The cast of Atlanta at SXSW. Photo: Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP (Getty Images)
It’s been almost four years since the incredible season of Atlanta: Robbin’, but we’re one step closer to the premiere of Season 3 of the FX series. While attending the SXSW Festival, the Atlanta cast spoke to Variety about what’s in store for Earn (Donald Glover), his cousin Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry), Darius (LaKeith Stanfield), and Van (Zazie Beetz) this season’s trip to Europe for the Paper Boi tour.
“It’s a very honest season,” said Beetz. “All of the characters are out of their element, which brings to the surface things that could otherwise be suppressed in habit and comfort. And here you can’t because you have nothing to catch you. It’s a lot of truth and reflection on where we all stand as ourselves and as people – as me, as Zazie.”
From the trailer we got, the fish-out-of-water feeling seems fitting as the crew leaves the show’s titular Atlanta, Georgia setting for the new arena of Europe. But the spirit of Atlanta “is everywhere and nowhere,” commented Stephen Glover, Donald Glover’s brother, who writes and produces for the acclaimed series.
When will the Atlanta location return to the series? Well, Donald Glover assured everyone that the town is in for a “heavy resurgence” in the fourth (and final) season, which releases this fall.
“Atlanta is a state of mind. Europe solidified how we felt [while writing] Season 3. [Director Hiro Murai] call it our peak season,” said Donald Glover.
Glover went into even more detail about how the cast and crew planned to go beyond what they had done so far for season three. “We just wanted to do a black fairy tale,” Glover said. “I remember sitting in the writers’ room and thinking, ‘What are we writing about?’ We just wanted to do short stories. Something I want to see.”
From napkin-covered heads at dinner parties to moped rides, the trailer hints at how the short story format will work to showcase the Atlanta crew’s mix of oddly comical and repulsive events during their stay in Europe. Thankfully, it appears the fearsome Teddy Perkins will be staying in Atlanta this time.
Atlanta Season 3 premieres March 24 on FX and streams on Hulu the next day.