S04.E10: It Was All a Dream

[PrincessPurrsALot]

You know what? As much as I hated this show, I think I’m gonna miss it.

Series finale 

Original air date 2022.11.10

[buttersister]

I’m going to miss these guys.

[AngieBee1]

I didn't expect to get emotional about the finale, but I did. It ended perfectly in just the way it only could. And fantastic choice to end with Darius because Lakeith imbues so much openness, tenderness and ebullience that he has always made me want to go along for the ride. And like the ending of INCEPTION, to me, there's no grand mystery. It's real. He's awake. No thicc Judge Judy.

-A true sign of a great guest actor is one who does the most with brief amount of screentime. I cared so much for Chi (Darius' brother) in so little time.

-Loved the scene between Darius and Cree Summer's character. Bonus for actually getting see Cree this time as she voiced one of the children cartoon character in the B.A.N cereal ad.

-I would never hang in public with someone like London because I don't want to go to jail, but get us behind closed doors for a few laughs and it would be great. 

-I laughed so loud at the cop quizzing her on how many seasons of HOMEBOYS FROM OUTER SPACE there were.

-Demarcus looking like the Louis Farrakhan but of sushi killed me. He made a lot of good points, but good sir - eat your own fugu and then let the people make their decision.

Obviously this takes place before we get to see BLACK PANTHER 2 starring Larenz Tate and Whoopi Goldberg (though I did see the actual Black Panther 2 -WAKANDA FOREVER tonight) because Demarcus wouldn't have to reach all the way back to QUEEN & SLIM to make a reference about Black people coming out and supporting Black owned businesses.

The fact that the concession shelves were still up, as was the frame of the Blockbuster sign was too funny.

I loved this cast. I loved this show.

Edited November 11, 2022 by AngieBee1

[JenE4]

For the first half, I was nervous that the series was going to end without a big good-bye or wrap-up on their futures. But, you know, I was completely wrong, and this was perfection. I think we already know that Earn and Van (and Lottie) will soon be leaving for LA, Al is going to continue doing great in his career and farm life in his downtime, and Darius is more new-agey and spiritual than ever. So it was really great that the show just doubled-down on the absurd—what has made it unlike any other show—while showcasing the close relationships these four characters have. I like that we didn’t see whether it was thicc or scrawny Judge Judy, but rather just Darius’s self-satisfied smirk. Did he steal a car and punch out the sushi chef? I think probably not because, foremost, how would he have known his friends needed to be rescued? Though, in his other dreams he would immediately waken with a start once he realized it wasn’t real. This time we stayed on his smile for a few beats. However, dream or not, the fun times laughing with his friends was realistic. He’ll always have the feelings of those memories even if that particular experience was a dream. I think that’s exactly what the vision with his brother was. The way he wistfully asked how’s mom and dad, I think all three are dead. Most of Darius’s “dep sesh” was pretty traumatic and startling, so there must be something about it that makes it worth going through all that—and it’s the glimpses of the relationships that are gone in his life. He not only saw (what I’m assuming is) his deceased brother again, but his old friend London that he had good times with back in the day. For that reason, I think the entire episode may have been a dep sesh and he also got to spend that time with the old gang again after Earn and Val moved away. Though, the beginning when he told them about the dep sesh and Earn and Al singing Old McAlfred had a Farm seemed real—as did most of the sushi lunch until Al refused to eat the blowfish. So I tend to think it may have been real until then, and then it turned into Darius’s dream. Then again, the very beginning at Al’s home he had heavy headphones on and was barely awake watching Judge Judy, so the whole thing could have been a deep sesh. But whether Earn is still there or about to leave, I think the point is the same: Darius will continue his weekly dep seshes to continue to “hang out” together, and Earn and Al are constantly calling and texting, so that’s not going to change, either. Life might pull these characters in different directions, but their relationship transcends time and space.

ETA: The title plus the whole concept was a nice callback to TV trope of writers backing themselves into a storyline and then ending it all with it was just a dream. The most infamous was “who shot JR” on Dallas—and it turned out nobody, it was just a dream. I think the Newhart finale was the same way—the whole series was a dream. Similarly Roseanne had a slight spin that the whole series was a fictional story that Roseanne wrote after Dan died. How much of this series was real and how much was Darius’s dep seshes? While most of it was real, maybe all of the absurdities (the invisible car, the Goofy-obsessed Disney CEO, etc) was just a dream?

Edited November 11, 2022 by JenE4

[aghst]

Was laughing throughout this, especially when his run-in with the cop was a float sesh.

Then when he broke in to the restaurant to free the others.

Them driving away in that Maserati while they ate Popeyes would have been a great ending.

But the actual ending wasn't bad either, Darius thinking this is all in his head.

I get the joke that no matter how successful and self-aware these characters are, they crave Popeyes more than anything else.  People could dine at Michelin star restaurants but they will still gorge on some fast or junk food.

Realistically though, they can get Popeye's any time.  For that matter, they can get sushi any time as well.  Kind of surprised they were put off by the notion of raw fish, though maybe not as cold as in sushi.  You don't see fugu that often in menus.  I think most people are good with salmon, tuna, etc.

I know Glover loved those anthology episodes, where the cast get a whole episode to themselves or where the regular cast isn't even in some of the episodes.

But having more ensemble cast episodes like this one in the last two seasons wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world.  Maybe Glover thinks that would be playing too much to the crowd or it's something he can always pull out so he'll try these different things.

Imagine if after Atlanta was over and someone gave him carte blanche to do anything he wanted and he does an anthology show, with minimal or no recurring cast?  My guess is it wouldn't have been received too well -- people would say "he used to make funny shows, but now he too serious."  So by doing them as Atlanta episodes, he has a captive audience, who will mostly complain that they can't wait until more regular Atlanta episodes air.

But he may be more interested in doing movies, either big projects as just an actor on those Star Wars franchises or maybe writing his own scripts but he can delve into a project for a couple of years instead of being under pressure to produce 10 episodes every couple of years.

[Maire]

I'm with you JenE4. I think some of the crazier episodes (black Justin Bieber and invisible car come to mind) could have been in Darius imagination. Loved the ending and final scene. Whether it was real or not Darius was happy  with his life and his friends. Will really miss the show.

[aghst]

The Ringer Prestige TV podcast had a great take on this episode.

Their restaurants or food choices are a metaphor for black TV shows or art and black audiences.

Popeyes is the comfort food that some black audiences prefer, even though it's noted that it's not even genuinely black cuisine, it was a recipe made by an Italian and sold back to black people as authentic black food.

The sushi place, particularly the fugu, is the risky or adventurous choice, with some danger looming above.  Atlanta is like the fugu, not like Popeyes at all.

The owner/chef went on a diatribe about how black people turned out for some movie made by black artists and then lined up to come to his restaurant but they wanted to go to Popeyes and they put up Yelp reviews about the restaurant feeding them poisonous fish.

He also talked about how black people couldn't trust black people from other parts of the country.  So there isn't solidarity when it comes to black culture.

It would be interesting to learn for instance that Atlanta draws more of a non-black audience than other shows or movies made by black artists.  I don't know if that's the case but the show has certainly been boosted by critics, many of whom are not black.  But Glover may be alluding to that.