Atlanta Fans Are Comparing The Series Finale To The Movie Inception
"Atlanta" has managed to weave quite a unique web over the course of its 4 seasons on FX. The rap-fueled series follows Earnest "Earn" Marks (Donald Glover) as he explores the unpredictable and often bizarre world of the music scene in the titular Georgian city. As the characters of the series navigate life and love among the waves of Afro-Surrealism, nothing is off limits, with the show often delving into a dream-like state.
The final episode of Season 4 of "Atlanta," which also serves as the series finale, has taken this familiar notion to its absolute breaking point. Framed through the perspective of the occasionally off-kilter Darius (Lakeith Stanfield), the episode, which is fittingly titled "It Was All a Dream," sees the lines between fantasy and reality blur to levels that the series has rarely seen before. In fact, things get so out of control over the course of the episode that fans found themselves wondering if the entire series had been a dream.
Darius is known for his odd perspectives and bizarre antics
Though Season 4, Episode 10 ("It Was All a Dream") doesn't feel much different than any other episode of "Atlanta" at the start, it becomes increasingly clear over the course of the episode that what viewers are seeing is Darius' dream-fueled hallucinations from a sensory deprivation tank (via AV Club). As such, fans immediately began comparing the episode to Christopher Nolan's dreamy action-thriller "Inception" and questioning whether anything in the entirety of the show even happened.
In a thread discussing the series finale on the r/AtlantaTV subreddit, users were quick to note the similarities between "Inception" and the "Atlanta" series finale. "Inception is my 2nd favorite movie," wrote u/SolarClipz in the top-voted comment. "This ending couldn't have been more perfect. The ending is meant to show he's happy, no matter which reality he is in, and that's what matters. The real question is, was it just this episode or the whole show?" the user went on to ask.
Framing the final episode of "Atlanta" through Darius' out-there perspective definitely changes how you see the show, but fans seem to be torn over what it means for the entirety of the series. "Throughout the show, you can see Darius kind of float in and out of situations saying the most random things," wrote u/YoungRandyVellarde. "But from this perspective, all of the 'randomness' has a rhyme or a reason attached to it." Though the ending of "Atlanta" will likely go on to be debated in the same way that the final episode of "The Sopranos" is, it seems as though most fans at least have a positive feeling toward it for now.