The Official FX Poster for Atlanta Season 2

What if we could make this perfectly crafted television show? What if it was created by one of the most talented people in the creative sphere right now? WHAT IF WE COULD WATCH THAT TV SHOW WHENEVER WE WANTED BECAUSE IT EXISTS?! Well, settle down! I have wonderful news. This TV show already exists, and you CAN watch it whenever you want (kinda). Obviously, as you must have gleaned from the title of this article itself, I’m talking about Donald Glover’s masterpiece, Atlanta.

This show is f***ing fire. Seriously. We’re in an age of golden television where all the Emmy-contending programs are produced with the same quality as a Hollywood blockbuster. It has been said a million times before, but this golden age in TV has given us Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Sons of Anarchy, The Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones just to mention a few. Crazy right? It just so happens that this magical golden age coincides with the ultimate explosion of TV excellence (since Community) from Donald Glover, who also goes by the moniker Childish Gambino in his ultra-successful rap career. The serendipitous timing of these two things resulted in something beautiful and tangible and wonderful and amazing and satisfying and unsettling and uncomfortable all at once, Atlanta. Just to give you a taste of its success: it has won two Golden Globe awards for best comedy series and best actor (Donald Glover’s “Ernest ‘Ern’ Marks”) and has amassed a bevy of Emmy nominations, including two wins. Donald Glover made HISTORY when he became the first black director to win the Emmy for Outstanding Directing. What a creative maniac, right? What things are good about it, you ask? Well, there’s so many. Who is a part of the cast? I promise to tell you. Listen, I’m gonna answer all of these things, you just have to stay with me. Here we go!

The Details

This show really does everything well, but I had a professor back who always said that the best pieces of media always did the little things well. The actors’ expressions, the slight changes in scenery, the shifts in background rap music, the surreal moments in nearly every scene. Donald Glover’s genius is on display as Atlanta harnesses these little changes, and puts the viewer on a rocketship to what might as well be a whole different planet. An example of this is pretty much any time you encounter the character, known as Darius Epps. I’ll discuss his character in a bit, but just know that Lakeith Stanfield’s “Darius” is all you need to shift the mood to a surreal place.

Main Cast and Characters

Donald Glover as Earn (left) and Lakeith Stanfield as Darius (right).

Donald Glover as Ernest Marks : This character is quite possibly the most emotionally and humanly relatable character that I have ever seen on a TV show, EVER. Ernest Marks is the manager for his rapper cousin, Alfred “Paperboi” Miles (we’ll talk about him next). Ern, as he is referred to on the show, is an underachieving young man with a mercurial relationship with his ex-girlfriend Vanessa “Van” Keefer, with whom he has a 4–5-year-old daughter named Lottie. He is exceptionally intelligent yet hard to nail down, as indicated by the fact that he dropped out of Princeton after being admitted. This character is pretty much the whole rock of the show. He speaks reason when it is needed, tries to make sure situations don’t spiral out of control (they always do), and he handles all of his cousin’s rap industry business dealings. You follow him on his journey of grappling with a co-parenting situation, trying to make enough money to survive in a brutal Atlanta cityscape, and managing the professional and personal relationship with Alfred. Watching Donald Glover play this part is deeply cathartic because you can sense a large piece of him in the way he portrays Ern. You can see him grappling with major situations, but also considering the moral implication of his actions. I mean, think about this, in the last episode of Season 2, “Crabs in a Barrel”, he executes a devious action that led to someone else getting blamed for the gun Ern accidentally brought to the airport. There’s more to it, like vitriolic managerial competition, but you’ll see what I mean when you watch it. Seriously though, Donald Glover’s “Ern” is a supernova, just waiting for his chance to change everything.

