What Rotten Tomatoes labels as fresh is unpacked to be anything but as the Netflix Original is filled with tropes already done by the platforms most famous.
I am not okay with I Am Not Okay With This.
Released only a few Wednesdays ago, the series stars It thriller stars Sohpia Lillis and Wyatt Oleff as the leads Sydney and Stanley respectively, and thrives off of a recurring allusion to Carrie that serves as the opening scene for every episode.
Sydney (Lillis) is our main protagonist, a seventeen year old girl with a burning hatred for the world especially since the recent departing of her father. She is upset and yet very well put together for both her age and considering her too-serine guidance counselor suggesting she take up journaling, her mother who thinks painfully little of her, and her best friend Dina (Sofia Bryant) becoming less and less so as she enters the classic teenaged heterosexual relationship. Sydney does reach her boiling point though, and when she does it is with a telekinetic fury that brings a stop sign to a somersault miles in the air. Stanley (Oleff) soon becomes her power confidant, and as the series progresses with these abilities it never forgets that these kids are still kids, and sometimes homecoming is as deadly embarrassing as pimples on your thigh.
Okay manages to blend an image of the less populated suburban teenage experience with the superpower thriller at the top of everyones favorite genre list. It sprinkles in romance with well-crafted platonic relationships, a little bit of mystery that goes a lot-a-bit unsolved, and just enough special effects that doesn’t break the budget nor the backs of its beloved characters too brutally. The soundtrack is the one thing I can confidently give a ten out of ten as it builds the characters experiences and emotions one small tune at a time while giving myself great tunes to listen to while waiting for the microwave.
Ultimately, the show is an uncomfortable mash of most Netflix originals geared to the emerging adult as the concept alone comes off as a taped together collection of scraps from the various writers rooms. All the big tropes we’ve seen them do makes it feel dated in an enjoyable sense, even if that is to be expected from a Stranger Things producer.
Because of all this reused material, it’s no wonder everyone seems to be obsessed with it and relates its access to various other Netflix originals. Thanks to my Italian IP address, the title has stood at number one for the top ten today almost every day this week, and it continued to do so for the following few days in the US. The show could just be riding off that new-release high, but many speak highly of the series much expected twists and turns and revel in its originality despite being an adapted script literally and metaphorically.
While the show is easy to watch due to its (gratefully) short length, the unoriginal element stand out more than the bloodstains on Sydney’s poor homecoming dress. Okay is certainly not an example of prime television and does not try to be, but the rave for two minutes of adolescents questioning their sexuality amidst two hours of poorly written plot lines with too-good acting makes the binge not worth while.
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THE SINKING COUCH 