Atypical: Searching for Brown Sugar Man

“Someone wants to buy my canoe!”

Wow. What a finale. What an ending. What a bromance.

I think we can say that most threads end on a note not of certainty, but of hope- because plot threads life never wrap up: life goes on until we die. So yes, Doug breaks up with Megan and returns to Elsa, and it looks like they’re intimate again- things look up, but we can’t be sure their marriage will survive. And Izzy, with her deprived and chaotic background and confusion about her sexuality, has the self-realisation to apologise to Casey. Their relationship looks hopeful, at least. And a nice chat with Evan means they part as friends- and it’s nice that, because of her, he’s getting somewhere in his life. Ironically, she accepts his advice which parallels hers to her long ago, and decided to push herself by trying for a sprint scholarship to UCLA. Even if she had to “drop the drama”. Like that’ll happen.

But the core of the episode is the race to find Zahid and stop him marrying Gretchen and jeopardising his future. It’s a fun adventure, interestingly involving Sam’s uni mate Abby- a more prominent character for the future? Gretchen turns out to have dumped him at the altar, and the reunion of the homies is touching. All is right with the world, to the point of Elvis blessing their refound homiedom and the two of them moving in together. It’s nice to see a close friendship being given the weight normally only given to a romance.

Things very much end on a high, with even Paige getting a better job and selling the canoe that symbolises her failure. It’s worrying that the series could potentially end here- let’s hope it doesn’t. This third season, after a slow start, has been easily as good as the first two. Top telly.

Atypical: Shrinkage

"Hi, Bob. You look silly."

An interesting episode, cleverly structured as always- but there's no doubting that things end up as something of a downer for all involved. Friendships and relationships are broken apart, ready for the final stretch of the season.

For Elsa, it's the realisation that Doug bought Fleetwood Mac tickets not for her, even though the band were always "their" thing, but for Megan, a devastating blow. The cruelty, as ever, is the hope. So she's probably doing the right thing in telling Doug that they need to separate. He's shocked, dumbfounded and upset, of course, but at this point he can hardly complain.

Then there's Casey, who is depressed and struggling for motivation, avoiding Izzy and constantly irritable- as well as not training, something really rather essential to her future. It all comes to a head when Izzy confronts Casey over giving her the cold shoulder treatment- and Casey kisses her. So the love triangle is back on.

Finally, there's Sam, who we see early on in an ethics seminar learning about Kantian versus utilitarian approaches to moral dilemmas which, this being drama, promptly appears in his own life as he realises that Gretchen has been shoplifting from Techtropolis. After much agonising- not the case for the abstract dilemmas in the tutorial- he decides to do what's right and report her, at the cost of his friendship with Zahid, a crushing moment. This is the first episode that Zahid, the rebel with a heart of gold, acts like a dick. We now want Gretchen to go away as much as Sam. We love to hate her.

Good stuff, then, yet again. Even if it does end with a bizarre cover of Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now".

Atypical: Season 3, Episode 3- Cocaine Pills and Pony Meat

"I forgot to check the anal fins."

This episode is, thankfully, much better and more in line with the first two seasons. Perhaps it's because it gets more of a chance to breathe but a lot of it, I suspect, is that it's heavily based on Sam navigating his first few days at uni, as narrated by him with the requisite (and genuinely interesting) references to Ernest Shackleton.

We're introduced to a suspiciously abrasive ethics professor who is, I suspect, going to gradually soften and become more likeable as the episodes can't go by. Personally I find it impossible to dislike anyone who is a fellow Nirvana fan and teachers her seminars whilst wearing an In Utero t-shirt just like we all had back in '93-'94. But it's all a shock to the system for Sam, who nonetheless copes with a lot of organisation and a huge reserve of resilience. So far this season he hasn't had any meltdowns at all. That's real progress.

Things aren't going well for Evan, who is helplessly seeing himself pushed out of Casey's life by Izzy, who shares dreams, horizons and yes, education levels with Casey that he can't hope to match. There's some real social class angst here and, while the episode finishes with a touching reconciliation, I think there's trouble ahead.

Also not good is Doug, not usually a dick, pulling the dick move of bringing Megan into the house in front of Elsa- and poor Elsa tries and fails to confront Megan. She's also anxious about backing off and giving people space as requested by Julia- who has a cute new baby.

We end with Sam finally getting help at uni for his disabilities, meeting Sidney who, in spite of having a man's name, is an obvious love interest. I notice Nice Bloke Sam is still turning up too. This season has twists and turns to go, and I'm enjoying it.

