Sydney Novak is a "boring 17-year-old white girl" whose family moved to small-town Pennsylvania two years earlier. She's made a best friend in Dina—both of them having been the new girl at the same time—and has started a friendship with Stanley Barber, the quirky, pot-smoking boy down the street who works at the bowling alley. Despite this, Syd still feels like an outcast. And just when she thinks her life can't get any weirder, Sydney discovers that she has telekinetic powers. You know—typical teenage stuff.
A second season had been announced, but in August 2020 Netflix reversed their decision and cancelled the show due to concerns about the cost of filming safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Stan's father is neglectful, verbally abusive, and heavily implied to be physically abusive as well.
- Accidental Murder: Sydney accidentally does this to Brad in the first season finale via Your Head Asplode.
- Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed Trope: Brad is not a particularly nice guy, but he isn't the callous rapist of the graphic novel either.
- Adults Are Useless:
- There are very few grownups present in the series, and the ones that are there tend to provide more obstacles for the teenage characters then anything. Justified with Syd's mother, as she's working 60 hours a week to provide for a family of three.
- This is also clearly present at Westinghouse. The school counselor's main form of therapy is giving Syd a diary and none of the school's faculty even attempt to intervene when Bradley outs Syd at the dance and then punches Stan.
- The Alleged Car: Stanley drives a 1978 or '79 Ford Fairmont whose power window (a rare option to begin with) strains to go down. Sydney later says that it smells like weed. Becomes even worse when he crashes it after Rick's party.
- Art-Style Dissonance: The comic is drawn like a comedic Sunday strip, except the subject matter is, well, depressing. They're supposed to be drawings drawn by Syd in her diary.
- Ascended Extra: Stanley is a relatively minor character in the graphic novel. In the show he's effectively the deuteragonist.
- The Blind Leading the Blind: Stanley appoints himself Syd's mentor, despite his knowledge coming only from comic books.
- Blood-Splattered Innocents: After Brad's head explodes, his blood splatters all over Syd and everyone around them.
- Bloodier and Gorier: Zig-Zagged. In the comic, Brad is internally hurt just enough in his head by Syd's psychic powers that he keels over and dies while having a nosebleed, whereas in the show, his entire head explodes, gibs and all. However, the alteration in the show is based on the ending of the comic when Syd blows up her own head, which was adapted out from the show.
- Book Ends: Syd's first use of her powers is to give Brad a nosebleed, and her last use of them in the first season is to cause his head to explode.
- The Breakfast Plot: Episode five, "Another Day in Paradise", with Brad as the athlete, Dina as the princess, Jenny as the criminal, Stan as the nerd, and Syd as the basket case.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Inverted when it comes to Stan and Syd. She's the brooding, troubled girl with a Hair-Trigger Temper, he's a more kind, laidback boy who's highly optimistic and The Stoner.
- Cassandra Truth: In the graphic novel, after Brad dies, Syd is visited by the police because she looked like she was arguing with him just before it happened. She outright tells them "I did it. I killed him with my mind because he raped my best friend", but the officers don't believe her, simply saying that he died of an aneurysm.
- Cliffhanger: Season 1 ends on one. Syd flees to the water tower to try to figure out what she's going to do next, only to be met by a mysterious man who confirms to her that people should be afraid of her and that now they can "begin" something...
- Cockroaches Will Rule the Earth: A variation; Stan believes that jellyfish will rule the Earth after humanity destroys itself, which is why he, in one of his drugged-out hazes, wishes he could be a jellyfish after the apocalypse so he could lead them to victory over the roaches.
- Cordon Bleugh Chef: Liam's "loaded lasagna" is made from random stuff he found in the fridge and the pantry, some of which he doesn't even know. Sydney thinks it tastes surprisingly good, though.
- Daydream Believer: Stan suspects that the authors of superhero comics must have done some research on the supernatural abilities they depicted in their stories, and uses them for research once he finds out that Sydney has Psychic Powers, envisioning her as a budding superhero and himself as her mentor.
- Detention Episode: Another Day In Paradise takes place almost entirely in detention.
- Disappeared Dad: Mr. Novak killed himself, something that continues to trouble Syd by the time the show starts.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Reading someone's diary in front of the entire school and outing them is a nasty thing to do to be sure. But it still doesn't even come close to merit death by having your head explode. Sydney herself seems to realize this (it was accidental).