as : This character is quite possibly the most emotionally and humanly relatable character that I have ever seen on a TV show, Ernest Marks is the manager for his rapper cousin, Alfred “Paperboi” Miles (we’ll talk about him next). Ern, as he is referred to on the show, is an underachieving young man with a mercurial relationship with his ex-girlfriend Vanessa “Van” Keefer, with whom he has a 4–5-year-old daughter named Lottie. He is exceptionally intelligent yet hard to nail down, as indicated by the fact that he dropped out of Princeton after being admitted. This character is pretty much the whole rock of the show. He speaks reason when it is needed, tries to make sure situations don’t spiral out of control (they always do), and he handles all of his cousin’s rap industry business dealings. You follow him on his journey of grappling with a co-parenting situation, trying to make enough money to survive in a brutal Atlanta cityscape, and managing the professional and personal relationship with Alfred. Watching Donald Glover play this part is deeply cathartic because you can sense a large piece of him in the way he portrays Ern. You can see him grappling with major situations, but also considering the moral implication of his actions. I mean, think about this, in the last episode of Season 2, “Crabs in a Barrel”, he executes a devious action that led to someone else getting blamed for the gun Ern accidentally brought to the airport. There’s more to it, like vitriolic managerial competition, but you’ll see what I mean when you watch it. Seriously though, Donald Glover’s “Ern” is a supernova, just waiting for his chance to change everything. Brian Tyree Henry as Alfred “Paperboi” Miles : I love Brian Tyree Henry, there I said it. This man is insanely talented, and Atlanta is the perfect showcase of this talent. From this point on, we’ll call his character “Al” as all the other main characters on the show call him. Al is Ern’s cousin, and Darius’s best friend (we’ll talk about him next). Al is a complex individual. Al is an up-and-coming rapper who got his big break when his self-titled song “Paperboi” explodes, garnering him praise far outside of the Atlanta city limits. As he grapples with this newfound stardom, he is also faced with ethical and moral dilemmas that test him. He is a character who wants to remain the same as he always was, despite everything changing for him. The definitive episode that shows this extremely humble side of him is Episode 8 of Season 2, “Woods”. You’ll see, what a f***ing episode that was. Al is an amazing character, simply put.

as : I love Brian Tyree Henry, there I said it. This man is insanely talented, and Atlanta is the perfect showcase of this talent. From this point on, we’ll call his character “Al” as all the other main characters on the show call him. Al is Ern’s cousin, and Darius’s best friend (we’ll talk about him next). Al is a complex individual. Al is an up-and-coming rapper who got his big break when his self-titled song “Paperboi” explodes, garnering him praise far outside of the Atlanta city limits. As he grapples with this newfound stardom, he is also faced with ethical and moral dilemmas that test him. He is a character who wants to remain the same as he always was, despite everything changing for him. The definitive episode that shows this extremely humble side of him is Episode 8 of Season 2, “Woods”. You’ll see, what a f***ing episode that was. Al is an amazing character, simply put. Lakeith Stanfield as Darius Epps : Lakeith Stanfield is underrated, seriously. That’s all I have to say because his work speaks for itself. His character, Darius, is a knuckleball of a character. He is a first-generation Nigerian (shoutout my Nigerians, love y’all), and it’s mentioned heavily throughout the series. Darius is concerned with making his money through unconventional means, such as the time he convinced Ern to invest in a dog-breeding scheme. He is Al’s best friend, and as the show goes on, he eventually becomes one of Ern’s confidants as well. He’s the kind of character that you wish was your friend in real life, like it would be so dope to hang out with him and see what kind of wild sh*t you will get into. His character’s depth is best on display in Episode 6 of Season 2, “Teddy Perkins”. Stick around and you’ll find out exactly why that episode is such a good depiction of his true character.

