On Feb 6, Netflix released the first season of its new original series Everything Sucks! which is comprised of ten episodes. The show centers on freshman Luke O’Neil and his two friends Tyler and McQuaid as they navigate high school. It takes place in the ‘90s deals with love, drama, and questions about sexuality.

The show takes place in 1996 in Boring, Oregon. In the opening of the pilot, which is titled “Plutonium,” there are several 90’s references which include a “cootie” catcher, a troll doll, and slap bracelet.

Luke O’Neil, played by Jahi Di’Allo Winston, develops a crush on Kate Messner, the principal’s daughter. Kate is played by Peyton Kennedy who is best known for her role in the kids series Odd Squad. Patch Darragh plays Ken Messner, the school’s principal and Kate’s father.

While Luke is a freshman, Kate is a sophomore. As the episode progresses, we see Kate is exploring her sexuality. Luke takes to Kate and is determined to ask her out when the time is right. Kate views him as a friend while Luke views her as much more.

Netflix explains the show as, “A quirky, funny coming of age story that follows two groups of high school misfits, Everything Sucks! follows an A/V club and a Drama club who collide in 1996 Oregon.”

Tyler is played by Quinn Liebling whose first acting credit is “Everything Sucks!” and Rio Mangini plays McQuaid who is best known for his role in “Bella and the Bulldogs.” Luke, Kate, Tyler and McQuaid make up the schools A/V club and show creator Ben York Jones plays the schools A/V supervisor, Mr. Stargrove.

“Our show is like the parts of Stranger Things where they’re hanging out just playing Dungeons and Dragons and there’s no monsters,” said Ben York Jones, co-creator of Everything Sucks! to EW.

The Drama club members include Emaline and Oliver. Emaline is played by Sydney Sweeney and Oliver is played by Elijah Stevenson. Emaline and Oliver burst out into a scene in the cafeteria and this is the first hint to Kate exploring her sexuality. We see her stare at Emaline and Oliver and at first it seems like she is staring at Oliver but, as we see later on, it was really Emaline.

The show itself combines humor with drama and showcases what it is like to be a teen. After watching the first episode, I definitely want to watch the rest of the season as I am curious how the show progresses.