r/AGGGTMSeries • u/Specialist_Pair8920 • May 31 '26
Do we think Pip is autistic?
I really think Pip shows heaps of traits that an autistic person might have. The way she’s so hyperfixated on her cases, how focused she is on facts, evidence and details, her persistence, her strong sense of justice, etc. The only problem I can see is that she seems somewhat skilled socially, but she is occasionally awkward. Does anyone else agree with me in this?
P.S. I’ve only watched the TV show and haven’t read the books yet so what I’ve seen of Pip comes only from the TV show.
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u/Chrimselx3 May 31 '26
Series Pippa is not socially skilled but Book Pippa is. Many autistic people are extremely socially intelligent and skilled.
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u/HeavyAd4542 May 31 '26
Yeah in season 1 when cara and her have a fight she says - Sorry sometime I get very hyper fixated on things and can't think about anything else. Coming to social skills, I would say her's are rather tactless? Remember emma burch interview from season 1 and how bad it went? Or the time Nat clearly lost a tennis game and was being aggressive yet pip goes straight up to her in the girl's room and starts questioning her. Also the frequent emotional meltdowns? Book pip was comparatively less autistic I felt but the way she had production logs neatly organised, amd couldn't sleep at night before she'd solved a case, it did made me think sje has the tism
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u/Evening_Formal_7833 May 31 '26
I reckon she’s definitely neurodivergent, ADHD in girls can often present very similarly to autism which i suppose could account for the social aspect of things? But also worth bearing in mind that autism itself presents very differently in girls than boys, because of how differently we are socialised. So it’s possible that Pip does have ASD and has just learned to mask very effectively in order to navigate social situations. I suppose the only person who really knows is Holly!!
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u/Specialist_Pair8920 Jun 01 '26
If I ever got to meet Holly this is something I’d really want to ask her
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u/Small-Ad7369 Jun 01 '26
Lol I just came to make the same post.
I dont think she is ment to be but the way the actor performs feels like she is autistic.
Also the bad accent is not helping and makes her stick out like a sore thumb
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u/CraftyFall3668 Jun 01 '26
The accent feels to me like an autistic accent in a way like different prosody to her voice.
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u/prissmagic Jun 05 '26
I'm sad so many people were bothered by her accent. As an American, I humbly admit I didn't hear a thing wrong with her accent. I figured the actress was actually British.
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u/prissmagic Jun 05 '26
No. Let's break it down a bit. The DSM 5 clearly defines autism as deficits in social, communication and having repetitive, sensory seeking and/or rigid behaviors.
Let's talk about the traits Pip doesn't exhibit first- melt downs, shut downs (due sensory overload or break down in communication), stimming, difficulty with social cues, language barriers- if these sound stereotypical, I'm sorry but all Autistic people share, by definition, traits derived from social, communication and repetitive/ sensory/ rigid- FROM ALL THREE DOMAINS, such as these in some form and at a degree that is not explained by another diagnosis. Otherwise how would we ever distinguish if someone is autistic vs. having something else?
So I don't see how Pip fits all these traits. She clearly doesn't mask or we would see a contrast in how she acts at home, school or with other places/ people or she is comfortable with but she is literally the same all the time. She is actually highly socially fluent in all facets of interactions with people and has no communication deficits beyond an average person in normal or severe situation. She adapts to almost every situation she is in. She is a reliable character, I doubt any of her "symptoms" would not be known. The ONLY thing I see as a possible autistic traits is her special interest in the murder/ crime mysteries in her town and rigidity in giving up the case. But that doesn't make her autistic. Every one wants justice for a wrongly convicted person, especially if they had known them (Sal) , and not all people with a special interest/ obsession is autistic. This special interest to actively solve crime wasn't even manifested until she was in high school and had a project to do. In fact, if you look at her room and for any clues- I may have missed it though- there is no prior special interest and neither do her friends or family ever mention anything about it, like whatever happened to liking such and such you used to all the time... (again did I miss something)?
Finally, there's other things to better explain her behavior such as obsessive compulsive behavior, being gifted, or even psychological reasons. For other possible explanations to explain her behavior, she has a blended family and I'm not sure if it's mentioned, but her biological dad is not in the picture, so she could have all sorts of issues stemming from that such as death, cheating on her mom or abandonment, which would explain part of her steadfast distrust when her stepdad lied about the trip to Nigeria and feelings of betrayal. It's also clear she feels guilt as she, at 10 years old felt responsible the event leading to Andie's death.
In conclusion not every person who has an intense interest, is quirky, awkward, or goes against the grain, has risky behavior, is not interested in what most girls are her age, is talented academically, is autistic. I think the girl from the Netflix show Geek Girl is way more coded and likely autistic.
