Are They Autistic? – Reggie Abbott (Twelve Forever) – Part 3

Continued from Parts 1 and 2.

Are They Autistic? – Reggie Abbot (Twelve Forever) – Part 1 | The Autistic Blogger (wordpress.com)

Are They Autistic? – Reggie Abbot (Twelve Forever) – Part 2 | The Autistic Blogger (wordpress.com)

When I first started writing this article, I intended to analyse Twelve Forever so I could determine whether Reggie, the main character, was Autistic or not. While doing so, however, I came to admire the series for something else: its true intention. The longer I watched the episodes, the more it became clear they were written with a preteen audience in mind. They didn’t teach lessons, exactly, but rather experiences. They were the sort of moments everyone goes through in life, and the stories were guides to handling them. I’ve already explained how Episode 1 teaches us to let go of the past while valuing our memories. But there are other examples throughout the series. Episode 3, for instance, teaches us the challenges of making and accepting new friends. 

You may’ve noticed (in the last parts) I haven’t mentioned Reggie’s other friend, Esther, all that much. That’s because they don’t officially become friends until the third episode. And the process isn’t as straightforward as you might think. 

When Esther is introduced, she’s shown to be a grade-A student. She’s passionate about many things, like reading and learning, and is determined to be the best she can be. Unfortunately, nobody at school shares her mindset. Her classmates – including Reggie and Todd – think she’s too analytical about everything, and her book reports are long and tedious. Even the teacher seems to belittle her for it. As a result, Esther always feels like she’s always messing up and that her efforts will never be appreciated.

I can personally relate to this feeling. Sometimes I spend weeks or months working on a single project because I have limited spare time outside my job. I sacrifice a lot to ensure it’s made to the best of my ability. However, that doesn’t always mean it’ll be successful. Sometimes people aren’t interested in everything I say, so my piece doesn’t get the attention or views I hoped for. It’s tough whenever you put so much effort into something only to get so little in return. It makes you wonder if the time you spent was worth it. Or if you were better off doing something else. Now imagine someone like Esther going through that daily. She’d have confidence issues for sure. That’s why it’s necessary to let off steam somewhere.

One day, Reggie and Todd skip detention to go to Endless. However, they’re shocked to find Esther is there too. As it turns out, she has a homemade flute which lets her visit the island – much like Reggie and Todd’s keys. Because she often feels pressured by her parents’ expectations, she needs a place to refresh her mentality. Todd is fascinated that other people can visit Endless. But Reggie is annoyed. She doesn’t like the idea of “book report girl” stepping in on her special place and acts very territorial. It’s another example of how much Reggie despises even the slightest change in her life. Esther insists she’s not there to cause trouble. But Reggie is determined to ditch her. Until she gets caught in quicksand, that is. Esther uses her Endless powers to save Reggie, and the latter realises she’s not as dull as she thought.

Deciding whether to be someone’s friend can feel like a challenge in and of itself. You never know how long a relationship will last, and things like having different ages, religions or personal interests could be considered obstacles. However, the only important question to ask yourself is if you want to befriend that person. Even two significantly different people can find enough common ground to form a friendship. Or at least be happy spending more time together. As demonstrated by Reggie, she doesn’t mind being called Esther’s friend.

Todd also has his series highlights. In the fourth episode, his brother, Aron, goes to college, leaving him as the oldest sibling in the house. As such, his parents rely on him more than ever to look after his younger sisters. He seems to manage just fine. But then he’s seen creating new friends on Endless from his brother’s old things. Reggie has no clue what’s going on. But Esther picks up that Todd is angry. He’s always been very close to his brother, so he feels betrayed by his leaving. Rather than talk about it, though, Todd wants to make a replacement for Aron to fill the void in his life – even though no one can ever truly replace his brother. Esther and Reggie assure Todd that even if Aron isn’t around anymore, he still has them to confide in with his problems. Plus, his family show how much they appreciate his hard work.

So the three main characters are all very relatable; their experiences are common to almost any twelve-year-old watching. However, even when the storylines aren’t familiar, they still add a sense of realism to the series. 

