The following article contains spoilers forAtlanta.
Season three continues to chronicle Paper Boi’s European tour as the gang finds itself in London for a hilarious episode that further proves just how brilliantAtlanta’swriting can be. Naturally, this means bringing just the right mix of colorful characters the shown is known for that help bring out the best from the main cast.
Atlanta’sfirst episode this season veered into serious territory, especially with the omission of its protagonists, while the second one retained some of those darker vibes; nevertheless, “The Old Man and the Tree” is not afraid to push the show fully intocomedyterritory and it does this by using a classic sitcom setups, the house party where everyone goes out to find their place in this architectural wonder of a house.
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Earn, Alfred, Van and Darius are invited to a billionaire’s house which Earn sees as an opportunity to continue building the rapper’s web of connection throughout the old continent, thus proving his worth as his cousin’s manager. When they arrive at the address they get the first sign that this is bound to be a very different night, as their eccentric host uses a rundown building as a decoy for his lavish home, which includes a center patio with one of London’s oldest trees, hence the episode’s title but more on that later.
As soon as they arrive everyone goes out and about to mingle, in Earn’s case that involves cozying up to Will, the rich guy that invited him, though he still can’t quite keep his eyes off of Van who has no problems stealing some home decor just for kicks. While the former couple doesn’t get much time together, the entire party setup is perfect to outline the weird place in which their relationship currently stands with Van staying solo for most of the night.
Elsewhere in the house, Al and Darius are perplexed to find a Nando’s (a South African fast food restaurant ) stuck right in the middle of the place and it’s at that point where Paper Boi meets Fernando, the old man in the story. After making some small talk, the fabulously dressed Darius goes away to do Darius types of things, while Al is stuck with the host who invites him to go see his tree.
And thus the gang is neatly divided, with Paper Boi naturally finding no amusement in the tree but being quite excited about the potential of a poker game upstairs that will also let him smoke some weed, because of course Fernando doesn’t want any smoking near the tree. The table has 20k buy-in but fret not because Paper Boi’s Eurotrip is sure making him some paper, as he has no problem paying up to sit, gamble and listen to his opponent’s weird stories about having sex with ghosts.
Darius has a bit of an odd encounter with an Asian woman named MK (yes, the Asian part is important), who mistakenly believes he was going to hit on her because “Black men love Asian women”, and though the situation doesn’t escalate the awkwardness of it is just too funny to see as Darius fire back with “you guys love hip-hop.We like anime”. The dialogue in this scene, like almost every conversation at the party reinforces Taofik Kolade’s impeccable writing in this episode, just like he did in the second season’s finale, proving why there arevery few shows likeAtlanta.
Nonetheless, not everyone is as cool as Darius, and a bystander who introduces himself as Socks rants to Darius about theblatant racismhe just suffered, thus beginningAtlanta’smission to portray how ridiculous white guilt can be. It’s not the only example we have of this, because Earn and Van are also rather unimpressed with the work of Will’s art protégé, TJ, a young artist whose paintings probably won’t wow viewers either, and who seems to be scamming Will out of what amount to pennies considering his net worth.
Will, Fernando and Socks might nothit Teddy Perkins levels of absurdity and greatness, but that’s precisely where this episode’s brilliance lies in, as each and every one of the partygoers comes off as a very real person. When it all implodes, Earn has to decide whether to profit from TJ hustling Will, Darius hascaused a racial uproar, Al can’t cash in on a 40k poker win, and Vanessa is just pushing people into the house’s indoor pool.
The latter scene is when Earn and Van have a chance to talk about their current state, a moment that feels insufficient, yet perfectly placed to ensure this episode adds continuity.Race relationsdefine the resolution of these tiny conflicts as Earn’s mind is made up when he sees an old picture with a young South African relegated to the background, and Darius can’t control an angry mob from threatening an innocent woman over things she didn’t even say like “All lives matter”, which definitely drive home the point on people being offended in cases where even the actual target is not.
Of course, the episode’s true peak is seeing Al trying to cut Fernando’s precious tree with a chainsaw in a fit of rage, but this whole entry features clever writing all the way through. The mid-credits scene hints at Van not even being remotely interested in Earn, but that’s a topic for another day, the real news is thatAtlantais back, and it’s as good as it’s always been.
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