Sometimes after you sit with a show for a while, your opinion of it can change, for better or worse. After my first watch, I found myself loving I Am Not Okay With This, but with time and space, I realized that most of what I felt was just falling short of what I had hoped. That doesn’t mean this show isn’t enjoyable, it is but it also isn’t as good as it could be. It falls just a little short and takes to long to finally get to what it needs to be. By the end, you think you are satisfied but in reality, you are just okay with this. Coming from the producers of one of my favourite shows, It’s The End of the F***ing World and coming from a graphic novel written by the same author then the show, I Am Not Okay With This as a lot of expectations to live up to. Using a very similar way of telling the story, by having the main character narrate their side of the story, but what was very effective in It’s The End of the F***ing World just doesn’t work as well in this.

What I Am Not Okay With This does is give a great platform to its three stars. Sophia Lillis (the It series, Sharp Object), Wyatt Oleff (the It series) and Sophia Bryant all make a strong case for the show. While Bryant gets the least to do in the series, her role is made to be expanded on if a second season is ordered, it is a shame that she doesn’t get to do more with this season. Oleff on the other end gets a chance to shine and steals every scene that he is in. It’s a refreshing role for him and he gets to flex his comedic muscle which is a nice thing. Lillis is at the centre of the intrigue and, of course, gets the most to do and she balances the comedy and drama so well that she can go from making you laugh at the top of your lungs to breaking your heart in one minute. This show rests a lot on the main trio and without them being this strong, the show would not have worked this well.

What makes I Am Not Okay With This fail in some way is that it takes so long to get to what it is trying to say. While it does start and end strong, the middle part gets lost and becomes, with time, boring. The show wants to keep an air of mystery surrounding the show and the characters and while I can respect that, the show doesn’t get going until it’s too late and they already have lost their attention. Even the great performances can’t make up for the fact that it takes too long for the show to really start. The first two and last two episodes are solid but the middle is very meh and forgettable. While they do have standout moments in those episodes, nothing stands out in a way that grabs your attention. It’s a shame because it is only eight episodes of half an hour and you should not feel like this in such a short time.

That doesn’t mean that the show isn’t enjoyable. The mix of comedy, drama supernatural and mystery work well, it just falls a little bit short at being extraordinary. The show’s mystery that drives the whole series just isn’t enough to pull you in and while the relationships are enough at times, they don’t know how to balance them well enough to e left wanting more. The only reason why I am even looking remotely forward to a possible second season is that the ending was satisfying but it does come a little bit too late.

The device of using voice over to explore the main character is just not enough at times. It works well often but then it just disappears or just feels out of place. It’s something that worked really well in the producers’ other show and you can see why they brought it back but it just doesn’t feel like it’s at the right place within this show.

The best way to describe my feelings for this show is enjoyable but forgettable and that is a damn shame because it is usually the type of show I thrive for and yet by the end of the year, I highly doubt it will still be on my mind.