Everything Now is a 2023 British Netflix original teen drama created by Ripley Parker.
The series stars Sophie Wilde as Mia Polanco, a 16-year-old Londoner who returns to sixth form after being hospitalised for 7 months. Upon realising how much she missed out on, she comes up with a bucket list with her friends.
The first season premiered on 5 October 2023.
Everything Now provides examples of the following tropes:
- Affectionate Nickname:
- Mia and Alex's dad often nicknames them both. He calls Mia Meems, and Alex Al.
- Mia later calls her girlfriend Alison Al as well.
- Becca's friends sometimes call her Beccs.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Mia's mom repeatedly embarrasses her by doing things like noting a boy she likes once took a bath with Mia while they were three year olds, and giving her The Talk right before her date with him. She doesn't stop even when it becomes clear that Mia is mortified and asks her not to repeatedly.
- Bad "Bad Acting": Mia joins the drama club at her school as the girl she likes is there. When she does improv, she's really awkward, showing little emotion in a very dramatic scene. She's also quite hesitant while reciting a bit from Romeo and Juliet.
- The Big Damn Kiss: Mia and Carli share one in the finale when finally left alone together, but they are caught by Cam, who exposes them to Alison.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Although her mom deserves some of it, Mia can be extremely rude to her. She openly even cusses her mom to her face multiple times. It stems from their issues and her mom appears used to Mia being like this with her.
- Broken Pedestal: Mia had always been closer with her dad, so the fact he's the one who initiated divorcing her mom is a shock to her. She's very against it and believed her mom at first to be the instigator.
- Calling Parents by Their Name: Mia refers to her mom as Vivian, a sign of disconnect between them.
- Camp Gay: Will is a flamboyant and effeminate gay boy who's quite open about this.
- Cast Full of Gay: More than half the main cast are LGBT+. Protagonist Mia is a bisexual girl, first showing attraction to Theo, then Carli and Alison. Carli and Alison both return her feelings. Will, her friend, is Camp Gay. Theo likes Mia first, but then gets involved with Will.
- Cool Old Guy: Dr Nell, played by Stephen Fry, is a wise, compassionate grandfatherly figure concerned for Mia's wellbeing who tries to help her and her family at every opportunity.
- Daddy's Girl: Mia is clearly closest to her dad at first. She's much more affectionate with him, like many examples Mia's also a tomboy, and they're pretty easygoing together.
- Disappeared Dad: Becca's dad died in 2017, we learn from a memorial put on a bench for him. She still goes to sit there in the park by it, talking with him too.
- Don't Look At Me: Mia is recovering from anorexia which stemmed from a very poor body image. Even after, she's very reluctant to be seen naked or in revealing clothes by anybody else as a result at first.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Heartbroken at the end of the series, Cam and Alison agree to get "really fucking drunk" together.
- Erotic Dream: Mia fantasizes of the girl she likes, Carli, while she recites a bit when on stage taken from Romeo and Juliet put in modern language, imagining them lying in bed together where Carli's wearing a revealing top.
- Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter: Mia is a tomboy, and was even as a little girl. In contrast, her mom is a feminine woman who pushed her to wear dresses even when this clearly wasn't what Mia wanted, preferring her dad's clothes. Their contrasting styles are one source of conflict between them.
- First Kiss: Mia gets instruction from her friend Becca on how to kiss, and then practices with her, since she's never done it before. Later she does impulsively kiss a boy at the party, though she embarrasses herself due to springing it on him.
- Flashback: Mia's flashbacks to her struggles with anorexia prior to being hospitalized are shown fairly often during the show.
- For Your Own Good: Cameron was the friend who informed Mia's parents about her eating disorder, and then didn't visit her. Mia tries to act like it's fine, but she still feels hurt and resentful.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Subverted. Becca finds she's pregnant and gets abortion pills, but also wants to tell her mom, worrying she'll disapprove. Her mom is fully supportive of any decision she makes though, and Becca goes through with the abortion. Mia is also supportive after finding this out and wishes Becca had told her at the time so she could have been there with her.
- I Am Not Pretty: Mia has an extreme case of feeling like this, going so far as to develop anorexia and even body dysmorphia. In her mind, she's never thin and pretty enough. Of course, she's perfectly good-looking, with a slim build, but the disorders tell her otherwise. This is so intense that Mia has been hospitalized, and can't stand to look in mirrors at first.
- Imagine Spot: Alex gives an angry "The Reason You Suck" Speech to his family during therapy, then it's revealed he'd just imagined this and gives only a mild reply in reality.
- Inner Monologue: Mia's frequently comments on the events in the show and issues she has in a voiceover.
- Innocently Insensitive: Alison has a habit of asking Mia rather invasive questions and saying things that are at least mildly triggering, but she does seem to mean well.