as : Lakeith Stanfield is underrated, seriously. That’s all I have to say because his work speaks for itself. His character, Darius, is a knuckleball of a character. He is a first-generation Nigerian (shoutout my Nigerians, love y’all), and it’s mentioned heavily throughout the series. Darius is concerned with making his money through unconventional means, such as the time he convinced Ern to invest in a dog-breeding scheme. He is Al’s best friend, and as the show goes on, he eventually becomes one of Ern’s confidants as well. He’s the kind of character that you wish was your friend in real life, like it would be so dope to hang out with him and see what kind of wild sh*t you will get into. His character’s depth is best on display in Episode 6 of Season 2, “Teddy Perkins”. Stick around and you’ll find out exactly why that episode is such a good depiction of his true character. Zazie Beetz as Vanessa “Van” Keefer: Zazie Beetz is a national treasure. I think I said that before when I wrote about “Once Upon a Deadpool”, but it’s still 900% true. We’ll call her character “Van” from this point on. Van is an intellectually gifted, ex-teacher who was fired for essentially snitching on herself during a mandatory drug test (she smoked weed). That’s the type of character she is. She’s us. Van is a character who is constantly falling victim to the human condition, just like Ern, which is probably why they work semi-well together. She’s the perfect true stabilizer in the show. Lottie is usually under her care, but she also does a great job in involving Ern in the parenting. Zazie Beetz brings a dimension to the Afro-German character. Did I mention that? She’s of African-American and German descent, and there’s a whole episode about this. It’s amazing.

The Best Episodes from Each Season

Season 1

Nileseyy Niles Guest Starring

Episode 7, “B.A.N.”: Al goes on a TV show, Montague, and is confronted with an ambush regarding social issues such as LBGTQ+ rights, racism, and self-identity. This episode is incredible because it’s a comedy, but it also lets you look through the windowpane at what it’s like to be a rapper who upon becoming famous is confronted with things that he has never experienced before. This episode is perfect, complete with a guest appearance by Twitter sensation, Nileseyy Niles as he grapples with his realization that he is now identifying as a middle-aged white man, See above.

Teddy Perkins and the Ostrich Egg

Season 2

Episode 6, “Teddy Perkins”: Choosing this episode was actually really rough, because it’s not really comedic at all (it’s not meant to be), AND I love the “Woods” episode of Season 2, but alas, we continue. Darius decides that he needs a piano that has been listed on a website similar to Craigslist. He rents a truck and goes to pick it up, but when he arrives at the eery mansion owned by a Teddy Perkins, a man who has a face that looks like it’s made out of plaster (in a bad way), things go south real f***ing quick. Teddy has a brother named Benny, who is wheelchair bound and can’t speak. The whole situation descends into the depths of Hell as Darius is held hostage by Teddy, but Benny ends up helping him escape by killing his brother, Teddy, and then himself. Darius escaped with his life as the cops engulfed the mansion to investigate the murder-suicide. This episode is unsettling, for real. There’s a part where Teddy is talking to Darius in the parlor of the home before everything has gone to sh*t, and Teddy eats a WHOLE POACHED OSTRICH EGG. He cracks this football-sized thing and then FINGERS the yolk as he begins to devour it. That’s probably the exact moment where you realize things are horribly wrong. This episode is unsettling, gross, yet beautiful and masterfully put together. Honestly, I just want Donald Glover to write and direct his own horror films because this episode was immaculate. Is there anything he can’t do?

Really Though

I really mean it when I say that this is the best TV show, right now. This show is poignant, funny, surreal and real, all at once. Donald Glover’s masterpiece of a series is something that will stand the test of time, as he continues to push the limits of arts concerning social issues. This show isn’t only for those concerned with the social standing of the U.S., but rather is an inspired view, albeit exaggerated, of hood politics and grappling with major life-shifts. The show shows the juxtaposition between the rapper from the hood and the industry that wants him to be a caricature of himself. The entire show is almost supposed to make you feel like you’re watching a comedy, but turns into something much more IMPORTANT. The views of social issues through the lens of those who are affected the most by them makes you gain a better understanding of all of those around you. It opens a dialogue. Thank you, Donald Glover. Watch this show, you really won’t regret it.