A short walk to the corner coffee shop is like entering a war zone for Harrison. Jack calls his boss an idiot and loses his job. Violet is looking for love in all the wrong places. This is life for the three twenty-somethings who share an apartment and aim to get a job, keep the job, make friends, fall in love, and traverse a world that seems just out of their grasp. Life coach, Mandy (Sosie Bacon, Mare of Easttown), guides them as best she can, but has some life dilemmas of her own. This is Amazon’s heartwarming and heartbreaking As We See It, based on the Israeli series, On the Spectrum (eight 30-minute episodes).
Albert Rutecki (Harrison), Rick Glassman (Jack), and Sue Ann Pien (Violet) all identify on the autism spectrum like the characters they play (as does the son of show forerunner Jason Katimes (Friday Night Lights, Parenthood). They are so likeable that you immediately root for them. You celebrate their triumphs and sigh over the setbacks. Life for Harrison is mostly confined to the apartment; the outside world is too noisy and chaotic. He befriends a tween who lives upstairs and feels comfortable enough with him to go on a bus trip to a yoga class (with his noise-cancelling headphones firmly in place). They get reported to the police and the friendship is shut down by the boy’s mother. Jack has absolutely no filter which makes for challenging personal and professional relationships. He goes out on a date and discovers that she understands him better than most people, but his world is turned upside down upon learning of his father’s (Joe Mantegna) cancer diagnosis.
Violet is the most vibrant, emotional, and captivating character. She desperately wants a boyfriend and to have sex. She learns the hard truth that those two don’t always go together or in that order. Consider her greeting of a customer she’s never seen before at her job at Arby’s: “You have nice eyes. … We should have a date!… We can’t have sex on date one or two, but on date three we can screw, OK?” One moment she’s scathing, impulsive, and having an epic meltdown with her brother, Van, who she deems too controlling. The next she’s funny, warm, and hugging Mandy.
With help from their families, coach, and each other they experience their own unique journeys to independence. Mandy and Van spotlight the joys and frustrations of being a caretaker. The show depicts authentic young people striving for social acceptance. They may be lacking in social skills, but the challenges of life at their age are universal themes. They all just want to be normal. As We See It’s cup of coffee may have a little saccharine in it, but it’s not schmaltzy or simplistic. You’ll cringe, laugh, and enjoy their together moments like when they all watch in awe as a new Roomba begins its initial trip around the apartment.
D² Rating ◼◼◼◩☐
Trivia: Sosie Bacon is the daughter of what well known Hollywood couple?
Answer: Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick