The Prestige TV Podcast - 'Atlanta’ Season 3, Episode 8 Recap

Episode Date: May 6, 2022

Van Lathan and Charles Holmes dive into the eighth episode of ‘Atlanta’ Season 3, “New Jazz.” They breakdown Paper Boi’s drug trip, the surprise actor cameo, and what the episode is saying about the black celebrity. Hosts: Van Lathan and Charles Holmes Senior Producer: Steve Ahlman  Associate Producer: Jonathan Kermah Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, Rob Harvilla from 60 Songs That Explain the 90s here to inform you that we are back with 30 more songs because the 90s were super long and had a ton of rad music. Please join us every Wednesday for more 60 songs that explain the 90s only on Spotify. It's time to refresh your yard during spring backyard days at the Home Depot. Get low prices guaranteed on propane grills starting at $179 like the next grill three burner gas grill. or get $50 off the select Weber Spirit Grill and bring big flavor to your backyard. Then set the scene with Hampton Bay string lights that bring it all together.

Shop spring backyard days for seven days at the Home Depot. Now through May 6th, Exclusion supplies to homedipo.com slash price match for details. Welcome to the Ringer's prestige TV podcast feed. That is Charles Holmes across from me. He is the host of the Ringer music show And one half of the Midnight Boys. I'm Van Lathen host of Higher Learning with Rachel Lindsay and Van Lathen and also one half of the Midnight Boys.

But today we are back again to give you another podcast on season three of Atlanta this time. The episode is New Jazz. New Jazz is the episode. Now, Atlanta as a show has been vacillating back and forth between these more anthologies. type episodes that have to do with stories that are not even tangential to what's going on with our main crew of Al, Erne, Darius, and Van. And then these other episodes that very much follow their exploits, the main characters that we've come to love in the show while they're on holiday, or excuse me, while Paperboy's

on tour in Europe. Charles, we are back in Europe, Amsterdam. Not a lot of van, and no, no van in this at all. all, not a lot of earn, a little Darius, mostly paperboy. Tell us about New Jazz. Then they was looking at us crazy out here in these streets. We was the last people on Atlanta Island. You know what I'm saying?

Everybody's like, Atlanta's Wash. What are y'all talking about? These niggas lost it, blah, blah, blah. And all I can say is New Jazz told y'all. Like, this is what we've been waiting for. This is the level of Atlanta we've been waiting for. The type of TV that only Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, hero Mariah, all of these talented individuals

can make this episode you want to know why I loved it? Because I'm a hater. And there's so many parts of this episode. I hate it. I was like, I hate this shit. And then there was moments of this shit. I was like, goddamn, this is a sublime TV.

This is like once in a generation, these black creatives are putting their foot in it. Even when I hate some of the choices that they make, I love looking at the art. I'm so excited about this. episode. Yo, man, what did you think about new jazz? Loved it. Love it. Black surrealism at its peak.

We're going to talk about something that happens in this episode in the second that blew my fucking top off. You text, it's rare. You texting me like, yo. Come on. It's hard to blow a niggas top off at this point, right? Kalika's over there right there. She's using his computer. She'll tell you right now that blowing my top off is not easy. Is it Kalika?

It's not easy. God damn it. So here's the situation. We start off here. We're in Amsterdam. Darius and Al are in a breakfast spot. They're eating. Al Pace.

He asked Darius if he wants to split it, which at first I was a little bit pissed off about, right? All right. Let's break this down because I want to say for the audience, y'all don't know Vann. But Vann, to me, is very much in the mold of the, a big bro, like a mentor to me. Like, Van will always pay in a way where I'm like, I'm going to put my car down and Van gets mad.

Like, he's just like, nah. And I wanted to get your opinion on this, like, paperboy being like, yo, you want to split it. I don't believe in it. I don't believe in it. Why would he ask Darius if Darius wants to split something? He's rich. Everybody on this thing is doing fine.

I'm not saying, but I'm saying I'm an older guy. I've been stacking cheese for a while. I'm a Steve is on here Steve I'm a notorious payer for meals am I not yes you are and it actually makes me mad because sometimes I'm like you know I want to I want to you actually it makes you know you take offense to it you're one of those guys I mean no because it's like because I don't want you to feel like like I'm taking advantage of of your kindness of our friendship no I'm offering when I'm with Charlemagne everybody else goes hey let's put something on the tab so

Charlemagne doesn't have to pay for it. Fuck that. $3 million a year. You better pay for this lunch. You know what I'm saying? I'm just a joke. But what I'm saying is like, yeah. So that's a little back and forth between them

and that you know that that's going to be a thing. Darius is like he asked him, hey, you want to go, you want to split this? And Darius goes, do you want to split it? And then when it comes, of course they don't split it. Darius then takes him to a place where they're going to go get some special type of hallucinogen. Yeah, it's like a weed mixed with,

with the like a psychedelic type thing. It's like a cookie and they're going to put it over, I think like a cup of coffee. It's going to melt. And the thing is, is that Darius is our resident like druggie. He's gone on this trip before. Paperboy has not.

And like Darius is trying to like warn him like, man, I got you. No matter what happens, he says, I love you. And even the guy who's given them the drugs is to be like, yo, that guy looks like he's, he's crossed over to the other side before. You, my man, have not. And can I, Van, can I ask you this?

Have you ever been with, like, a friend who's like, like, you just don't want to get high with them? Absolutely. Like, just because, like, they're so used to drug, like, in drugs out, I'm just like, dog, you got to hold my hand a little bit more. Like, we can't, like, come on, man. You can't be acting like, I should know everything that's happening. And Darius is trying his best to be a loving friend. And I'm like, Darius, you've got to do a little bit more handled.

