It’s hard to remember now, but back when Donald Glover’s peerless series first aired on FX in 2016 – a time before the release of Jordan Peele’s Get Out or Trump’s presidency – people thought they had a handle on it. A TV show named after a city famous for its music tradition, about an up-and-coming rapper named Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry) and his aimless cousin Earn (Glover), Atlanta (Disney+) looked set to be the Black version of country music soap Nashville. Or a quirky sitcom take on hip-hop melodrama Empire? Or like Lena Dunham’s Girls, but for boys?
Instead, Atlanta has evaded expectations, rejected the norms of episodic television and generally roamed far and wide from its nominal home town, without ever crossing state lines. It is four years since the season two finale aired – a long gap even by post-pandemic standards – and Atlanta’s third season strays further than ever: Paper Boi and his entourage are touring Europe.
