There is nothing like Atlanta
on TV: It’s almost less a series
than a conceptual work of art,
with fractured storytelling,
emphasis on mood rather than
momentum, and actors who
could be off making big-budget
movies instead of a small, per-
sonal television show.Returning from more than a
year off after its stellar fresh-
man season, Donald Glover’s FX
stunner continues to be a model
of 30-minute-episode, slice-of-
life, small-screen storytelling (in
the tradition of Master of None,
Better Things and several other
series that popped up post-Louie).
Season one set the bar high,
delving into the Atlanta rap scene
while exploring the experience of
a young black man — Glover’s
Earnest “Earn” Marks, Princeton-
educated but essentially homeless
— in America. We followed Earn
as he tried to manage Paper Boi
(Brian Tyree Henry), his rising rap
star cousin, and complicationsensued. Comic relief was provided
by Darius (Lakeith Stanfield),
Paper Boi’s oddball consigliere,
and emotional resonance by
Van (Zazie Beetz), Earn’s some-
times girlfriend and mother of
his young daughter.
The three new episodes sent
to critics pick up with these
characters and are surprising,
confident, fresh and first-rate.
Glover and company didn’t
want to call it “season two” and
asked FX to simply call it “Robbin’
Season” (which refers to the
period before Christmas, whenrobberies increase as desperate
people try to buy presents). Glover
has said that the structure of
the season will take its cues from
the early-’90s animated series
Tiny Toon Adventures — and more
specifically, the direct-to-video,
Steven Spielberg-produced Tiny
Toons Adventures: How I Spent
My Vacation. He’s not kidding.
The first episode of Atlanta
Robbin’ Season opens with two
unknown characters playing
video games and then going to a
fast food drive-through. What
happens next is shocking — an
unexpected robbery goes side-
ways — and we cut to commercial
break. Later, there’s an alligator.
And a gold pistol. Atlanta is con-
juring a world the viewer probably
doesn’t live in or even understand,
which is the point.
The second episode satirizes
overzealous white consumption
and promotion of hip-hop while
simultaneously commenting
on weak, commercial rap sold by
a rapper who might be easier
to pitch to the masses than, say,
Paper Boi. The third episode,
as sharply cutting as it is funny,
revolves around Earn’s trying
and failing to spend a $100 bill.
Not all of the scenes move the
storylines forward, and that’s
fine. As in season one, they’re art-
ful snapshots and sketches that,
over the course of many episodes,
amount to a richly distinctive,
specific narrative of survival.
AIRDATE 10 p.m. Thursday, March 1 (FX)
CAST Donald Glover, Brian Tyree Henry,
Lakeith Stanfield, Zazie Beetz
CREATOR Donald GloverAtlanta
The Robbin’ Season of
Donald Glover’s FX gem
gets off to a shocking,
sharply funny start
By Tim Goodman↑ Glover (right) and Stanfield navigate the
twists and turns of the Atlanta rap scene.GUY D’ALEMA/FX
Television