Atypical is finally coming back.
This week, Netflix shared the official trailer for the beloved teen dramedy’s fourth and final season, which comes out on July 9. The trailer seems to promise the long-awaited conclusion to the fan-favorite queer romance between Casey Gardner, played by nonbinary actor Brigette Lundy-Paine, and Izzie, played by Fivel Stewart.
Atypical centers on Sam Gardner (Keir Gilchrist), a teenager on the autism spectrum who navigates all the growing pains of young adulthood and questions what being “normal” even means. Challenging those same norms is Sam’s younger sister Casey, who realized she was queer and began dating her classmate Izzie in season three.
But when we last saw “Cazzie” or “Cizzie” — take your pick between ship names — the young couple was facing its first major test. Casey had been offered a UCLA track scholarship, which would require her to move across the country and figure out how to do a long-distance relationship with Izzie.
As the trailer for Atypical’s fourth season teases, both Gardner siblings are finding themselves at a crossroads. Sam is adjusting to living away from his family and trying to figure out what to do with his life, while Casey is still weighing the full impact of her college options, worrying aloud that she is “gonna do something dumb and lose everything.”
When she’s not figuring out her post-graduation plans, Casey is also dealing with her and Izzie’s parents finding out about their relationship.
When Casey’s mom Elsa (Jennifer Jason Leigh) asks her daughter if she’s going to tell her dad (Michael Rapaport) about her relationship with Izzie, Casey replies, “I think the answer is… butt out!”
But it’s not just the Gardners who are going through it in season four — Izzie needs a little TLC, too. “You have these parents that support you so much, it drives you nuts,” she tells Casey in the trailer. “My mom thinks me dating girls is just a phase.” Then the trailer cuts to what looks like it will be a particularly awkward sit-down in which Casey and Izzie meet with Izzie’s mother. (There’s another quick shot of the couple in an emotional embrace, so it’s safe to say that Cazzie fans are in for quite a ride.)
At least Stewart and Lundy-Paine are still giving the gays everything they want. In March, Stewart shared a behind-the-scenes photo of her and Lundy-Paine snuggling at the beach, with the caption, “For your consideration.”
Hopefully the characters they play will be able to make things work bi-coastally, but when it comes to LGBTQ+ representation, Atypical has it covered both on camera and off. Lundy-Paine came out as nonbinary in November, writing in a since-deleted Instagram post that they “always felt a lil bit boy, lil bit girl, lil bit neither.”
And as the actor told them. in February, Atypical played a role in their coming out: “I had these experiences playing Casey that have been huge in discovering my gender.”
“Before I was asking to be called they/them and being open about my gender, people would tell me that Casey helped them come out as trans,” Lundy-Paine added, “That surprised me, because I was like, ‘Oh, you knew before me.”
For Atypical fans, it’s certainly been a long road to this ending, LGBTQ+ romance and all. After the onset of the pandemic, production was delayed until January. Previously, Netflix had announced in February 2020 that this season of Atypical would wrap up the Gardner family story for good. But for Lundy-Paine, Atypical has always been a queer show.
“It’s about being different, feeling like you don’t have a place and finding that place, and kindness and empathy,” they recently told Pride. “Those are all very queer values.”
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