Atypical Season 1 Episode 5 & 6 Review

Episode 5

It starts off with Sam in Techtropolis. Sam then talks about how he learnt everything about it before applying for a job there. Sam also includes knowing everything as some social skills like not telling people they smell when they do.  The owner of Techtropolis, Bob, then speaks to Sam, he mentions that Sams shift ended 20 minuets ago and he asks if everything is okay. Sam replies about everything that has happened over that last 24 hours, after saying yes. Sam mentions that he has a girlfriend that then starts a conversation. Bob asks what her name is because Sam doesn’t what he was asking the name for he says, ‘which one?’. Bob then rephrases the question by asking what his girlfriend’s name was. Sam says it is Paige, then he starts a list of things about her. For instance, he says ‘she has blonde hair, she is bossy and keeps touching my things’. He then mentions that Paige is coming over to his house after work. Bob tries so hard to relate by saying that he has a wife then says take all the time you need.  It then goes by to Sam speaking about how he doesn’t normally like new things- which some goo logical point that include seals. Then it cuts to the therapy room where he is actually speaking. 

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It then goes to Casey and Even in Casey room. Casey is trying to do some homework whilst Evan talks about her interview with Clayton Prep which is tomorrow. Casey is slightly panicking so Evan tries to joke and flirt around a little. Casey tries to shut the door, but Elsa shout to keep it open.

We then see Elsa in the kitchen reading something on her laptop. We can then see it was an autism blog (Like this one) She then gets an email, it’s from Nick. Elsa tries to get rid of it, but it can’t be closed so she shuts her laptop. Then she puts something in the dryer and call up Nick. Elsa asks why she got and that they were meant to be over. Nick says that she wasn’t to get it and that he ‘accidentally’ sent it out to all of his contacts because he might be slightly under influence of drugs. Elsa then apologises to Nick about the way she ended things. Then she ends the phone call.

We then see Julia snooping around her own house looking for clue to see if Miles has had another woman around. We then see Julia talking to one of her friends, also a therapist. Julia says that her snooping isn’t her, but she thinks Miles is actually up to no good. The therapist mentions that she has got all this from a chocolate strawberry. They then add that Miles and Julia have been together for 5 years and if they were in a ‘good place’ then it would be something that she should be able to get over and he hasn’t proposed in that time. Then jokes that Miles bought those strawberries for another woman and they are going to get married and Julia should live in a ditch. Julia says thank you that’s all I wanted to hear. Her friend then looks at her slightly worried. 

It then goes back to Elsa at home, as Sam walks through the door with Paige. Sam then explains that Paige waited for him at the bus stop, she gave him her thermos to hold and that she has talked the whole way back. Paige then says that is all true. Elsa mentions that they sound very official, Paige then mentions ‘that what couples do’. You can see Elsa doesn’t like Paige being his girlfriend. Elsa goes to offer Sam a snack and Paige already has that sorted. Sam then mentions something relating to Antarctica, this is where we see Paige has something for Sam about always talking about Antarctica. This is a card system, that at the start of the day he has three cards everytime he mentions Antarctica or something similar that he has to hand a card back to Paige.  When all of the cards run out he can’t talk about Antarctica until Paige gives the cards back to him the next day. Elsa is taken back by it she asks Sam how he feels. Sam doesn’t like it, but others do, mainly Paige. He then goes up stairs with Paige. It cuts back to the therapy room briefly, so he can explain something about artic foxes. It shows Paige touching most of his stuff, including Edison the turtle. You can slowly see Sam get more annoyed, so he does what any normal person would do- yes that’s right, lock them Paige in his closet. We get this laugh when Doug comes up to see how Sam is doing and Paige says hi from inside the closet. Doug asks why she is in there and Sam says because she kept touching all his stuff. Doug then pulls Sam away and points out that you don’t lock girls in closets. Doug opens up the closet to find Paige in a small space, Doug then apologies for what Sam has don’t, whilst Sam goes back to his desk and doesn’t really care. Doug ask Sam to apologise for what he did, Sam says no because he did what he thought was right. Paige admits that she is a handful and Sam doesn’t need to apologise. Sam then point out that it was only for ten minuets, then talks about Antarctica again. That was his last card as well. Paige then goes home. Doug then points out that putting girls in closets is weird, Sam asks how he did, Doug, stop Elsa touching all of his stuff Doug then mentions he didn’t.