- Downer Ending: The comic. After accidentally killing Brad, Syd believes that she's too dangerous and is Driven to Suicide.
- Driven to Suicide:
- Sydney's father hanged himself, an incident that remains a Berserk Button for her mother, who refuses to talk about it. It was due to trauma from his service in the Marines, and possibly also because he feared what he might do with his powers.
- In the comic only, Sydney decides her powers are too dangerous and uses them to kill herself, leaving her diary behind.
- Drugs Are Bad: Generally averted, with the exception of Stan's homecoming date, who believes marijuana is a gateway drug that leads to death. It's Played for Laughs.
- Drugs Are Good: Syd and Stan bond while smoking weed together and Syd later writes in her diary that it helped her forget about her anxieties.
- Embarrassing Cover-Up: Syd claims that she and Stan had sex in the library in order to hide her powers from Dina.
- Emotional Powers: Syd's powers tend to be more destructive whenever she's scared or pissed-off.
- Expy: Many aspects of Stanley's character are based on Ducky from Pretty in Pink.
- Fingore: In the comic Syd does this to her own finger, foreshadowing the fact that she can harm herself with her powers.
- Flyover Country: The show is set in a town in western Pennsylvania that has clearly seen better days. (It was filmed in Brownsville and Wilmerding outside Pittsburgh, both of which are real-life Dying Towns whose populations have declined by over two-thirds since their peaks.)
- Forced Out of the Closet: Brad outs Syd in episode seven during the homecoming dance, having stolen her diary and found out that she kissed Dina and has romantic feelings for her.
- Foreshadowing:
- In the comic only Syd accidentally blowing up her finger shows her powers can hurt herself. Later used for her suicide.
- Brad's remark just before the homecoming dance that what he has planned will be "fucking mind-blowing". Somebody's mind was indeed blown that night—namely, his.
- Stanley asks Syd if she has met any strange men who can act as her mentor and teach her about her powers. In the finale she does.
- Girl on Girl Is Hot: While exposing Syd with her diary at prom, specifically about her kissing Dina, Brad starts out by saying that he "totally" gets that girls get experimental when they're drunk and he supports it, wording it in a way that implies this.
- Gone Horribly Right: In episode seven, Syd wanted Brad to stop talking and he definitely did.
- High-School Dance: Episode seven takes place at the homecoming dance, where Brad plans to get revenge on Syd in true Carrie-esque fashion.
- Hope Spot: At the homecoming dance, when Syd has just made up with Stan, and her friendship with Dina seems to be developing into something more, Brad decides to read from her diary in front of the whole school.
- Implausible Deniability: When Stan sees that the shockwave that just knocked down several trees was centered on Syd, she tries to claim that it wasn't her.Syd: "It was like this when I got here, I swear!"
- Incompatible Orientation: The relationship between Stan and Syd dies (at least romantically-they remain friends) as she realizes she's a lesbian soon after they sleep together.
- Jaded Washout:
- Stan likes watching the high school's football games because he believes that most of the players are destined to turn out like this, saying that they're the ones who will attend the Class Reunion in five, ten, and twenty years because even those who go on to middle-class success rather than burning out will still wind up as mediocrities who look back on their high school years as their Glory Days. He compares high school football to a Shakespearean tragedy in that the players, at the peak of their lives, have nowhere to go but down.
- Stan is likely speaking from experience, given that his father was the homecoming king in 1991 and turned into a layabout drunk.
Mr. Barber: Still got my picture hanging in the auditorium.
Stan: How's that working out for you? - Jerk Jock: Bradley "Dick-for-Brains" Lewis and Ricky Berry find sex ed class more amusing than anything, Ricky harasses Sydney when she's not amused by their jokes, and Brad cheats off of Dina's test. Dina's dating Brad, much to Sydney's chagrin, with her comparing them to a Sickeningly Sweet '50s teen movie couple. After Syd reveals that Brad cheated on Dina with Jenny, therefore destroying their relationship, he plots revenge on her.
- Lighter and Softer: The show is considerably more funny and upbeat than the dour graphic novel.
