Aside from Deadwood, which is still a work in progress, the most recent TV show I've been watching, or at least trying to watch, is Billions, a program that couldn't be more plot-driven. Atlanta is more of my kind of show, focused on drawing interesting people and trusting that the audience will be content to just hang out with the characters without needing to push forward some sort of overarching plot. Indeed, most episodes of Atlanta involve main storylines that aren't interested in advancing the larger narrative, such as Donald Glover's protagonist Earn searching for his lost jacket or trying to get a promised payment from a club owner.
Earn is essentially broke and aspires to fix that problem by becoming the manager of his rapper cousin, Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry). He's also in a complicated relationship with a woman, Van, (Zazie Beets), with whom he has a daughter. Van has her life together much more so than Earn, and it's clear that Van is the one feeling the pressure to be responsible and a provider. The two are on speaking terms it seems primarily due to the need to care for their child, but Van is openly seeing other people. There's an episode focusing entirely on Van and her worldview, and it's one of the season's better installments.
There's not much of an over-arching storyline in Season One besides Earn's struggle to elevate his financial status (his moniker is not a coincidence) and make his own way, rather than being overly dependent on those around him. He's a mostly likable character whom you want to root for, but he's also quite brooding and weird. Then again, the strange and often surreal circumstances he faces make Earn something of a product of his surroundings.
Paper Boi is also a fascinating character, who seems standoffish and not willing to trust anyone except his obtuse sidekick Darius (a hilarious LaKeith Stanfield). His classically tough exterior begins to come down a little bit in the second episode, when he witnesses children pretending to be him when shooting each other with toy guns (note: not a spoiler, the opening scene of the series involves Paper Boi shooting someone). It reminded me a little bit of a young(er) Kenard pretending to be Omar in The Wire. Paper Boi's visibly bothered by the experience, and the rest of the season focuses a great deal on how scrutiny over his actions increases as he gains fame.
While there's a great deal of realism in Atlanta, the show takes a few trips into the absurd. In one episode, Paper Boi gets into a celebrity basketball game with a black version of Justin Bieber, and is forced to confront the different expectations society places on pop singers and rappers. In another, Paper Boi appears on a talk show called Montague, airing on an alternate-universe version of B.E.T. I'm not sure I've laughed more at a television episode in a long time, between the fake and often absurd commercials ("The price is on the can, though"), to Paper Boi delivering well-timed retorts when questioned about his insensitivity to certain social issues. Brian Tyree Henry plays the "does-not-give-a-shit" card extremely well, and while the scenes could have had problematic implications on other shows, it's clear that Atlanta as a whole isn't using Paper Boi as a mouthpiece; the show's views are primarily grounded in Earn's rather direct social commentary.
I'm not currently able to watch the second season of Atlanta, as it requires an FX+ subscription. I hope to be able to watch Season Two at some point down the road and see where Glover and company decide to take this show next. It's a show bursting with creativity and a very worthwhile experience.
Bullet Points:
- Steve Urkel sighting! Jaleel White guest stars in the celebrity basketball game episode (fans of Family Matters will remember that Urkel was quite the ballhandler). I have to say, though, the actual basketball action in the episode was very bad, and while I admire the episode's commitment to not using stunt doubles, the difference between what it looked like and what the editing was trying to make it look like was very evident.
- The actual hip-hop group Migos makes an appearance as drug dealers. I didn't know it was them until reading reviews.
Episode Grades:
- "The Big Bang": A-
- "Streets on Lock": A-
- "Go for Broke": B+
- "The Streisand Effect": B
- "Nobody Beats the Biebs": B-
- "Value": A
- "B.A.N.": A
- "The Club": B+
- "Juneteenth": B
- "The Jacket": A-
Season Grade: A-