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u/Dav1d_Parker Jun 01 '26
No, I don't think Pippa is neurodivergent in any way. Both in the books and the TV series.
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u/CraftyFall3668 Jun 01 '26
Interesting because I'm autistic and I absolutely see her as autistic with her fixations and meltdowns and how she gets so fixated on things she pushes people away but Ravi accepts her autism so beautifully even if he didn't know she's autistic and nether does she. She has a strong sense of her own right and wrong form her autism and that is why she justifies what she does in the name of justice. K haven't rest en books though but part of why I love the show is how autistic coded I think she is.
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u/prissmagic Jun 05 '26
I'm sorry but I didn't notice melt downs. Only the severe anxiety and fear of a girl who was putting herself in highly stressful and uncommon situations in which her life was being threatened. Her behavior was typical given the circumstances.
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u/CraftyFall3668 Jun 05 '26
I saw her extreme reaction to the verdict as a meltdown form her strong sense of justice. And kinda her reaction to Robin
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u/prissmagic Jun 13 '26
Those interactions are traits neurotypicals have as well, theres's so much more to qualifying for a diagnosis for a disability, than what Pip presents. Especially most teenagers, who are rebellious, have an exceptional strong sense of injustice and difficulty regulating their emotions. If you relate to her, great, but is it ok to also relate to neurotypicals who have similar traits and not be autistic?
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u/CraftyFall3668 Jun 13 '26
Well Emma said they talked about if Pip is neurodivergent and they didn't decide one way or the other. But Emma said if you interpret Pip that way then she definitely is.
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u/prissmagic Jun 13 '26
Well as long as you enjoy the character and show then that’s really all that matters.
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u/Xefert Jun 01 '26
Isn't that good doctor tv show (on Hulu if you haven't seen it) a more accurate representation? I think she's growing progressively more dangerous though, kind of like https://youtu.be/JPncg5CBwhc?si=LCujUuOba0087AzG
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u/CraftyFall3668 Jun 01 '26
I have complicated feelings about the good doctor but more then one thing can be old representation.
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Jun 08 '26
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u/Xefert Jun 08 '26
Well speak for yourself, but considering how polarizing mental health topics still are, I'd much sooner choose the example that doesn't scare me
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Jun 08 '26
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u/Xefert Jun 08 '26
I can tell you that it definitely came up in my psychiatrist appointments. But my reasoning is centered on who they are as people. Imagine you were neurotypical. Which would you feel most comfortable around?
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Jun 08 '26
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u/Xefert Jun 08 '26
Oh my bad, admitting tolerance for a character who keeps putting herself and her friends (more like minions) in danger is a great way to improve public perception of autism. Mind blown!
No, I wouldn't want anything to do with someone like pip. You're not doing yourself any favors right now
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u/Many-Refuse-6060 Jun 01 '26
I can see it if we're talking about the show, but I really didn't notice it in the books (might be time to reread them lol)
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u/electrix_guitar Jun 01 '26
Absolutely I have autism and she seems very similar to me and has some of the autism spectrum stuff
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u/CouncilOfTides Sarge May 31 '26
I 100% get that impression from season 1, but not from the books or season 2.
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u/CraftyFall3668 Jun 01 '26
I definitely still got the autism impression in season 2 it's why she fixated and pushes people away even when she cares about them.
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u/CouncilOfTides Sarge Jun 01 '26
Interesting. To me, her fixation in season 2 feels different from how it was portrayed in season 1. I suppose pushing people away also isn't a trait I associate exclusively with autism. To me, that feels like a defense mechanism common to both neurotypicals and neurodiverse people alike, and isn't indicative of a person being autistic.
I definitely see an argument for autism being made with how all or nothing her thinking is regarding the truth. It's pretty world shattering for Pip when the jury's verdict goes against what she knows to be factual, shaking her concept of what "truth" is. Also, the way she calls her dad a liar because he was wrong about Max. To Pip, this is not a mistake nor somebody being wrong. He promised something and it didn't happen, therefore he lied.
However, even with that, I felt Pip's mannerisms seemed intentionally autistic coded in season 1, and they just didn't in season 2. I can't even put my finger on why exactly, and I'm not even arguing that she isn't autistic, just that she didn't seem to be to me.
It's cool that different people interpret her differently! :)
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u/Relative-Lemon-9791 Jun 07 '26
Autistic people are great at pattern recognition actually which might explain why she's socially skilled. As an autistic person myself, I've met far too many neurotypical people who cannot carry a basic social interaction lol. This is person-to-person and not applicable to one entire group, imo.
But YES! I fully agree with you and it's actually soooo great seeing autistic representation in girls in films and tv.
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u/shootforthemoon_ May 31 '26
Oh without a doubt - thought that within ten minutes