Ever since its inception in 2016, Donald Glover’s Atlanta has continuously been praised as one of the most innovative shows on television. If there’s one thing we can say about the multi-hyphenate’s brainchild, it’s that the series refuses to play by the rules or follow any constant. Every season is invariably fresher and more surprising than the last, almost always for the better. The series’ fourth and final season, though, has taken a break from this trend for a decided return to form - and a return to the Peach State. In Atlanta’s brilliant final stretch, we’re once again reminded of the show’s cosmic power on its home turf.
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The gang’s fated homecoming arrives after a season of meandering throughout Europe, which left fans and critics alike deeply divided. Although season three succeeded in enhancing the dreaminess of the show, imbuing it with, at times, a near-fantastical quality, it repeatedly left us hanging with the trajectory of our fave four characters. The season’s final episode did wrap things up with a glimpse into Van’s world, and what’s gone wrong with it, but overall it tended more towards erraticism as opposed to the intimate character studies we’d grown to know and love. The season’s most socially-conscious anthology episodes, like the infamous “The Big Payback,” did find a way to root us in Atlanta - but it undoubtedly felt a bit strange, when Paper Boi was over in Amsterdam.
In its first three episodes, season four has launched off with a promising start, crawling towards a conclusion that rightfully feels “the most Atlanta.” Back from their European escapades and unhinged Alex Skarsgård encounters, Earn and co. are left to reckon with the unresolved issues that the sabbatical was an attempted detour from. At this ultimate stage of the show’s progression, it’s no less than apparent to viewers how much the characters have grown since season one. Earn is going to therapy now, with the money he’s made because Paper Boi “made it.” Van seems to be approaching a relative state of stability. Darius is, well, still Darius. But that doesn’t mean it’s all hunky-dory at home - what starts in Atlanta must end there, too.
All Roads Lead to Atlanta
FX
The legacy of Atlanta, both show and place, couldn’t be any more palpable within season four’s exceptional opener. As we follow the main group back to home base, a sense of all its familiar trappings wash over us. Both viewers and the characters are left to wonder where is next, if not home.
As per usual, season four addresses this question with the perfect mix of hilarity and fragility that has always made Atlanta such a groundbreaking show. For instance, in the season’s opener, aptly titled “The Most Atlanta,” Earn and Van find themselves in a rather horrifying situation - they are trapped in a limbo-like state with all of their exes, to which there is seemingly no exit. What’s scarier: the permanence of the past, or the inaccessibility of the future? Paper Boi grapples with the idea of legacy in this episode, as well, as he goes on a wild scavenger hunt for the funeral of a rapper that has recently passed. If you’re always lost in Atlanta, you’re also always searching. The legacy of the city haunts all of its characters, and the future of the show at large, tackled with the perfect degree of tenderness and existential uncertainty.
Keeping it (Sur)Real
20th Television
From Black Mirror to I Think You Should Leave, surrealist television has been making a comeback recently since its incomparable heyday in 1992. Although the above-listed shows, along with many others, have offered groundbreaking new innovations to the genre, Atlanta’s novelty has always existed on another plane. Behind the show’s surreal facade, there is a layer of earnestness (pun intended) that propels the series with authenticity and vulnerability rarely accessed in any show, let alone the surreal canon.
So far, season four has been just as surreal as any of its predecessors - and just as earnest, too. Perhaps its most uncanny moment lives in the “Born to Die” episode, where Earn is forced to wait in a backrooms-esque space in hopes of meeting the immortal D’Angelo. Reaching a state resembling enlightenment, he learns a little something about life and futility (and what being D’Angelo really means). These lessons are inextricably connected to Earn’s growth as a person and in his career. Atlanta’s surrealism is so effective because it always has a heart beating behind it - there is something on the line, whether it’s Earn’s livelihood, Paper Boi’s career, Van’s sanity, or Darius’s zen. Back at home, the show’s surrealism loses its fairytale-like quality and isn’t afraid to tackle the important questions: what is it that Earn and the others are really searching for?
Done For the Culture
In a roundabout way that couldn’t feel any more natural, season four seems to mirror much of Atlanta’s first season. What was so miraculous about those first few episodes was their ability to instantly immerse us into the city’s hip-hop scene, all with the singular absurdist flair always brilliantly curated by Hiro Murai. With a return back to Atlanta in season four, the cultural salience of the show, particularly how the rap game is changing, is reintroduced to us with a fiery jolt. In “Born to Die,” Paper Boi is encouraged to adopt a YWA - “young white avatar”- in order to stay ahead of the game. The culture is shifting, and for Paper Boi, the effect of that is complicated.
Of course, Atlanta always manages to have fun with the idea and culture of America at large, too. It is a tricky thing to both mock and empathize with the national post-pandemic world we live in, but Atlanta has only managed to do so with a tone that couldn’t be any more on the nose. In “The Most Atlanta,” we open with Darius attempting to return an air fryer in an apocalyptic looting scene. Then a knife-wielding Karen proceeds to chase him from her wheelchair, seemingly for hours or days on end. It’s hard to differentiate between the eccentricities of Atlanta and the eccentricities of America - and that’s what makes the show so brilliant. In Atlanta, culture couldn’t play any less of a significant role. Now more than ever, we will see its characters grow both within and beyond it.
