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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
Following nearly a brief 4-month hiatus, Donald Glover’s hit FX surreal comedy-drama television series, Atlanta, returns for its fourth and final season, its premiere being more palatable in terms of narrative.
The first episode of the season is titled, “The Most Atlanta”. It is written by executive producer Stephen Glover and is directed by Hiro Murai. The second episode is titled, “The Homeliest Little Horse”. It is written by executive producer Ibra Ake and is directed by Angela Barnes.
In this review, I will be discussing Atlanta Season 4 Episodes 1 & 2. There will be no spoilers here, as the title of this article suggests. Nonetheless, please read ahead at your own discretion to avoid any possible revelations.
Please note that I have seen the first three episodes of the final season ahead of their respective airings.
Atlanta‘s Final Season Synopsis
According to FX Networks, here is the synopsis for Atlanta: The Final Season.
Season 4 finds “Earn” (Donald Glover), “Alfred ‘Paper Boi’ Miles” (Brian Tyree Henry), “Darius” (LaKeith Stanfield) and “Van” (Zazie Beetz) back in their hometown. But the question is, has Atlanta changed, or have they?
FX Networks Press Room
Plot Synopsis
According to FX Networks, here is the logline for Atlanta Season 4 Episode 1—“The Most Atlanta”.
Woooh chile, Atl is the GHETTO these days. I’m thinking about moving to Miami where it’s safe. Leave all my exes on read.
FX Networks Press Room
Here is also the logline for Atlanta Season 4 Episode 2—“The Homeliest Little Horse”.
We got grown men out here being this petty. Y’all really need therapy. I don’t cuz I already know what’s wrong with me.
FX Networks Press Room
Discussion
Coming back from where we left off in Atlanta Season 3 Episode 8 and Episode 10, the final season holds promise as a conclusion to Glover’s first television baby — while his second child, Amazon Studios/ Prime Video’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith, is on the way. Whereas Season 3 serves as a return to the series after a years-long wait (primarily due to pandemic push-backs on production), Season 4 involves massive changes to the series creator’s interpretation of his home in Georgia as it prepares to come to an end.
The first episode of the final season consists of multiple layers. The second episode, however, feels like a return to the stand-alone episodes that Season 3 had but still concentrates on the series’ already established characters. That is until you learn how connected both halves of the story really are. Allow me to explain.
“The Most Atlanta”
You can tell that the production on both seasons was affected profoundly by year one of the COVID pandemic, not only having been delayed once but twice or more. The premiere episode’s opening scene exhibits the obvious influence of this event, with Darius Epps (LaKeith Stanfield) as the focal character of his subplot. Here, he is roped into trouble that is by no means his doing, and yet, he must watch his back with every movement he makes.
Alfred “Paper Boi/ Al” Miles’s (Brian Tyree Henry) subplot seems to be an examination of media (and culture) literacy in regard to music. With the rap genre, I do believe that many statements get misconstrued, and this had been pointed out as far back as Season 1’s “B.A.N.” episode. In “The Most Atlanta”, the character is reminded that “all you ha[ve] to do [i]s just listen to the album”. Meanwhile, we have Earnest “Earn” Marks (Donald Glover) and Vanessa “Van” Keefer (Zazie Beetz) shopping for new cellphones. During their time together, they run into familiar faces and are prompted to escape from a difficult space.
I also cannot help but wonder if Earl Sweatshirt plays an uncredited role as a fictional rapper, Blue Blood. Although, I’ll leave that up to you, fellow reader, to interpret on your own.
Tap Into Your Senses
From a visual and musical perspective, this is one of Murai’s more ambitious episodes as the director. I was not sure if this was intentional on Reiter and the assistant editors’ ends, but I did note a woman in the background passing a character while carrying a package of bedsheets(?) twice in the same scene. I also noted Sprenger’s focus from a barbecue joint worker to Henry’s character. (This is more noticeable with the background signs, which, frankly, I was trying to read for subliminal messages.) It was somewhat awkward to see, but then again, it could just have been the screener I was watching.
