S04.E01: The Most Atlanta / S04.E02: The Homeliest Little Horse

[PrincessPurrsALot]

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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. 

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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.
 

Original air date 2022.09.15

[AngieBee1]

So far so good. I was worried that they wouldn't be able match last season, which I personally think was the best season, but I'm glad the show is still in top form.

THE MOST ATLANTA

-Always going for the "pull from the headlines" moment, sadly, the knife-wielding employee in the wheelchair being sprayed with a fire extinguisher really happened.

-I assumed the Blue Blood joke with new music being released after his death and PaperBoi thinking he was still alive was another Tupac reference (especially with the lyrics over the scavenger hunt montage. It made me think of "The Chappelle Show" sketch about Tupac rapping about things that happened after his death), but a lot of people think it's a MF DOOM reference and that makes way more sense. It has to be. Blue Blood's death being announced months after the fact, Blue Blood's delivery sounds like DOOM, DOOM's real name is Daniel Dumile (DD/BB)

As for his widow's rueful wish that BB was able to have more fun and that you don't always get back what you give broke my heart. There's a huge hustle culture that preaches that it's all about grinding and building, trying to outdo others or yourself but it often doesn't lend itself to enjoy the fruits of your labor. As for people not matching what you put out - that's hurts, but that's life.

-I hope Kenya hit that woman over the head with the air fryer. She shouldn't have her last memory of seeing "Now You See Me 2".

THE HOMELIEST LITTE HORSE

-Earn reached Eric Cartman (South Park) and Roger the Alien (American Dad) level of pettiness. That was a real ride.

-Is this the first time they've referenced Earn being abused as a kid?

-Now Donald Glover has me wondering if Kim Porter was sent home from the hospital because they assumed she could get over her pneumonia on her on. I assumed she never had it checked out and felt she would get over it. Sad if true.

-I screamed when Tracy appeared. They are really coming home this season.

[JenE4]

Episode 2 was really layered! At first I thought the Homeliest Horse was going to be about the audacity of this untalented white woman just assuming she’s going to be rich and famous for absolutely no reason as contrasted to the racism (an actually intelligent and talented) Earn has faced, conditioning him to think things are never going to work out in his favor. On her part, the most tenuous of opportunities will, without the slightest bit of hesitation to think about consequences, bring great riches, meanwhile Earn has learned from experience that even when you’ve earned the accolades to assume there’s some kind of catch; don’t trust that your best interests will ever be cared for.

Then when the woman said she quit her job at the airport, I thought I figured out that she must have screwed over Tracy at the airport, so he used his job and scouted her book online as a setup. But I missed the key clue of Al scoffing at Earn for throwing his money away to a therapist: “Oh, you’re rich, rich!” Earn is so rich, rich now he can act on the spite he feels, as brought up in therapy. At least Earn realizes, yeah, maybe i should have stayed in therapy, after all, lol.

We finally found out what happened at Princeton!! Now that we know, it makes me feel really sad for Earn. It’s one thing to think that maybe, like a lot of kids in a competitive Ivy League, it’s overwhelming going from being the smartest kid in your school to being surrounded by geniuses. But Earn was thriving, doing well enough in school that he was able to take on the added responsibilities of an RA position and a serious job that required a suit to interview for—and then felt like the whole school turned on him and branded him a monster out of racism, when it was a simple situation. Any friend would say of course grab your suit and I’m so sorry to add the extra stress on you right before your big interview! To expect anything less—not to mention the complete opposite extreme—is wild to even think of…at least wild to me as a white woman. Yet, as a black man, I suppose, not so wild that the populace is assuming you have the worst of intentions, whether grabbing a suit for an interview or just trying to bring your kid to Sesame Place. Finding out about Princeton was pretty devastating—then add on the reveal of Earn being abused by a family member? Man, I was tearing up right along with Earn. You’re killing me, show! 

I’m glad that they eased us in with episode 1, bringing us that absurd realism that only this show can deliver. There’s nothing “more Darius” than Darius trying to return his air fryer in the middle of a looting riot—and of course the menacing old lady wielding a knife is going to follow him all over town on her slow-moving scooter, lol. The concept of this shopping mall being the Hotel California for all of their exes—but Earn and Van would never leave the other there. Likely foreshadowing that Van will go with Earn to LA at the end of the series; and his therapy will teach him how to trust her, and they’ll live happily ever after. And, of course, Alfred going on a scavenger hunt following the clues to Blue Blood’s funeral—that somehow was also on the other side of the dark, wet, carpeted walls that Earn, Van—and Kenya—slipped through to escape the mall that poor Kenya has been in since 2016!

