Netflix's Atypical Review: 4 Ups & 1 Down

A warm, compassionate, and contradictory series.

Atypical Netflix
Netflix

Atypical is the new comedy-drama series from Netflix and Robia Rashid (Will & Grace, HIMYM). The show's premise is simple: it's about an 18-year old boy that wants to find love. However, there's an unfamiliar twist to it, as Sam has autism. Granted, it's HFA (High Functioning-Autism), but dealing with it is still problematic for him, his family, and the people he encounters.

By making the disorder not only the main focus of the story, but also its primary source of humor, Atypical familiarizes it and shows that living with an autistic person isn't as scary as people may think. Although simplified and toned-down, the spectrum is presented here as something that can be understood and eventually embraced.

The first season is just eight episodes, which makes it perfect for binge watching, but surprisingly long enough to endear the characters to the viewer. The number is plural, because albeit the whole series and the show's tiny world revolves around Sam, the breakout star of the show is surprisingly not Keir Gilchrist - who plays the autistic teen with sensitivity and attention to detail - but rather Brigette Lundy-Paine, who portrays his tomboyish sister. Generally, the whole show is well acted and a very good watch, if not without issues.

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I write sitting with my dogs on the sofa, which often leads to whole paragraphs being deleted by a single touch of a paw or a nose.