The ending of Netflix’s I Am Not Okay With This leaves the series in an intriguing place with plenty of setup for Syd’s story and more in season 2. The new Netflix original comes from the same creative team as The End Of The F****** World. It follows Syd (Sophia Lillis), an angsty teenager stuck in small-town Pennsylvania. Her life becomes especially chaotic when she discovers her anger manifests as destructive psychic powers.
The first season of I Am Not Okay With This follows Syd struggling to hide her new abilities from her family and friends. Alongside Lillis, the series stars another IT alumni in Wyatt Oleff, as well as Sofia Bryant and Kathleen Rose Perkins. Across its seven episode first season, I Am Not Okay With This does a great job setting up its world. However, there are plenty of plotlines that aren’t resolved by the end.
While Syd knows she has powers, she doesn’t know anything else about them. All she knows is that she just used them to murder jerk jock Brad in front of the whole school, and her mysterious stalker is real. There’s a lot that I Am Not Okay With This has only given its audience a taste of. Here are the key elements that the series will explore in season 2 on Netflix.
Syd’s Powers Can Be Developed Further In Season 2
A lot I Am Not Okay With This season 1 is about Syd understanding the basic fundamentals of her powers. Her time with Stan mostly revolves around figuring out what triggers them. There isn’t much that Syd and Stan learn about the extent of what she can do, or where her abilities came from. They only got as far as “Syd can destroy stuff,” which pays off when she makes Brad’s head explode in the finale.
Now that I Am Not Okay With This has established that people can have powers, and shown just how destructive they can be, the natural next step is to explore the control and capacity of those powers. While Syd has gotten very good at destroying things, it’d be exciting to watch her try utilizing her powers in different, more constructive ways. Syd will most likely spend the next season working on control and capacity next, which will lead to a whole new exciting set of challenges.
The Mysterious Hooded Figure
In the season 1 finale of I Am Not Okay With This, Syd comes face-to-hooded-face with her mysterious stalker. Up until the last minute of the season, Syd didn’t even know this person existed. But they’ve been seen in the background of several episodes, appearing and disintegrating in a cloud of dust. Whoever this person is, they will clearly be a key player in I Am Not Okay With This season 2, though it’s unclear just how similar their powers are to Syd’s. Without a framework for understanding where these abilities came from, it’s difficult to know if everyone with powers can do the same things she can. Along with that, there’s the question of whether this stranger found Syd because he can track people with powers. Heading into season 2 on Netflix, the hooded figure is the show’s biggest mystery.
Did Syd’s Dad Have Powers?
Syd’s breakthrough discussion with her mother sets up a fascinating mystery about her father. When Syd and Maggie finally bond, it’s after Syd looks through her father’s fatigues and dog tags. As Syd listens to her mother, she realizes her father’s problems sounded a lot like her own. So is it possible that her father could’ve had the same powers she has?
Syd’s father could be the key to how she got her powers. They could be hereditary, something Syd inherited from her father. Maybe he wasn’t in “the Marines,” but was instead a part of a secret super-force. Or maybe he didn’t get those powers until he joined the Marines, and they came from experimentation. It might even be possible that the mysterious hooded figure at the end of the season was a part of the same super-force, and that’s why he came for Syd. It’s a thrilling mystery that could kick off some great ability-centric storytelling from I Am Not Okay With This.
Syd & Dina
The friendship between Syd and Dina was a key element of the first season of Netflix’s I Am Not Okay With This. But when this season ended, these two were in a different place. Dina confesses that she “didn’t not like” when Syd kissed her at the party. There was some serious tension between the two before their moment was interrupted by Brad’s exploding head. But while that definitely ruined the moment, but it might not have ruined their relationship.
I Am Not Okay With This season 2 will no doubt explore their changing connection - whether they will stay friends, or try to be something more. It’s also possible they’ll try for a relationship but decide to be friends, like Syd and Stan. Syd’s exploration of her sexuality is one of many characteristics she’s learning about as she grows throughout the show.
Brad’s Death
I Am Not Okay With This season 1 ended on a Carrie-level bloodbath when Brad’s head exploded during the middle of the dance. Since it was the final impactful moment of I Am Not Okay With This’ first season, season 2 will almost certainly center on how that event affects Syd. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out Syd and Brad had beef, given he died while reading out her secrets to the entire school. The question is whether anyone besides Stan will figure it out.
The only folks in the gym who know Syd could kill Brad were her and Stan. But since his head exploded in front of everyone, there will naturally be some questions. It’s possible that folks who are close to Syd, but don’t know about her powers, could find out about them. Dina might learn about them as their relationship develops, or Syd’s brother Liam might realize her powers are real. There are so many conflicts that stem from this very gruesome death.
I Am Not Okay With This has a lot of great material to go through. The series has done a great job balancing out its superpower premise with the realistic struggles of adolescence. These mysteries are intriguing because the series has done a superb job of setting them up. It’s exciting to imagine how I Am Not Okay With This will knock everything down when it returns for a second season on Netflix.
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