The new Netflix teen drama has hit our screens within weeks of Sex Education ending, almost as if it is a definite replacement. Everything Now is a British show that follows 16-year-old Mia, who has just returned from treatment for her anorexia after 7 months. All she wants is to experience the “teen life,” minus the pity party, the judgment, and anything else that comes with being the “ill” one. When Mia first arrives back home and into the world of school again, she realizes quickly that she’s far behind on things that her friends have already gotten a fast pass on. Immediately, she decides to whip out her bucket list and share it with her friends so she can do the many things she’s been missing out on. Will Mia be successful? We’ll find out.
Spoilers Ahead
Mia And Becca
Mia has three really close friends, one of them being Becca, whom she’s known since elementary school. When Mia comes back, Becca makes sure she has a sensitive reaction to all things Mia. She is a delicate person in general and focuses on helping others and thinking of others before herself. Becca and Cameron (one of their other best friends) have been seeing each other for a little while now, but they hide it from Mia. Soon though, Becca catches feelings and wants to tell people, but she doesn’t share her thoughts with Cam, forcing herself into thinking that he’s still a womanizer who wants to see other girls too. Becca learns that she’s pregnant just after she decides to break up with Cam for not realizing she wants to be more than just a fling. This is when the gang decides to act on Mia’s wish to do something illegal. They break into a house that Becca’s mom is taking care of and have a huge party (somehow not getting in any trouble for it). Here, in a vulnerable position, Mia says some hurtful things to all her friends. Becca, who is going through it herself, finally speaks freely to Mia, telling her in a fit of rage that she wishes she hadn’t come back. Immediately, she feels terrible for saying that and has a panic attack that Mia gets her through. Mia had been petty, feeling so betrayed by her friends that she never saw what they were going through.
She decides to get an abortion on her own terms and asks her mom for help without telling any of her friends.
Mia And Cam
Cam is Mia’s best friend in the world. Unfortunately, their friendship is hanging by a thread because he was the person who told Mia’s parents about her eating disorder. He never visited her at the recovery clinic either, leaving Mia bitter. Although on the outside it seems like they’re fine, Mia is really hurt by Cam’s choices. During the party at the expensive mansion, Mia makes out with Cam to get a reaction out of either Becca or Cam himself. She’s so self-sure that she’s not making any mistakes that she thinks everyone around her is actually the problem. She never had to go so far to get her friends to talk; she could’ve just asked them for the truth. Cam has his own family drama; his mother is depressed and his father is mostly absent, but he does what is best for Mia. In the last few episodes, he becomes a completely different person, feeling angry for what he’d lost (the relationship with Becca), for not understanding Carli (who he was seeing at the time), and for making Mia upset. In truth, all he wants is for his friends to go back to being the same as before. Cam just doesn’t know how to express his real feelings.
Mia And Will
Will is the life of the party. He’s the one who wants to make sure everyone is happy all the time. Will is a little bit immature in comparison to everybody else. He lies about having sexual relations with his manager, but when the manager finds out and makes an advance on him, Will backs out. Will’s mind is always reeling. He admits that he needs a connection before it becomes something sexual. He lies because he wants to be at the top of his game too, but internally he feels funny, scared, and different. Will finds a connection with Theo, though. Theo is a sweet and kind person who wants to talk more than anything else. But when things start to get a little bit serious, he backs off because of his fear. He tells people that Theo is obsessed with him and that it’s just some kind of crush; there’s no relationship there. Theo overhears this conversation and decides to take some time away from Will. Mia expects honesty from Will at least; although Becca is the serious one, she knows Will gives her all the gossip, but the fact that he’s keeping secrets too makes her really insecure as a person in the group.
Mia’s Family
Mia’s family consists of her parents and Alex. When she returns from the recovery clinic, there is a lot of damage done to her family. Her parents are always fighting because of her, whereas Alex and she have become distant and alone. Mia finds out in the middle of all her friendship chaos that she’s been lied to at home as well. Not only are her parents separated, but her brother has hidden the fact from her too. Again, Mia is focused on herself and doesn’t realize the impact her illness has had on her family. She doesn’t realize that her parents had to hide this from her because she would overreact and it would affect her mental health enough to force her back to old habits. She doesn’t realize that Alex has no choice but to do what he’s told because he’s the “perfect” son who has so much pressure on his shoulders. Alex has many feelings about Mia’s illness. At first, he’s terrified, then he’s angry because everyone is so focused on Mia that they have no idea all the crap he’s going through in school. He gets bullied for sending a nude to a catfish and becomes the laughing stock of the school. He gets furious and beats up the student who made it all happen, but it’s all the pent-up frustration in him that comes out all at once. When he goes back home and notices Mia relapsing to her old habits, he saves her from making those same mistakes. He shows her that he’s there for her and that they can fight this illness together. His mind is finally clear enough to see Mia as a separate entity from her illness, which is the main focus here. He lost his best friend, but nobody cared to check up on him.
On the other hand, Cam became the best friend he needed. The older sibling who gave him advice and held things together for him. Even when Mia came back, she never shared the list with Alex. She never stopped to think about his feelings.
