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Special - review


The second and, sadly, final season of Special has just dropped on Netflix and it is as much a pleasure to watch as the first one. 

The semi-autobiographical, award-winning show follows, Ryan, a twenty-something, gay, mama's boy with cerebral palsy navigating the pitfalls of the heteronormative, ablist world as he decides to let go of his mother's skirts.

There is the inevitable fag-hag (is that still a word we can use?), who conforms to all the tropes of the type, except for her vibrant sex life, and a couple of weird caricatural characters in the background of Ryan's work life. Everybody is very queer though. 

It is the sort of super-woke, inclusive comedy programmes that give broflakes their worst nightmares and that Netflix can be so good at producing. It is kind and generous, and it is exactly what we need right now. 

There are a few moments that don't completely make sense, and Ryan's love life is not particularly believable, especially in the number of guys that pretty-much literally throw themselves at him, each one better looking than the next. 

There is a whole list of adjectives that could be used to describe the show (sweet, funny, joyous, and yes: empowering, to name but a few) but the one that gives it its name, "special", is by far the best. Because it is.
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