Line #44 Series/AwkwafinaIsNoraFromQueens


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5b5a44d7_5500_4a75_bf21_490705ac7bd4.jpeg]]''Awkwafina is Nora from Queens'' is a television series on Creator/ComedyCentral starring Creator/{{Awkwafina}}. It premiered on January 2020; its third season premiered in April 2023.
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3	Awkwafina plays Nora Lin, a fictionalized version of herself living with her grandma (Creator/LoriTanChinn) and father (Creator/BDWong) in Queens, NY, and struggling to be an adult. The cast is rounded out by Creator/BowenYang, Creator/JenniferEsposito, Creator/ChrissieFit, and Creator/JonathanPark.
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6	!!This series contains examples of:
7	* TheSixties: Grandma's flashback takes place during this time.
8	* AccidentalPervert: Wally accidentally includes his dick in an Instagram photo.
9	* ActorIsTheTitleCharacter: A show starring Awkwafina as a woman named Nora titled ''Awkwafina is Nora from Queens''.
10	* AgeLift: Nora tries to warn her childhood self when she accidentally ended up in 2003. In real life, Awkwafina would have been a teenager during that year.
11	* AlternateSelf: The last two episodes of Season Three introduce Nora to [[spoiler:Awkwafina]].
12	* ArtShift:
13	** 'Savage Valley' takes on the appearance of an '80s video game when Nora hallucinates monsters to fight in the "[[OldDarkHouse Chinese Death Trap]]".
14	** 'Grandma & Chill' becomes a shadow puppet show when Young Grandma's friend Shu Shu explains how she fled China for America. Before Young Grandma tells Shu Shu of her tribulations, the viewer can actually see Shu Shu put the puppets away. Lampshaded by Grandma in her narration:
15	--->'''Grandma''': I told Shu Shu everything about Doc Hottie and Garbage Boy, except I didn't have puppets, so my story was way more boring.
16	* AuthorAvatar: Nora Lin is loosely based off Awkwafina (born Nora Lum) growing up.
17	* BilingualBackfire: While working with a Chinese tech company in China, Nora gets insulted by two local workers who call her a lazy American in Mandarin only for Nora to point out she understands them. What makes it hilarious is they're all Chinese and makes the viewers wonder why would they insult her when she obviously knows the language.
18	* BirdsOfAFeather: Brenda and Wally bond over being struggling single parents with kids in their '20s.
19	* BitchInSheepsClothing: In season two, [[spoiler: Greta is revealed to have been a serial killer and took Nora with her to the house she lived in so she can kill her baby self and frame Nora for it.]]
20	* BittersweetEnding:
21	** Season 1 ends with Nora getting fired from her high paying job at the Chinese tech company that bought her cousin's app and deported from China after taking the fall for her assistant Grace when the police accused her for possessing drugs left by the other foreign expats. Despite that, Nora is happy to learn that Grace finally got promoted by the company after years of trying, and resolves to finally move out in a more thought-out manner.
22	** Season 2 ends with Nora realizing that the compound she is staying at is a fraudulent place filled with people pretending to be cut off from society. She also learns about the COVID-19 virus sweeping the world and rushes to New York to be with Grandma, who is all alone in the house (Wally is staying with Brenda). She succeeds and reunites with her. They stay in quarantine together while playing Zoom games with Wally, Brenda and Edmund.
23	* CelebrityParadox:
24	** Nora references the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse in the first episode, by [[Film/BlackPanther2018 crossing her chest with her arms and exclaiming, "Wakanda!"]] Later in the season, ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' co-star Creator/MingNaWen portrays Nora's Aunt Sandra. Awkwafina herself later joined the MCU as Katy Chen; whose [[Film/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings debut feature]] also contains characters portrayed by Creator/SimuLiu (Garbage Boy in this show, Shang-Chi in the MCU) and Creator/StephanieHsu (Shu Shu in this show, Soo in the MCU).
25	** A character mentions ''Film/JurassicPark1993'' to Wally, who's played by B.D. Wong, who was ''in'' said film.
26	--->'''Wally''': Yeah, I like ''Jurassic Park.''
27	* ChastityCouple: Parodied in 'Grandma & Chill'. Because Nora's grandmother is telling the story of how she got with Nora's grandfather as a KoreanDrama (where romantic leads rarely do much more than hug and kiss), she and Nora's grandfather only ever kiss without tongue and only hold hands when they spend a night together (although Grandma's description of their hand-holding is innuendo-laden).
