Everything Sucks! on Netflix // Currently Watching

Hello, beautiful people!

Yesterday, I started watching Everything Sucks! on Netflix, which is made of ten episodes of about twenty-five minutes. Little did I know I would end up staying up late to binge-watch the whole season, yet, I couldn't stop myself. In the middle of binge-watching it, I learnt that Netflix had announced the show's cancellation last week, when it hadn't even been on their website for two months (I don't get why they did that after two months when they wait forever to renew their shows??). After finishing the first and apparently unique season we'll ever get, I just didn't understand, especially since it was a show so full of hope. Why does Netflix keep cancelling (most of) their diverse shows? *cries forever* Let's hope the social media campain #RenewEverythingSucks will work...

WHAT IS EVERYTHING SUCKS! ABOUT?

It's 1996 in a town called Boring in Oregon (yes, it's a real town), where high school misfits in the AV and drama clubs brave the ups and downs of teenage life in the VHS era. The show mainly follows Luke O'Neil (Jahi Di'Allo Winston), an aspiring filmmaker and Kate Messner (Peyton Kennedy), the principal's daughter figuring out her sexuality, who both come from single-parents households, trying to discover out who they are.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE SHOW

I knew I would end up loving Everything Sucks from the very first minute, when it started talking about the Star Wars prequel movies and how the characters were pretty sure they wouldn't be good. I was born in 1996, so I thought it was a funny reason to watch it: it felt so nostalgic of that time. It was full of pop culture references (from movies to items such as Tamagotchis!) and had an amazing soundtrack (not to be cliché, but Oasis? HELL, YES). It does use '90s clichés, but that's all the fun. Once I finished it, I just wanted to get to the nearest store to dress like the characters (but it might be because I adore Emaline).

It's not the type of show that will necessarily enthral you right in, it took me a couple of episodes for that to actually happen, which is also linked to the fact that there was bullying and homophobic slur (which was the point) at first, it made it a bit hard to watch. Like I've read in some reviews that I agree with on that, the show is a bit all over the place, like teenagers are, so that felt realistic, but because of that, it took me a bit of time. 

THEN

I

FELL

FOR

IT.

Everything Sucks! is a coming-of-age story that felt so authentic: it reminds you how awful high school sometimes was when you weren't popular or things like that, it navigates relationships, heatbreaks, unrequited love, figuring out your sexuality, trying to find your voice and what you love in life. Yes, everything does suck, but that's reality. Yet, it's also so full of hope. It's funny, it's heartfelt, it's relatable. More than that, it has amazing representation and that's why it's even more heartbreaking that it got cancelled.

#RenewEverythingSucks

Keep Everything Sucks

Great storyline? Black male lead? LGBT+ main characters? Dyslexic main character? Talks respectfully about depression/suicide? AMAZING ACTORS?

WHY WOULD YOU TAKE THIS SHOW AWAY????

AND GIVE 13RW A SEASON 2?? IT'S A ONE PART BOOK??

— #SAVEEVERYTHINGSUCKS (@sxnshineinabag) April 10, 2018

(Sorry for the shade thrown on 13 Reasons Why with this tweet, even though I 100% agree with it) 

I adored so many of the storylines, and as all the characters came together in the second half of the season, it became better and better. While some of the secondary characters felt two-dimensional in the first half of the season, they all had their own stories in the second half and I came to care for them all. Most of the characters started off a bit two-dimensional because of the '90s clichés, but then the show went way farther than any '90s TV shows would have gotten away with and that's why it's amazing. It also followed some of the characters' parents and while they didn't have a lot of screen time, I came to root for them as much as for the kids. 

My favourite story arc was without a doubt Kate's, who was coming to terms with the fact that she was a lesbian and I can't say anything without spoiling, but the way they did it felt realistic, especially for the 1990s (the concert scene was amazing, I'm still crying). She's the type of character that everyone can relate to, that's supposed to be YOU and it worked. She's such a teen icon and we need more characters like her on television. The award for best character development goes to Emaline, my personal favourite, she goes from being this arrogant theatre teen to a kinder and more romantic young woman, figuring out how to be her own person, because she needs no man (spoiler alert: the type of character I love the most).

I really love Emaline. UGH I miss her so much already.

Overall, Everything Sucks! isn't a perfect TV show, but it deserves so much more publicity than it got for the past two months. It's nostalgic, authentic and has great representation. I truly couldn't stop watching it, because I was holding on to hope that it would go the way I wanted, it more than did, and if Netflix truly doesn't pick it back up again, I'll never get over it (the only show I feel like that about is Agent Carter and I'm still bitter after two years), because I need more, I want to see my favourite characters grow together. Please, Netflix.

Have you watched this show or do you want to?

What's your favourite TV show at the moment?

Lots of love,

Lucie