Atypical: Season 3, Episode 1- Best Laid Plans

“Can you please pick up a fire extinguisher on the way home?”

The plus side of getting into a series late is that sometimes, as here for Mrs Llamastrangler and I, you don’t have to wait long for a new season to come along and here it is- the further adventures of the characters we’ve come to know and love, picking up from last time.

And this is a good opening episode to a season that promises to be enjoyable. It’s funny and it has heart. But I am, perhaps, a little less wowed this time. I wonder whether that’s just familiarity on my part of there perhaps isn’t quite so much sparkle?

This is good stuff, though- we pick up with Paige getting back together with Sam, with Casey overwhelmed by the awkward triangle between Evan and Izzie, with Elsa and Doug still awkwardly falling to communicate after what happened. And Doug is being tempted by Megan.

There’s a lot about Sam preparing for uni, and how far he’s come as an autistic person. There’s some comedy about Paige wanting sex but them never seeming to find the time, and some touching stuff about his autism. But the monologues aren’t as sharp or as relevant, and the whole thing doesn’t sing quite so much as it did.

This is still very good by the standard of lesser shows, but I’m left ever so slightly underwhelmed.

Atypical: Season 2, Episode 10- Ernest Shackleton’s Rules for Survival

”Die slowly, you shitbirds!”

It’s graduation day, a more than usually meaningful moment to Sam; it’s an achievement he’s never been able to take for granted, as well as a symbolic moment leading towards uni and the challenges of greater independence. So it’s lovely to see Sam inviting a very pregnant Julia, and the two of them getting to chat normally again after all that earlier awkwardness. Less lovely, but at the same time cathartic, is Doug driving to the bar to punch barman Nick but, well, at least Nick has the decency to admit he deserves the punch.

There’s some amusement value in that Sam asks everyone in his life to stop helping him, with comical results, but the core of the episode is deadly serious. On Sam’s last day it takes him considerable courage to ask his classmates to sign his yearbook- yet he gets called a freak, and worse, on what’s supposed to be a special document. Paige is damn right in her furious denunciations.

And yet Sam does something amazing, in front of all his friends and loved ones. When Paige freezes up and is unable to deliver her valedictorian speech, Sam actually delivers it for her, and does it so well. This moment has really been earned, and we are left in no doubt what a wonderful thing has just happened. It’s a brilliant scene. Ernest Shackleton famously spurned the chance at glory so he could get all of his crew out alive, unlike that stupid wanker Scott, and Sam is a real Shackleton here.

With Casey there’s a sudden triangle with Evan (she gets her second first time) and Izzy, but that’s for next season. So is Elsa’s firm insistence, after finding out about the punch, that she and Doug talk about whether or not there’s any chance of him forgiving her... and then he blows her off to confide in Megan. I fear, next season, that the roles are to be reversed. And next season is probably a long way away. Ouch. Watching in real time sucks.

Another awesome season, then. How long do we have to wait now...?

Atypical: Season 2, Episode 8- Living at an Angle

"I wouldn't want them to mistake me for a wizard."

This is another splendidly crafted episode, as I keep having to say, but a much lighter one than usual, and certainly than last episode, no doubt as a last bit of lightness before we head towards the finale. Yes, I know; Sam's anxiety about going to uni is a serious thing. So is Casey's unhappiness at Clayton and her apparent subconscious desire to fail. But the serious themes are allowed to unfold in a light and humorous way, at least for now. That's a sure sign that the last two episodes, while unlikely to be humourless, are set to be pretty damn intense.

Sam's stress about art school leads to, as well as the palaver about losing his art portfolio, the epiphany that what seems to be the perfect uni is close to home- and the fact that he has a wonderful sister who would do anything for him even when she has a big scary biology test coming up is the icing on the cake. And Casey, while under said intense pressure, at least has a really supportive boyfriend.

Meanwhile there's Elsa and Doug slowly moving together, their meeting with Julia about autism training for emergency services being sidetracked somewhat while they have a moment of bonding over bad puns. Doug's date with the rather lovely Megan is awkward precisely because there's the question of Elsa, but the episode ends on a hopeful note as he holds out the olive branch of couples counselling and the end up in the shower together. Mmm. Surely something is going to go very wrong very soon to drive them apart again?

All in all that was a very calm episode. There's definitely a storm coming.