28	* TheComicallySerious: Shu Shu's younger self in the flashbacks in 'Grandma & Chill': she has the modest demeanour of a stereoypical mid-20th century young woman from a K-drama but uses the language of a contemporary stoner from Queens--of Nora herself, in fact.
29	-->'''Shu Shu''': Ohhh, Garbage Boy! He is ''fiiiine''. Saw him rip apart a cardboard box once. No scissors. Shit was '''sick'''.
30	-->'''Shu Shu''': Chairman Mao's so smart. He saw this awesome place up the countryside. Called a "village". We're going to be like, joining the working class. Working the fields. It'll be rustic AF, bitch.
31	-->'''Shu Shu''': Who you gonna choose? Doctor Dick or Garbage Dick? Either way, get that nasty shit, girl!
32	* CoolAunt: Played with. Nora's aunt Sandra is a fun-loving, free-spirited hippie, but obviously portrayed as irresponsible, flighty, and neglectful towards her son.
33	* CoolOldLady: Nora's grandmother is the foundation of the family and one of the funniest characters in the show.
34	* DarkReprise: When Nora sets off to bail her booted car out of "car jail", she happily strolls to the accompaniment of a "Power Remix" of Music/ColbieCaillat's "Bubbly". After car jail demands she pay the bail in cash rather than a check, she glumly trudges to the bank, to the accompaniment of her InsufferableGenius cousin, Edmund, singing a solemn-sounding cover of "Bubbly" for his music class.
35	* DesperatelySeekingAPurposeInLife: Nora's job at the real estate agency ends after the owner retires, so Nora tells Wally of her desire to find a job that lets her "make an impact".
36	* DirtyCommunists: Grandma reveals she was once the daughter of a rich family in China during the 1960s, but was forced to flee to America when Communist hardliners started to target her family during the UsefulNotes/CulturalRevolution.
37	* ExperimentedInCollege: Nora mentions being bisexual in college. Season 3 [[spoiler:confirms that women still sexually attract her as an adult, as well.]]
38	* FirstGirlWins: Gender-flipped when Young Grandma turns down Doc Hottie's marriage proposal to try and win back Garbage Boy instead.
39	* FlappingCheeks: Shu Shu gets these in 'Grandma & Chill' when she's first introduced, with her character viewed in slo-mo with the wind dramatically blowing flower petals around her.
40	* GirlFriday: In 'China', the company gives Nora an overly invested and enthusiastic personal assistant named Grace.
41	* {{God}}: Appears to Nora in a dream... and is voiced by Creator/LaverneCox.
42	* HelpYourselfInThePast: "Stop! Nora Time" unexpectedly sends Nora back to 2003, giving her the chance to advise her younger self towards a brighter future. [[spoiler:She accidentally gives her advice to another Asian girl instead, who heeds it towards becoming a wealthy and happy adult by the time she meets Nora in the present.]]
43	* HospitalHottie: Parodied. Young Grandma's new love interest in America was a doctor at the hospital she worked at. He is only ever called "Doc Hottie" and is played with fanservicey aplomb by Creator/HarryShumJr.
44	* ISeeThemToo: Nora learns that [[spoiler:Brenda]] can also see [[ImaginaryFriend Toeknee]] when [[spoiler:his objections to Brenda marrying Wally provoke the bride to punch out Toeknee]].
45	* IWasQuiteALooker: Flashbacks and photos from TheSixties depict Nora's grandparents as a StatuesqueStunner and MrFanservice[[note]]respectively portrayed by Creator/JamieChung and Creator/SimuLiu[[/note]]. Nora can't believe that they looked so "hot" until Grandma shows her their wedding picture.
46	* ImaginaryFriend: Toeknee for Nora, who torments all of Wally's girlfriends.
47	* InSpiteOfANail: In 'Car Fished' Nora is shown multiple alternate versions of herself: one who is a rich and successful businesswoman, and one with an AwfulWeddedLife. Somehow both of these have the exact same {{Sexbot}}.
48	* InsufferableGenius: Nora's cousin Edmund, a Silicon Valley whiz kid. Every word that comes out of his mouth is delivered in such a patronizing, haughty tone.
49	* KoreanDrama: 'Grandma & Chill' is presented as an episode of a K-Drama.
