Atlanta: Streets on Lock
September 7, 2016 10:00 AM - Season 1, Episode 2 - Subscribe

"See every rapper think he a thug, well you do the crime, you do the time. Don't drop the soap haha. Free my uncle Jay!" Cousins Paper Boi and Earn deal with repercussions of their actions from the first episode, learning about fame and jail.
posted by filthy light thief (9 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
The first two episodes were aired back-to-back on FX, so I'll post my thoughts on the two here.

I think it was a good decision to put the two together, as it told a more complete story, not that the first episode ending was really a cliff-hanger. We got from estranged cousins to Earn making things work for Paper Boi and bonding together while waiting in to get bailed from jail, then each learning about different realities.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:13 AM on September 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


I checked this out after hearing NPR's TV critic Eric Deggans talk about this show and Queen Sugar as examples of cable channels bringing modern black culture to TV. Deggans also had an interesting piece back in August on the realities of TV's version of "middle class," which generally isn't realistic, except for some outliers like All In The Family and Good Times in the 1970s, and then Roseanne in the 1980s. (I'm posting these links here because the first NPR piece has a clip from the 2nd episode of Atlanta.)
posted by filthy light thief at 10:36 AM on September 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


I watched this last night and it's so good. I don't have much more to say about it at the moment. But it's good.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 2:18 AM on September 8, 2016


They do a really good job with this show. I do have issues with it, but as always, they can be overlooked if there are lots of elements of the show that are stellar. And this show is really really good.

I'm also glad they aired the two together. I wish they'd do it next time too. I hope they find a way to keep the show going that doesn't involve somebody dying, because that's one of my pet peeves about a lot of this stuff.

But I hope this show is on tv for at least a couple of years, just off the strength of these initial episodes.
posted by cashman at 9:03 PM on September 9, 2016


Finally just watched episodes 1 & 2, and I'm on not quite on board.

The AV Club recapper wrote "These are heavy-ass themes, and before “Streets” is over, Atlanta has tackled the prison system, transphobia, and mistreatment of the mentally ill. But it never feels heavy, and it’s considerably funnier than the pilot." But for me, it did feel heavy - we've had a shooting in episode 1, and police brutality in this episode, so I don't have a sense yet for what base level of violence to expect, and was watching with a sense of general unease waiting for the next bad thing to happen.

It didn't help matters that FX kept running creepy spider-filled American Horror Story promos at the ends of the ad breaks where I couldn't help seeing them despite fast-forwarding through the commercials. Maybe I'll have better luck with episode 3, those ads are a huge turn-off to committing to this show.
posted by oh yeah! at 8:47 PM on September 16, 2016 [1 favorite]


Long story, but uh, I've been in the holding tank in an Atlanta jail, and by and large, that was dead on.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:31 AM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


Is it intentional that the actual shooting event is still very ambiguous at the end of this episode?

I loved it. Really excited about Brian Tyree Henry's acting and about the whole concept. Donald Glover just seems absurdly talented and driven.

TV finally feels like it's about the real world. In a very different way, this show reminds me of one thing I really like about Master of None: I can imagine hanging out with or at least meeting and chatting with these people. That's what makes modern TV as compelling as movies to me.
posted by latkes at 12:50 PM on September 19, 2017


Oh and adore the actors playing Earn's parents.
posted by latkes at 12:55 PM on September 19, 2017


latkes: Is it intentional that the actual shooting event is still very ambiguous at the end of this episode?

Yes. "I just always wanted to make Twin Peaks with rappers," Glover joked to reporters Saturday at the Television Critics Association's winter press tour. (January 16, 2016) Note that the show is not as consistently weird as TP, but it's definitely strange at times.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:08 PM on September 19, 2017 [2 favorites]


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