[yasr_overall_rating]
Based in Atlanta, Earn and his cousin Alfred are trying to make their way up in the world through the rap scene. Along the way, they come face to face with social and economic issues touching on race, relationships, poverty, status, and parenthood.
As a fan of the show (and of everyone involved at this point) I’m a bit disappointed it hasn’t been reviewed more frequently. FX seems to have a decent-sized corner on the market for weird television with Atlanta and Legion being the two biggest names in ‘mind-bending television.’ I have to hand it to FX, no matter how big their name gets (they’ve got shows like “Archer,” “Bob’s Burgers,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” and classics like “Sons of Anarchy”) they are always open for experimentation. Maybe it’s cause they know they have one of the most interesting creators in culture on their roster right now (they’ve taken full advantage of Glover’s presence with the network contracting him out for five other shows – one of which is the canceled deal for the animated “Deadpool”). This season of “Atlanta” has been markedly different from it’s previous while still remaining true to its core elements, namely: magical realism, racial dichotomies, and painfully dark comedy.
This episode finally boils over everything we’ve witnessed (in parts) throughout the course of this season. Earn, now successfully managing Paper Boi, struggles to swim in deeper water as Alfred’s profile grows and grows creating a wedge between what Alfred think’s he should be making and the money they’re actually making. To Earn the money they have right now is riches beyond measure (and also riches he can’t spend without someone stunting on him.) Alfred’s finding out he deserves more the longer he delves into the music industry (as well as splitting his values between the image-driven culture of celebrity and his authentic roots.) Darius is out here driving jokes home, exposing us to extreme thinking, and surviving horror episodes. Van asks hard questions surrounding her relationship to Earn, exposed through her friends, and starts to craft an identity for herself. On top of all of that Atlanta introduces us to a brand new character, Tracy, whose aloof personality and goofy gangster swagger threatens Earn at every turn.
This season “Atlanta”’s moved away from its comedy (by a slight margin) and dived into what feels like genuine horror. Between Paper Boi traversing a forest followed by a crazed drug addict and the now-infamous Teddy Perkins-Darius episode, “Atlanta” has carved more horror moments this season than hilarious ones. Tonally it’s more of a double down than a one-eighty. This season makes the violence center stage.
This week’s episode “North of the Border” finally brings together several of the narrative threads kept distinctly separate in previous episodes. Alfred and Earn finally have the ‘you’re-not-cutting-it-as-my-manager’ talk. Alfred’s unhappiness releases in a few brief moments (some of his only smiles this entire season.) Thematically we return to the bizarre racial double standard within hip-hop fan communities. No Van in this episode, but considering her narrative has so far reached a conflict and resolution we’re sitting comfortably on just the Boys.
North of the Border really elaborates on the devil and angel sitting on Alfred’s shoulders. On the one hand, we have Tracy, a buffoonish argumentative friend who freeloads enough that even Paper Boi gets a little upset, but whose intentions are devoted entirely to his friend. Then there’s Earn, the voice of reason (from our perspective) who’s grown complacent, failing to push for more success, more money.
As a failed college student it’s easy to see throughout the course of the show Earn is as much an outsider to the Atlanta (t)rap community as he is a product of it. Earn aligns himself with the audience by constantly questioning the ludicrous nature of everything around him. An alligator in a closet? Earn’s the only one recognizing how dangerous it is. Earn, as an outsider, has been able to play both sides but slowly he’s been outmaneuvered on both fronts.
After everything goes wrong Alfred and Earn wind up in the basement of a white fraternity campus. Having attended a private university in the south I can safely tell you that is exactly what a frat house would look like. A Confederate flag hangs behind the two. Darius and Tracy go off to check out the Gun Room while a dopy fraternity brother talks about UGK, 4LD, and makes the naked fraternity pledges dance to ‘Laffy Taffy’ for Alfred’s amusement. It’s an amazing visual dichotomy, one which “Atlanta” explore tenaciously in every episode.
Honestly, Paper Boi’s interaction with young, white, males always proves much more warm and exciting than his interactions with young black men on the show. In one episode a shy white teenager asks for a picture. In the same episode, three black teenagers beat him and rob him.
The show works every episode to remind the audience that white people who indulge (and identify) with hip-hop do not share the same background that hip-hop artists do. For us, as an audience, we feel the disconnect to be a black man where his white fans are the most encouraging. These are important things to remember as the show does not judge either group, but characterizes these interactions specifically through the lens of Alfred, a reluctant role model.
Alfred finally tells Earn he’s not cutting it. Earn snaps. When they arrive at the girl’s apartment they were supposed to stay at they find all their clothes cut up. Earn’s laptop is stolen. He loses it. He wilds out. He bangs on doors, pulls the fire alarm, and makes a large ruckus.
Had it been Earn from the night before he might have taken the L and called it a day, but that’s not Earn this season. We’ve seen him try and fail (repeatedly) to impress others and to stunt on others. Finally, he succumbs to his emotions and loses it. In a moment of raw anger and physical violence, he loses a fight with Tracy that he, himself, started.
At the end of the episode, we’re left with a small uncertainty. I certainly read the ending as several conclusions:
- By demonstrating that he has a wild side and can take punches he’s proven himself to Alfred and forces Alfred to rethink things.
- Alfred glimpses what Earn keeps saying when Tracy beats Earn gratuitously.
- Earn is no longer Alfred’s manager. That hasn’t changed.
- Earn stopped questioning the insanity around him and chose to participate in it, finally giving him status as a member of the community. Has he finally shed some of his outsider status that everyone thinks of him?
While Earnest could play the angel in Paper Boi’s ear whispering for rational thinking Tracy’s blatant display of thuggish behavior (which has been Paper Boi’s “image” pointed out to him MULTIPLE TIMES in both seasons) comes from a genuine love of his friend and the culture he grew up in.
For now, Earn is on his way out and Tracy is on his way in. We’ll see how that culminates throughout the show as we have two more episodes left. Hopefully, they connect and the story finds some closure rather than Donald just staring out a window (as he does in lots of things, not just Atlanta.)
“Atlanta” airs on FX Thursday evenings at 10/9c
