I Am Not Okay with This debuted on Netflix and immediately became a great show for teens and young adults who love some mystery and a laugh. Lovable characters like Gina and Stan provide your classic coming of age storyline with the twist of the supernatural. The series shows the struggles with the awkwardness of high school, her sexuality, betrayal, family life, and more. To further complicate things, her newly found kinetic powers are the cherry on top.

The female protagonist, Syd, played by Sophia Lillis, describes herself as a ‘boring, angry 17-year-old white girl, who’s no one special’. Syd is frustrated and constantly argues with her mother due to the lack of discussion related to her father’s death a year ago.  Syd continually meets with her counselor, who recommends she keep a diary to help channel her anger, which is how the story is narrated. Syd is always hanging out with her best friend, Dina. Although she claims to hate most people, Syd has a soft spot for Dina– and can’t explain her utter attraction for her. The show picks up when Dina begins to date the school’s popular jock, Brad Lewis. This is when Stan, Syd’s next-door neighbor played by Wyatt Oleff takes an interest within Syd and is doing anything to be her new interest.

When the three of them begin to hang out, Brad angers Syd and as her thoughts begin to flood her brain, Brad gets a bloody nose; and is convinced that she caused it. At the classic high school party included in every series, Dina is able to convince Syd to go with her. Brad inevitably shows up to the party and whisks Dina away once again, leaving Syd to her overwhelming thoughts. Although, after an argument breaks out from the new couple, Syd tries to comfort Dina in their drunken stupor. Syd finally understands her feelings toward her best friend and kisses her- causing an embarrassing rejection from Dina.

Embarrassed, Syd runs out of the party into a nearby forest and screams, causing a chain reaction while all the trees fall to the ground as if struck by a sonic boom. Stan was not far behind Syd and mistakenly sees the entire reaction. As Syd has a complicated relationship with Stan in order to impress Dina, she regretfully swears him to secrecy. Although claiming that she is normal, Syd and Stan try to understand her newfound powers as Stan’s obsession over superhero makes this a dream come true. Throughout the rest of the series, several complications with Syd’s powers and the rocky relationship between Brad and Dina propel the story forward until the ending, which was a shock that no one would’ve seen coming.

Through Syd’s storytelling within her journal, the narration of the series seems very personal and similar to the Netflix series, The End of the F****** World. As they were both made by the same directing companies, it was easy to see similar styles as a UK vs. American show.

As the show is very binge-worthy, it makes it hard to know that there are only 7 episodes that are usually only about 30 minutes long. There are a lot of positives in the show, like the dynamic characters and cinematic aspects that people enjoy and can relate to, but there is one thing that I noticed that confused me. As a viewer, I had trouble keeping up with the time/era of the show. the direction feels very old, which happens to be a trend right now so I see the appeal. It was just strange seeing the very obvious 80’s styles while people were pulling out iPhones. As the two cast members appear in 2016 film IT, based on Stephen King’s books- it strongly related to that 80’s timeline as well. It has a very similar feel to Stranger Things as well. Other than the timeline, I wouldn’t say there is anything wrong with the show and I would highly recommend watching if you’re ready for a series that will leave you wanting 20 more episodes.