfriend list.
This year, the newsletter also had the privilege (and no choice) to witness us go from two people who did not know anything about BTS to becoming BTS ARMY, and it endlessly delights us that there is written proof of how our curiosity turned into admiration and then full-on obsession. Shahana would have liked to keep it on the DL but it’s hard for Kashika to keep her mouth shut about her feelings in writing, it’s a real problem.
In the final week of 2021, as we take pause from everything going on around us, we did not want to bring you a heavy issue with essays, so we went retro and made up a Blogger-style TV Tag circa 2010 (remember that?). We each answer 20 questions on television we have watched this year (but it need not have released this year) and, in the process, recall some shows we discovered in 2021 that will stay with us for life. If you like, you can fill this tag and send it back to us or discuss it with your friends. Trust us, some questions will make you THINK.
So, let us quickly tell you what we’re watching right now, and then we can get to the questionnaire.
CURRENTLY WATCHING
Kashika
Emily in Paris: I went into season two with absolutely no expectations. I thought it would be just as awful as the first one, but I was wrong. Emily in Paris has somehow worsened. Emily is even more annoying, her chemistry with Gabriel even less convincing, and her hijinks even less logical. Plus, I cannot stop thinking about how she never cries. Shit around her is hitting the fan, everyone is rightfully upset with her, but she does not shed a tear. She’s either tough as nails or she’s a sociopath. I’d say the latter. There is absolutely no charm in the show or its lead, and the only reason we all keep watching it is because we’re so tired of real life. Even Kate Walsh’s entry is not helping, and that’s saying something. Ashley Park remains the one good thing about this show. Streaming on Netflix.
Our Beloved Summer: Two exes, who were in a hit documentary together when they were in high school, reunite five years after their breakup for the follow-up documentary. Obviously there are unresolved feelings and a lot of love, but also a lot of hurt. It stars Parasite’s Choi Woo-sik and Kim Da-mi from Itaewon Class, and the show does a wonderful job of capturing the essence of summer, where everything feels exciting and immediate, and it’s hard to imagine that any other season actually exists. The music is great, Woo-sik has an excellent yearning face, and I’m looking forward to not being annoyed by Da-mi in a drama. Streaming on Netflix, but all episodes are not out yet.
—
Shahana
Yellowjackets: I was recommended this show by a friend, who said to trust her and watch it. And so I did, and while I’m only a couple of episodes in, I have a feeling I’m going to really like it. A high school soccer team survives a plane crash somewhere in the wilderness and we’re meant to be watching these girls from a well-oiled team regress to savage clannish behaviour to survive, and then also follow the lives they’ve created 25 years later. If this sounds like some version of Lord of the Flies meets Clueless meets Lost, then you’re not too far off. There’s this sense of unease that lurks in every scene, and yet, has me wanting to finish my day’s work asap so I can get back to watching the next episode. Streaming on Voot.
The Wheel of Time: A few years ago, I was asked by a friend if I’d ever read The Wheel of Time books, and that was the first I’d heard of them (sadly). What I know about the series is it’s a high fantasy novel spanning 14 novels, as well as a prequel and some companion books too. The show follows Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), a member of the Aes Sedai, a powerful group of women who can channel the One Power. She sets out to find the reincarnation of the Dragon, who in their past life, destroyed the world. The reborn Dragon is prophesied to either save the world from an evil being known as the Dark One or break it once more. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a good high fantasy show, and The Wheel of Time’s first episode (which is all I’ve seen yet) intrigued me enough to keep watching. Streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Once again, thank you for reading! We do it for each other, and we do it for you. There is no third reason. We wish you a happy new year, and a safer one, too. May 2022 be kind to all of us.
Continue Watching (and reading!),
Kashika and Shahana
KASHIKA’S 2021 TV TAG
1) Your favourite show of 2021?
2) What is your favourite ship from 2021?
IkSong — Ik-jun and Song-hwa from Hospital Playlist. Friends for 20 years. In love with each other for 20 years. Unable to say that out loud for 20 years. Until they weren’t.
