‘I Am Not Okay’ joins Netflix’s super teen hits
Courtesy of Polygon
Teenage girls with secret superpowers seem to be all the rage on Netflix, and their most recent coming-of-age series is no exception. “I Am Not Okay With This” follows 17-year-old Sydney Novak (Sophia Lillis) as she struggles with her father’s recent passing and the awakening of her strange superpowers. The series is based on a graphic novel of the same title by Charles Forsman, who created the source material for another Netflix hit, “The End of the F***ing World.” It also shares producers with “Stranger Things.”
The series opens up with Sydney wandering down the street at night, covered in blood, as she begins narrating her first diary entry from previous weeks. The entries are used to reveal Sydney’s feelings to the audience through voiceover after her guidance counselor gives her the diary as a form of therapy and a way to encourage her to have a “normal high school experience.” What follows, however, is anything but.
Sydney’s superpower is a harmful form of telekinesis influenced by her emotions. Each time her powers are triggered, they are accompanied by the sound of her heart beating louder and louder and quick flashbacks to situations that caused her to be overwhelmed, angry or upset. Her powers land her in a few sticky situations such as accidentally causing the death of her little brother’s hedgehog and completely wrecking an aisle of a grocery store. Those instances, however, cannot even compare to the trouble her powers get her into at the end of the season.
What really makes the show special is Lillis’ chemistry with the cast, namely Wyatt Oleff, who plays Stanley Barber, and Sofia Bryant, who plays her best friend and crush Dina. Oleff and Lillis, who both worked alongside one another in the recent “It” films, convey the awkward but charming friendship/somewhat romance between Stanley and Sydney so perfectly that it’s hard to not fall in love with them. As next door neighbors, the two find themselves becoming closer after Dina begins dating school jock and resident jerk, Brad (Richard Ellis), leaving Sydney to fend for herself. Sydney and Dina, however, are truly the heart of the show as their relationship is what causes Sydney to question her sexuality and ultimately decide that she likes girls. Although a romantic relationship between the two is not explored in depth besides a kiss they share at a party, Dina reveals that she “didn’t not like it” to Sydney at homecoming, leaving a lot to be discussed in a potential second season.
The influence of 1970s and 1980s popular culture is evident throughout the entire season, with the most prominent reference being to the movie “Carrie.” During the last episode, the characters go to homecoming and Sydney’s lost diary is read aloud to the whole school by Brad. Just as he is about to reveal that she has powers, his head explodes as a result of Sydney feeling angry about being humiliated. Sydney is covered in his blood, just like Carrie when she is covered in pig’s blood after being crowned prom queen. Luckily for Sydney, though, her fury only causes one casualty. Another episode features a few of the characters being stuck in detention where they create a plan to distract their principal so they can break into his office and destroy a surveillance tape, a very clear nod to “The Breakfast Club.”
Although “I Am Not Okay With This” is full of many teen drama cliches that have been done numerous times, it finds a way to be refreshing and interesting while being a fun, quick watch. Running at around 20 minutes per episode, the pacing is perfect and the season ends on an intriguing cliffhanger that guarantees fans of the show will be clamoring for more.
