Atypical's New and Final Season
In 2017, Netflix introduced Atypical to its streaming platform, created by Robia Rashid, hooking millions of people to the life of Sam Gardner (Keir Gilchrist) and his family. Atypical is centered around an 18-year-old autistic boy, Sam, who has a knack for penguins and is trying to navigate his way through relationships, life and independence. He develops a crush on Paige (Jenna Boyd), a girl he met in school. His mother, Elsa (Jennifer Jason Leigh), grapples with letting go of Sam and with her own marriage with her husband Doug (Michael Rapaport). In the first season, she deals with this by finding herself in an affair with a bartender. She also seeks revenge for when Doug left the family when Sam was firstborn. Their second child, Casey (Brigette Lundy-Paine), struggles with transitioning to a new high school and meeting her best friend, Izzie (Fivel Stewart), who then both discover feelings for each other.
Season 1 received some criticism (rightfully so), for not having enough autistic representation—by only hiring one autistic person for the social media team and one for the supporting cast and for giving the main role, Sam, to a non-autistic person. Each season after that, there were more autistic people hired for the cast and crew. Two are Sam’s friends, Jasper (Domonique Brown) and Sid (Tal Anderson).
Season 3 wraps up with Sam and his best friend, Zahid (Nik Dodani), who decide to find an apartment together. Casey finds out UCLA is looking at her to possibly scout her for their track team. Doug and Elsa decide to rekindle their marriage and work on it together.
[Spoilers ahead]
After pushing off production due to the pandemic, Netflix finally aired Season 4, the last season, on July 9, 2021. Season 4 has ten, 30-minute episodes filled with loss, happiness, love, and many changes for the Gardner family. Sam starts planning a trip to Antarctica to further his interest in penguins and faces challenges, such as where his funds will come from, what he is going to eat and how to build his shelter. He learns how to live with Zahid, and they both solidify their relationship by communicating with each other. Casey treks through her journey of solidifying her sexuality and whether she will seriously devote her upcoming years to track. She and Izzie find themselves in tough situations and also learn how to better understand each other. Doug finds himself dealing with loss and how to operate his emotions. Elsa is a strong support system for him, as he is for her when she starts talking to her mother again.
After a four-year run of Atypical, it is definitely a bittersweet ending to the cast’s highs and lows—and everything in between.
