"Atypical" is the new Netflix original about Sam (Keir Gilchrist), an 18-year-old high school senior with autism.
As many high school boys do, they find girlfriends, so Sam decides it’s time for him to find a girlfriend and seek his independence.
As Sam is following his journey, we see a journey with the rest of his family, like his sister Casey (Brigette Lundy-Paine) who gets a scholarship for her running skills to a private school.
Sam’s mom, Elsa (Jennifer Jason Leigh) realizes she may not be needed as much as Sam seeks independence, and decides she wants to take back her own life. For her, an affair is the answer.
We also see the journey of Sam’s dad, Doug (Michael Rapaport), who finally understands his son, strengthens his relationship with Sam and maintains a good relationship with Casey.
Sam has been seeing a therapist throughout his life, and now that he is getting older she has been helping him find his independence and encouraging him to act like an average high schooler.
He has high functioning autism, and is sensitive to light and loud noises with a high interest of Antarctica.
Sam starts to fall in love with his therapist and out of love with his recent high school girlfriend, even though his girlfriend fought to have a silent winter formal at their school, and it goes surprisingly well.
Everyone enjoys the winter formal, including Sam’s sister Casey, who is fighting with her own demons of wanting to stay around to keep an eye on her brother. However, she really wants this scholarship for the private school to follow her dream of becoming an even more amazing runner.
Casey knows about her mother’s affair with a bartender after seeing them kiss one day.
Elsa loves her family and husband, but when she was with the bartender, she felt independent and like she didn’t need to take care of everyone but herself.
Sam finds a closer relationship with his father when he decides to open up to him about girls and school.
It all ends on a bittersweet note with Sam being happy about the "friends with benefits" situation with his ex-girlfriend, but with Casey letting out the secret affair.
I honestly loved this show, we can relate to Sam with his awkward high school and dating experiences.
I was upset when it ended because I couldn’t stop watching. The good news is it has been renewed for a second season with a 10-episode season, which is two more than the first season.
