Donald Glover and Bryan Tyree Henry in the second season of Atlanta Photo: Guy D’Alema/FX
Atlanta ended its second season with a rep as one of the best shows on television. And it was well deserved: the series combined sublime comedy, highly dramatic drama, piercing truths about relationships and race, and borderline excursions into farce, surrealism, and horror, occasionally within the same episode.
It stars Donald Glover as Earn, a Princeton dropout trying to launch the career of his rapper cousin Alfred “Paper Boi” (Bryan Tyree Henry) while (sort of) dating Van (Zazie Beetz), who Mother who takes care of his little daughter Lottie. Rounding out the core foursome is Al’s sidekick, Darius (Lakeith Stanfield), a smart, wiry philosopher.
It’s been four years since the end of season two – yes, the time of a full presidential term. Here are the most important things you should know before the third season, which largely takes place during Paper Boi’s first major European tour, comes out on Thursday. (Be sure to check out our reviews of each episode.)
Earn and Al are in-and-out
In the latter third of season two, Earn walks on thin ice with Al, who’s risen from an unknown rapper begging for photos at the club and is recognized by adoring fans on the street. As Earn has progressed from being a homeless man to a shelter, he’s constantly overwhelmed and faking it until he almost makes it, and he suspects Al could dump him at any minute.
Those suspicions are confirmed in “North Of The Border” (Season 2, Episode 9) when, after a disastrous college gig – which throws her in the middle of a surreal and slightly terrifying nudity ritual – Al says he’s unfazed by Earn’s bad business decisions and is considering upgrading its management.
In the final episode of season two, Darius and Earn head to the urgent passport office ahead of their upcoming European tour. When Earn expresses his fear that Al will fire him, Darius says that probably will be the case once they get to Europe because that’s Al’s way. Gulp.
Zazie Beetz and Donald Glover in Atlanta Season 2 Photo Credit: Guy D’Alema/FX
Earn and Van are also on and off
The second season also saw Earn and Van’s type of relationship that doesn’t really strain and breaks under stress. In “Helen” (Season 2, Episode 4, which earned Beetz an Emmy nomination for Supporting Actress in a Comedy), the two take a night trip to attend a wacky German costume party from Van’s childhood. (Van, like Beetz, is multiracial and half-German.) Earn can’t bring himself to partake in the cheesiness, leading to a showdown over who gives and takes and tries too much in their relationship, one that plays out over a year ping pong match.
Earn Has Money Problems (But There Might Be Hope)
The season ends with Earn under serious financial pressure as his future career with Al looks tenuous at best. At the same time, Lottie’s preschool teacher recommends an expensive private school. (“This school sucks,” she remarks in one of the funniest scenes of the season.) Floating over the lyrics, Van floats the idea of Lottie moving in with her parents, the last thing Earn wants.
At the airport security line, Earn discovers something that could blow it all up: a gold handgun in his backpack, given weeks earlier by his insane uncle (Katt Williams in an excellent, understated performance), that he forgot to throw . He impulsively decides to stow the gun in a bag belonging to a member of fellow tour mate Clark County’s entourage who is arrested.
On the plane, Al admits he saw the whole thing. He then gives Earn a vote of confidence. “You don’t care,” he says. “I need this.”
Lakeith Stanfield in Atlanta Season 2Photo: Curtis Baker/FX
The show can switch between genres (but the characters keep things grounded)
One of Season 2’s most talked-about episodes, “Teddy Perkins” is a chilling sight (and a good set-up for the tone of Season 3’s first episode). Darius heads to a mansion to pick up a piano advertised for free, where he encounters a heavily plastic-operated eccentric (Glover in heavy makeup) who bears a strong resemblance to a certain deceased pop star. This leads to gothic twists and turns worthy of Get Out (which also starred Stanfield).
While Atlanta’s format defies categorization, at its core it is an ensemble cast of characters as well written and acted as any on television. Darius, for example, is a spiritual descendant of the classic sociologists of television history (Dr. Johnny Fever and Rev. Jim Ignatowski spring to mind). But in Stanfield’s hands, he always feels like a fully settled human first and foremost.
Earning is also specified. He is self-taught and fights headwinds from different directions. He’s a millennial who loves his partner and daughter but can’t compromise in relationships, who can’t take a desk job for fear of losing himself, and who’s found his passion but is completely overwhelmed. It’s absolutely relatable.
The second season finds that Earn’s success is far from assured and cements Atlanta’s reputation as one of the best half hours on television. In a November 2020 tweet, Glover stated that Atlanta’s third and fourth seasons, filmed concurrently, “will be some of the best television shows ever made … Sopranos, the only ones that can touch us.” He later deleted the tweet, but he’s earned bragging rights.