We then go back to Casey and she is wearing a smart dress to go to the interview at Clayton Prep. Elsa then says how pretty she looks. Elsa says that she is now fully behind her going to Clayton. Casey says it because it is of the 5-hour long conversation both Elsa and Doug had behind closed doors. Elsa mentions that they will sort everything as it goes, including Sam. That reminded Casey to say that Beth has his lunch money that day. Then Doug, Elsa and Casey go to see Clayton.

We see what clayton looks like, very fancy and sophisticated. Everything you think a private school would be like. 

We then see Sam at school Paige then comes over to say hi, with his jumper on her. Sam isn’t that happy, Paige says that she took it when she was locked in his closet. Paige talks about over things, like Sam I didn’t really listen because she has his jumper on her. Sam then talks about fight, flight or hide. We see Sam hiding from Paige. 

It then goes to the interview with Casey and another student from clayton prep. Casey then gets a phone call just as it is about to start. The interviewer asks her to turn it off, but Casey answers it anyway. Its Beth, she can’t find Sam and Casey has to find out where he is. The Casey then text Sam, the interviewer not knowing about Sam autism starts to complain to her. Casey shuts him down by saying “my brother’s autistic”. The interviewer then feels kinda stupid, Casey mentions she has to answer her phone in case he run off. Casey then finds him, in the science lab hiding from Paige. Then the interview can begin, the interviewer asks about the moments what have been affect by this, its from tagging on to something Casey said earlier. Casey then talks about how she uses to confuse nt’s (short for neurotypical) as being empties, but she thought it made sense because Sam takes up so much space, so everyone around would need to be empty. The interviewer then asks; what would it be like to leave her brother if she would to go there?  Casey replies back I don’t know I’ve never done it before. 

It goes back to Sam talking about Paige having his jumper and trying to explain why to Zahid. Whilst Zahid is kissing a woman. Not the best timing, but Zahid gets her to give Sam some help; mainly to get Sam to go away although it was helpful advice to Sam. The advice was in short give Paige something else to replace the jumper. Then Sam gets confused by some slang from Zahid.

Elsa, Doug and Casey have just got home from the Clayton interview. Elsa tells Casey to write the person that did the interview a thank you email. Casey says no because its nerdy. Doug then convinces her by saying that nerds get full scholarship. Casey then goes up stairs. We then get to see Elsa and Doug get a bit closer, that’s before Doug gets a text from his colleague. ‘They are in the area and wanted some dinner recommendations’, Elsa suggest having them come to their home. Doug is a bit hesitant but agrees, Elsa phone notifications then goes off again and again... It is people RSVPing to Nicks party, so Elsa then phones up who but all people- Nick. Luckily enough for us he doesn’t answer, and Elsa leaves a voice mail. I still haven’t worked out why she hasn’t got rid of the number.

It goes back to Newton. We first see Paige coming down the stairs, then she sees Casey and asks why Sam might be avoiding her. Casey then points out because of her Sam missed lunch, although it is an odd thing to think about when dating someone who is 18 that what you get with Sam. Paige asks what she can do for him. Casey says yes- stopping seeing my brother. Paige is slightly confused. Casey then asks her what she is hoping to get for dating Sam. Paige say that she really likes Sam and that he is honest, he’s cute and that his brain is really interesting. Casey points out that Sam isn’t a science experiment and what happens when he come to rely on her, but she has left him because it can mess him up. Casey then adds that she doesn’t understand any of this and that she is making things worse. Casey then leaves whilst Paige just stands in the middle of the corridor on the brink of crying. I should say I have kinda butchered the scene if you can you much watch it. 