For example, in one episode (20), Reggie and her friends plan to spend a week on Endless for Spring Break. However, Reggie starts to feel unwell. She thinks it’s a stomach ache. But then she suddenly vomits and passes out. Why? Because it’s revealed her appendix has burst, and she needs to spend time in the hospital. It’s a scary moment that reminds us how human these characters are.

In another episode (14), Reggie finds a box of her dad’s old things. She acts like it doesn’t bother her so much. But then her inner feelings manifest as a storm monster on Endless, which forces her to open up. It leads to an emotional scene where she tearfully consults her mom and learns the harsh reality of why her dad left. 

The series can be nonsensical and funny at times with its fantasy elements. But when the episodes want to be serious, nothing gets sugarcoated. Instead, the characters speak to each other like real people going through emotional conflicts. If there’s one thing Twelve Forever excels at, it’s communicating its morals.

Another praiseworthy aspect is the series’ depiction of LGTBQ+. Several characters are shown to have affectionate feelings for those of the same gender. Episode 7, for example, centres around Mack and Beefhouse (two male wrestlers) expressing their love for being the other’s partner. Another Endless resident (Galaxander) has a house date with a male shark and admits to having an ex-boyfriend (ep13). It’s even implied that Reggie, herself, might be gay. Halfway through the series, an older girl named Conelly is introduced. She’s an aspiring filmmaker and admires Reggie for her creativity. She even invites her to hang out with her and her friends so they can work on projects together. Afterwards, Reggie gets flustered whenever she’s around Conelly – as if she’s trying to suppress feelings she doesn’t fully understand.

I love how the series approaches LGTBQ+ so causally. Too often in media, creators state how they’ve included gay, transgender or bisexual characters in their products to show they’re all-inclusive. However, drawing attention to them this way implies those sorts of people are out of the ordinary. There are films, series and documentaries where they’re meant to be the main focus. But when they’re not, it can feel like their sexuality is being exploited for marketing. I think the best way to represent LGTBQ+ characters is to present them as regular people in society. As same-gender relationships become more commonplace and widely accepted, why should they be portrayed any differently in media?

Reggie’s main appeal isn’t that she’s potentially gay. It’s that she’s a character we can all see ourselves in. She represents a phase in our lives we all inevitably go through. And we have to overcome it because it’s essential to our future.

On that note, let me tell you what this series’ fantasy setting represents. As much as Endless gets presented as this fun-filled sunny paradise where kids can escape their worries and live out their dreams, it doesn’t want to give the wrong idea that it’s a permanent solution to Reggie’s troubles. It’s not trying to say that if you don’t want to grow up, you can stay a carefree, unresponsible child forever. Instead, the island is meant to relieve kids of stress so they can work through their problems and be better prepared for the real world. Even in episodes like the one involving Reggie’s dad, it’s clarified there are some things she can’t run away from on Endless.

Another way this message is delivered is by showing the audience how dangerous the island can be. There are physical threats such as the Butt Witch, the various monsters and a genuine risk of injury. However, the most disturbing aspect is the island’s residents. Throughout the series, they occasionally mention living in the real world before coming to the island. It sounds odd at first. But then we get to episode 20. 

While Reggie recovers in the hospital, she insists that Todd and Esther should spend Spring Break on Endless – just like they planned. But they have to call her daily so she knows what’s happening. Todd and Esther agree. But they slowly begin to forget Reggie, and the real world, the longer they spend on Endless. Moreover, because the time of day never changes on the island, they lose track of how long they’ve been there, and soon five whole days have passed. By the time Reggie returns, she’s shocked to find her friends are on the verge of insanity and are morphing into disfigured creatures. The only thing that saves them is Reggie bringing them back to the real world so they can regain their senses.

Seeing what happens when you’re exposed to too much magic is disturbing. But Todd and Esther were lucky enough to escape. The series’ darkest moment comes when the three friends meet Captain Elmer (episode 23), a mysterious visitor who looks like a young boy. Initially, they’re convinced he’s a travelling collector because he owns a giant sea creature filled with treasure. However, it’s later revealed he’s a master thief, and they catch him red-handed. After apprehending him, though, they discover a photograph which tells the whole story.