Mia And Alison
Mia’s love life is obviously MIA (you know we had to) after she’s spent seven months recovering. She’s back, thriving, and immediately jumping on the bandwagon to get her love on. At first, she thinks a nice guy named Theo is into her and has asked her out on a date, when really he was just inviting her to hang out with some friends. She thinks it was a pity party, but in truth, it was just him being nice because he clearly has eyes only for Will. When the new girl, Carli, shows up in front of Mia, she is flat on the floor. Mia thinks it’s the perfect opportunity to showcase her personality rather than ponder over her past with this person. She’s head over heels in love with Carli rather quickly, becoming obsessed with everything she does, wherever she goes, and almost turning into a weird stalker (not in the real stalker way). But, somehow, through misunderstandings and misguided judgments on the whole group’s part, Carli ends up with Cam and Mia ends up with hot girl Alison. No, you don’t understand; this woman is literally the Megan Fox of this school. She’s got it all—the money, the looks, and now the enigma of a partner, Mia. It’s clear that Alison has some strange interest in Mia. At first, it almost feels like Alison is just in love with Mia’s mom, who is an inspiration to young women (frankly, she’s fantastic; we would be too). When Mia finds out that all of that is just because Alison actually likes her, she’s shocked and can’t believe it. Unfortunately, Mia’s clearly not ready for any kind of relationship, and she’s kind of forced into it because Alison is just so into her.
Mia is still in love with Carli, though, and as time goes by, the more work Alison puts in, the more strange Mia feels about it. Her connection with Carli is different, and they talk about much deeper stuff. When Alison plans Mia’s birthday party, all hell breaks loose because Alison posts on her social media that Mia is a “survivor”. Mia feels like Alison never understood her at this point. At the same time, Cam’s asked her to talk to Carli about why she’s being aloof with him. It turns out Carli is still into Mia too, and they end up kissing. Cam sees this, and things become terribly messed up. Cam has an outburst and calls Mia selfish and self-absorbed. He finally admits that he’s glad he took the decision that he did because he wanted Mia alive. He would never change that, but he is sorry that Mia didn’t like the treatment and the way it all made her feel.
Mia And Her Illness
As the doctor tells Mia, anorexia is a friend to Mia. It’s a friend with whom she grieves, but one who never cared for her. As soon as things go wrong for Mia, she goes back to doing what she thinks she’s best at. When she gets healthy at treatment, Mia feels like she’s failing at the one thing she was supposed to be good at—being ill. Mia’s relationship with her mother isn’t very great. Viv is always perfect in appearance; she is put together and the talk of the room, quite the opposite of Mia. Her treatment of her daughter has always been at an arm’s length. That’s why Mia never trusts her mom.
Ending Explained: Does Mia Get Better?
Mia lies to her doctor, saying she’s doing just fine at home. She thinks she’s being coy, but he knows exactly what’s going on. When Mia finds out that one of her friends, girl who’d been a patient alongside her, died, she doesn’t cry or feel anything. She almost brushes it off her shoulder. When she gets back home, her mother gives her her evening snack, and Mia goes and hides it where she’s been hiding all the other meals. Her mother finally finds it, telling Mia that she can’t understand why she would keep doing this to herself and that she needs to go back to treatment. Mia runs away and finds Carli. She tells her they should spend the whole day on their own, crossing off things on her list. Carli needs some convincing, but she agrees. After some time, Mia says they should get out of town. Carli says no because there will be many more days for that. That’s when Mia says there won’t be, because she’s prepared to die. She thinks if her friend, who was stronger and recovering faster, was unable to fight it, then there’s no way Mia can do it. On the other hand, Mia’s mom tries to get everyone to help search for her. Everyone blames themselves for losing her and starts to panic.
Carli is the one who gets Mia to go back. Mia talks to her doctor and tells him that she’s feeling lonely because everyone has moved on, but time has stood still for her. She tells him honestly that she thought her friend who died won because she could do what Mia could never do. The doctor says it’s fantastic that Mia can be honest, and that’s a huge step towards her recovery. He proves to her that she’s different and healing every day. We discover that Mia’s father has actually been seeing the mother of her friend who died (ouch, quite harsh). Becca tells Cam about the abortion, and he tells her he really wishes he had made her feel like she could tell him. Finally, Cam admits he loves her, but he’s willing to be anything for her—friend or more. That’s when they’re interrupted by her boyfriend.
Mia goes back to Carli, telling her the honest truth this time. When she saw Carli, she finally felt like she had something to look forward to every day. Someone to wake up for. Mia thought Carli didn’t know the truth about her, but she always knew, and that’s why Mia shunned her away. Carli tells Mia that she’s spent her whole life trying to save people. Their relationship would be like broken puzzle pieces. They fit well with each other until they’re done getting what they need from each other. Mia and Carli need to work on themselves before getting together. This makes things so much clearer for Mia. She finally admits to Cam that he saved her life, and he should be proud. She thanks him and also assures him that she’ll be there for him for real now. Becca breaks up with her guy, meaning Cam still has a chance, and Mia writes a letter to Alison, who throws it away after reading it (someone’s in a mood). Mia was reminded of the bucket list her friend had made at the recovery clinic. It had the most basic things on it, like eating at a restaurant, family quiz time, and things that normal people could easily do, but they could never do. In the end, Mia realizes its true meaning when her friends want to make a list all together. During Everything Now‘s ending, Mia takes a bite of her sandwich while looking into the camera, indicating that how much she hopes to recover.