On the other hand, Sprenger gives us some of the most beautiful frames yet. With Darius, we get a wide shot of him with the special guest character (Deadra Moore). We also have a unique focus on Earn and Van at one point where the camera zooms out as a specific track from Deborah Cox’s 1998 album, “One Wish”, plays faintly in the background. It is one of the most unsettling things I have seen in this episode and easily becomes my favorite thing about it. This specific visual-and-audio pairing is depicted so well, giving even more reason for me to believe that their subplot has to deal with the concept of “the friend zone”. I’ll get to that in a bit.
Alongside the cinematography, Hasbourne, Tunnell, and Terry give the characters such lovely physical appearances in this first episode alone. We have Stanfield sporting a durag and a Keiser Clark t-shirt, while Beetz is, in my opinion, outshining Glover with the look that she has going on.
“The Homeliest Little Horse”
With the second episode in the two-part premiere, Barnes takes a different stylistic approach to the narrative. I can’t speak so much about it without spoiling major plot points (if we can call it a plot at all). For now, I will say that half of the episode focuses on Glover continuing to commit to The Sopranos bit. Initially, there was something in the space that he fills that reminded me of the Insecure Season 5 premiere. Whether it was pure coincidence or a straightforward allusion, I would like to believe that there is some connection between the two.
There is a good chunk of about six-and-a-half minutes of just Glover speaking in character. The conversation topics get harsher as the monologue progresses, and by the end, what it all bottles down to is Earn’s fears and anxieties of loneliness. If you watch close enough, he does resemble James Gandolfini’s Anthony “Tony” Soprano in how he copes with circumstances, that he would rather “man up” than allow emotions to be essential to his development as a character.
The episode’s second half does not quite make sense until you reach the final scene, which definitely feels as if it had taken inspiration from the twisted mind of Nathan Fielder, notably his recent HBO comedy documentary series, The Rehearsal. Although, if you get the chance to see this episode a second time, there is one reference to The Berenstain/Berenstein Bears that could get lost within all the dialogue. While I am not suggesting that there is a Mandela Effect going on, I would rather that you return to the episode with a new perspective. Consider the timeline of events as well as the location settings, and the puzzle pieces will soon come together.
The Friend Zone
Viewing Earn and Van’s subplot of the premiere episode as an analogy for the friend zone is an interesting element. While I cannot currently give away the details of their story in “The Most Atlanta”, I do believe that it can be best explained in South Korean-born German philosopher Byung-Chul Han’s words. In his 2017 critical text, The Agony of Eros, he writes:
[T]ourism and pilgrimage stand in opposition to each other. Tourism creates ‘non-sites’, whereas pilgrimage is tied to places. … Such sites are constituted by history, memory, and identity. these same features are missing in the ‘non-sites’ of tourism, where people pass by instead of lingering and spending time.
Byung-Chul Han, ‘The Agony of Eros’ (2017), Chapter 4: “Porn”
The friend zone is where former potential partners are left behind, where they reside so that people can go out and search for a more proper romantic partner. With Earn and Van’s on-and-off relationship, the friend zone is an awkward and, in a way, concerning “tourist spot” to pass through, and they can easily find themselves lost there.
Transforming Society
Ultimately, what makes Glover’s Atlanta different from other comedy-drama series is its layer(s) of surrealism. Towards the end of his penultimate chapter, Han extrapolates on the potency of love:
For the surrealists, eros is the medium of a poetic revolution in language and existence. It is exalted as the energetic source of renewal, which also feeds political action. Through its universal power, it combines the artistic, the existential, and the political. Eros manifests itself as the revolutionary yearning for an entirely different way of loving and another kind of society. Thereby, it remains faithful to what is yet to come.
Byung-Chul Han, ‘The Agony of Eros’ (2017), Chapter 6: “The Politics of Eros”
I think this is the best explanation for the change in Earn and Van’s relationship as well as the change in the society that they know all too well. Love, in some capacity, will be what changes life as they know it, and maybe it will not a bad thing.
The Crew of Atlanta
Donald Glover, Paul Simms, Dianne McGunigle, Stephen Glover, Hiro Murai, and Stefani Robinson serve as the executive producers of the series. Janine Nabers serves as the co-executive producer, while Alex Orr and Kaitlin Waldron serve as the producers. Ibra Ake, Taofik Kolade, Jamal Olori, and Francesca Sloane serve as the supervising producers. Jordan Temple, David Swinbourne, and Christian Sprenger serve as co-producers.