It goes to Paige giving back the jumper to Sam. It is a completely silent scene with only the music as any sound. Paige then leaves and looks back slightly, Sam just looks blank. It goes to the therapy room next Sam mentions to Julia that Paige gave back her jumper when she broke with him. Julia asks did she say why she broke up with him. Sam says it was because Casey said something or because she is scared of Casey. Julia asks how Sam is feeling, noticing that he has been using one of his replacement therapies the whole time, Sam firstly says fine, I got my jumper back. Julia asks again, Sam then replies, ‘most people I meet don’t try and get me, but Paige tried to get me’. Sam says that he missed how annoying she can be, but he forgot that there was good thing as well as the annoying parts. Julia agrees and looks at her flowers Miles gave her. Sam then mentions that ‘she didn’t mind when I locked her in my closet that seems special and rare’, that then snaps Julia out of looking at the flowers and she gets slightly thrown back.  We see Julia after her session with Sam has finished, she phones Miles up and says they should talk when she gets home.

It goes to Casey just sending off her thank you email to the student interviewer. Sam burst in to her room and blames Casey for Paige breaking up with him. Casey says she was only trying to look out for him. Sam then says that he doesn’t need her. It’s an awkward argument to explain properly. Casey then seems a little lost as Sam goes back to his room. Caseys phone then rings, its the interviewer from clayton prep, he says that he got the email. He also mentions that he heard that she punched a girl. Casey tries to explain, but he says write a letter to the admission office and he will see what he can do. 

We see Julia going into her home, she calls for Miles and no one answers. Guess what dum dum dahhh... Miles has left her and took the Tv😱.

It goes to Elsa and Doug having dinner with Doug’s colleague and his wife. They talk about how things are doing. Then Elsa and Doug talk about Casey going to Clayton Prep. Elsa then mentions as Sam is 18 so they have to help him with dating and girls, but it’s a bit harder with Sams autism. The whole table looked confused. Elsa then clarifies Sam is autistic and Doug didn’t tell his colleague any of this. The whole table is speechless. It cuts to Elsa and Doug getting ready to go to bed. Elsa then mentions that Doug has worked with Chuck, that the name of his colleague, for 5 years and he didn’t mention any of this to him. Doug says he keeps his work life and his private life separate. Elsa says that Sams autism is a huge part of her identity. Doug says maybe it shouldn’t be and it might be time for her to step back and allow herself her own life.  

It goes to Sam talking about how when it gets use to something he tends to rely on it. He then goes into Paige’s French class and starts an awkward conversation during it, in front of everyone. He gives Paige a penguin necklace. Paige then kisses Sam, I’m guessing they are back together either way 🤢.

It finishes on Elsa starting the relationship with Nick back – again🤢.

Review: This episode is good. We get to see a lot such as Clayton Prep, Sam and Paige back together, Miles leaving Julia and that ick and Elsa are as well- ugh. We get to see some things like Doug not mentioning to the person he has worked with for 5 years about Sam’s autism. Although they are some issues like it looks like Sam and Paige have broken up for a day and we see parts of Clayton but the only place we see is one from the interview. So, I would like to see the school more. Also, why didn’t Beth have Sam’s number. It seems like an odd plot point but if Casey knew she was going away from the school, how were any situations going to be handled. It good to see that the actions of Casey standing up for Beth come back to haunt her. Also, even though Sam has got back with Paige is he now going to dump her for Julia now that Miles is out of the picture.

Episode 6

It starts off with Sam talking about the south pole, we find out that he was talking to Paige. So, I was right they were back together. Paige then asks Sam to go the ‘winter formal’, which I guess is a type of prom. Sam says no to it, but Paige tries to tempt him by saying afterwards they could go back to her house, as her parents would be away. Say still says no so Paige ask what she needs to do to make him go. Sam says that if they turned the music off that would be nice. Paige points out that a dance without music is a dance without people.