Elmer was a boy from the 1950s who came to Endless wanting to escape his misery. His mother had died of illness, and he lived in an orphanage. So much had already been taken from him that he wanted to regain his happiness in any way he could. Endless allowed him to take whatever he wanted without consequences. So he vowed never to return to his dismal real-world life. However, staying on Endless all those years caused him to transform into a doll with detachable limbs. Now he’s stuck in this world forever because he’s lost his humanity.

Endless isn’t meant to be a scary or evil place. But like everything in life, too much of something can be devastating. In this case, the story emphasises why the island’s magic is only beneficial in moderation. Additionally, it shows how pain and misfortune can corrupt a young child’s mind, causing them to develop into unsavoury people. Their problems must be identified early on, so others can give them the help and support they need. Otherwise, they’ll be led down a path they’ll never return from.

Unfortunately, despite the moral of this cautionary tale being plain for everyone to see, the episode ends on a worrying note. Because although Todd, Esther and the audience realise how horrifying Elmer’s fate is, the one person who doesn’t grasp it is the person who needs to learn from it the most: Reggie. Not only does the tragedy go over her head, but she thinks Elmer staying a kid forever is cool and wants to be like him. Worse still, now that she knows Endless is broader than she imagined, it’s given her a terrible plan for the future. When she’s old enough to leave home, she’ll live on Endless permanently and spend the rest of her life exploring its other islands. We know this is an awful idea because we’ve seen the consequences. But Reggie doesn’t care. She thinks she’ll be luckier than everyone else and handle things better. Sadly, this is the biggest flaw with Reggie’s character; when she sets her mind to something, she can be extremely stubborn and selfish.

Looking at the relationship between the three friends, they generally get along very well. However, Reggie often takes the lead in saying what they’ll do and when. She hardly listens to reason and doesn’t like being told no. Also, going back to what I said about her being possessive, she seems to think all of Endless is meant to revolve around her. There’s an episode (13) where the group sees into the homes of the island’s residents, and Reggie is shocked that they have lives outside of playing with her. The point where everything hits a fever pitch, though, is when Todd starts falling in love.

It begins with the three friends attending a school dance (ep21). Todd spends some time with a girl named Gwen – who he’s been seeing outside of school lately – and even Esther finds somebody to dance with. Reggie is left all alone to observe how mature both her friends look. Conelly then arrives with her friends. But Reggie panics and wants to leave. Todd refuses to go. So Reggie forcibly drags Esther away from her partner – ruining a special moment between them. Ultimately, Esther feels heartbroken and decides to go home – leaving Reggie by herself again.

Reggie’s inability to read a situation, or consider other people’s feelings, is harmful to both her and her friends. Nowhere is this better shown than in the series’ penultimate episode (24).

For Todd’s thirteenth birthday, Reggie plans a celebration for him on Endless. He’s excited to go, but then he mentions he’s planning to bring Gwen along – who’s now officially his girlfriend. Reggie is outraged at the idea and refuses to allow it – even though she’s brought others to Endless before too. They get into a heated argument until Todd refuses to attend the party. Reggie then goes on a rampage, destroying everything she prepared out of rage. Esther tries calming her down by reminding her of when they first became friends – maybe they can warm up to Gwen too. But Reggie is having none of it. She enjoys her life with just the three of them and doesn’t want Todd to give in to real-world temptations. It’s a moment that exposes Reggie’s insecurities and how stuck she is in the present. Unfortunately, things quickly go from bad to worse.

Todd comes to Endless, intending to apologise. But he hits a breaking point when he sees what Reggie has done to the party. He’s tired of her acting so selfish and immature whenever something doesn’t go her way. Even if she set up the party for him, she still destroyed it because she didn’t want there to be an extra guest. He’s also mad at Esther for never standing up to Reggie, and Esther doesn’t appreciate him putting words in her mouth. Things get so out of hand that the friends start attacking one another until Reggie screams at them to “get off [her] island!” Todd and Esther leave in a bitter rage, and Reggie is left broken and miserable. It’s the most harrowing scene of the whole series.

Now, eventually, the friends do reconcile (ep25). And they even work together to save Endless from its deadliest threat yet. However, it’s clear Reggie still has a lot to learn. After all, we never hear her apologise to Todd or Esther; we only assume that happened off-screen. 

