'Atypical' Season 3 Episode 4 review: Tackling bad parenting and the pressures of college, 'Y.G.A.G.G' is a tumultuous roller-coaster
Season three of 'Atypical' focuses wholly on Sam (Keir Gilchrist) becoming independent and finding out who he is outside the familiarity of his home and high school.
So far, his evolution into becoming a Denton bee has been going well, but we see in this episode that in worrying about Sam's future, we forget that everyone else in the same age group also faces many similar problems as well.
In fact, season three episode four of 'Atypical' addresses many issues we don't necessarily see coming.
Bad Parenting
One of the biggest themes of the episode is selfish parents, specifically in the case of Izzie (Fivel Stewart), Evan (Graham Rogers) and Elsa (Jennifer Jason Leigh).
Over the course of the season, we see that the horrible choices each of them make in their lives is a direct response to their absentee parents.
We do not get to see much of Elsa's childhood, but we know that the reason she makes it a point to be around Casey (Brigette Lundy-Paine) and Sam, and make her presence felt is primarily that she wants to rewrite history.
Thankfully, Izzie finds solace in Elsa, and Evan in Casey, when it really counts. They make for some of the most heartwarming moments in the show.
Unrealistic expectations of college
For every teenager or young adult, moving out of their parents' home and into a college campus is a huge deal. In Paige's (Jenna Boyd) case, however, we tend to forget her challenges, because we are so focused on Sam and the big changes in his life.
In the episode, we see that she is trying to push Sam into making new friends, and get the full college experience, unfortunately, everyone seems oblivious of her own troubles as a new college-goer.
We see towards the end of the episode that Paige is struggling in college, and has seemingly developed an anger management problem.
Marital problems take a new turn
In the previous episode, we saw Elsa going to Megan's (Angel Laketa Moore) home possibly to "rip the skin off her face", but thankfully changed her mind upon realizing she too, is a mother just like her.
What was surprising, however, was Elsa readily admitting to it and offering Doug (Michael Rapaport) complete honesty when he confronts her about it. She seems to have to truly realize what giving space means.
This move helped keep us on our toes about what the future might hold for Doug and Elsa. Are they going to work things out? Will Megan be a fixture in their lives as they figure out the future of their marriage? We don't know but we are certainly excited to find out.
Whirlwind Romance
While everyone else is struggling to get used to their new normal we see Zahid (Nik Dodani) getting carried away by a new romance, and she seems terrible. However, we are excited about this life experience for Zahid, but we seem to have no company at the moment. Sam certainly isn't a fan.
Overall, 'Y.G.A.G.G.' is one of the most tumultuous episodes of the season, packed with romance, heartbreak, impulsive decisions, and some childhood trauma. We give this episode an A+ and you, the instruction to log in to Netflix and binge away.