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We then see that Elsa stayed over at Nicks. Nick then uses some drugs in front of her, Nick then offers Elsa if she wants to use some. Elsa says no but Nick twists her arm a little. Then we see Elsa slightly high. April then sees Elsa and then talks to her, April is on of the other mothers to the team that Casey races on at the moment. Elsa then slips that she was buying lots of white shirts, so Casey can go to Clayton. April then leaves, and Elsa continues being high.

We see Julia packing all of Miles’s things in boxes whilst trying to phone him. As she leaves him a voice message she starts putting more things in the box; as she goes to leave outside the box breaks and it lands on her foot and she falls over. She then ends the phone call.

It goes to Casey at Newton high she goes to meet up with her track team. The track team disappear after Casey joins them, Casey’s coach then comes from behind her and says that they are sad that she is leaving them for Clayton Prep. Both don’t know who said that she was leaving but the coach says he has got emails all day from the mothers to see if they can make it to the finals without her. The coach says try and take it as a compliment, but Casey doesn’t feel it as that.

It goes to Doug trying to get ready for work. He asked Elsa where his work trousers are, Elsa says that they are in a pile on the bed. We find out that Elsa still hasn’t forgave Doug about not telling Chuck about Sams autism. Doug goes back upstairs as Casey burst through the door and slams her bag on the kitchen floor. Elsa asks what is wrong? Casey says that she talked to April and she has passed it on to the rest of the mothers that Casey is going to Clayton; so, they past it down to their daughters. Elsa tries to say that she didn’t, then comes clean that she did.  Casey mentions that she might not even get into Clayton. Elsa says she would try and smooth things over, but Casey says don’t she would make things worse. 

We see Sam at Techtropolis talking to Zahid about that Paige is making him go to the winter formal dance. Sam then mentions that Paige then wants him to ‘come over’ to her house after the dance. Zahid then perks up his ears and translate what it means for Sam, Sam doesn’t believe him. So, he asks Paige in the corridor, in front of everyone. Paige says maybe, Zahid translate again Sam doesn’t believe him, so he asks her again. Then Paige says yes. Now Sam knows what might be happening after the dance he is looking forward to it more. So, Zahid helps again, this time getting him ready for the dance. 

It goes back to Casey, in her room, she seems to be trying to write something. Elsa then come in to tell her that she phoned April and apparently the girls are just sad that she is leaving. Casey say that they are lying, and they don’t want to know her. They have more a conversation about the girls. Elsa then mentions one of the girls, Sharice, has been friend with Casey for a long time.

We follow back up with Sam and Zahid. Zahid takes Sam to a pharmacy to buy some things. Zahid points out that it can be embarrassing, but Sam just turns and ask the pharmacist and keeps giving him awkward questions eventually just gives him some at random to get rid off him.  It is a short scene but still quite funny. 

I go to Julia in her therapy room and looking at the letter miles left her last episode. She doesn’t look happy (I actually got that emotion!). Someone then knocks on her door- it’s Doug. He came around to give back a book she gave him and say thanking for the chat they had a few episodes ago. Doug then explains what happened between him and Elsa. Julia then says she doesn’t want to take side, but he might want his own therapist.  She goes to get a referral slip and Doug she is limping. Doug asked what happened to her foot? Julia replies some things fell on to her foot. Doug then asks if she can put her full weight on her foot? Julia says no. Doug as some more questions like had she seen a doctor yet and is it swollen? Julia’s replies are no and a little... okay a lot. So, Doug takes her to the ER (Emergency Room or here in the UK A&E).   

<⚠Skipped a scene⚠> The long scene short. We meet Christopher we find out that he doesn’t like Sam and vice versa. They are told to find some common interest the only one they have is about sex and Christopher explains ‘the 4 bases’ and point out its a rule so Sam take it literally. 

We then see Casey going dress shopping with the track team. Casey finds a dress she likes, and the team persuade her to try it on. We see her with the dress on then the track team steal her clothes.

