An Atypical Finale

Last year, I praised the Netflix series Atypical, which then had three 10-episode seasons. Now, the series has concluded with a final fourth season, and I felt like quickly revisiting the subject for anyone who might have missed my recommendation the first time around.

Atypical is centered around Sam Gardner, a young man on the autism spectrum who is navigating his early college years. His family has their share of challenges too: his sister Casey is dealing with the high pressure of a potential athletic scholarship, his mother Elsa is struggling to adjust to not being "needed" as much by her son, and his father Doug is facing a midlife crisis triggered by an unexpected death. The show is woven of dramatic threads, but an often-light tone and compact half-hour format positions it strongly as a "dramady."

I found Atypical when it had already been around three seasons. And while I don't really "binge" shows in the "multiple episodes a day" way that Netflix thinks everyone should, I did basically watch them back-to-back with few breaks in between. The fact that COVID then delayed their final season and imposed an extra long break really allowed for some distance from the series I hadn't had before.

Atypical is still very good. But when you take a break between seasons of a TV show, you can often see behind the curtain to how television is usually written. That's especially true of modern "family drama" shows; each season systemically assigns a problem to each character to be resolved over the course of "however many episodes this season is going to be." Atypical felt to me like it had maybe even a little more than the usual amount of "between season upheaval," as several elements of past seasons have basically been dropped. One character who was practically in the main cast is barely around in season four; two characters who fought throughout season three have completely made up in the final season.

But I'm really just picking nits. Most TV shows are artificial in these ways -- it's too hard to get away from if you're trying to tell stories worth watching. And the payoff is definitely here, as the final season of Atypical has the show's patented blend of heart and humor. Particularly strong in the final season is the ongoing story line built around Casey, who almost becomes more the focus of the show than Sam. Brigette Lundy-Paine is really asked to act her ass off in this final season, and is more than equal to the challenge.

Atypical's final season is perhaps not quite as strong as the years before, but I think that's more a mark of how much I enjoyed the rest of it. More importantly, it reaches a satisfying and appropriate ending in the final episode. I'd give the final season a B+. If you haven't given Atypical a try, I highly recommend it.