50	* ManChild: The entire premise of the show is that Nora is a female version. Nora, despite being 27, still lives with her father and grandma, keeps a messy room, stays up all night playing video games, reflects on winning a ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' game as if it's a life-defining accomplishment, and is overall quite adolescent in nature.
51	* MidSeasonTwist: Halfway through the first season, in the episode 'Not Today', Nora learns that Edmund has moved to New York.
52	* MiniatureSeniorCitizens: A live-action version. Grandma is a good bit shorter than her son and granddaughter, but then we learn she was a tall, lithe young woman (played by a TimeshiftedActor).
53	-->'''Nora:''' Grandma, you were hot? And five foot ten?\
54	'''Grandma:''' Yes, and I'm still hot.
55	* MultigenerationalHousehold: Nora lives with her father and grandmother.
56	* MundaneMadeAwesome: Doc Hottie in the flashback is ''very'' excited about being allowed to do surgery again.
57	-->'''Doc Hottie''': [''in a clinch with Young Grandma''] I'm going to the hospital. They're letting me do surgery again. This new procedure called... [''dramatic pause, his lips barely touching hers, whispering''] ... '''kidney transplant'''.
58	-->'''Young Grandma''': ...Oh. [''weak smile'']
59	* [[MyHairCameOutGreen My Hair Came Out Orange]]: At the salon, Nora insists on having Asha, the stylist, dye her hair blond, even though Asha warns her that bleaching virgin Asian hair is "always unpredictable and ''often unfortunate.''"). The result? Wavy '''red''' hair that Asha says reminds her of [[{{WesternAnimation/Brave}} Merida]].
60	-->'''Asha:''' ''(stifling giggles)'' I only feel like 20% bad about this because I did warn you multiple times.
61	-->'''Nora:''' [[{{Angrish}} What, what even color is this?]] And ''the texture''! Is that a natural wave? Because I look like a Hot f------ Cheeto right now!
62	* OldDarkHouse: Nora's boss at the real estate agency has sworn not to retire until she can sell the Chinese Death Trap, a decaying, abandoned gangster hideout rumored to have ghosts. [[spoiler:When Nora helps sell it off, she gets paid double her salary before the agency closes down.]]
63	* OlderThanSheLooks: Shu Shu looks exactly the same as she did in TheSixties, except her hair has turned grey.
64	* OnlySaneMan: Downplayed with Nora's father Wally; he appears to be the sole voice of reason compared to his more eccentric family, but he has quirks of his own that become more apparent.
65	* OrWasItADream: "Stop! Nora Time" [[spoiler:confirms it was not a dream due to Nora waking up and discovering Greta does not exist and meets the other Asian girl she talked to in the past who becomes a wealthy and happy adult by the time she meets Nora in the present.]]
66	* ParentalSubstitute: When Nora's friends dare her to prank call a sex hotline, the operator proves surprisingly understanding and forgiving towards Nora. She proceeds to call the operator again whenever she needs motherly advice.
67	* PhonyDegree: Grandma has one in medicine.
68	* ProductionForeshadowing: Nora performing [[Film/BlackPanther2018 the Wakanda salute]] comes off as foreshadowing for Awkwafina's addition to the MCU, considering this show premiered after Marvel cast her in ''Film/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings''.
69	* RaceFetish: Brenda admits having one for Asian men after Nora meets her ''hapa'' son, Chuck.
70	* RediscoveringRootsTrip:
71	** Alluded to in 'China', as the Chinese-American Nora has never even been on a plane, and her family mentions that this might be a good opportunity to get to know her roots and eat some authentic Chinese food. (She gets KFC.)
72	** Edmund and Nora take one to Iceland after a DNA test reveals the former as part-Icelandic. [[spoiler:However, when he finds his supposed relatives, they help him realize that he received the wrong results.]]
73	* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: Nora learns in 'Paperwork' that since her bank account remained inactive for two years, the bank has declared her dead until she can deliver updated proof of identity.
74	* RetroactiveStepsiblingRelationship: Nora develops a mutual crush on Chuck, but after they learn that her father is dating Chuck's mother, the thought of becoming stepsiblings disgusts Nora and Chuck out of doing the same. Eventually, Chuck unsuccessfully tries to stop the parents from marrying by confessing his love for Nora.
75	* TheRichHaveWhiteStuff: Edmund moves to a swanky apartment, which fittingly has white walls, floors, and furniture.
