I Am Not Okay With This

“	We’ve made the difficult decision not to move forward with second seasons of The Society and I Am Not Okay With This. We’re disappointed to have to make these decisions due to circumstances created by COVID, and we are grateful to these creators, including: Jonathan Entwistle, Christy Hall, Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Dan Cohen and Josh Barry at 21 Laps Entertainment for I Am Not Okay With This; Chris Keyser, Marc Webb and Pavlina Hatoupis for The Society; and all the writers, casts and crews who worked tirelessly to make these shows for our members around the world.”	”
	— Netflix said in a statement to Deadline^[1]

I Am Not Okay With This is a coming of age comedy series on Netflix created by Jonathan Entwistle and Christy Hall. It is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Charles Forsman. The series premiered on February 26, 2020.

The series had been renewed after its first season aired back in February, but its renewal had not been announced.^[2] Scripts were written, and it was fully on track to go into production.^[1]

On August 21, 2020 it was announced that Netflix has opted not to proceed with a second season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1]

Synopsis[]

A coming of age story about a teenage girl navigating the trials and tribulations of high school, all the while dealing with the complexities of her family, her budding sexuality, and... mysterious superpowers just beginning to awaken from deep within her.

My Synopsis: Shit went from bad to even worse, real fucking fast. Also gay.

Credits[]

Cast[]

Sophia Lillis as Sydney, the main protagonist of the series. Originally labeling herself as a boring 17-year-old white girl, her father's suicide and the people around her cause the anger inside her to give her telekinetic powers. She soon begins to question where and how her powers came to fruition, her sexuality, and her father's reasoning to kill himself.
Wyatt Oleff as Stanley Barber - the deuteragonist of the series and the best friend/love interest of the series. He's labeled as a weirdo by Sydney, but they eventually begin to grow a friendship. Although he comes off as geeky and hipster-like, he struggles behind close doors with his abusive, alcoholic father. He pines feelings for Sydney, and they eventually sleep together, but Sydney begins to question her sexuality after the encounter. She reveals her powers to Stanley and they begin to figure out how to control it.
Richard Ellis as Brad - the eventual main antagonist of the series. A typical jock, he dates Dina, much to Sydney's dissatisfaction and jealousy. He comes off as extremely douchey and rude but tries to form a friendship with a reluctant Sydney. It's not until Sydney discovers he slept with Jenny that she tells Dina, who breaks up with him. In an act of revenge, Brad steals Sydney's diary and reads it on stage during the homecoming dance in order to humiliate her, shocking the school. Sydney's rage takes over and leads to Brad's head exploding in front of the whole student body.
Sofia Bryant as Dina - the secondary deuteragonist of the series. She is Sydney's best friend despite being polar opposites in personality, which causes Sydney to grow romantic feelings for her. However, those feelings are put on hold when she starts dating Brad, which causes jealousy within Sydney. During a party, she kisses Dina, who is at first confused, but eventually reveals to her at the dance that she didn't not like it, signifying a possible romance between them.
Aidan Wojtak-Hissong as Liam - the tritagonist of the series and Sydney's little brother. Unlike her mother, Sydney has a much positive relationship with Liam, often eating food together and enjoying each other's company. He is bullied at school by Richard Rynard, and frequently draws blueprints for robotic suits to "kick his ass". Memories of him are Sydney's coping mechanism when controlling her powers.
Kathleen Rose Perkins as Maggie - the secondary tritagonist of the series and Sydney and Liam's mother. A workaholic at the local diner, her and Sydney's relationship has severely dwindled since the death of Mr. Novak. They fight significantly, often due to Sydney's sarcasm/favoritism towards her late father and Maggie's reluctance to help her during emotional times and discuss her husband's death. After properly explaining the background of why her father killed himself, Sydney grows a better relationship with her mother after letting her help dress her for homecoming and apologizing for her actions.
Sophia Tatum as Jenny - a recurring character and a somewhat minor antagonist. She is extremely rebellious and ruthless, bullying anyone, no matter who they are. She joins Sydney, Brad, Dina, and Stanley in detention and forces them to play "Fuck, Marry, Kill". Sydney eventually discovers that Brad secretly slept with Jenny, causing her to reveal it to Dina, who dumps Brad and makes him hate Sydney.

