The Small Detail In Atlanta Season 3 Premiere That Means More Than You Think
After four long years of no new "Atlanta," one of the best shows on television is finally back.
Season 3 of the FX series dropped on March 24, proving that Donald Glover and company still have what it takes to deliver one of the funniest, most surreal half-hours around. Season 3 didn't hold back in the slightest for its premiere episode, which takes a break from the usual happenings of Earn (Donald Glover), Alfred (Brian Tyree Henry), and Darius (LaKeith Stanfield) to follow instead the story of a little boy named Laquarius.
It's a seemingly random story that fits perfectly within the mold of the dream-like world "Atlanta" has carved out for itself. After Laquarius is hit by his great uncle, he gets sent to a foster home where things aren't much better. Laquarius tries to get help from his conundrum, but each attempt leads to more absurdity. By the end of the episode, it's revealed that everything we just saw was Earn's dream, who wakes up in the middle of Europe with an unknown woman in his bed. While many viewers may chalk everything up to a weird set of circumstances, eagle-eyed viewers have pointed out a connection between the Season 3 episode and the pilot.
There are several parallels between Atlanta's pilot and Three Slaps
In an early scene of the "Atlanta" pilot, we see Earn wake up next to his girlfriend, Van (Zazie Beetz). He describes a dream he had to her where he was pulled underneath the water by a bunch of hands. We see this play out practically verbatim in the opening sequence to Season 3, Episode 1, "Three Slaps," where a Black man is also pulled underwater by many hands. Of course, we soon learn that this is all a dream by Laquarius, but that's not where the similarities stop.
By the end of the episode, we learn that everything we just saw with Laquarius was actually a dream from Earn. His dreams seem to play a pivotal role in "Atlanta," and that fact hasn't been lost on Redditors, particularly u/Training-Speaker5295, who posted screenshots of the two moments where Earn wakes up side-by-side. It's clear the two episodes are meant to be connected, as we see Earn at different stages of his life, one where he's struggling to survive and another where he's living in relative luxury in Europe. However, deep down, he's still the same scared guy.
Many believe "Atlanta" will age well and will have plenty of treats for people who decide to binge-watch the entire series from start to finish once it's over. Redditor u/Fornicalia went so far as to write, "[I'm] so happy for the people in the future who are going to get to binge watch the whole 4 seasons. everything ties itself together PERFECTLY." For now, fans can look forward to new episodes dropping every Thursday on FX.