Atlanta's Donald Glover Hilariously, Profanely Doubles Down On His Sopranos Comparison
After almost four years off our airwaves to account for the skyrocketing careers of all its main stars, season 3 of "Atlanta" is finally set to arrive in just a few days. As the penultimate installment of the show (the fourth and final one is scheduled to premiere towards the end of 2022), Glover and the rest of the cast have been talking up these final handful of episodes and promising that some of the best is still to come. After the series to this point has been set (where else?) in the humid confines of Atlanta, Georgia, the previous season ended with increasingly successful rapper Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles (Brian Tyree Henry), his cousin and manager Earn (Donald Glover), their enigmatic friend Darius (LaKeith Stanfield), and the rest of their troupe crossing the Atlantic and going on tour in Europe.
Compared to practically any other show on television in the last several years, "Atlanta" has clearly stood apart for its willingness to embrace chaos. Ostensibly a comedy that rides the line between satire and farce, the series has also managed to mix actual horror elements into any given episode to incredibly effective results (hello, Teddy Perkins!) while also delivering trenchant depictions of what it means to be Black in America (some notable examples of which include the cringe-inducing Juneteenth episode or the one where Alfred has to jump through hoops in order to get a haircut). Consistently hilarious, never preachy, but always hard-edged in a way that most studios would inevitably feel compelled to tone down, there's simply no telling what kind of episode you're in for with "Atlanta" and that remains one of its defining charms.
In his latest comments about the upcoming season, Glover touches on a multitude of topics — from the dramatic change in setting to remaining true to the show's roots to, most entertaining of all, the "Atlanta" creator/writer/actor revisiting some choice comments he made in the past comparing the show to "The Sopranos." Some extreme (and well-earned, mind you) confidence and, yes, quite a bit of profanity, ensue. Check out his full comments below!
'I'm not backing down from that'
For any other show, switching up the setting that's so integral to the story would feel like a worrisome prospect. With "Atlanta," it's simply another chance for the creative team behind the show (which includes Glover's brother, Stephen) to express even more creativity and imagination. In explaining how the newest season will stay faithful to everything the previous seasons established, Stephen Glover remarked in a profile with Variety that, "Atlanta is everywhere and nowhere." His brother used that as a jumping-off point, further explaining:
"It's our point of view; it's not really about the place. Although in Season 4, it makes a very heavy resurgence, as far as the actual place. Atlanta is a state of mind. Europe solidified how we felt [while writing] Season 3. [Director Hiro Murai] calls it our maximum season."
More than simply providing the title, the city of Atlanta and, specifically, the Black population in the surrounding area helped set the tone of all the hijinks and hilarious circumstances that our characters have found themselves in over the years. Alfred's rap career, for instance, wouldn't exist in the same way without the intricacies of the Atlanta music scene. And with such an impressive body of work behind him, Glover still isn't backing down from the fighting words he's tweeted out in the past. Referencing a (now-deleted) tweet two years ago where he boldly stated that the final two seasons of "Atlanta" will be "...some of the best television ever made. ['The Sopranos' are the] only ones who can touch us," Glover is standing by every word in colorful and hilarious fashion.
I talk my sh*t on the internet. I said 'Sopranos' and sh*t. I'm not backing down from that sh*t. I'm holding my nuts out on that sh*t. I just want [audiences] to know this sh*t is good. It's high quality sh*t. I hope you can have cursing [in your story]."
Incredibly enough, the "Sopranos" comparison really isn't all that off-base when you think about it. Both shows lean on heightened and abstract visuals to make their dramatic story beats hit that much harder, both rely on legitimately clever humor to charm viewers into going along with the darker elements, and both take some genuine formalist risks to tell their stories as boldly as they can.
Season 3 of "Atlanta" premieres on FX on March 24, 2022.