Atlanta Season Three Amuse Bouche

We’ve seen everything from an invisible car to a rainbow piano. We’ve seen the white privilege versus the black struggle. What we haven’t seen from Atlanta (FX) yet, is what lies outside of the good ole’ Red, White, and Blues.

Welcome to Europe

In this first teaser, the fears and anxieties are backdropped by Sun Ra’s discordant chant to raise the tension. Paper Boi knows what he wants, and, contrary to his namesake, it just might be sanity, not money. A GOLD fish out of the water with a few months to count on for coin, spitting sick shit isn’t going to just EARN him the top spot on any Glastonbury yet.

This other one seems to hit all the marks. The color grade is desaturated, the smiles are certainly toeing that line of happy and awkward, and Earn (Donald Glover), Van (Zazie Beetz), Alfred (Brian Tyree Henry), and Darius (LaKeith Stanfield) are as in the dark as the commercial is in with brights lights.

Backed with the spotless Scandinavian cover of Outkast’s “So Fresh, So Clean,” none of them seem to be in their element and that is the point for this season.

LAST WE LEFT OFF:

Paper Boi’s on the rise, all thanks to Earn, who tried his damndest to leave his friend with a bit of wiggle room to spread his wings. After the whole shit show at their last gig which left him a bloody face more and a laptop less, it can only go sideways.

That’s what planes do, though, right? They only go up then sideways…until they invariably go—DOWN.

With Earn’s golden gun (not a euphemism) in the rival rapper, Clark County’s hands, this sturdy sort can’t sleep easily on a plane because they’ve never been on before that is surely a preamble to that bumpy ride. Al knows and respects the game. He knows, “at any cost” is the operative term, but do his cohorts?

The only catch and there’s sometimes only one that could unravel it; Clark (RJ Walker) takes a seat and lays the blame of his gun on his manager, Luke.

WE ARE APPROACHING ALTITUDE:

Van is going to her mother’s and farther from Earn, with kin in the palm of her hands. Earn wants to provide and make something better for himself and for them as a whole, as a family. It’s within that drive where something is within grasp, but without a net, he jumps still. It’s do-or-die and good as they may be, airplanes just don’t have a barf bag for the soul. Oh, I’m sure, what’s to spill out mentally and emotionally is way more hardcore than what would rocket throughout their stomachs and out of their lips, including secrets.

FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS AND RETURN YOUR TRAY TABLES TO THEIR UPRIGHT AND LOCKED POSITION:

This is where it gets tricky. You haven’t even an inch to catch your breath. All it is commanding is a landing. In a new land. In new environs. This will be where new opportunities come to play, new failures come to pass, and new friendships are bolstered as well as fractured. The only catch is, these guys only know what was brewing back at base. That’s small potatoes from their big Peach.

From both seasons of Atlanta, I’ve seen, from “B.A.N.” to “Teddy Perkins”, from “Champaign Papi” to “FUBU”, and this series never ceases to inspire.

There’s but one request I have for the writers, cast, and crew: keep doing what you are doing.

What they’ve taught me is that nothing is off-limits and everything is in play.

It’s a new continent and it’s open season. What can go wrong, will go wrong, isn’t that the bromide?

Oh no, wait, that’s Murphy’s Law.

Well, that shit just chartered a flight into the unknown, so, let’s see where the Math takes us on March 24th…

Robert Kijowski
Robert Kijowski
Robert Kijowski is a script writer who enjoys a good chuckle and an even better weep when indulging in art both good and even better bad. He's written for pop culture and film websites alike. You can hear him on Spotify (After the Credits) and reach out on Instagram, X or by English Carrier Pigeon.

Latest articles

Related articles

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.