Everything Sucks!

For other uses, see Everything Sucks! (disambiguation).

Everything Sucks!
Genre	Coming-of-age Comedy-drama
Created by	Ben York Jones Michael Mohan
Directed by	Michael Mohan Ry Russo-Young
Starring	Jahi Di'Allo Winston Peyton Kennedy Patch Darragh Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako Rio Mangini Quinn Liebling Sydney Sweeney Elijah Stevenson
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	10 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Josh Appelbaum André Nemec Jeff Pinkner Scott Rosenberg Ben York Jones Michael Mohan
Running time	22–27 minutes
Production company	Midnight Radio
Original release
Network	Netflix
Release	February 16, 2018 – present

Everything Sucks! is a Netflix original coming-of-age comedy-drama created by Ben York Jones and Michael Mohan that parodies teen culture of the mid-1990s. Ten half-hour episodes were ordered by Netflix and the series was released on February 16, 2018. The series is set in the real-life town of Boring, Oregon in 1996, and focuses on a group of teenagers who attend the fictional Boring High School as they proceed to make a movie together while dealing with issues such as dating and sexuality.

Plot

Everything Sucks! revolves around two groups of students at Boring High School in Oregon in 1996. Luke O'Neil, is a freshman at Boring with his friends McQuaid and Tyler, and are seen as social outcasts. On the first day of high school, they proceed to join the A/V Club, where Luke develops a crush on Kate Messner, the principal's daughter and a sophomore at Boring. Kate, however, starts questioning her sexuality and develops a crush on drama student Emaline Addario, who is dating fellow drama student Oliver Schermerhorn. However, Kate starts dating Luke after rumours of her being gay are spread around the school.

When an accidental destruction of the sets causes the play to be cancelled, Luke and his friends suggest the AV Club and Drama Club make a movie together, which would then be screened to the whole school. Luke, meanwhile, deals with discovering VHS tapes that his father made before leaving him and his mother. Luke's mother, Sherry, begins to grow close to Ken, Kate's father and the principal of Boring, following a meeting about Luke in the principal's office.

Cast

Main

• Jahi Di'Allo Winston as Luke O’Neil, a freshman in A/V club who has a crush on Kate Messner.
• Peyton Kennedy as Kate Messner, the daughter of the principal and a sophomore in A/V club who starts questioning her sexuality.
• Patch Darragh as Ken Messner, the principal and Kate's dad who starts to connect with Sherry, Luke's mother.
• Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako as Sherry O'Neil, Luke's mother and a flight attendant who starts to become close to Ken.
• Rio Mangini as McQuaid, a freshman in A/V club and one of Luke's friends.
• Quinn Liebling as Tyler, a freshman in A/V club and one of Luke's friends.
• Sydney Sweeney as Emaline Addario, a drama student and Oliver's girlfriend with a flare for drama.
• Elijah Stevenson as Oliver Schermerhorn, a drama student and Emaline's boyfriend who wants to run away to New York.

