'Atypical' season debut fails to address past criticism

Netflix dramedy “Atypical” (2017–) returned for a second season on Sept. 7, with all ten episodes available for streaming. However, while the show did well enough to merit continuation, season one garnered plenty of criticism for its hackneyed portrayal of people on the autism spectrum. The first episode of the show's second season appears to overcome some of the failings of the original season. But by the end of the first episode, it is clear that many of the problems from the first season remain unaddressed.

Episode one, titled "Juiced!," immediately recaps the main event from last season’s finale: Sam’s (Keir Gilchrist) father Doug (Michael Rapaport) discovering that his wife Elsa (Jennifer Jason Leigh) has been having an affair with a bartender. Doug decides that it is best for him to live with his father for a while, and Elsa and Sam's sister Casey (Bridgette Lundy-Paine) attempt to keep the affair secret, which only leads to further disconnect in the family. As the episode continues, Sam struggles to deal with several sudden changes in his everyday routine as Casey attempts to cope with her imminent departure to private school. Elsa struggles to bring her family together again, while Doug’s departure from home further complicates the Gardners’ upturned life.

“Juiced!” tries its best to toe the line between comedic and serious. It sometimes succeeds, striking an important balance between the drama that the Gardner family must overcome while providing small moments of relief between the more serious subject matter. Casey’s insistence on messing with Sam’s routine is funny at first, but is later revealed as a microcosm of both her self-destructive behavior and Sam’s anxiety over change, and culminates in a fight between the two that demonstrates the turmoil their mother’s infidelity has caused.

In fact, the performances of Gilchrist and Lundy-Paine are the episode’s greatest strengths, as both characters are portrayed as realistic and believable, evoking a sense of empathy and resonance with viewers. Despite the great acting in the show, not all of the episode’s writing is so well-crafted. It oscillates between believable and contrived, ultimately unable to escape cliché. For example, Sam’s narration about the sudden appearance of a hole in the seemingly-impenetrable ice of the Antarctic blends well with the hole that has ruptured his family, but loses impact quickly as the show explicitly repeats it throughout the episode. While the Gardner siblings feel real, their parents decidedly do not. Doug and Elsa’s performances are forced, and while this works in the sense that they’re struggling with Elsa’s infidelity, neither character truly portrays the anger and frustration that no doubt results from unfaithfulness.

However, the biggest problem with the first episode is that it still does not know how to accurately portray an "atypical" family. This time around, Sam’s place on the autism spectrum is not treated like the source of his family’s problems, but the show cannot manage to bring its main characters together even after shaking off this problematic crutch. Elsa’s affair is portrayed as complicated in season one, but now it comes across as one-dimensional, and the show’s characters suffer as a result.

Furthermore, not much was done in episode one to address past criticism of the show. After the first season aired, there was a major critique of the lack of representation in both the show’s creative team and on-screen talent. Gilchrist is not on the autism spectrum himself, and neither are any of the show’s creators. Regardless of whether Gilchrist accurately portrayed a teen living on the spectrum, this stung for many who had hoped to see a step forward as far as representation goes. While “Juiced!” does not introduce any new characters, season two will see the introduction of Sam’s support group, with all five members played by actors who are on the spectrum off-screen as well as onscreen. Additionally, author David Finch, who has written a bestseller on how Asperger’s has affected his life, was present in the writing room of the show's second season. Obviously, simply adding more characters and consultants does not always mean a show is saved from criticism, and hopefully the rest of the episodes fully utilize these new resources to avoid criticism of the last season and portray people on the spectrum more honestly and accurately.

Overall, “Atypical’s” second season finds itself with a solid but not great debut. The acting is good from Sam and Casey but not its other characters, the writing is overly clichéd at times and the first episode does not single-handedly overcome past criticism. Having said that, the second season looks to be an enjoyable experience for those who binged the first, although interested viewers who sat out last season have no reason to watch this time around. “Atypical” still suffers from poor creative choices that will leave viewers confused rather than entertained.