Atlanta Season 3 is TV at its Most Daring and Ambitious

Atlanta on FX, created by Donald Glover, hasn’t misplaced any of its wit and attraction after its lengthy four-year hiatus. The third season is Atlanta not solely at its most surreal, however its most bold because it broadens its horizons past the scope of America. It is one in all 2022’s greatest returning reveals.

When it first premiered in 2016, Glover pitched the collection as “Twin Peaks with rappers,” which is truthful contemplating it is a satirical and surrealist view of Georgia’s flourishing rap scene. The universe of Atlanta is a bizarre one. Black Panther 2 is out, invisible vehicles exist, Justin Bieber is Black and America has lastly given Black residents reparations for slavery — and that is all whereas the principle crew navigates the very actual struggles of being Black in America.

But, what actually elevates Donald Glover’s weirdly poignant comedy collection is the way it manages to hit a nerve that almost all did not know was uncovered — a kind of nerve that feels all of the extra tender in 2022.

Simply earlier than the premiere of the season 3 finale, I spoke with Atlanta’s lead author and government producer, Stefani Robinson, in regards to the making of season 3 and conveying a season-long message about Black company and “the curse of whiteness.” (Notice: Minor spoilers forward.)

“We wrote this season in 2019, so this was earlier than the pandemic, earlier than the larger Black Lives Matter demonstrations,” Robinson defined. “[2020] was this bizarre, painful second in time, These episodes had been then put out right into a world that was publicly having these tough emotions and conversations. We made tweaks right here and there, however this season was just about the plan we had [in 2019], by way of the tales we needed to inform. “

The third season picks up someday after the principle crew’s profitable rap tour, with Earn (Donald Glover); Alfred, aka Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry); Darius (Lakeith Stanfield) and Van (Zazie Beetz) driving excessive whereas on an odyssey of kinds by means of Europe. Whereas we see loads of the principle solid stumbling and thriving in equal measure, issues take a flip for the bizarre with a number of standalone episodes that really feel like Atlanta’s tackle Black Mirror, which can also be how the present retains one foot planted in America.

One of many widespread threads Atlanta touches on all through this collection is that being a Black individual within the fashionable world will be bizarre, virtually to the purpose of inspiring existential dread. Particularly, to be Black in America is to know life as an outsider. That feeling is all of the extra magnified with the central characters exploring Europe and experiencing life outdoors their bubble.

This facet makes season 3 so novel. The primary crew get the highlight all through the season, revealing some long-tempering insecurities they’ve alongside the way in which. But, the European setting acts as a good way to intensify Atlanta’s “fish-out-of-water” facet. Whereas they’re extra comfy and free to go about their lives with out experiencing the very American model of racism, they nonetheless can really feel “othered” in very European methods. This places the principle crew in conditions the place they expertise how seemingly form European jails are in comparison with their American counterparts, but additionally the awkward informal racism of European festivities like Zwarte Piete.

The change of surroundings to Europe does lots to emphasise how bleak life will be in an uncaring America, nevertheless it additionally makes clear they don’t seem to be fairly “house” in Europe both. This dichotomy is additional emphasised with the distinctive bottle episodes of season three, or parables as Robinson describes them. They function a hen’s eye view of racism and the poisonous “curse of whiteness.”

I actually loved these episodes as an attention-grabbing option to decide to a thread with out a lot baggage. A specific spotlight of this season was episode 9’s parable, which centered on a Black excessive schooler who passes himself off as white to slot in. Subsequently, he will get his comeuppance for attempting to money in on his Blackness to get a free scholarship from a Black billionaire. It is a searing have a look at how Blackness will be commodified, nevertheless it’s additionally completely hilarious.

These tales are remoted, but they tie into the bigger story of Atlanta, which is about Blackness, in all its types, within the fashionable world. Whereas many of those episodes are performed for laughs, the start of the season surprisingly begins with a horror story, specializing in an alternate retelling of the Hart household tragedy, which noticed two mother and father commit murder-suicide towards their adoptive Black children.