It was great. I don’t know how these writers even come up with these ideas, but I love it, and I’m so sad that this is the final season. Even if the core four moved on to bigger and better things, I would still watch these stand-alone episodes with random people. But, then again, so many shows churn out crap long after they jump the shark, I suppose we need to give them credit for keeping the quality high and the content tight—and just going out on top. Instant classic.

ETA: I forgot to mention the funniest part! It being so long since Al used email that he had an old AOL account, and in trying to remember his security prompt of his favorite movie—not Scarface. Earn, “You were in middle school. Try Mulan.” Al, “Shit, Mulan? Oh, that worked.” Dying—especially because I’m picturing little Al from the Fubu episode setting his AIM away message to watch Mulan.

Edited September 16, 2022 by JenE4

[aghst]

Episode 1, Atlanta is a surreal place, but they’ve delved into the strangeness in pockets of Atlanta in previous seasons.

First Darius, almost oblivious or doesn’t care there’s looting going on until he meets the Karen from hell.

Sardonic — I got an air fryer as a gift but the. I remembered I have an oven — but just want to get it over with.  Why would the Karen zero in on the air fryer, out of all the things people are taking out of the store, maybe some comment about current fads, because it’s one of the things featured in infomercials at the minute?

Then Earn and Vanessa go to some mall bUt turns out it’s some limbo for all the people they’ve dated.  Are they back together now, did they reconcile after the Europe trip or because of that trip?

They were supposedly together for awhile, leading to their daughter so how do they have such a busy past and how do they not know about each other’s past dating histories?  Some of these exes are from 7 or 10 years ago?  How old is their daughter, you’d think they’d have been together then.

Alfred here’s about the demise of a hip hop artist whom he idolized.  Then sees some BBQ joint referenced in a song, orders a menu item, again from the song, sees a scavenger hunt.  He ends up at a funeral hosted by this Blueblood’s widow.

Meanwhile Earn and Van can’t find his car at this mall of exes, nor can anyone else so they go through an Emergency Exit and emerge at the funeral home.  They also find Darius outside and they all drive away.

I wasn’t aware than some of tHe scenes references some real life events.  But I think more about the surreal plots, with some horror elements — like Earn and Van panicking a bit trying to escape thE mall (and their past?), Darius being hounded and hunted by wheelchair Karen — maybe acknowledging this genre explored by other black directors like Jordan Peele, Boots Riley or Misha Green.

I don’t know if this is a conscious effort by black film artists, using tHe surreal, horror elements to depict some aspects of African-American life.  Maybe someone will coin a name for this genre, like they did for writers associated with magic realism.

[aghst]

Wow that second episode, never would have guessed the connection between Earn and Lisa.

Earn has come a long way since the days of working at the car rental counter and hanging around Paper Boi in hopes of getting to manage his burgeoning career.

Well money wise.

I don’t recall him mentioning being abused by a family member.  Nor do I remember getting the sense in the first season that he dropped out of Princeton involuntarily.  

Had the sense that he was making a bad decision but turned out he was victimized.

Now that he’s rich, he’s not just going to tolerate being victimized?  So the racist TSA lady was going to get hers.

But Alfred didn’t co-sign his vindictive little con and Darius didn’t mince words — “can’t tell if this is extreme pettiness or terrorism.”

Earn tells himself he needs more therpy.  

[cmfran]

I was looking forward to this season after the incoherent mess of the Europe season, but it seems we may be getting more of the same. Ep 1 was yet another waste of an episode, and ep 2 didn't really amount to much.

I loved the first 2 seasons of Atlanta, and I definitely don't have a problem with unusual shows that don't follow a set narrative. But this one seems to have gone so far inward that it's barely watchable. 

I'll finish the series, but I'm not excited about it.

[MCMLXXVII]

Good episodes!  Nice to see the focus back on the main cast and the city of Atlanta.
 

When Lisa in ep 2 turned out to be a writer, I thought it was going to be for really cringy interracial romance novels by the way she was spying on her neighbor, so I was not expecting the rest of the plot at all. 
 

Glad that the answered the leaving Princeton question.

[tljgator]

I love that Earn got back to the southern US and just wanted to get a Publix sub, lol. IFKYK.

