Fables and Santa’s Slaves: A Review of Atlanta’s Season Three Double Premiere

The biggest aspect FX’s Atlanta depends on are real events. While this show stays completely fictional, and grounded, but also not grounded at all. The first episode of the heavily anticipated Season Three of Atlanta was rumored to be about The Hart Family Murders in Medocino County California, which happened when season two was premiering. This show depends on real time events and elevates them. Remember that. This episode gradually tenses more and more up, at first it seems pretty chill. They even reference this gif, that has trended on Twitter in the past. The show does not shy away from how social media and the media has impacted society, starting with Season 1, Episode 5 Nobody Beats The Biebs. And especially Season 1, Episode 7 B.A.N.

The rumored premise of the story worried me, so I had a tense feeling in my gut while watching this episode, wondering where the kid was going. I knew exactly where it was going when he ended with two white woman as foster parents. The episode shifted a tone from comedy, to horror. Especially with the very atmospheric music. The woman in the episode get more and more insane. They microwave chicken?! And just for 7 minutes… The woman seem to have a sick, twisted fantasy for viewing these children as their slaves as they tell the kid to sing songs while… doing yard work. One of the woman doesn’t seem to be into this sick, twisted way of treating foster children, but has been manipulated. In the real story of this event, there is no evidence of manipulation towards the other couple. They were known to both be into this psychotic tendencies. An event is going to be more intriguing to people if there is something or someone to sympathize for. None of the children survived in real life. They all went down that canyon with the two women. There was no known manipulation between the couple. They were likely both psychotic. But… that’s just terrible! Who are you supposed to root for? Society expects there to be something or someone to root for, or hope for. Sometimes, there isn’t. But, Atlanta is fiction. So you do get that happy ending. Loquareeous jumps out of the SUV, as it crashes into Georgia’s Atlantis… We’ll get into that. As Loquareeous runs back home to his mother who just… sent him away but is fine with him back? And the tortoise and rabbit on the television. It’s almost like this episode might be a fable? Don’t run away or you might have to eat microwaved chicken and almost go down to Atlantis. So, the opening scene is a white and black man on a boat, who end up talking about that there’s an entire city under them. The Twin Peaks references continue… The white man becomes this white, deformed figure. And drags the other man down. I’m still stumped on what this means, but we’ll find out eventually. Maybe.

Going Down A Chimney Causes Blackface

So, the second episode of this premiere turns down the darkness a little, and gets more funny like the Atlanta as we know it. Earn, Al, and Darius are now on tour in Amsterdam, that Darius describes as ‘Northern Venice’. This episode is a very Darius and Van centric episode, which I’m all for. In the promos, I was a little unsure why Van was with them in Europe, and it looks like she is unsure also. I’m sure there’s more to what has happened as to why she was pushed to go to Amsterdam. Darius is high as hell in this episode, and it is obviously very funny. Darius acts high even when he isn’t. Al is in jail, because why wouldn’t he be, and it happens to be a very nice “cell” (it’s pretty much a room). Which, is very likely what they look like in Amsterdam, but I can’t help to think that is referencing to when A$AP Rocky went viral for getting arrested in Sweden, and the picture of his bed was very very similar to Al’s. Just keep it in your head how Atlanta involves real events in your mind as you watch season three. Even though Van and Darius are very funny in this episode, what they get into this episode is also weird as hell. They get invited to this address, which is a little weird, but not bonkers. And, the white people seem like a normal amount of weirdness of white people. A nice, sweet, memorial service. But, apparently the black guy laying down wasn’t dead? And they suffocated him? Some serious Midsommar vibes are going down this season. I couldn’t help but crack up when they played Hail Mary when it “ended”.