But although Reggie lacks the qualities of a good role model, that doesn’t mean she’s a terrible person. There are moments throughout the series where she’s been willing to try new things. She watches TV shows and plays board games for older audiences (eps16/19). She offers to babysit, despite having no experience (ep15). And she even takes responsibility for residents on Endless, like building new homes for newcomers (ep14). The opportunities for Reggie to grow as a person are there. It’s just that she needs the confidence to take those next steps. Like starting a babysitting business (as her mom suggested), becoming friends with Conelly, or taking the latter’s advice and using her creativity to become an art director. Sometimes it takes encouragement from the right people to provide that much-needed confidence. 

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Now, at this point, I have to address the reader on something. You might’ve spent this whole time reading and had one question on your mind. Wasn’t this article supposed to be about whether Reggie was Autistic or not? Well, that is true. I have been procrastinating on the subject. However, there’s a good reason for it. I had very different intentions when I wrote Part 1 of this article. I thought it would be like the other instalments of Are They Autistic? where I would look over a piece of media, pick out specific details and use those to determine whether the character was on the spectrum. However, that’s not what I ended up doing. As I sat down to watch this series, I realised it was much more than I ever expected. There were so many enlightening moments with the stories, morals and characters that I had to give them the attention they deserved – even if that meant writing for a few more weeks and making the title slightly misleading.

With that said, though, I still need to answer the all-important question. Is Reggie Abbott, the main protagonist, Autistic? Well, you might be disappointed to hear this, but to tell the truth, I don’t know. 

As I mentioned before, in Part 1, Reggie and I have many similarities. The most significant is that she’s reluctant to change and has a creative mind. I even found other comparisons throughout the series, like her habit of collecting strange things (ep11) – which I had when I was younger – and loving anime music (ep21). However, despite these findings, they weren’t enough to convince me that no other explanation was possible. There was no defining moment where I thought, for sure, that Reggie had to be Autistic. For Haruhi Suzumiya, it was when she wore her hair a specific way each day of the week (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya). For Beth Rivers, it was eating everything on her plate in one particular order (Rose Rivers). But for Reggie Abbott, her interests and issues were common to many children with or without neurological disabilities. Plus, any supporting evidence I did find was few and far between. And they didn’t connect in the way I was hoping.

All things considered, though, I don’t want to claim that Reggie isn’t Autistic. If somebody watched Twelve Forever and told me they thought she was on the spectrum, I wouldn’t argue against it. There certainly is evidence supporting that claim. But there wasn’t enough for me to give a definite answer.

Besides, looking at the series overall, it’s clear that presenting Reggie as Autistic was never the intention. Instead, she and the other characters are meant to be as all-inclusive as possible so different audiences can connect with the series. It’s their personalities and experiences that make them so relatable.

Twelve Forever had a lot of potential going for it. More than likely, it could’ve been a long-running series with multiple seasons. Unfortunately, though, that’s now unlikely to happen. I won’t go into details here, but things were discovered about the series’ creator that would make anyone hesitant to work with her again – especially on something aimed at children. 

However, it takes more than one person to bring a project to life. And judging by how it turned out, Twelve Forever had many passionate people working on it: animators, writers, storyboarders, and even voice actors. In particular, there was Reggie’s voice actor: Kelsy Abbott. It’s no coincidence they share the same surname. If you look closely at some of the episodes’ credits, you’ll see Kelsy lent a hand in writing them. That’s right; a voice actor had the chance to write stories for her own character. It’s a rarity that you see that kind of commitment. But finding a series that far surpasses its expectations is rarer.

I would highly recommend this series to anyone in Reggie’s age group. If you’ve ever felt on edge about growing up, changing who you are or taking the next steps in life, Twelve Forever can be very informative. But even if you’re nowhere near her age, the series still offers morals and experiences that all ages can learn from. Believe me when I say I haven’t touched on half of them.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say for Twelve Forever and Reggie Abbott. If you’ve taken the time to read all three parts of this extensive review, then I want to thank you personally for your patience. If you have any questions, please comment below – I’ll happily answer them. And, until next time, stay tuned.

Image courtesy of: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8009622/?ref_=tt_mv_close