[Angeleyes]

Getting lost in the parking garage in Atlantic Station is so real. It’s eerie as hell down there. I like episodes of Atlanta that reference real places and things there. I missed that last season and I hope we get more this season. 

[DearEvette]

Wasn't a big fan of the European season and glad they are back in Atlanta.

Episode one was interesting in just how different the stories were and how they all converged in the end.

Episode two was great storytelling.  I copped onto who Lisa was when she got to the library and acted entitled and gave over her note and also suspected the whole thing was either a set up by Earn or he'd be the scout who'd then recognize her.  I was kinda floored by that level of petty and the level of sheer commitment.  On the one hand it is pure wish fulfillment.  You definitely fantasize about getting back at someone who humiliates you or treats you horribly for no other reason than they can.  But to actually follow through to that level and see the result...yikes.

[Giuseppe]

On 9/18/2022 at 10:11 PM, Angeleyes said:

Getting lost in the parking garage in Atlantic Station is so real. It’s eerie as hell down there. I like episodes of Atlanta that reference real places and things there. I missed that last season and I hope we get more this season. 

Yeah, the Atlantic Station parking garage is a whole ass CAVERN. I used to go over there a ton, and even when I made sure to park next to/near a staircase so that I could easily find my way back, I'd still get lost. Definitely believe there are people still wandering around down there since last I visited a few years back, lol.

[Mr. R0b0t]

Ep 2 was like the bastard stepchild of Atlanta and The Rehearsal.  Loved it.

[xaxat]

I agree that it's great that they are back in Atlanta. It's also great that the real Van is back. They totally assassinated her character last season.

Earn to his therapist, "Oh, I'm not that cold blooded." Really Earn?

[tennisgurl]

Great to have Atlanta back in Atlanta! I enjoyed the season in Europe and the show dipping into being almost an anthology, but its nice to be back in Atlanta, and its as weird as ever. 

I like how they reintroduced Atlanta as a location by everyone being split up and getting into their own weird surreal hijinks, all of which seemed to be perfect for each of them, before they all meet up again. Darius wanders into a store being looted to buy an air fryer and gets stalked by some weird lady in a wheelchair who follows him throughout the city, because of course Darius hardly even notices the riot going on, he just wants his air fryer. Earn and Van end up running into a gaggle of ex's and get trapped in a giant parking garage, like a more surreal episode of the parking garage episode of Seinfeld, and I don't blame them for being nervous. That place looked like a giant tomb. Alfred meanwhile follows a scavenger hunt to see if a rap artist is still alive, and it ends on a rather poignant note. There is so much in the music world about constantly hustling and going bigger, but now that he's gone his wife just wishes that he had spent a little more time on his day to day life instead of trying to out due himself. Poor Kenya, I hope she escaped the crazy wheelchair Karen, no ones last movie should be Now You See Me 2. 

Now we know what happened at Princeton, I always thought that Earn might have left on his own, overwhelmed with too much pressure put on him or he got uncomfortable in a new environment and bailed, as Earn has done before, but what happened was even more frustrating. I wonder is he will end up tracking down his old college friend that got him kicked out of school and get revenge on her next? 

Yeah, Earn should definitely go back to therapy. The shear amount of time, effort, and money that went into messing with this racist TSA lady was as impressive as it was terrifying. I do like though that, while Earn set her up for the fall, she dug her own grave in a lot of ways. She didn't have to quit her job at just the idea of getting a book deal, she didn't have to lash out at her friend, and didn't have to be so full of herself that she thought her generic kids book could ever be the next Harry Potter. I kept waiting to see if this lady was going to actually be connected to the rest of the story, or if she was just here to show us how this mediocre white woman could easily coast by to success while Earn struggled so much, but as soon as he started talking about how much pettiness drives him and told the story of the TSA lady, I started to guess where this was going. 

I also realized that the dress she wore to her book reading looks a lot like a dress I own. Should I get rid of it? 

"I don't know if this was extreme pettiness, or terrorism." 

[Adgirl]

I stood up and cheered when I realized what Earn had done. Every Karen should suffer consequences like this. The fact that she quit her job *chef's kiss* glad to hear it. Hope she ends up homeless. I don't do racist redemption so I enjoyed every second of how petty this was. Earn should go back to therapy because that's a lot of money to spend on a prank. However no one suggests Karens get therapy.