76	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The launch party Edmund and Nora start for their app Scrubr, which targets rich young people, is hastily thought out, poorly executed, expensive, and is later made a laughingstock, is evocative of 2017's Fyre Festival, which became notorious in 2019 following two documentaries about the event.
77	* ScreamingAtSquick: Nora and Edmund scream in utter horror and disgust at the sight of Wally's accidental dick pic on Instagram.
78	* ScrewPolitenessImASenior: Nora's grandmother is often crass and not afraid to speak her mind.
79	* SickEpisode: The FramingDevice for 'Grandma & Chill' shows Nora recuperating in bed, with Grandma keeping her company.
80	* ShoutOut:
81	** The episode "Savage Valley":
82	*** The eponymous game Nora plays is evocative of ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' and its logo looks exactly like ''VideoGame/StardewValley''.
83	*** Nora's nonstop working and hyper efficiency after taking Adderall is a WholePlotReference to ''Film/{{Limitless}}''.
84	* SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace: Chuck attempts to object to Brenda marrying Wally, because he wants to date Nora.
85	* SpecialEditionTitle:
86	** 'Grandma & Chill' replaces the intro with one befitting a K-Drama.
87	** 'China' replaces all of the New York landmarks in the intro and transitions with Chinese landmarks.
88	* SpecialEffectFailure: InUniverse. In 'Grandma & Chill' Nora complains that the flashback special effects (where characters move jerkily in front of old photographs) are terrible.
89	-->'''Grandma:''' We don't have the budget!
90	* TheStoner: Nora is shown to smoke.
91	* StylisticSuck: In 'Grandma & Chill' the story of how Grandma met Nora's grandfather is told in the style of a low-budget K-Drama. At one point, characters are running in front of an obvious green screen.
92	* TakeThat: Nora's grandmother hates Marie Kondo.
93	* ThisLoserIsYou: Nora (the protagonist) is an unemployed WomanChild in her late '20s. She lives with her father and grandmother and has few prospects.
94	* TimeshiftedActor:
95	** Creator/JamieChung and Alan Kim play the younger versions of Grandma and Wally in flashbacks.
96	** Nora runs into Annabelle Chow when seeking herself from 2003. [[spoiler:However, Olivia J. Lu plays the ''real'' Young Nora.]]
97	* ToiletHumour: One episode revolves almost entirely around a song that samples Nora's queefs.
98	* TokenBlackFriend: Variation, as the majority of cast members are Asian. In 'Grandma & Chill', the Chinese Young Grandma had two friends of color upon arriving in Queens -- a Haitian woman and a Puerto Rican woman, both nurses -- who just exist to commentate on their love lives.
99	* TurnOfTheMillennium: Nora accidentally time travels to 2003.
100	* UptownGirl: Nora's grandparents. Her grandmother was a rich girl who fell in love with their garbage boy, to the disapproval of her parents.
101	* UpperClassTwit: Nora's grandmother, the daughter of a rich family, portrays her past self as one in 'Grandma & Chill'. As a rich girl, she had little to do other than look out the window and sigh after Garbage Boy, and was relatively unconcerned with political matters.
102	* WackyStartupWorkplace: The supposed marketing guru Edmund hopes to advertise Scrubr has a very club-like office. However, Nora immediately pegs him as irresponsible and untrustworthy, which he turns out to be.
103	* WalkingShirtlessScene: In the flashbacks to Nora's grandmother's youth in China, her grandfather for some reason did all his garbage collection shirtless, allowing for heavy FemaleGaze.
104	* {{Yellowface}}: Parodied in season 2, when Nora and Melanie's old schoolfriend Jennifar comes back to Queens to hang out, and insists that they cosplay as [[Film/CharliesAngels2000 the 2000 Charlie's Angels]] -- but also insists that she herself gets to be Creator/LucyLiu, in spite of Nora being the one of the three who is Chinese-American. Jennifar's impersonation of Lucy Liu consists of her wearing a black wig and dotting a few freckles on her face, while Nora is obliged to use talcum powder and Vaseline in order to squeeze into her very tight Creator/CameronDiaz costume.
105	* YouDidntAsk: 'Paperwork' resolves with [[spoiler:Grandma pulling Nora's Social Security Card out of a shoebox, but only after boasting that if Nora weren't too stubborn to ask for help, Grandma would've gladly helped clear things up with the bank right away.]]

Context Series / AwkwafinaIsNoraFromQueens