Whereas Atlanta usually goes for laughs to focus on the absurd, it may possibly additionally attain chilling locations to devastating impact. But all of it works to inform a narrative in regards to the pervasiveness of racism, the impact it has had on others and the world it ended up creating.

“It is form of about accountability and generational trauma, and extra particularly simply the curse of whiteness,” says Robinson in regards to the themes of season 3. “Being black in America is not only a factor that black individuals expertise, however somewhat that racism, and the insidiousness of it in America; it is everybody’s downside. All of us turn into tainted by its evil. So I believe that was form of the larger aim of those bottle episodes, except for the comedy of it and the absurdness, y’know?”

One other shock of this season was the plethora of celeb cameos that got here out of nowhere. Within the episode New Jazz, which sees Alfred discover Amsterdam whereas beneath the affect, he enters the unique and secretive spot known as the Cancel Membership, the place he meets Liam Neeson, taking part in an exaggerated tackle himself.

In a surprisingly sincere twist, he explains his intent on the controversial statements in 2019 about how he handled emotions of racism in his youth. What looks as if a pleasant chat takes a darkish, but very Atlanta-style flip with Neeson expressing his disdain for Black individuals for attempting to wreck his profession. The scene ends with arguably probably the most reducing line of the collection: “The most effective and worst factor about being White is that you do not have to be taught something should you do not wish to.”

Based on Robinson, writing Neeson into the third season was a leap of religion, as they’d conceived the concept earlier than they really requested him to do it. However finally, collection creator Glover managed to promote him on the concept, resulting in the collection’ most uncommon and unforgettable cameos.

Considered one of its most stunning and touching moments comes from the season’s raucous finale, titled Tarrare. This episode is a much-needed showcase for Zazie Beetz’s character Van, who the viewers obtained to see themselves in as she arrived in Europe unexpectedly and needed to reconnect with the crew. She was largely left to her personal gadgets in Europe and solely proven within the periphery all through this season. This, because it seems, was all by design, because the season finale lastly revealed what she was as much as.

Not solely had Van embraced life in Europe, she adopted a french accent and a brand new persona the place she created chaos among the many metropolis’s super-wealthy. This brings in one other wild cameo from actor Alexander Skarsgard, who appeared weirdly fixated on her schemes. Consider it as Atlanta paying homage to Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie, however a lot grittier and far more hilarious.

This finale gave Van some much-needed time to flourish, which she usually struggled with at house. Although she was within the periphery, by design, she ended up having probably the most important progress among the many core solid this season. In some ways, the finale felt like a commentary and treatment for the dearth of illustration of Black feminine leads in media. It led to such a satisfying conclusion for Atlanta’s tackle a European trip.

Based on Robinson, who penned the season finale, writing her European journey all through season 3 was all about letting Van discover herself.

“Zazie did such an unbelievable job of taking part in the humor of it and taking part in the heartbreak of it too in direction of the top,” stated Robinson. “You actually watched Van do issues in several, refined methods all through the season […] the concept that she leaves the security of her house in Atlanta and goes out into the world to determine if there’s one thing for her was actually attention-grabbing to discover. There’s one thing out right here for Earn; there’s one thing out right here for Paper Boi; my baby is turning into her personal individual. Like, “Who am I? Possibly I will discover out who I’m if I depart.” Yeah, that was simply the impetus for the finale and her journey.”

Regardless that its third season premiered almost 4 years after the second, the collection’ razor-sharp perception on being Black in America — and now overseas — feels all of the extra related in our unsure world. Pondering again on seasons 1 and a couple of, they really feel considerably quaint and tame in comparison with the ridiculousness and heartbreak of life we have all skilled in 2020 and past. However the third season has finished lots to get again up to the mark, and it felt so satisfying seeing this collection have its say once more.

With the ultimate season coming later this 12 months, which was shot back-to-back with season 3, I can not assist however really feel a sure unhappiness that the present is approaching its finish. However fortunately, it’s going to be going out by itself phrases, and I hope that it will proceed to embrace the surreal and communicate its thoughts to the very finish.

The primary three seasons of Atlanta can be found to stream now on Hulu, with the fourth and ultimate season set to premiere later in 2022.