verything Now is a coming-of-age story with several twists and a lot of angst, all of which it carries with more intelligence and style than your average teen drama. Sixteen-year-old Mia Polanco has just been released from a private eating disorder treatment centre, where she has been an inpatient. She doesn’t so much leave as burst out of its doors. She has a lot to catch up on, but when she suggests going to the cinema or bowling, her group of friends has to inform her that life has changed.
Mia’s anorexia is the main character here. Everything Now is responsible about it, but not toothless. Her illness recedes into the background then roars back. It is not rational or linear. One episode, later in the series, assumes the perspective of her brother, Alex, which emphasises just how consuming her experience has been for everyone who loves her.
Mia’s Fuck It Bucket List squashes her experience of adolescence into a small window of time, which lends this a real bounce and energy. She has to catch up on what she missed, and mostly she does this through parties, which range from perilous to lovely to disastrous. One of the best things about the show is its embracing of awkwardness. Mia is relentlessly awkward, particularly if a situation demands she shouldn’t be.
But what is teenage life, if not utterly embarrassing? Mia’s illness dominates, but this is also about her finding who she is beyond that, and redefining herself outside it. These kids are simultaneously wise, at times able to recognise the deeper truths behind Mia’s self-centred behaviour, and also absolutely terrible to each other. They have the language for big conversations, but not quite the maturity.