"Atypical" is a relatively new show on Netflix, it follows the fictional life of Sam. Sam is not a "typical" 18-year-old boy, he has autism. Sam can function like any other person but he does it all differently. There are obvious points that are made but some others are more secluded and hidden. So let's bring them out from hiding.
1. Family is number one.
We all know that family comes first but in Atypical we see it so much more so than in our own lives. Sam can tell when he is being picked on but it is his sister's job to stop it. Casey has done everything for her brother. She stops people from pushing Sam around, she makes him feel normal, their relationship is almost as normal as any other siblings'.
Casey gave up on her dreams because she is afraid that if she left Sam wouldn't know what to do. Sam's parents have given everything, his mom mainly but they both were there. Sam's father messed up early on but now we can't hold that to him because, well his mom is kind of cheating on him. The wait wasn't this message supposed to prove that family is number one? Oh, wait that's right, their family is all messed up, isn't yours though? I know mine is, yeah my parents don't cheat, my brothers don't have autism, but no one is perfect. Imagine if you had a kid and all your hopes for them would never come true.
Sam may seem normal on the outside, but once he talks about penguins you'll know that he is far from normal. Yet despite all this they are still there for each other. We will have to see in season 2 what the parents do, but so far they have all been forgiving, and isn't that what family means?
2. No One is Normal
No matter how many times you tell yourself, you are not normal, you are far from it, as am I. In fact I don't think normal even exists. The thing that gets me is that everything that pisses Sam off because he doesn't know how to do it goes for us as well. He doesn't know how to talk to girls, do girls even know how to talk to girls? People think he's weird because he knows every mating call for all the Antarctic penguins, don't we all have something that we could talk about to everyone for days? Everyone has hobbies it's just that Sam's hobby is his love for cold places. If you wake up in the morning and wish for a normal day then I feel sorry for you because that must be so boring! Normal is an imaginary construct that has been told to generations for so long we think it actually exists, but in reality it's just a word.