Atypical: Season 2, Episode 7- The Smudging

"Your wall is ringing..."

It seems that my blog of every episode consists of effusive praise about how perfectly crafted it is, which is getting quite repetitive. That’s awkward, because I’m going to do so again. This is awesome, and masterfully dine.

The slow outrage of Sam’s treatment at the hands of the police is simmering here. We learn that Sam has been sending Julia messages in place of his old appointments, something she has seen as harmless, but she is appalled at what happened to Sam. So, naturally are his parents, but this is also bringing them together. They agree that Doug, with his having a police mate, is the person to confront the police- but, while he makes it clear he’s not happy, all he achieves is an assurance that they will keep a photo of Sam to check in case it should happen again, which is clearly not good enough. But by the end Elsa suggests they both produce autism training for emergency services, not a bad idea. I like this; it’s a clever combination of building on their ongoing reconciliation while highlighting a real issue.

On a happier note, Sam has agreed to be with Paige in her lock-in, although she uses the worrying word “platonic”. On a distressing note, though, Casey does the right thing and tells Izzy about Nate’s move on her- only to be blamed and victimised when Izzy believes her skanky, creepy boyfriend. He’s a twat, of course, and I understand Izzy isn’t thinking straight, but isn’t she being incredibly stupid here? After all, why on Earth would Casey have said anything if she had anything to hide? Still, at least the whole incident with the trainers helps her to bond a bit with her mother.

We also get Sam stressing about choosing which uni to attend, and Paige sees him (single now, let’s remember!) getting a kiss from the cute and gothy girl. So many balls in the air yet it all makes total sense. This is good telly.

Atypical: Season 2, Episode 5- The Egg Is Pipping

"The egg is pipping!"

A pivotal episode this time, I think, in the wake of Doug's panic attack as it becomes clear he's struggling to cope. Elsa is finally back, and here to stay, it seems- the family needs her. But Doug is getting close to Megan and the two of them are getting on rather well. Does Elsa, still wanting her husband back, have a rival? I think that's the main question here although of course we also have the big row between Casey and Evan, which is interesting for all sorts of reasons. She and Izzy are genuinely friends now, and she's connected with the gang, but there's still a lot of snobbery directed towards her, which Evan spots immediately. Is he being over sensitive, defensive about his class background? Is Casey going too far to fit in? There's a lot going on here.

Sam is bullied by Arlo, too, although at least he makes a new friend. But he makes a big step towards financial independence with his own bank account- and immediately shows himself vulnerable to exploitation. Is this foreshadowing bad stuff due to happen now the season is halfway through? Are Casey and Evan about to split angrily and later reconcile? Is Elsa going to spend the rest of the season wooing Doug again, with Megan as a threat? Let's see. I suspect things are about to get serious.

Atypical: Season 2, Episode 4- Pants on Fire

"I'm like your hair cutting pimp."

Another splendidly constructed episode, developing both plot and character with masterful aplomb and centring it all around the theme of lying. It's brilliantly bookended by Sam's two essays, the first criticised for being too literally truthful and the concluding essay showing a less literal, and thus more truthful, kind of truth about his friendship with Zahid.

This conceit leads to some magnificent drama- Sam telling Elsa that she's the biggest liar he knows, and practising the lying techniques he's learned from the magnificent Zahid on poor Paige, making her believe he's with someone else, with, er, bloody consequences. Yet, as ever, the humour has pathos lying behind it.

We also get Casey being endearingly shy with Evan about her drunken exploits, though- it leads to lots of adorable banter but, I think, shows a real vulnerability to Casey. We also see her concern for Doug, who insists he's coping but ends up collapsing.  And Sam's most triumphantly successful lie also saves Zahid from losing his job. Most endearingly of all, Julia slowly comes to terms with the fact that she's pregnant.

This is at once a particularly funny episode and, underneath, a particularly dark one, showing how fragile our lives are and how close we are to disaster.

Atypical: Season 2, Episode 3- Little Dude and the Lion

“Was that a brag or an apology?”

More superb character development this week as Sam recognises his “pack” is falling apart, leaving him vulnerable to predators. His mother has left the family home after an affair; his girlfriend has left him but with the door confusingly ajar; his sister is at another school; his former therapist has other clients. And yet he’s coping well- even after running out of class after too much stimulation he copes rather well- and he finishes the episode determined to go away to college and determined to get there.