- Love Dodecahedron: Stan is attracted to Sydney (and the two of them had sex), who is attracted to Dina (who may feel the same way), who is dating Brad, who is cheating on her with Jenny.
- Lower-Class Lout: Stan describes all the men in his family as dickheads, saying that his life is always better when his truck driver father isn't around. He hopes that he can break the "Barber curse". When we're first introduced to his dad in the fourth episode, his first words to Stan are "you look like a faggot."
- Mind over Matter: Sydney can move objects with her mind, with enough power to topple several trees in a shockwave blast.
- Missing Mom: It is implied Stanley's mother left the Barber family.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Syd is visibly shell-shocked after she accidentally kills Brad.
- Noodle Incident: How Stanley discovered burrito bombs or why he set one off in his house, we will never know.
- Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here: How Stan sees Brownsville.Syd: Why are you still talking to me?
Stan: Because everyone else here is boring. - One Dialogue, Two Conversations: After accidentally killing Liam's hedgehog Banana with her powers, Sydney's speech as she and Liam are burying him in the backyard starts to spill over into her feelings for her late father, wishing that she could've been there for him before he killed himself.
- Ordinary High-School Student: Sydney's opening monologue spotlights the fact that, as far as she's concerned, she's "not special". Sure enough, guess who turns out to have Psychic Powers.
- Parents as People: Mrs. Novak often shoves her responsibilities onto Syd, doesn't make an effort to connect with her grieving daughter, and tends to skirt around the topic of Mr. Novak's death. However, it's revealed that it's because she's exhausted from working 60-hour weeks as a waitress, just to provide for her family, and is still processing her husband's death herself.
- Politically Incorrect Villain:
- Brad displays misogynistic tendencies but is also openly homophobic. In the comic, he takes this to Straw Misogynist/He-Man Woman Hater levels and eventually ends up raping Dina.
- The first time we see Stan's father, he nonchalantly says that Stan (who is dressed up for a party) looks like a f*ggot.
- Power Trio: Syd, Stan, and Dina are this, particularly in episode 5.
- Prom Wrecker: First Brad, then Syd.
- Properly Paranoid: Turns out Syd is right about someone following her.
- Pseudo-Romantic Friendship: Sydney and Dina's friendship starts taking on these overtones by the third episode. Sydney wants to take it further, while Dina doesn't, though she later indicates her feelings may be growing. Regardless, they go to the homecoming dance together, with Syd unsure about her feelings for Stan and Dina coming off a bad breakup with Brad.
- Psychic Nosebleed: Not Sydney herself, but she accidentally gives one of these to Brad while wishing that he'd wipe that stupid smile off his face.
- Psychoactive Powers: Emotional distress, especially anger, causes Sydney's powers to fully erupt, in a manner similar to Carrie White. Stanley tries to invoke this by insulting Sydney, which just causes her to laugh until he starts going after her family.
- Rape as Drama/Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: In the comic only, Brad rapes Dina in anger at her Teen Pregnancy, which is what drives Sydney to kill him.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Mrs. Novak chews Syd out for refusing to go to school and saying that it's not fair that she has to take care of Liam, pointing out that she's not being fair to her for not wanting to do anything while she (the mom) works 60 hours a week to make barely enough money. She goes further in accusing Syd of favoring her father even after he's dead and that he was "vacant" unlike her.
- Retro Universe: While it's not explicitly set in The '80s like Stranger Things (modern cars are sprinkled amidst older ones, people have smartphones, HDTVs, and flash drives, Sydney refers to The '90s as being in the past), the setting and aesthetic of the show are still heavily evocative of the time period, from the color palette to the music to the downplaying of modern technology to Sophia Lillis playing the protagonist. Justified by it being set in a small, rural, working-class town that is behind the times, while Stan's collections of VHS tapes and vinyl records are due to him being a retro enthusiast.
- Right Behind Me: Syd walks in on Brad and Jenny talking about how Brad cheated on Dina with her.
- Sedgwick Speech: Brad, when you read the part in Syd's diary where she describes her powers in full detail so that you could mock her for it, maybe you should've believed her.Brad: "But that is not even the weirdest thing about Sydney Novak. Get this: Sydney claims that she has-" SPLAT
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Sydney's father served in the Marines. He was so horrified by what he saw and did that he refused to talk about his service, and it eventually drove him to kill himself. It's also implied that he had similar powers to Syd and that she inherited them from him, going by an incident where he was the only survivor of a massive explosion that killed both his squad and the enemy force they were fighting, and that he might have committed suicide due to fear that he might hurt someone else.
