Awkwafina is an actress, comedian, and rapper who made history last year when she became the first Asian-American woman to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture- Comedy or Drama for her outstanding role in The Farewell.
At the start of 2020, Awkwafina released her very own Comedy Central show called Awkwafina is Nora From Queens, which has been green-lit for a second season. Now that season one is officially in the books, let’s rank each episode from Awkwafina’s debut comedy hit.
Pilot- 6.4
Pilot episodes tend to either be a major hit or a major miss. In the case for Awkwafina is Nora From Queens, it falls somewhere in the middle, but also happens to be the lowest-rated episode of the season, with a 6.4 on IMDb. In the pilot, Nora is criticized by Grandma for being such a pathetic slob, so she decides to move out of the house. Nora moves in with her friend Chenise, who she helped study for the Bar exam.
After Chenise explicitly asks Nora to stay out of the spare room, Nora goes against her wishes, and discovers an underground cam-girl play-den! Chenise was pretending to go to work as a lawyer, but had been moonlighting as cam girl all along, and convinces Nora to join in, promising a large payout. Stereotypically dressed as a dragon, Nora dances around like she’s having a stroke, and accidentally catches her tail on fire, burning down Chenise’s apartment which ultimately lands her back home with her Dad and Grandma.
Vagarina- 6.5
In this episode, which features rapper Dumbfoundead in the opening scene as “Doug,” Nora ends up babysitting her cousin after Aunt Sandra drops him off unexpectedly. She gives the child sugar, which results in a kick to the vagina, causing Nora to uncontrollably queef. Her friend Melanie has been dating a Soundcloud rapper named “RatLung”, and the perfect situation arises when Nora stops by the studio and accidentally queefs in front of them, which gives RatLung inspiration to add the sound to one of his tracks.
As Nora’s queefs hit the radio, Nora is pissed she didn’t receive any recognition or royalties for providing her naturally-equipped instrument, so she confronts RatLung, and decidedly settles on a $20.10 buyout.
Launch Party- 6.9
Spoofing the popular Fyre Festival phenomenon, Nora and cousin Edmund have a disastrous experience trying to put on a launch party for their app “Scrubr”. Jabookie Young White (American Vandal) returns this episode as Daniel, Nora’s love interest, who helps Nora put up a ton of gazebo’s at the failed festival.
This episode receives a 7.0 on IMDb, and ranks somewhere at the bottom, possibly even the worst episode. Still, the worst episode of Awkwafina is Nora From Queens is better than some series’ best episodes!
Savage Valley- 6.9
Nora realizes she needs to get a job if she’s ever going to “bail her car out of jail,” so she asks her dad to help her get a job as an assistant to his real-estate friend, Nancy. At first, Nora has trouble focusing, but she quickly remembers an old Adderall prescription she has laying around and ends up going overboard.
As it typically goes, Nora initially does excellent helping out Nancy, being an all-around superstar, accomplishing tasks and goals from years prior. Then as it always plays out, the crash-and-burn inevitably comes, and Nora’s bottle runs empty. A tied rating with “Launch Party,” this episode was much more entertaining, deserving a higher spot on the list.
Not Today- 6.9
The fifth episode of AINFQ called “Not Today” is one of those “nothing can go right” episodes. Nora gets into a fight with her dad and decides its time to give her hair a mix-up, and meets a stranger (Natasha Lyonne) waiting at the salon who gives her some ill-advice, demanding Nora “listen to the beast” and “bleach her hair; bleach her a–hole.”
While we’re not sure if she took Lyonne’s advice on the latter, Nora does bleach her hair, which ends up looking like a bright-orange frizzy mane, much to the forewarning of the hairstylist. Nora ends up running into Daniel (Jabookie Young White), her old classmate who ends up flirting with Nora and getting her number, despite the catastrophic hairdo!
Atlantic City- 7.1
Not surprisingly, the highest-rated episodes are Grandma-heavy episodes, because Grandma is the MVP of the whole show! In “Atlantic City,” Nora and Grandma take a trip to Atlantic City where Nora learns blackjack and runs into a washed-up friend from high school, while Grandma joins her friends in a battle with the rival group of retired-Asian-women-who-watch-soaps-in-public-on-their-iPads.
The opening scene features Nora setting a romantic scene to Color Me Badd’s “I Wanna Sex You Up,” where she uncovers an impressive dual-ended vibrator and audibly makes plans to masturbate to Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights for “the next twelve hours.” Rated a 7.2 on IMDb, this episode is right in the middle of the rankings.
Paperwork- 7.2
This episode was directed by Natasha Lyonne and receives a 7.3 on IMDb. “Paperwork” revolves around Nora finally getting her car from the impound lot, though she fails to realize they won’t accept a personal check written to Nora Lim, and has even further trouble at her bank, which closed her account due to inactivity. Unforgettably, Grandma returns with Nora to the bank and threatens the teller in the most hilarious-yet-scary way.
Guest-starring Michelle Buteau as Margaret, Nora’s new partner-in-crime who helps her scam focus groups by using multiple fake IDs, who ultimately gets arrested. This episode is definitely a series highlight.
Grandma Loves Nora- 7.4
In “Grandma Loves Nora,” cousin Edmund, Grandma’s other grandchild, starts spending a lot more time with Grandma, which makes Nora jealous. They start competing for Grandma’s affection, and Nora discovers Edmund is having a creative struggle, unable to come up with an idea to pitch during his upcoming meeting with investors.
Nora ends up saving the day by single-handedly delivering Edmund’s pitch, and the two team up to collaborate on their new app idea, Scrubr. Meanwhile, Nora’s dad Wally joins Instagram to meet women and accidentally posts a d*ck pic on his first try.
China- 8.0
In the season one finale “China,” Nora travels to her homeland to work for the company backing hers and Edmund’s app Scrubr, only to discover an absentee workload and overbearing personal assistant named Grace who changes Nora’s pajamas for her while she’s sleeping.
Nora also meets other foreign travelers, including a fellow American who makes the U.S. look horrible by being as disrespectful as possible. When Nora gets in trouble and ends up getting extradited, Edmund is finally on his way to China, left to pick up the pieces of her destruction.
Grandma And Chill- 8.4
It’s no surprise this episode was rated the highest of the season. In “Grandma and Chill,” Grandma tells Nora her backstory in China through the framework of a Korean drama, which results in a hilarious outcome. Highlights include Grandma’s friend Shu Shu, Garbage Boy, and of course, Doc Hottie.
Guest stars include Harry Shum Jr. (Glee), Alex Wong (Isn’t It Romantic), and Jamie Chung as Young Grandma.