Coping much less well are his parents, who struggle to communicate the parenting stuff, leading Doug to finally admit that, while it may have been Elsa having the affair, he needs to cooperate more with her on Sam’s appointments. Julia is in denial about the baby and unsure whether to marry her boyfriend; it was, I think, unfair of him to spring it on her like that but the whole thing is a mess of gender expectations. The door to being with Paige is opened a little, though,  as she agrees to walk with Sam at busy periods. And Casey, in detention, gets to bond a little over vodka(!) with her tormentor Izzy, who turns out to be ether less upper class than thought. But she’s still confused and, perhaps, guilty about how she lost her virginity, wanting to dial things down a bit until the “second first time”.

But she’s in trouble with her mum about the vodka. Oops. I suspect Elsa will be rather less understanding than mine was at that age.

Oh, and it seems this is all set in Connecticut, not Texas?

Atypical: Season 2, Episode 1- Juiced!

"I never met anyone who committed adultery before..."

This episode sees the fallout from last season’s finale as Elsa confesses her adultery to a furious Doug, who leaves for a while- hence the 2004 flashback, reminding us he hasn’t always had the moral high ground. Elsa tried hard to be a good mother and keep things together but she’s falling apart, and Casey is furious with her. When Doug returns a couple of days later it’s him who bonds with a highly strung Casey- and rather harshly throws a meek Elsa out of the house. This is nothing if not dramatic, and removes Doug’s halo somewhat. Is the rest of the season going to show Doug trying to manage as pretty much a single parent while Elsa is all alone?

There’s a hole in the family, and the metaphor with Sam’s hole in Antarctica is very cleverly handled all the way through until Sam realised what has happened after an upset Casey blurts it out- and actually copes rather well, considering, especially as Paige is away in Maine and their relationship is currently ambiguous after the, ahem, magical experience in the igloo. But he copes well, as Julia says when he naughtily meets her as a one-off for what should really be the last time. Hopefully he will find a decent new counsellor with, er, acceptable eyebrows...

Incidentally, Paige has a “mee-maw” as in Young Sheldon, and Sam goes past a “Denton University”. I Googled this, and apparently they all live in the Dallas area of Texas, which is not what I expected. Wherever they are, this is a strong start.

Atypical: Season 1, Episode 8- The Silencing Properties of Snow

“I just got a hand job in an igloo!”

So we teach the dramatic end of this magnificent season, a meditation about love, where Sam’s quirks  stop just being funny and start to hurt people- and where Elsa starts to experience consequences.

Sam, being Sam, tells Paige he doesn’t love her and immediately dumps her while in a restaurant with her entire family, a terrible thing to do to someone, and understandably she’s heartbroken and angry- you can hardly blame her for the angry demonstration on the family lawn. That he manages to partly atone for this is more because of her saintliness than anything else, and it’s right that she doesn’t fully take him back as her boyfriend. He’s very lucky to get, er, what happens in the igloo.

What he does to Julia in confronting her at home and declaring his love, with chocolate strawberries, is if anything worse, especially as the gift immediately reveals to her that Sam cost her her fiancé. Yes, she yells at him and causes an incident on the bus but no, she is not in anyway unjustified or unprofessional. Sam trespassed into her house and violated her privacy, with potentially life ruining consequences. Her right to that privacy is absolute. Doug is wrong to assign any blame to her. The conclusion for her is inconclusive, too; will she accept her fiancé ‘s crass new proposal?

Casey, at least, gets over her avoidance of Evan and the two of them finish in a good place- but she’s still damaged by knowledge of Elsa’s affair, something that isn’t her responsibility. Elsa gets over the affair, deleting Nick from her phone and forgiving Doug for leaving fifteen years ago- and then Doug catches a little lie. And, in the final scene, finds out in the most hilarious way possible which is so very Casey. This is brilliant, brilliant telly.

I would say I can’t wait until the next season. But I can, of course, watch it at any time...

Atypical: Season 1, Episode 7: I Lost My Poor Meatball

”What about you, Elsa? You been doing any self care lately?”

It’s amazing that so much can be crammed into thirty-one minutes, but that’s a testament to how much the show and the characters have been patiently developed over the last six episodes. So the central thread of Paige telling Sam she loves him and him trying to work out what love is and that he feels it for her is both evocative in itself and interplay’s effectively with other threads- when Sam asks his parents how they first realised they loved each other he’s oblivious to the awkwardness, the question of whether they do indeed still love each other, whether they do do equally, or whether they ever did.