It then goes to the Elsa and she’s at a PTA meeting. One of the teaches is leading it and she introduces Paige she shows in a neurotypical way how disorienting things are for people with autism, mainly Sam. She introduces an idea of a silent disco, an autism friendly dance. Where the music would be going though wireless headphones. April tries to blame Elsa for the idea. Paige mentioned that Techtropolis would be willing to donate headphone for the event if it takes place. Paige then ends her speech. April then says that she is going to sort out sort out her daughter’s hair then putting headphones would just be bad. Elsa then says she can do all the hair dos for free. Then Aprils intentions come to life, she says that all this to accommodate one kid is just sad. Elsa then defends Sam about what is actually sad is the loneliness and the isolation that he gives from other people. The teacher then gets them to vote. The yes for the silent dance win- yay! Elsa then pulls April to one side. She basically says that the school chance of a state title is dead because Casey isn’t racing for them anymore. Elsa is left silently stunned, she then gets a phone call from Casey.

We then go back to Techtroplis Sam says to Zahid that he can’t go with Paige because he hasn’t done the bases’.  So naturally Zahid takes him strip joint... again from here I am <⚠skipping the scene⚠> from here Sam panics in there goes outside whilst Zahid stay inside. Sam then meets one of the dancers and she ‘helps him’ get past second base and actually give him so far some of the better advice. Then Zahid come out of the building. 

We then see Casey waiting in the dress at night and Elsa come to the rescue. Casey says that she doesn’t want to go to Clayton. But also, that she might not be able to because they knew about her punching a girl.  Casey says that she feels selfish for leaving everyone and everything to go to Clayton and points out the one who stole her clothes was Sharice. Elsa tries to comfort her the whole time. Then they go and return the dress that she has on- I think. 

Doug is at the hospital to check on Julia, where she says it is fractured. Doug also apologises for asking to sort out his own issues. Julia then revels her brother is autistic. [shocked faced I know] She says his name is Jesse and he isn’t as high functioning as Sam, he has minimal verbal skills. Julia says her parents wouldn’t acknowledge that he was autistic and that it was a speech issue and he would grow out of it. Doug says he has to go, but he would take her up on the referral.

Doug is still in the hospital, but he phones Elsa who is driving. He apologies about everything that he was meant to tell Chuck. Elsa then accepts the apology and we stay with Elsa, who has ‘kidnapped’ Sharice. Elsa asks her what is happening? and she wants to know now. Sharice panics and apologies she explains why she helped the other pick on Casey [somewhere around here it transitions to her talking to Casey]. Casey and Sharice become friends again and Casey ask her to the dance because Even can’t go near the school. They both go and sit on the couch, Sam is already there drawing. Casey asks what he is drawing- its what the dancer showed him. Sam shows Casey and Sharice, they both push Sam away and over react slightly. We then see Elsa and Doug together. 

It finishes on Julia, as she is still in the hospital the doctor then comes over to her and says they won’t be doing an X-ray on her foot today because she is pregnant. We are left with Julia stunned or petrified- I’m not that great with some reactions.   

Review: This one had to be censored so much. I don’t mind adult content but… when parts are not necessary, and they are there its bad. I really liked the best I enjoyed but the bits I didn’t like were just bad. I thought that it brought up too much whilst linking in with the last episode, if they did one or the other it would have been fine, but they didn’t. I thought they were leaning too much on Sam being very literal although it made some good moments, there was no need for Sam to visit somewhere what has some of the things he needs it seems this one was a loose end. Although we find out more about Julia and that Elsa puts her trust in people who keep using her. I would have thought a character like Elsa would have learnt this years ago, but I guess not. 

Overall: It’s a mixed review its good to watch but the characters seem a little flat. The Elsa and Nick story line now seems a little forced and Casey seems like to have things coming back from a couple weeks ago. I feel like they could a have put these two together and I wouldn’t have really noticed.  The idea that Casey can use Sam’s autism in the interview to justify behaviour seems a little weird. As we haven’t seen what happens if he gets ignored, so there isn’t anything to back up why she should be answering her phone in the middle of an interview. It also seems that Elsa seems to be getting more and more pushy. It might be to do good but there seems to be no off switch, you might of though the ‘support group’ she goes to would have helped with this as the network meetings here in the UK do?