Despite being an intense drama with dark moments like parental suicide and fantastic aspects like superhero powers, Netflix’s I Am Not Okay With This is also a very funny show. Comedy’s always an effective tool to keep a show watchable when it delves into dark subject matter, and this unique series applies that principle perfectly.
Liam, Syd, and Stanley really make the show what it is, often being silly together, and making the show much more playful than it might have been otherwise. Often, the audience is left laughing when they had just been watching in horror and hugs the line between horrifying and humorous multiple times. Below we’ve ranked ten of the funniest things in Netflix’s I Am Not Okay With This.
Syd’s Internal Monologues
Syd is constantly talking to herself in I Am Not Okay With This – in her head, anyway, typically responding to what the other characters are saying in her own thoughts. The back and forth between what she says and what she thinks is comical, especially when the two are so different, and yet the other person doesn’t suspect it. It’s especially funny when she talks to her diary as though it’s a real person, opening the show with “Dear Diary, go f**k yourself,” her teen angst really showing through in those moments.
Syd Telling Off Liam’s School Bully
In Episode 3, when trying to protect her little brother, Syd goes up to his bully, Richard, to try to tell him to bugger off, despite Liam telling her not to. When she gets up close, she releases how intimidating tweens are, and when she tells him to leave her little brother alone, he looks at her as though she’s an alien. He cordially responds, “Go choke on a tampon, freak.”
Not helping her case, she adds “Bet you feel like a badass huh? Well let me tell you something, one day it’s all going to go downhill, buddy. Your life will be so pathetic, you’ll actually attend your high school reunion,” a throwback to something Stanley said earlier. It’s such a funny moment, especially when Richard still looks at her like she’s an alien. “You won’t even have a dog,” she finishes.
Stan’s Date Telling Him That Weed Is A Gateway Drug
When Syd ditches Stanley, telling him she’s no longer going to go to prom with anyone despite having said yes to him before, Stanley gets mad and decides to invite someone he doesn’t really know. In the car, as they arrive at the school, he parks and tries to talk to her, though she’s not really receptive to him asking if she has pimples in weird spots. When he pulls out a joint, she tells him that weed is a gateway drug. While laughing it off, Stanley asks her where that gateway leads. She then lists off what she perceives to be his progression of debauchery, moving from pot to mushrooms, to heroin, and finally to huffing gas, leaving us with the most absurd list of consequences.
Stanley Dancing In The Mirror While Picking His Outfits
Stanley is one of the cutest characters on the show, acting silly and not caring what other people think. We get a lot of shots of him on the show trying out outfits for different occasions because he obviously cares about how he looks, and it shows – he certainly does have some of the greatest outfits in I Am Not Okay With This.
During these moments, he also sings along to music Drag Race style, lip-syncing to some great tunes and dancing around in the silliest ways.
Stanley’s Car Window Being Rolled Down Slowly
Shown in the trailer, this scene plays over and over if you have Netflix open and I Am Not Okay With This is the show being promoted on the menu. Despite having seen this scene over and over on the Netflix startup page, it doesn’t lose its humor. In fact, there’s more than one occasion in which Stanley tries to roll his window down and it takes many minutes before we can see his face. Even Liam looks at Stanley like he’s ridiculous, but by the second time it happens, Syd is charmed.
When Dina Tries To Seduce The Janitor For His Keys
When trying to get the USB that holds the footage from the library camera (because Syd is seen possibly destroying the library), Syd and Stanley ask Dina to help because, in their words, they need “someone with boobs.” Dina then tries to talk to the janitor, Carl, and seduce him into giving her his keys.
Carl stops it right away, saying he’s offended by her behavior. He says it’s an insult to herself, and an insult to him. Plus, he’s gay. He turns the whole situation onto its head and informs her that she should just try asking nicely next time. Dina’s face drops with comedic timing and she looks ashamed. “Yes, Carl, um, sir, sir Carl,” she sputters.
Liam Pretending To Be Syd’s Dad
When Dina shows up to go with Syd to their prom, Liam is dressed in a robe that is too big for him and asks her if she wants coffee, which is already comical. Syd comes downstairs looking beautiful, and both him and Dina are stunned. When they are about to leave, Liam says, “Alright you two, remember, no smoking, no drinking, be home by 8 o’clock,” clearly pretending to be Syd’s dad. Given their dad died last year, the scene is both comical and sad at the same time. Especially when Syd adds, deadpan, “It’s 7:45.”
Syd Showing Off Her Leg Pimples
When Syd and Stanley are starting to get to know each other, they start doing things like asking each other “What Would You Rather” questions and being silly while inebriated. When Stanley asks Syd what her biggest secret is, it is obvious Syd is thinking about telling him about her powers. However, at the last minute, we see her change her mind, and she tells him about her thigh pimples.
He asks her how that’s possible and she screams out defensively while laughing “I don’t know.” When she finally shows him her pimples, he says sarcastically comments on how “horrifying” they are. The whole scene is quite comical and really sets the basis for their cute and silly friendship.
Stanley Screaming Motherf***er To Get Detention
While taking a test in class, Brad convinces Dina to let him cheat off her test. Doing it in a really obvious way, the teacher catches them and takes their tests away. He tells them both that they have detention that evening, and Brad tries to convince the teacher that it’s because the pain killers he’s been taking for his football injury make his brain foggy – but the teacher doesn’t care. Syd then starts trying to defend Dina’s honor, saying she doesn’t deserve detention since she was the one being cheated off of, landing herself detention as well. Trying to get in on it, Stanley stands up and tries to get detention too. When it initially doesn’t work, he pushes his papers off his desk. When the teacher still doesn’t react, he screams “motherf***er” as a non-sequitur, finally landing him detention.
Syd Trying To Be Peppy
Towards the end of the show, Syd believes that if she just stays positive, happy, and peppy, she won’t lose her temper and lose control of her powers to terrible effect. She keeps telling people how she’s filled with pep, making her brother coffee and pancakes in the morning while singing, and trying to convince Dina she’s stoked about the prom because she now has pep. Given how moody and angry she’s been throughout the season. It’s so obviously forced and she has a strange, comical expression on her face throughout the episode.
