The Best Show On TV Right Now Is One You're (Probably) Not Watching

The Greatness Of Atlanta Robbin' Season

Atlanta Season 2
FX

As a brief, non-spoiler run through of some of this seasons highlights, we've had a random appearance from an alligator, taken a trip to a bizarre (and a little creepy) German festival, spent an episode solely with Paper Boi and his barber, and been through a Get Out-inspired, Michael Jackson-parodying thriller. All have excelled in their eccentricity, but also because they put their characters right at the very heart of the show.

We don't need to know the ins and outs of everything that's happening, and Atlanta isn't interested in explaining everything to us. There are no major exposition dumps, nor is it fair to say this is a show that's made for people of one race or another. It's simply, purely itself, and in Season 2 it's the most *itself* a TV show can possibly be.

That's it's well-acted almost goes without saying, with all four of the central actors - Glover, Beetz, Brian Tyree Henry, and Lakeith Stanfield - bringing a mix of authenticity, hilarity, and weirdness, but most of all sharing an impeccable chemistry that just feels so real. The same goes for its direction, led by Glover himself along with Hiro Murai, which takes the realistic Atlanta setting and infuses it with a dreamlike quality, allowing the show's most grounded elements to effortlessly mesh with its surreality.

Buying into that is key to the success of Atlanta. The setting of Atlanta is somewhere between Springfield and Twin Peaks, in that it's filled with people often just one step removed from the everyday life, where things seem relatively normal but just about anything can happen. It doesn't play to the logic of the real world, nor conform to any of our expectations about how television should go, but does follow its own internal logic which allows it to be completely unpredictable without veering into utter insanity or nonsense.

It's this, too, that allows Glover and co's writing to perfectly blend, and often flip between, comedy and drama. It's billed as the former, and the show does wring a lot of humour from the various, ridiculous situations the characters find themselves in, but it can just as easily mine its racial tensions and class divides for laughs as well. On the other hand, the plight of Earn or the show's commentary on modern society can be searingly brutal, shocking, or full of emotion as we feel for these people.

That is the sheer creativity and ambition on display here, which is what we've come to expect from Glover but also far above anything he himself has done. As the creator, writer, director, and star, it's the purest distillation of this multi-hyphenate's talent and artistic sensibilities. That means Atlanta can be and do almost anything it wants, which is impressive enough, but that it so frequently lands while hopping around between characters, tone, and genres is truly remarkable.

Atlanta Donald Glover
FX

Comedy, drama, romance, crime, thriller, coming-of-age, fantasy - Atlanta could play in any one of those genres of its entire season and be at least pretty good. Instead, it refuses to fit into one single box or even a couple of them. It breaks the box, if anything. It refuses to hold its audience's hand or give it too much, but simply invites you along for the weirdest snapshots of life. It's watched by little over a million people per week, and it's the greatest thing on TV right now.

What do you think of Atlanta? Let us know down in the comments.

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Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.