Helen Archer | On 19, Sep 2020

This mini review is based on Season 1 and was originally published as part of a BBC Three reviews column.

Rising star Awkwafina (real name Nora Lum) plays Nora Lin, a fictionalised version of herself, in this ten-part comedy series. This Nora is your typical American slacker – when she’s not getting stoned and planning marathon masturbation sessions fuelled by Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights, she’s doing Adderall in order to fulfil a short-term job as an estate agent’s assistant by day while playing video games by night. She lives with her widowed father Wally (BD Wong) and grandma (Lori Tan Chinn) in Flushing, New York, although she feels societal pressure to move out and get on with her life.

There are a couple of forays to China – the last episode is set there, as part of an app-development plot, while Nora’s grandma regales her with the story of the love of her life in another episode, to the backdrop of the Cultural Revolution. It’s all done with a lightness of touch that makes the whole endeavour seem easy.

Though the programme is something of a star vehicle, it’s populated by rounded, sympathetic characters and a sense of place, and the surrounding cast perfectly reflect Nora’s charm and warmth. Jennifer Esposito plays a potential love interest for Wally, while Bowen Yang plays Nora’s cousin Edmund with a wonderful manic intensity.

The series is an undemanding binge watch with some laugh out loud moments. While not exactly groundbreaking in terms of genre, it’s a sweet yet sharp take on millennial angst.
 
Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens is available on BBC iPlayer until September 2022

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