- Instant Humiliation Just Add Youtube: Alex sends a dick pic to a girl he likes at her request, then learns it wasn't her-he was catfished by a guy on his football team. The pic is shared around to many people in the day, with Alex being humiliated and getting into a fight with his catfisher over it.
- Internal Reveal: Cam only learns he got Becca pregnant and she'd gotten an abortion long after the audience does.
- Kissing Under the Influence: Mia suddenly kisses Theo having drunk three shots for the first time while he's trying to get her water, much to his surprise, only for her to get sick immediately after.
- Lies to Children: Mia's parents Viv and Rick have been hiding the fact that they are separated from Mia. Her brother Alex is also in on the lie.
- Lipstick Lesbian: Carli and Alison are both more feminine girls, while both find Mia attractive. They have long hair with pretty feminine outfits. Carli at least appears to like boys as well however.
- Longing Look: Mia is stunned by first seeing Carli at the party, with her only being able to wonder who she is with obvious interest for a minute.
- Love at First Sight: Mia is instantly enamoured with Carli upon seeing her dance at Theo's party.
- Love Confession: Cam says to Becca that he loves her in Episode 8, after the two broke up and she's with another boy.
- Love Dodecahedron: Mia has a crush on Carli, who starts dating Cam after he's been dumped by Becca. Meanwhile, Alison has a crush on Mia (which Mia has difficulty processing even after they start dating).
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places:
- Will happily recounts how he and his book had sex in a storage room. It turns out this was imaginary.
- Cam and Becca often hook up behind the bleachers, from what's said, although they get interrupted on the show.
- Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple:
- Mia is a fairly tomboyish girl, with short hair and grungy, boyish clothes. Both the girls she's linked to, Carli and Alison, are quite feminine.
- Camp Gay boy Will later becomes involved with more masculine bisexual boy Theo.
- Matchmaker Crush: Cam had enlisted Mia to help his and Carli's relationship problems, oblivious to Mia's feelings for Carli.
- Mistaken for Cheating: Mia sees her mom having lunch with a man, concluding she's cheating on her dad with him from the way they act. It turns out this is her mom's attorney and they were just being friendly together.
- No Periods, Period: Mia's anorexia had caused her period to stop, which comes back suddenly after she recovers. She's embarrassed by this as she bleeds on a bath robe while at a spa, though her mom gives Mia comfort and is glad to see Mia's recovered.
- Oblivious to Love: Despite them dating, Mia does not understand or notice how much Alison likes and cares for her, therefore she does not realise she's breaking Alison's heart. The relationship starts to feel rather one-sided as a result.
- Office Romance: Will is in a relationship with his boss. It turns out this is an imaginary relationship however.
- Oop North: Carli is from Manchester, which Alison mistakes for being Scottish.
- Perspective Flip: Episode 6 shifts to show what Alex has going on and how he's dealing with Mia's problems. His perspective previously hadn't been shown.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Will advises Mia to act like Cady from Mean Girls, and she's got no idea who that is, having never watched it, to his exasperation. Carli also mentions several older classic plays to her like A Streetcar Named Desire and Mia doesn't recognize any of them.
- Practice Kiss: Mia and Becca share one in the first episode, as Mia feels insecure that her friends have gotten all this experience while she was away.
- Queer Establishing Moment:
- Will is shown to be Camp Gay early on from his mannerisms and being in a relationship with his male boss. However then it's revealed to just be imaginary, though his boss likes the idea.
- Theo reciprocates Mia's attraction, but then gets involved with Will which shows that he's bisexual.
- Mia is shown to find boys attractive, then she's also attracted by Carli, a girl she runs into, showing Mia's bisexual too.
- Secret Relationship: Becca and Cameron started seeing each other casually while Mia was in hospital, and they want to keep it from her. Becca also worries Cam is not interested in a serious relationship because she perceives him to be The Casanova.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Mia's parents comment on how nice she looks after getting ready with Becca to go to Theo's party (though her parents think they're going to the cinema).
- Surprise Pregnancy: Becca gets unintentionally pregnant from Cam and soon decides to have an abortion without saying anything to him at first.
- The Talk: Mia's mom not only talks to her about safe sex but also gives her a ton of condoms before she goes on a date, embarrassing her. Then when Mia leaves she calls over Alex, Mia's brother, to do this too.
- Teen Pregnancy: Becca learns she is pregnant shortly after breaking up with Cam. She ultimately decides to quietly get an abortion with support from her mother.
- Their First Time: Mia loses her virginity with Alison in between Episodes 4 and 5. She doesn't really feel any different afterward, and Mia's somewhat surprised by that.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Mia vomits on herself along with into the sink at the party when she's drunk.
- Wild Teen Party: Mia and her friends go to Theo's party in the first episode, complete with booze and drugs, marking an item off her bucket list.
