Atlanta: Value

October 5, 2016 12:31 PM - Season 1, Episode 6

Van meets up with an old friend, and they discuss value.
posted by filthy light thief (8 comments total)

We’ve been waiting to see more of Vanessa since Atlanta began, hoping she wouldn’t be reduced to a shrew whose main function was prodding Earn to do something with his life. Donald Glover, in his directorial debut, more than delivers with “Value,” a wry and ruthless peak into Van’s frustrations. Glover started off strong before a single frame was shot by bringing in staff writer Stefani Robinson to assist on the script, the first to give a writing credit to someone whose last name isn’t Glover. It seems like a little thing, but it makes such a huge difference to know that someone with insights about how black women communicate contributed to an episode that mostly consists of black women communicating and miscommunicating.

Van gets an Atlanta episode all her own, and—no surprise—it’s great (A.V. Club review)
posted by filthy light thief at 12:35 PM on October 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

Music from the episode:
* It's Forever by The Ebonys
* This Masquerade by George Benson
* Oui by Jeremih (bonus: music video - with age restriction)
* Hit It and Quit It by Funkadelic

Definitely a different, more spare soundtrack for a different, and largely sparse episode. I mean that in that much of the episode takes place in one location, and is focused around the dialog and acting, focused on Van, with Alicia (Precious Bright) as a counterpoint. Not quite a closed room episode, but pretty close. And the guys are just backdrops to the story, which flips the generally male-centric episodes, where the women are ancillary or accessories to the story.

Also, it's all realistic and semi-tragic, except for Tobias Walner in white face.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:44 PM on October 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Random observation: after listening to "Oui," YouTube started another video, and it was Jeremih's Planez feat. J.Cole which is fitting and terrible after watching this episode - a slow R&B crooner to women who could fly in planez with Jeremih and J.Cole.

I love the sound of the song, but I hate the lyrics, moreso after this episode. Time to look for remixes and mixtapes where someone else sings or raps over the beat.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:54 PM on October 5, 2016

Great interview with the actress who plays Van.
posted by Diablevert at 7:49 PM on October 5, 2016

Noooooo not with your teeth noooo

I thought the part with the principal was such a great, Onion-like, kidding but not, catch-22 bureaucratic fuckbarrel bullshit you have to deal with if you're not rich.
posted by bleep at 11:21 PM on October 5, 2016 [3 favorites]

I loved the patience Glover (who directed) had with the first scene. It was so weird and awkward and delightful (that tense and tentative instagramming the meal, my god), and he just let it live and let it feel really long. What a great episode to flesh out a character who hasn't yet had much to do.

(Failed the Bechdel test about 5' in though, although I guess that's kind of the exception to the rule that proves the rule.)
posted by General Malaise at 9:07 AM on October 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

I love how this show moves through events. And I think we finally had an episode without a gun, right?
posted by cashman at 5:38 PM on October 6, 2016

Oh geez the kid in whiteface! Creepy from afar, hilarious when you close in on his cheeky expression.

Is it said or implied that Van's friend is an escort? I thought it was but now I'm not sure.
posted by harriet vane at 8:27 AM on June 15, 2018