Every Episode Of Atlanta Season Two Ranked Worst To Best
4. Episode 04 - Helen
The episode "Helen" does a wonderful job at fleshing out the relationship dynamic of Earn and Van. Previous episodes have suggested a difference, but it's here that we see how polar opposite they might actually be.
On the one hand, Van is dragging Earn to a festivity he does not care for and is already alien to. He is mistaken to be in black-face, there are games he has no idea how to play and every other person around him is speaking a language he doesn't know. His guard is immediately up, and it's justified that he would be upset that Van didn't warn him about what's to come.
Then again, Earn's true perceptions of Van are exposed. His surprise that she can speak German, his bafflement that she wants to be more than "Lottie's Mom" or "Earn's girl", and his (possibly justified) put-downs prove that he really doesn't listen to or even see Van as a girlfriend, but a friend he can have sex with.
The episode is screaming 'Get Out' references to Earn, and it might not just be racial tones either. Both of them realize by the end that if it weren't for Lottie, would they even still be together?