Alexa L. Fogel serves as the casting director. Tara Feldstein Bennett and Chase Paris serve as the Atlanta casting directors. Kathryn Zamora-Benson is the U.S. casting associate.
Christian Sprenger serves as the director of photography. Kyle Reiter serves as the editor of the first episode, while Isaac Hagy is the editor of the second episode. Jen Bryson, Cameron Ross, and Gracie Hartmann act as the assistant editors. Eric Binmoeller works on visual effects, while Ashley Sengstaken serves as the visual effects coordinator.
Jen Malone and Fam Udeorji return as the music supervisors, with Whitney A. Pilzer as the associate music supervisor.
Timothy O’Brien returns as the production designer, while Taylor Mosbey serves as the art director. Tiffany Hasbourne serves as the costume designer. Liz Ayala is the set decorator. Denise Tunnell is the head of the make-up department, while Shunika Terry is the head of the hair department.
The Cast of Atlanta
Donald Glover, Brian Tyree Henry, LaKeith Stanfield, and Zazie Beetz portray the main characters, Earnest “Earn” Marks, Alfred “Paper Boi” Miles, Darius Epps, and Vanessa “Van” Keefer, respectively.
“The Most Atlanta”
Deadra Moore guest stars as an iconic character.
Kevin Saunders co-stars as a Big Box employee. Sh’Kia Augustin portrays Kenya, while Andrea Laing appears as Shannon. Ulisses Gonsalves appears as Amir.
Jequan Jackson plays a man in jersey, while Chuck Allen plays Sonny. Chimere Love stars as Keisha, the widow of a renowned rapper, Blue Blood.
Andrew Etzel plays a handsome man, while Peggie J. Lyons plays a woman.
“The Homeliest Little Horse”
Brooke Bloom guest stars as Lisa Mahn, a woman who is looking to publish her literary manuscript. Khris Davis returns from Robbin’ Season as the character, Tracy. Sullivan Jones plays Everette Tillman.
Keith Flippen co-stars as Gordon Rosenbaum, a possible literary agent. Helen Abell appears as Becca, a friend of Mahn.
Schelle Purcell portrays a librarian. Alicia Horton, Dominic Bell, and Jahlil Muhammad play library kids. Ceana Jaznae Roberts plays “kid that was sleeping”.
Performances and Character Developments
Henry continues to perform well as his character in the premiere episode, where he deals with the twists and turns of the music that guides him. Compared to the challenges that he’s faced in Season 3, Paper Boi is just having fun on his journey. I enjoyed watching the short montage in the episode’s latter half, where the role of music seems to be the libidinal/cosmic source of energy that drives his state of living. With a character like Paper Boi, he hasn’t really lived a life worth cherishing, has he? It just comes to show that he’s worked just as much as his cousin, and you know what people say about “all work and no play”…
Glover’s performance as Earn Marks is one of the best things I have seen so far. In fact, it was the only missing piece in the puzzle of “characters genuinely finding their inner selves”. “The Homeliest Little Horse” marks one of the character’s rare breaking points, allowing us to learn more about his background and the hardships he has endured. This episode has Glover exhibiting true sorrow, which is distant from the comedic melodrama that we have seen when his Community character Troy Barnes cries. Once you reach the halfway point of the episode, you might start to view Season 1 Earn from a different perspective, and you will gain more insight into his introduction to the series via the pilot.
Final Thoughts on the Atlanta Final Season Premiere
At times, this final season premiere of Atlanta is about as hard-hitting as the Season 1 and Robbin’ Season premieres. It showcases a more coherent narrative, which is much easier to digest than last season’s. We get to see tremendous development in our beloved characters as they traverse new exciting “side quests”. The cinematography and the music remain to be key elements of what makes Atlanta…well, Atlanta, while the comedy never ceases to amaze me. Indeed, you will be laughing as much as I have when you see a character who resembles an iconic figure from the Black Lives Matter 2020 protests.
Stay tuned next week as we will learn what it means to succeed as a figure in the music industry and the lengths it takes to get there.
Donald Glover’s Atlanta Season 4 premieres tonight on FX and is streaming tomorrow via Hulu!
Have you seen Glover’s series? If so, then what are your thoughts on it so far? Let us know! For more comedy and drama-related news and reviews visit and follow The Cinema Spot on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
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