- Shout-Out:
- Stock Shout-Outs: The opening shot is of Sydney walking down the street in a spaghetti-strap dress covered in blood with a Thousand-Yard Stare, looking very similar to the title character of Carrie (1976) during her psychic rampage. The fact that anger sets off her powers only furthers the comparisons, as does the fact that it turns out she killed someone at the High-School Dance.
- Scanners gets a big one when Syd causes Brad's head to explode in front of everyone.
- Show Some Leg: In episode five, Dina tries to do this, tying off her shirt in order to seduce the janitor Carl into giving up his keys so that Syd and Stan can get the security footage of a freaked-out Syd trashing the library. It doesn't work, not least because the janitor is married and gay. He gives her the keys anyway, though, since all she had to do was ask politely.
- Spared by the Adaptation: The graphic novel ends with Sydney using her powers to commit suicide after killing Brad and seeing Dina's reaction at the latter's funeral. The first season finale ends with Sydney very much alive...Brad not so much.
- Stepford Smiler:
- Syd tries to do this in episode seven as her angst builds up, simply pushing it all aside and focusing on happy thoughts in order to keep her powers under control. Then Brad had to go and ruin it.
Syd: "The less of a fuck I give, the less likely I am to break shit."- It's implied Stan is this as well, though we don't see as much of his personal life.
- The Stoner: Stan, whose car smells like marijuana and who also sells weed on the side.
- Their First Time: Sydney and Stan at the end of episode two. Stan falls in love with her because of it; Syd, on the other hand, simply regards it as a one-time thing. Despite this, they still end up being close friends. It was doomed, given Syd's realized she's a lesbian, describing having sex with him as "really awkward".
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Syd and Dina, the former a short-haired lesbian and the latter her more glamorous, more popular best friend who is dating a football player.
- Transparent Closet: Meta example: the synopsis for the first episode outright states that Sydney is in love with her best friend, something that takes Syd three episodes to figure out for herself.
- True Companions: Syd and Stan become this over the course of the first season.
- Wham Episode:
- Episode three, "The Party's Over", where Stan finds out about Sydney's powers.
- Episode six, "Like Father, Like Daughter", where Syd finds out that her father served in the Marines and likely had similar Psychic Powers to her.
- Episode seven, "Deepest, Darkest Secret". Brad steals Syd's diary and reads it aloud in front of the homecoming dance, touching on everything from Syd's feelings for Dina to her Daddy Issues. When he gets to the part where Syd describes her powers, Syd blows his brains out. Not to mention, The Reveal that she was right about somebody following her, and that said person has powers as well.
- Wham Line: The reveal that Syd's dad had her powers and it's the reason he killed himself.
- Wham Shot:
- A mysterious figure staring at Syd from a distance.
- Brad's head exploding.
- Whole-Plot Reference: The plot of the first season plays out like a more comedic version of Carrie, albeit minus Margaret's religious lunacy. Syd is Carrie, the outcast girl with the Psychic Powers who serves as the protagonist. Dina is Sue, the sweet girl who is nicer to the heroine than the rest of the school. Stan is Tommy, the heroine's male friend who she struggles with her romantic feelings for. Brad and Jenny are a gender-flipped Chris and Billy, the former a popular student who has personal beef against the heroine (for getting her kicked out of the prom in Chris' case, for breaking up his relationship with Dina in Brad's) and tries to get revenge on her at the High-School Dance, and the latter being the popular kid's delinquent, black-leather-clad lover.
- Wild Teen Party: Sydney, Stan, and Dina go to one in the third episode. Stan says that the entire cheerleading squad was snorting cocaine in the bathroom.
- Your Head A-Splode: Syd does this to Brad accidentally in episode seven when he starts reading off her diary in front of the homecoming dance. Specifically, when he gets to the parts concerning Syd's powers.
- Zany Scheme: Pulled off by Syd, Stan, and Dina in episode 5 in order to retrieve security footage from the library.
