Every Episode Of Atlanta Season Two Ranked Worst To Best
3. Episode 08 - Woods
If there was ever a moment in the series that showed Alfred's doubts about his partnership with Earn, it would be this episode.
"Woods" finds Alfred abandoning a vacuous date to walk alone and wander the streets to think. After being attacked and robbed by opportunistic fans, Alfred finds himself alone and disoriented in a forest in dangerous scenes reminiscent of Darius' escapade two episodes earlier.
The struggle and fear in Alfred might just make for a decent half hour of tense drama, but his fight for survival turns into something of a vision quest. During which the flashes of his deceased mother, and an interaction with an old man who warns him to keep moving, all culminate and symbolize to him that he's treading water.
As Paper Boi, Alfred has ambition and understands in this episode that he should be going further and faster than he already is. Partly it is the competition, but mainly it's Earn's poor management and guidance that bounces him around from one crappy venue to the next.
Wandering alone in the woods of Atlanta would be spiritual enough, but in this episode the planted seeds have finally grown and decisions are whirring in the Alfred's head.