3) What was the biggest TV plot twist of 2021?
(SPOILER ALERT for Money Heist)
.
.
.
Tokyo’s death in Money Heist season 5. I did not see that coming.
4) What was the best TV soundtrack of 2021?
Nevertheless. Every song made me feel like I was coming back from a great first date.
5) A show's universe you'd wanna live in?
Nevertheless. I would give anything to be a gifted 20-year-old art student who spends her days alternating between going out with friends and being in love with one of those friends while constantly looking hot.
6) A character you'd wanna date?
Han Seo-joon from True Beauty. My man does not get the girl in the show but he gets my heart. I love a bad boy with a heart of gold and I also feel like I’d make a great (secret) girlfriend to an upcoming K-pop idol.
7) A character you'd wanna be BFFs with?
Keeley Jones, The Independent Woman, from Ted Lasso.
8) A character you (only) have a crush on?
Park Jae-eon from Nevertheless. It’s in my destiny to crush on every fuckboi I come across.
9) A TV show cancellation you’ll never get over?
Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist. We were robbed.
10) Which popular TV show could you not stand/you ended up hating?
Kevin Can F Himself. I wanted to love it for Annie Murphy but I could not stand it. Dropped it after two episodes.
11) A show you thought you’d hate but ended up loving?
The Boys. I have never before cared about a single superhero show or movie.
12) A scene that made you cry like a baby?
The ending of Tale of the Nine Tailed. Nothing makes me cry more than sad sibling stories and this was such an unexpected ending that I howled for an hour after I finished watching it. I have cried every time I have thought about that scene, including right now.
Special mention to Bo-ra’s wedding in Reply 1988 and the entire mom episode, where I had to pause the show to get myself a glass of water.
Another special mention to Peter Gallagher’s cameo in the season/series finale of Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, which I had to rewatch because I sobbed through all the scenes the first time.
13) A scene you can’t get over and/or keep rewatching?
When Jessie brings Tom home for the first time in Starstruck and her best friend/roommate Kate is panicking because they don’t have tea and Jessie won’t tell her what the vibe is — whiskey or ice-cream. “You’re going to go to the Oscars!”
14) A show you fell out of love with in 2021?
Killing Eve
15) A character whose wardrobe you love?
Fran from Shrill.
16) Your fastest binge-watch in 2021?
Search Party. Four seasons in six days.
17) A lesser-known show you’d recommend or you wish more people were watching?
Good Trouble. It’s fun, sexy, has a lot of heart, and stars really hot people. Not a bad storyline in sight.
18) A dialogue from a show you can’t get out of your mind?
“Who of us has the space to carry other people’s choices?” — a super random character in the season finale of The Flight Attendant.
19) An old show you rewatched from start to finish in 2021?
Strong Woman Do Bong-soon. Only for Ahn Min-hyuk.
20) A show you watched in 2021 that you’ll be rewatching for years?
BTS In The Soop
SHAHANA’S 2021 TV TAG
1) Your favourite show of 2021?
BTS In the Soop.
Please, do not ask me to explain why I love watching a show about seven men eating, sleeping, fishing, painting, and cooking.
2) What is your favourite ship from 2021?
VinZagi, from Vincenzo. Watch the show, you'll understand why the greatest love story of 2021 is between a man and his pigeon.
3) What was the biggest TV plot twist of 2021?
That last scene on Succession. Still not over that look on Shiv’s face.
4) What was the best TV soundtrack of 2021?
We are Lady Parts. Voldemort Under My Headscarf? Bashir with the Good Beard? Absolute bangers. Also, watch the show! Here is an essay explaining why you should.
5) A show's universe you'd wanna live in?
Whatever wild, crazy, insane universe the characters from The Bold Type exist in.
6) A character you'd wanna date?
Vincenzo Cassano, from Vincenzo, is a very grey character. He’s literally in the mafia. However, the man is whipped for the woman he loves. I would like to date a man who is devoted to me and dumps pig blood on another man just because I said I’d like to see it. And also treat me as an equal partner in whatever nefarious plan we concoct together.
