Awkwafina is Nora from Queens series premiere recap

Is Delta Dental a sign of adulthood? Do you remember Israel Kamakawiwoʻole?  Are pants important? Awkwafina is Nora from Queens answers these questions in its series premiere. We’ve got the details!

Awkwafina is Nora from Queens scored Comedy Central its highest rating for a new show in years, per a report from Deadline. The show was well-promoted, has a buzzworthy star in Awkwafina, and it was really good. The “Pilot” had a fresh structure. It was put together like a sketch show. But, there was still a complete narrative that introduced us to Nora’s world, her family and friends, and her main drive. It was a classic pilot episode with a presentation that popped and was funny. The “Pilot” was written by Awkwafina and Theresa Hsiao (American Dad!). It was directed by Lucia Aniello (Broad City).

Heaven’s Green Room

The opening scene introduces us to the main cast: Awkwafina. She’s super dead and floating in the sunny, definitely-not-Purgatory, staging area for the Pearly Gates of Heaven. The voice of God (Laverne Cox) tries to comfort Nora, who says she’ll miss her dad (BD Wong) and grandma (Lori Tan Chinn). When God realizes that Nora is almost 30 and still lives at home, they call her on it. Nora and God go at it, and Nora is deemed “not-ready-yet.” She wakes up face down in bed. Her grandma is telling her there is food ready. When Nora finally comes to, grandma has moved on to pointing out all of the junk in her room. She calls Nora a hoarder. A bunch.

We formally meet dad and grandma and see their happy family dynamic. Nora decides that it is time for her to move out. Grandma goes as far as to tell Nora that she’s going to miss her even though Nora has no job or apartment lined-up. Her dad is not oblivious. He’s more the understandingly happy type of parent.

There’s a quick scene that’s funny and lets us know the pressure Nora feels. She goes to throw garbage out and meets her neighbor, Teddy (Gabo Augustine). She tries to commiserate with him over being but on garbage duty by their parents. But, Teddy reminds her that he’s only 17 and he’s actually way more worried about the SATs. Nora can’t relate but offers him some morning sativa. Teddy looks back at her with a version of OK, Boomer on his face. You can feel old at any age.

Rough Commute

Nora does move out, kind of. She’s crashing in the bathroom of her friend Chenise’s (Makeda Declet) swanky apartment. Chenise can afford it because she’s a successful lawyer. Nora helped her study for the bar exam. Chenise has simple rules: don’t answer her landline and don’t go in the spare bedroom. It’s being renovated due to black mold under the floorboards.

Like a lot of folks these days, Nora turns to ride sharing to make some income. She works for Commute, which is a cool name for a rideshare place. We get clotheslined by her rides: a passenger gets in her car, Nora makes the passenger uncomfortable in some hilarious way, and her earnings slowly build in the corner of the screen.

Her last passenger (Frances Eve) is on the way to a gig. It’s actually just a midday open mic and she’s a ukulele player. Nora doesn’t call her on that. She just ponders if Israel Kamakawiwoʻole was found at an open mic. She starts rummaging in the car for his CD. The passenger doesn’t feel safe and asks Nora to pull over. As soon as she gets out of the car, the passenger is hit by a bicyclist. This is a real fear for me. Bicycle people are lawless renegades. Nora gets the blame and the Commute experiment is over for now.

While she ponders her next move, Nora lounges on Chenise’s couch. The landline starts ringing. Should Nora break the rule and answer? No. That would be wrong. What would be right is to go in that off-limits black mold rule. The call could be important. Plus Nora is nosey. She discovers that there is no black mold at all. It’s a studio for Chenise. She’s a high paid cam girl. She never did pass the bar and camming was lucrative. So, she invested in herself and made a career.

Tail Fire

At a family dinner with dad, grandma, and successful cousin Edmund (Bowen Yang), Nora drops the news that she has a job in the tech industry. She doesn’t mention that the job will be as part of a cam girl duo with Chenise. But, it will score her Delta Dental insurance. There were a lot of funny moments and jokes in Awkwafina is Nora from Queens, but the Delta Dental name drop really made me giggle.

Her family doesn’t know if they are being told a half-hearted lie, but Nora is trying. So, even Edmund is a little impressed. In the magical pony portion of the episode, Chenise and Nora go on live cam. Chenise’s outfit is sleek. Nora’s is, I think, a crab. She’s super hesitant at first, but Nora gets into it. Nora starts to awkward-twerk and her costume tail gets to close to a candle. The tail catches fire and she burns Chenise’s apartment down.

In the closing scene, Nora is awakened again. This time she’s sleeping in her car with most of her possessions and no pants. The person waking her up is the guy who is about to tow her car for parking illegally. Nora tries to get away, but there’s a boot on her car. When she admits defeat and gets out of the car, the digitized screen makes you realize that Nora is wearing nothing at all, besides an oversized shirt. Dejected, she calls her dad to pick her up.

Nora’s dad levels with her. She’ll be ready to make a move when she’s ready. Till then, he’ll be there for her. but that does not include borrowing her the $500 to get her car back. Even though she is back living at home, Nora still decides to change her environment by cleaning her room. Sure, everything is crammed in her closet. But that’s top-level adult stuff, right there. She finds her Israel Kamakawiwoʻole CD, which was actually her dad’s, but he lets her keep it. She may not ready to move out. But she’s working on it.

Did you like the series premiere of Awkwafina is Nora from Queens? Will you keep watching the show? Let’s discuss in the comments!