And the rug is cleverly pulled from under us- just as Sam thinks he’s worked out, in his own way, that he thinks he loves Paige, he meets Julia and realises he loves her. As Zahid says, you just know.

The contrast here is Elsa. Does she love Doug? She certainly doesn’t love Nick. Her convenient no-strings arrangement suffers mission creep as Nic’s friend has died and this time he wants emotional
and not just physical support. And Elsa can’t do this; she has enough emotional labour in her life and just wants some consequence-free sex. Given her life, one can understand- and I will emphasise, again, we should be careful not to demonise her for being unable to cope with her life and the huge expectations on her with expectations on her as the traditionally caring gender. But that’s not to say the affair is ok. Neither is just using Nick for free sex like this; he’s understandably upset at being exploited as she ends the affair as soon as strings become attached. It’s nice to see a tiresome gender stereotype being reversed; our culture sees men as being pure libido and women wanting sex only as something deeper. This is nonsense.

As for Casey- she gets her scholarship, in spite of everything! But her happiness is somewhat ruined by seeing her mother kissing Nick, ironically as she leaves him. This puts a horrible burden on her and ruins the loss of her virginity. I suspect we’re in for an eventful but unpredictable finale.

Atypical: Season 1, Episode 6- The D-Train to Bone Town

“Just always assume I mean sex...”

Fascinating episode again as, shockingly, we reach the season’s three quarter point. The relationship between Sam and Paige is still lovely, and Paige is still a saint. There’s a school dance coming up, a big thing America and indeed, these days, here, and all that stimulation doesn’t sit at all well with Sam’s autism. There’s lots of humour here, yes- a needed counterbalance to what goes on elsewhere - but Paige is showing such consideration here.

Less considerate is Elsa, but we’ve already been through how simplistic it would be to demonise her, given what her life is like, for her affair with Nick- and for relaxing every once in a while with a bit of weed. It’s just unfortunate that she should happen to let slip Casey’s possible scholarship to the mother of her daughter’s best friend, leading to lots of upsetting ostracism and bullying from Casey’s friends who are angry that she’s abandoning the relay team. But, as Elsa rightly tells her, it’s ok to be selfish sometimes, especially if you don’t put yourself first very often.

Meanwhile Julia’s boyfriend has left her, unable to deal with all the constant suspicion emanating from that chocolate strawberry, and she’s both single and bonding with Doug in a situation which seems innocent now but may take on another context when Doug finds out about Elsa’s affair, which I predict will happen next episode so the finale can deal with the aftermath. Let’s see if I’m right.

Oh, and Julia’s pregnant. Wow. This is all bloody good.

Atypical: Season 1, Episode 5- That's My Sweatshirt

"I'm black, so they put me on the brochure."

Another extraordinary nuanced episode of character drama; I'm finding Atypical gets deeper and deeper with each episode as we explore the consequences of autism not only on the person in question but those in their gravitational orbit. So yes, we follow Sam's sweet and lovely romance with the truly saintly Paige, she of infinite tolerance. Yet we can understand how Casey, overprotective, gets Paige to dump her brother rather than expose him to deep emotion.Still, it's lovely seeing Sam wooing her back at the end. Please let them be happy.

And yet Sam influences other people too. His chocolate strawberry is having dangerous effects on Julia's relationship with her boyfriend. Casey's longed-for scholarship is endangered by the fact she hit someone for being a bully- being a protector, which being Sam's sister has made her. And, of course, Elsa's and Dou's relationship has been bent entirely out of shape by this heavy object demanding so much attention. It's easy to see Doug, in spite of his weaknesses in the past, as the good guy here, as opposed to Elsa who, after a bit of immersion in family life, returns again to sleeping with Nik.

It's brave of creator Robia Rashid, and Jennifer Jason Leigh, to make Elsa so unlikeable on the surface. She's a character who makes you thnk not only hoe exhausting an autistic child would be but, more subtly, how much work, especially emotional labour, falls on women as the default. This is a superb drama, with a lot of subtext.

Atypical: Season 1, Episode 4- A Nice Neutral Smell

"She's a girl who wants to touch your peen..."

A surprisingly eventful episode here as we reach the season halfway point. It's played for laughs, but Elsa is racked with guilt for her infidelity, and ends up dumping her lover and committing to her life of Doug being nice and her kids taking her for granted.