7) A character you'd wanna be BFFs with?
Kimberly, Bela, Leighton, and Whitney from The Sex Lives of College Girls—I wish I had a college life that exciting.
Lim Jin-joo, Lee Eun-jung, and Hwang Han-joo from Be Melodramatic.
8) A character you (only) have a crush on?
Hong Du‑sik from Hometown Cha Cha Cha. Those dimples, my god.
9) A TV show cancellation you’ll never get over?
Nothing from 2021, but Good Girls Revolt is still cancelled, and I’m still salty. Them was made this year, a horrible show where a Black family gets terrorised by racist neighbours and demons, but Good Girls Revolt didn’t get a second season? This is an unfair world.
10) Which popular TV show could you not stand/you ended up hating?
The Chair. My initial reaction was “Yeah, decent watch,” but that nonsense romance with her colleague really ruined it.
11) A show you thought you’d hate but ended up loving?
Sex, Love, and goop. Yeah, I know. I was shocked too.
12) A scene that made you cry like a baby?
Older readers of Continue Watching will know, I lost my father early this year. Grief is an odd thing, what I’ve learnt is that it really catches you off guard. A Korean show titled Work Later, Drink Now, which follows the lives of three friends, had an episode where one of the characters loses a parent; she enters the funeral home, sees her father’s picture, and just collapses. But she wasn’t alone. There are things that need doing when a parent dies, and while I had to do most by myself, this character didn’t. Her friends helped her with and through it, and just knowing that even if it was fictional, this woman had somewhere to rest did something to me. I started bawling at that scene and then cried through the rest of the episode, hard enough that my head hurt.
13) A scene you can’t get over and/or keep rewatching?
Someday, I would like someone to listen to me with the same amount of patience and understanding that Kim Seokjin showed Min Yoongi in this scene. Someday.
14) A show you fell out of love with in 2021?
What We Do in the Shadows. The latest season seems to have slightly lost its way.
15) A character whose wardrobe you love?
Catherine the Great from The Great. I’m a sucker for period shows and, yes, I get that those clothes are uncomfortable, but man, does Elle Fanning look great in them.
Hong Cha-young from Vincenzo. Women in suits are my weakness.
16) Your fastest binge-watch in 2021?
Squid Game
17) A lesser-known show you’d recommend or you wish more people were watching.
Starstruck
The Underground Railroad
Midnight Mass
Reservation Dogs
Dickinson
18) A dialogue from a show you can’t get out of your mind?
“Then he flings it.” —Kim Seokjin, BTS In the Soop
19) An old show you rewatched from start to finish in 2021?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
20) A show you watched in 2021 that you’ll be rewatching for years?
Be Melodramatic
RECOMMENDATIONS
We get so many requests for TV show recs from friends, so we’ll get to them here in every issue.
I have no new year plans, and I’m going to be home alone. I want a low-stakes comedy that I can watch start-to-finish in one day, while I eat pizza and finish a bottle of wine. Please help.
Watch Ghosts. New York couple Samantha (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) inherit a beautiful country mansion and plan to turn it into a B&B. After a near-death experience on the grounds, Samantha discovers she can see and communicate with all the ghosts who died in the mansion and are bound to the area till they can reach the afterlife. That is the basic premise, and it’s a happy, chill, low-stakes sitcom you can easily start and finish on the same day.
Ghosts is one of those shows that you binge on a very lazy day, full of gags that have been done before but are funny nevertheless. Samantha and Jay have an easy chemistry, and each of the ghosts have very different personalities and stories, compelling enough to keep you watching till the end of the first season. There are days when you want to watch something that keeps you at the edge of your seat and give it your full attention, and there are days you want to have the TV running while you fold your laundry. This show belongs to the latter category. Perfect companion to your pizza and wine party for one.
Streaming on Voot.
We hope you enjoyed reading this issue as much as we loved writing it. Please write to us if you have any feedback. We look forward to your emails, comments, tweets, and DMs with requests, criticism, recommendations, and anything else that you want to tell us. You can also follow us on Instagram here. And if you haven’t already, do subscribe!