Crew[]

Jonathan Entwistle (Co-Creator / Director / Executive Producer)
Christy Hall (Co-Creator / Writer / Executive Producer)
Charles S. Forsman (Graphic Novel)
Shawn Levy (Executive Producer)
Dan Levine (Executive Producer)
Dan Cohen (Executive Producer)
Josh Barry (Executive Producer)

Differences from the Novel[]

There are significant differences between the novel and the book, mostly due to it's more vulgar and dark nature.

Sydney was aware of her powers prior to the events of the book while she discovers them in the series.
Sydney is 15 in the novel while she’s 17 in the series.
Sydney and her family have been residing at the town prior to the book rather than just moved there like in the series.
While her powers are telekinetic, they are limited to causing severe headaches in people's minds and making their nose bleed, though she uses her powers telekinetically to fling Brad's friend across the room, make the tip of her finger explode, and eventually uses it to kill herself.
In the novel, Sydney's coping mechanism for controlling her powers is vomiting.
In the novel, Dina and Brad are seniors and Stanley is mentioned to be in a few grades higher than Sydney while they're in the same class as her in the series.
Brad is not a football player and works at a Home Depot knock-off called The Home Box along with an unnamed friend.
Liam is a more minor character in the novel, and his relationship with Sydney is more typical annoying brother and sister like.
When Sydney kisses Dina, it is at her house rather than a party.
Sydney wears her father's dog tags around her neck.
Sydney not only knows about her father's background, but it was her father that pleaded her to kill him, even explaining to her how to kill him, which causes her to discover her powers. It's in the series where Maggie explains his background, which causes Sydney to conclude she possibly inherited her powers from him.
Stanley and Sydney have known each other since they were children.
Stanley has three unnamed stoner friends who make him the butt of many jokes.
Sydney frequently smokes weed from Stanley.
Sydney and Stan having sex was extremely more graphic, with Sydney mentioning Stan's difficulty to remain erect and him performing cunnilingus on her.
Stanley has a brother who happens to own a tape collection.
A character named River (nicknamed Ryan) is completely absent from the series. She is a cashier at Uni-Mart where Sydney and Liam get hotdogs. The two listen to music in her car and they arrive at her apartment, where they smoke weed and River eventually performs oral sex on Sydney.
The black figure who follows Sydney throughout the series is replaced by a black shadow who appears in the corner once while Sydney is having sex with River.
Dina reveals to Brad while in a car that she is pregnant, causing him to throw her out of the car and speed off, where she's admitted to the hospital.
Sydney kills Brad and his friend while they're at work, throwing his friend across the room and causing Brad to have brain damage.
Stanley does not know of Sydney's powers.
Sydney admits her killing Brad to her mother offscreen.
Sydney attends, but quickly leaves, Brad's funeral, where a relative (presumably his father) glares at her while Dina sobs by his casket.
Sydney makes the tip of her finger explode.
Sydney decides to kill herself, feeling a burden to her family and guilty for murdering Brad. She climbs Mt. Susquanna, where she puts her father's dog tags and her diary aside and makes her head explode.

Seasons and Episodes[]

Season		Episodes	Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
	1.	7	February 26th, 2020	February 26th, 2020

Development[]

On June 10, 2019, it was announced that Netflix had given the production a series order for an eight-episode first season. The series is created by Jonathan Entwistle and Christy Hall who are credited as executive producers alongside Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Dan Cohen, and Josh Barry.

Reception[]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an 86% approval rating with 25 reviews, with an average rating of 6.22/10. It is now 'Certified Fresh'. The website's critical consensus reads, "As awkward and charming as adolescence, but with twice the supernatural twists, I Am Not Okay With This's first season at times veers into shallow territory, but stays afloat thanks Sophia Lillis' angsty, raw performance." Review aggregator Metacritic gave the series a score of 68 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".