But this episode isn't really about Elsa. It's not about Doug, either, and the alienation he feels at the autism group with the constant anal pointing out of his occasional slip into non-"people-inclusive language". Nor, even, is it about Sam, with his incident in the crowd at the athletics track with the ponytail, or that a lot of screen time is spent with him clumsily making his way towards a relationship with the rather cute Paige.

No; this is about Casey, whose record-breaking victory in the 400m isn't witnessed by anyone in her family, and whose proffered athletics scholarship to a posh school is pooh poohed by Elsa because she "needs" to be in the same school as Sam to look after him. Because Sam is the special one, and no one wants it to be about her- so it falls to a brave and lovely outburst by Evan, who insists that it bloody well is about her and it's time people started recognising that. It's a very good bit of writing. And I can't believe we're already halfway through the season.

Atypical: Season 1, Episode 3- Julia Says

”I put my butt on his car...!"

Another well-crafted piece of drama and a treatises on faithfulness this episode. The series isn't about Sam; in a sense he's a kind of Greek chorus with his talk of a "practice girlfriend". The meat of the episode is Casey's shock at finding that their dad abandoned the family for a few months in 2004, overwhelmed by the difficulties of an autistic son. Doug is now full of regret and has been trying to atone ever since, but the father/daughter relationship may never be quite the same- we end the episode with Casey running alone.

We also end with Elsa, inevitably kissing the bloke from the bar. Yet, of course, she has an autistic child too, and although Doug tries to be an affectionate husband one has to ask if the two of them ought to be together if not for their children.

There is, of course, a lot of rather good humour, too, but at its heart this is a serious character drama rather than one driven by autism as a theme- so far, at  least.

Atypical: Season 1, Episode 2- A Human Female

“Nobody needs you, Mom!”

On the surface this episode centres around Sam’s crush for Julia and his comical misunderstanding that he has the green light to pursue Julia, something which takes up a lot of screen time and allows him to bond with his dad while doing so, but this is all neatly resolved. Meanwhile, more long term things are happening beneath the surface.

Elsa, for example, is responding very negatively to Doug’s attention and eventually finds an excuse to meet that barman again. It’s clear where this is going, and she isn’t a likeable character, but before we judge too harshly we should remember that she’s spend years with heavy caring response divinities and, decent though Doug is, we live in a culture where women are expected to do this sort of heavy labour.

We also see an intensifying of the relationship between the touchingly inexperienced Casey and Evan. After kissing him for the first time her reaction is utterly, utterly cute. So far this is the nice and fluffy storyline, acting as contrast to the worrying possibility of adultery, and meanwhile Sam is oblivious. This is promisingly well written stuff.

Atypical: Season 1, Episode 1- Antarctica

“People on the spectrum date, you know."

This is a series on Netflix that Mrs Llamastrangler and I are going to be watching once a week, one or two episodes at a time- expect the next episode's blog in the morning. It's a comedy-drama about an autistic teenager, his family and, well, the comedy and the drama that ensues.

Now, neither Mrs Llamastrangler nor I are autistic, and those people we know are all at the Asperger's end of the spectrum- as, I'm guessing, is Sam. It's with mentioning that people we know who are on the spectrum are very different individuals, and by no means defined by the fact that they are autistic. There's also nothing wrong with being autistic; it's part of the world of neurodiversity, encompassing all sorts of things. Autism is not a mental illness.

So it's also worth questioning whether it's appropriate to use this subject matter for comedy. So far, though (and I'll keep reviewing this) this is a balance of humour with drama that seriously explores the issues f how the world treats autistic people. Humour can be a very effective way of making a serious point, and there's a balance to be struck in any case between nasty humour that punches down and being overly pious. Personally, I'm a hearing aid wearer, and I laugh at my own comedy mishearings all the time.

Anyway, Sam lives with his overprotective mother Elsa, who is exactly the sort of person I wouldn't like very much in real life, and his long-suffering dad Doug. The two of them are worn out from years of caring for him, and their relationship looks fragile, held together only by routine and worryingly endangered should the nest empty. And it's worrying seeing Elsa with that bloke behind the bar...

There's also Casey, Sam's wonderfully cynical sister, and both teenage siblings are slowly exploring relationships. Finally, there's Julia, Sam's therapist, who is handy for driving the plot and giving a reason for Sam to have his humorous and counterpointing monologues. This aspect is very Sopranos. But Sam is funny, likeable, and frankly adorable. And he knows a lot about penguins.

It's good stuff so far, well written and set up nicely for various things to develop throughout the fairly short season. Do Americans really say "twat" like that though?