Recurring

• Abi Brittle as Leslie, a religious member of A/V club.
• Jalon Howard as Cedric, a member of the drama club.
• Connor Muhl as Scott Pocket, a student who reads the morning announcements with Jessica.
• Nicole McCullough as Jessica Betts, a student who reads the morning announcements with Scott.
• Ben York Jones as Mr. Stargrove, a teacher who runs A/V club.
• Zachary Ray Sherman as Leroy O'Neil, Luke's father who left when he was a baby.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"Plutonium"	Michael Mohan	Ben York Jones & Michael Mohan	February 16, 2018 (2018-02-16)
As a new year begins at Boring High School, freshman Luke and his friends, McQuaid and Tyler join the A/V club. Luke develops a crush on Kate Messner, the principal's daughter. Emaline, a drama student, catches the eyes of Kate during lunch. Luke invites Kate over to his house to fix her camera, and she takes a porn magazine from his garage. At home, Kate stares at photos of females in the magazine before her fathers walks in. Luke then makes a plan on how to ask Kate out.
2	"Maybe You’re Gonna Be the One That Saves Me"	Michael Mohan	Ben York Jones & Michael Mohan	February 16, 2018 (2018-02-16)
Luke plans on how to ask Kate out. Kate, after encountering Emaline in the locker room, deals with rumors of her being a lesbian and 'dyke' being written on her locker. Luke makes a video for Kate and proceeds to ask her out, which she says yes to. Meanwhile, Luke finds VHS tapes, which contain videos of his father, who left when he was young, talking to the camera.
3	"All That and a Bag of Chips"	Michael Mohan	Noelle Valdivia	February 16, 2018 (2018-02-16)
Luke and Kate watch the drama club rehearse for the upcoming school play, but Kate ends up pulling the fire alarm when Luke tries to kiss her, destroying the sets for the play. The drama club plans revenge after their play is then cancelled, resulting in Emaline going to detention, as well as Luke, who covers up for Kate. At the end, Kate, McQuaid, Tyler, and Luke go to the drama club with plan to ease tensions. Meanwhile, Ken, the principal, and Sherry, Luke's mother, talk when Sherry is called in following Luke's detention.
4	"Romeo & Juliet in Space"	Michael Mohan	Hayley Tyler	February 16, 2018 (2018-02-16)
Luke, Tyler, McQuaid, and Kate present the idea of a movie in place of the play, in order to ease the tensions between the two groups. While playing spin-the-bottle, Luke lands on Kate and they kiss in the closet, which results in Kate revealing that she thinks she is gay. Following this, the drama club says that they will take up the A/V club's offer. Meanwhile, Sherry and Ken engage in impromptu immature behavior, including TP-ing someone's house.
5	"What the Hell’s a Zarginda?"	Ry Russo-Young	Ben York Jones & Michael Mohan	February 16, 2018 (2018-02-16)
Luke tries to help Kate deal with her recent revelation. Luke suggests that they stay in a relationship so that no one suspects that she is gay with the condition that Luke tells Kate if he starts falling in love with her. Luke and Oliver hold auditions for the movie before settle on casting Oliver and Emaline in the lead roles. Emaline takes Kate shopping after she is told Kate would be helping with costumes. Ken invites Luke over for dinner, and Luke realizes he is in love with Kate.
6	"Sometimes I Hear My Voice"	Ry Russo-Young	Ben York Jones	February 16, 2018 (2018-02-16)
Luke gets tickets for him and Kate to see Tori Amos in Portland, so they take a car from Luke's garage and drive to there. There, Kate sees two girls kissing and realizes it's time for her and Luke to break up. Kate proceeds to argue with Luke and tells him that she's happy the way she is and that nothing can change her. She tells him that it was important that she knew who she was, saying that this wasn't about him and that Luke enjoyed the idea of Kate and the idea of having a girlfriend. Ken and Sherry partake in contraband that was confiscated from a student, they go around the school before going swimming and kissing, before Kate calls Ken to pick them up following the car being towed.
7	"Cheesecake to a Fat Man"	Ry Russo-Young	Sean Cummings	February 16, 2018 (2018-02-16)
Following his breakup with Kate, Luke is angry and irritable in their last couple days of filming. Kate changes her room around and attempts to pierce her nose, while her father celebrates in joy after his night with Sherry. Kate then convinces her dad to fund a field trip to Dominguez Rocks, to serve as a backdrop for a part of their film. Meanwhile, Oliver, Emaline, McQuaid, and Tyler experiment with drugs following a visit on the internet.
8	"I Just Wanna Be Anybody"	Michael Mohan	Hayley Tyler	February 16, 2018 (2018-02-16)
The A/V Club and Drama Club go to California to shoot important scenes for their movie. However, it's revealed that Oliver left for New York without notice, leaving McQuaid to fill in his role. In Oliver's absence, Emaline starts acting and dressing differently and at the motel that night, she worries about who she would be now that Oliver was gone and she tells Kate that she realized she was just a prop to him. She admits to Kate that she was jealous of her while Kate admits that she finds Emaline attractive and the two almost kiss before being interrupted. Meanwhile, Kate tracks down Luke's father at a Blockbuster.
9	"My Friends Have Been Eaten by Spiders"	Michael Mohan	Noelle Valdivia	February 16, 2018 (2018-02-16)
Returning home from his trip, Luke discovers that his mother and Ken have been seeing each other. He later gets angry after the footage of the film was edited without his permission, while his mother calls off her and Ken's relationship after Luke reacts in anger to it. Emaline and Kate talk, and Emaline asks if Kate meant what she said at the motel, to which Kate says she did and both of them admit their feelings towards each other. Kate then proceeds to have a talk with Luke and she tells him about her favorite memory of her mom, a day when she took her to the country fair. Kate then tells him that later that day, her mom killed herself by jumping off the bridge they were standing on and expresses anger at Luke for whatever he did to screw up her father's happiness. Meanwhile, McQuaid plans to ask out Emaline following their kiss during the movie shoot.
10	"We Were Merely Freshmen"	Michael Mohan	Ben York Jones & Michael Mohan	February 16, 2018 (2018-02-16)
Luke, last minute, re-shoots and edits the end of the movie the movie following Kate's words to him and hatches a plan to get his mother and Ken back together. Kate realizes the changed ending is about them, and Luke finally realizing that they're just friends. Kate expresses her gratitude to Luke, and they make amends and Luke apologizes to his mother following the film. After the screening, Emaline takes Kate back to the auditorium and they dance to music on the stage. McQuaid, who builds up the courage to ask Emaline out, walks in on them kissing, and walks out, dejected. Afterwards, Kate, Ken, Sherry, and Luke go and get pizza. The season ends with Luke's father, Leroy, turning up at the door.

Production

Although set in Boring, a real town located just outside the Portland metropolitan area, filming for the series took place in Oregon City and Portland proper, in summer 2017. The crew managed to film in a real Blockbuster for a scene in episode nine, which eventually closed after they finished shooting.

Reception

Critical response

Everything Sucks! received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the first season an approval rating of 67% based on 32 reviews, and a weighted average rating of 5.58/10. The site's critical consensus states, " A flawed series that ticks off all the nostalgia boxes, Everything Sucks! still manages to tug at the heartstrings." Review aggregator Metacritic gave the first season a normalized score of 62 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The show is frequently compared to Stranger Things, Freaks and Geeks, as well as Degrassi.

Everything Sucks! was criticized for its over-the-top use of tropes, sometimes unrealistic situations, as well as not developing its supporting characters. However, the coming out storyline and the performances of the ensemble cast, particularly Winston and Kennedy, received much praise. Emine Saner from The Guardian wrote that the creators "took the idea of nostalgia and teenhood so far they just ended up repeating tropes", however praised Kate's storyline as well as Winston and Kennedy's performances. On the other hand, Jen Chaney of Vulture gave Everything Sucks! a positive review, praising its "treatment of its young characters", and once again, praised Kennedy and Winston's performances. However, she did criticize some dialogue choices, some of the music, and the under developed supporting characters. Caroline Framke of Vox said, that it "takes too long to figure out its twist on a typical coming-of-age romance. But once it gets there, it’s great" and gave particular praise to Kate's storyline.

External links

• Everything Sucks! at IMDb