Since its inception in 2016, Donald Glover’s Atlanta has been consistently hailed as one of the most innovative shows on television. If there’s one thing we can say about the brainchild of the multi-hyphen, it’s that the series refuses to play by the rules or follow a constant. Each season is invariably fresher and more surprising than the last, almost always for the better. However, the series’ fourth and final season 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 piece, we are once again reminded of the cosmic power of the show on its own turf.
The gang’s ill-fated homecoming comes after a season of wandering across Europe, which has left fans and critics deeply divided. While season three managed to amplify the dreaminess of the show and give it an almost fantastic quality at times, it repeatedly left us hanging with the trajectory of our favorite four characters. The final episode of the season capped things off with a look at Van’s world, and what went wrong with it, but overall it tended more towards quirkiness as opposed to the intimate character studies we’d come to know and appreciate. The season’s most socially conscious anthology episodes, such as the infamous “The Great Payback Period”, did find a way to root us in Atlanta – but no doubt it felt a bit strange when Paper Boi was in Amsterdam.
In its first three episodes, season four got off to a promising start, creeping 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 take into account the unresolved problems that the sabbatical was an attempted detour. At this ultimate stage of the show’s progression, it is no less than apparent to viewers how much the characters have grown since season one. Earn is now in therapy, with the money he made because Paper Boi made it. Van appears to be approaching a relative state of stability. Darius is, well, still Darius. But that doesn’t mean it’s all hip at home — what starts in Atlanta has to end there.
All roads lead to Atlanta
Atlanta’s legacy, both show and place, couldn’t be more palpable in Season Four’s exceptional opener. As we follow the main group back to home base, a sense of all its familiar attributes overwhelms us. Both viewers and the characters wonder where next is, if not at home.
As usual, season four addresses this question with the perfect blend of hilarity and vulnerability that has always made Atlanta such a groundbreaking show. For example, in the season opener, aptly titled “The Most Atlanta,” Earn and Van find themselves in a rather horrific situation – they’re stuck in a limbo-like state with all their exes, from which there is seemingly no exit. Which is scarier: the permanence of the past or the inaccessibility of the future? Paper Boi also grapples with the idea of legacy in this episode, as he goes on a wild scavenger hunt for the funeral of a rapper who recently passed away. If you’re always lost in Atlanta, you’re always looking too. The legacy of the city haunts all of its characters, and the future of the show in general, addressed with the perfect degree of tenderness and existential uncertainty.
Keeping it (sur) real
From black mirror until I think you should leave surreal television has recently been making a comeback since its incomparable heyday in 1992. While the shows mentioned above, along with many others, have brought groundbreaking new innovations to the genre, Atlanta’s novelty has always existed in another plane. Behind the show’s surreal facade, there’s a layer of seriousness (pun intended) that propels the series forward with authenticity and fragility rarely used in a show, let alone the surreal canon.
So far, season four has been just as surreal as any of its predecessors — and just as serious, too. Perhaps the creepiest moment is in the episode “Born to Die”, where Earn is forced to wait in a backroom-like space in hopes of meeting the immortal D’Angelo. When he reaches a state akin to enlightenment, he learns something about life and meaninglessness (and what it really means to be D’Angelo). These lessons are inextricably linked to Earn’s growth as a person and in his career. Atlanta’s Surrealism is so effective because there’s always a beating heart behind it – something is at stake, whether it’s Earn’s livelihood, Paper Boi’s career, Van’s sanity, or Darius’ zen. Back home, the show’s surrealism loses its fairytale quality and isn’t afraid to tackle the important questions: What are Earn and the others really looking for?
Done for the culture
On a detour that couldn’t feel more natural, season four seems to reflect a lot of it Atlanta’s first season. What was so wonderful about those first few episodes was their ability to immediately immerse us in the city’s hip-hop scene, all with the unique absurdist flair always brilliantly put together by Hiro Murai. With a return to Atlanta in season four, the show’s cultural salience, especially how the rap game is changing, is reintroduced with a fiery shock. In “Born to Die”, Paper Boi is encouraged to adopt a YWA – “young white avatar” – to stay ahead of the game. The culture is shifting and for Paper Boi the effect is complicated.
Naturally, Atlanta always manages to have fun with the idea and culture of America in general too. It is difficult to both mock and empathize with the national post-pandemic world we live in, but Atlanta has only managed to do that with a tone that could not be more on the nose. In ‘The Most Atlanta’ we open with Darius trying to bring back an airfryer in an apocalyptic looting scene. Then Karen, who wields a knife, starts chasing him out of her wheelchair, seemingly for hours or days at a time. 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 Atlantaculture could play no less significant role. Now more than ever we will see his characters grow both inside and outside of him.