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.