When the long-delayed third season of the acclaimed, multi-Emmy-winning Atlanta premiered last week, it was almost four years after season two ended, and although the world's changed a lot since then (Covid and Black Lives Matter, for starters), creator/writer/star Donald Glover says the third season is more or less as they originally envisaged it.
"A lot of this [season] is going to seem like a parody of stuff that happened, but we actually prophesied most of this in 2020," he tells Viva on a Zoom call with fellow Atlanta writers and cast members. "The world is extremely predictable. We, like, really just knew how a lot of this stuff was going to pan out, so I just want people to know."
Indeed, a large part of Atlanta's appeal has always been its ability to hone in on aspects of the zeitgeist that most TV shows struggle to address honestly.
In following Earn Marks (Glover), manager to his rising rap star cousin, Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry), plus their friend Darius (LaKeith Stanfield) and Earn’s on-again-off-again girlfriend (and mother to his child) Van (Zazie Beetz), Atlanta dives headlong into examining race, class and culture with a directness and a humour that feels unparalleled.
Season three mostly takes place throughout Europe, where Paper Boi is on tour. Shooting there during the pandemic was “pretty nuts” according to Glover.
“It was cool to be over there with Covid happening because there were no tourists,” he says. “We got to shoot in museums that they don’t let you shoot in. We had the Four Seasons by ourselves for weeks.”
However, when the crew first arrived in England, they experienced an incident of racial harassment that seems like a scene straight out of the show. As writer Stephen Glover, Donald’s brother, tells it, the writing staff went to a local bar, but it was closed, and they encountered a group of people outside.
“One of the guys, he’s kind of drunk, he makes a comment: ‘You guys can get in because you guys all carry hammers [guns],’” explains Stephen Glover.
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Advertise with NZME."Mind you, all of the writers on Atlanta are Black. So, he's making a reference that we all have hammers, and we can just break into this place, which we kind of ignored. Then [this] girl is still talking to us, and the guy grabs her and throws her over his shoulder, and he's, like, 'Run. They are going to rape you.'"
“And we are just, like, standing there, like, ‘What just happened?’” adds Donald Glover.
Donald, who is also a successful recording artist under the name Childish Gambino, says he approaches music and TV storytelling in the same manner.
“The machines might be different, but they’re making the same thing. They’re making moments for people. I just search for moments.”
The first episode of the new season ignores the regular cast entirely and instead follows a young boy who is removed from his home and placed in foster care. It often plays like a horror film, and is a typically bold opening gambit for a show unafraid to break the rules.
“We just wanted something that was going to be just terrifying to watch,” explains Donald of the first episode. “In the writers’ room, we had up on the whiteboard: ‘Do what others cannot.’”
It’s a mantra the show lives up to.
"Season three is our maximalist season," adds Donald. "Us being like: 'Yo, we are in control, but what does that mean?' And also leaving: 'The world is out there, and it's not Atlanta.'"
Atlanta is available to watch on Neon and Sky Go.
