LaKeith Stanfield as DariusPhoto Credit: Guy D’Alema/FX
With this brilliant episode, Atlanta is over. I tried to go into this series finale with no expectations, but of course I had some. I was expecting it to be non-traditional in that Atlanta way, which for me was by default cold. Even the trailer looked pretty calm, although obviously it was going to be a Darius adventure. And yet, with my expectation of nothing, I still don’t want to prepare myself for the absolutely perfect mindfuck of this quintessential Atlanta episode directed by Murai and written by Glover. Bravo, all of you.
The episode started out in the chill mode I initially thought it would be, with Darius walking over to Judge Judy while Earn and Al prepared to go out. Everything about this scene is so intentional yet subtle; only on second viewing does it become apparent that the opening shot of Darius is framed to look like a tank, with that groovy soundtrack, Judge Judy and the Popeyes commercial that carries so much meaning later. Talking to our main trio of men is so natural that Darius sets out on his own before they all meet up with Van (though I wish they’d dropped the Johnny Depp joke). I also liked that the previous episodes had references to the character arcs where Earn shared Vans’ wishes and the “Old MacDonald” song about Al’s Safe Farm.
TO WATER
Donald Glover
Serious “earn” brands
Brian Tyree Henry
Alfred “Paper Boi” Miles
When Cree Summer (!!!!) showed up, I hoped that Darius had found his perfect transcendental soulmate and they would finish the episode together, but I also appreciated the conversation as a beautiful portrayal as I didn’t know about sensory deprivation alongside that Simpsons episode. Part of the brilliance of this episode is that Atlanta has two modes: heightened reality and grounded surrealism. When he meets London, his wild ex-boyfriend, who can pass a sobriety test while being faded, it’s a section that feels a lot like the reality of Atlanta. She appears to be a character who could have appeared in something like season one’s The Club, even to the point of stealing the cop’s gun. After she runs over the kid and Darius drops the stolen gun, that waking moment when the gun fires and he awakens is a complete surprise because everything was so thoroughly prepared… except how it actually feels to be lost to the senses . So from now on, I question everything that happens to him.
The “tea in the tearoom” moment and the excessive laughter: is Darius still in the tank or is it the excessively laughing women? It really seems like it could be both, but then Darius gets kicked out. Then we get this nice, simple scene where Darius visits his brother, the only time we’ve interacted with his personal history next to the Nigerian restaurant in White Fashion. It all feels so real until he sees fat judge Judy. Then there’s the moment he wakes up and wakes up, and that final shot where he’s screaming in the tank with the door closed. Has he ever dropped out? Has he ever got out?
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Meanwhile, Earn, Al, and Van find themselves in a completely different story, which heavily hints that Darius won’t show up until late after the story is over. Van’s girlfriend (Candice?) has invested in Atlanta’s first black-owned sushi restaurant, run by a chef who studied with sushi masters in Japan. It’s black sushi fusion, in a place that used to be a blockbuster and still has the sweets on the shelves. The towels are not all white, but sorted randomly. The apparent sous chef calls out “Sup” instead of “Yes, Chef”. Al (and I) are immediately skeptical, and he stares at a Popeyes across the street. (Van is less antagonistic, but quickly decides the food is wrong.)
Zazie Beetz as Van and Donald Glover as Earn Marks Photo Credit: Guy D’Alema/FX
When the main meal comes out, the infamous, potentially poisonous pufferfish (another bit of Simpsons lore), Al’s done, Van’s done, I’m done… and Earn still wants to support the culture. Then Master Chef DeMarcus shows up and serves up a truthful monologue, similar to Kirkwood Chocolate’s. (Based on a quick Google search, sushi is traditionally served at room temperature for the best flavor experience, and chefs prepare the food with their bare hands.) The man has a point that the phrase “black-owned sushi” isn’t automatic should bring break (although the blockbuster of everything probably doesn’t help). It’s a very honest, hilarious speech that raises intracultural questions. But then Darius storms in and punches the mad chef in the face before he can force her to eat the puffer fish. They all speed off in a stolen pink Maserati.
The final scene is Inception-type shit at its best, not a cheesy reproduction but a clever example of Glover taking the belief that the audience has been silent since the invisible car and pushing it back on all of us for a brief moment. Were the last four seasons of the show just Darius’ tank dreams? The Teddy Perkinses, Thomas Washingtons and white Earnest Marks would have you believe. But in the end, the episode leaves it up to the audience. We don’t see if Judge Judy is fat or not. The group that thinks “It Was All A Dream” is a brilliant subversion of the trope, and the others who will be furious that the trope was even a possibility, can fight it out on Reddit. But there’s no denying that it’s such a great Atlanta ending.
I’m really glad the show left us like this. I expect there will be naysayers at the end because you can find a naysayer to literally anything. I focus on the craft of storytelling, the way the episode tricked us with Darius on several occasions, threw another monologue into the B-plot with social commentary and made it all pretty flawless. Tomorrow I’ll be sad that a show like this is over, but tonight I’ll sit back with a smile on my face, happy that Glover and the Atlanta team got to put on their weird, incredible, creative, excellent show.
Stray Observations
- I’m writing this in a bit of a hurry, but I’m very excited to find the two bookend tracks for this episode later.
- Seriously, I’ll be making derivatives of the “Old MacDonald” song to toast my friends for the next few months.
- I think this episode has the most hidden Atlanta logo yet and I’m very happy about it. It’s like they’re saying, “Bruh, you know what you’re seeing. You know our style. We don’t have to say it.”
- I’m kind of surprised there hasn’t been a Popeyes discourse on Atlanta yet. It’s a theme that would have felt extremely dated if they hadn’t found a unique angle. (I’m glad they did.)
- Sooooo many good jokes in this episode. Like Al about the Popeyes: “Smell like the manager mean as hell.”
- I really think London would be just as wild if it wasn’t a tank dream. Maybe not stealing a cop’s gun, but probably stealing the weed, vodka, and beer bottle.
- That shot of Darius looking at Al, Van and Earn through the window was cute. I will miss the four.
- It was my pleasure to summarize this for you all.