Sometimes you got to look at friends like that and be like, I don't want to be in your world. You know what I mean? But I don't like see how you are. That's not how I want to be. I'll trip out with you for a little bit. But I don't want to, that's not. I don't want to, you know what I'm saying? Scabs on my knees and always falling down and stuff.

I don't want to be that. So no. But Darius is the kind of guy that. He's the guy that you would trust, but he's also the guy that you would regret trusting. Yeah, no, absolutely. And it's because he means well, but he's reckless. When Paperboy gets high, he, like, Paperboy goes off. Darius is just doing his thing.

And here's the thing. Like, I could not get high with Darius because when I, like, take anything, alcohol, drugs, whatever. I fall asleep wherever. Like, my friends have to know, like, yo, Charles. like we gotta get charged. Like, not like because I'm like so fucked up just because I'm like, yo guys, I'm sleepy. Like I'm in the club.

I'm gonna take a nap on the couch. Like, it Darius would just leave me there. You know what I'm saying? So they eat the cake. I can't remember what the cake was called now. Was it called like the, I can't remember. It's not a cake.

It's a cookie. Like it's like a cookie with the little center that like has the hallucinogen that like melts. And the hallucinogens melts. And it's something that Darius is. It originates from the monks. can't get it in the United States or whatever. And if you get it on the black market, it's going to be like fucked up.

They're in Amsterdam. And the whole reason that Darius wants to get it is because I think it's just like pure here, it has been fucked with. And this is something where even earned in the beginning of the episode, always the responsible one is like, are y'all still doing the thing that I can't, that we can't tell the insurance company about? So I think Earn is even the one. And this will come back in later in the episode who like stays back and be like,

yo, I got to take care of these. They're about to get fucked up. I have to take care of these, too. So they take the cookie, they eat it, right? And then they set out about Amsterdam. And right away, things start brilliantly directed, brilliantly directed by Hero Bride. So good.

Brilliantly directed, because right away, it's not like when in a regular situation in a film or a television show, like Fear Loaded in Las Vegas or something like that, when a character gets high, and then the reality starts bending. They don't do that. It's much more subtle. You know that Paperboy's perspective is a little different

because he's staring at things. He sees a couple kissing. He kind of looks at them. He sees two other people in hats. He's kind of looking at them. He's regarding things in a different way. The goofy hats. He's regarding people in a different way.

And it's telling you that his senses are a little warped. And then there's the symbolism that happens in the episode where he's taking this drug and then he freaks out at a rat. And I live in New York. I'm gonna tell y'all, like, I'm never gonna act like I'm the toughest guy or whatever. But like, I've seen some shit. If I see a rat in real life, I, like, recoil. Like, I jump.

Like, I'm like, I'm, fuck this shit. Like, so he sees this rat. And it does seem like the symbolic thing where there's this tension between Paperboy and Darius that is very interesting to me. because in the previous season, the whole entire tension was between Paperboy and Earned. And in this season, or at least in this episode, it seems like Paperboy is getting itchy.

He's getting uncomfortable with the fact of, like, does Darius have my best interests at heart? Is he a user? Why am I taking care of him? Why am I taking care of all these people? And to me, the rat is the symbol of that. Is like, Darius a rat, which he's not. Darius is a good guy.

And when we see Lorraine, she even says something to the effect of your friends would have told you to take off that hat because Paperboy is wearing this Chanel purple hat. And there's this specter of Lorraine kind of infecting Paperboy being like, is Darius really your friend? Does he really care about you? So the hat is very interesting because one of the first things that Darius says is that he actually likes the hat. He likes the hat.

He likes that hat. yeah, it does something from my skin. Now, when I looked at the hat, I didn't see anything wrong with the hat. But I do agree with the fact that your friends are there to tell you not to wear funny hats. What happens, and you jump the gun a little bit,

but this is the most amazing thing that happens in this episode, to me, is the character of Lorraine. Al ends up going into an art installation, which he's not sure, and we don't know because we don't know if what we're seeing for the rest of this episode, which is another amazing thing about it.

it. We don't know if what we're seeing is real or if it's being hallucinated, which just, but it doesn't look like it puts you in a position as, as a viewer to kind of just be like, oh, like how much do I invest into every single scene? And that little tension in you is exhilarating, to be honest with you. It keeps you on your toes and you're watching every single detail of the show. It's a tremulously effective dramatic tool. Before you even get to Lorraine, we have to talk about, so, The hat, you don't think anything of the hat. You just like Darius says he likes it. And we realized that people are noticing who Paperboy is.

Oh, yeah, I forgot about this. Yes. And it almost reminded me of like the A sap Rocky in Sweden thing where it's like we see this, this video of A sap Rocky getting into it with fans. And it's very reminiscent of what happens with Paperboy because these white kids notice who Paperboy is run after him and Paperboy has to hide. hide. And like these kids end up like vandalizing shit and like they throw a baby. And I was just like, why is paper boy running from these kids? But I think the thing that I took from that is I'm like,

you've definitely experienced this van. I've experienced this as I've like been, you know, growing up is like when you're at a place where there's not a lot of black people, you start noticing how people are looking at you. And if things go left, you were, going to be out here without any hope. I remember the first time it happened to me as a kid. Like I was like, I was in Virginia or something. And like my dad took me into like, I don't know, some convenience store. And like the white people just stopped.

Everybody in the store just stopped, just stared at us and was looking. And my dad, I was a kid. He was like, I got to go. I'm like, wait. Like, I want on Gatorade. Like, what did he's like, no, no, no, we're going. And like, to me, that was what was happening to Paperboy. Paperboy is not afraid of these three white little boys.

He's just like, if they, like, if they start. fucking with me and I throw a punch, I'm in fucking Amsterdam. No one's coming to save me. I got a quick dad story for you. So, Mariguan, that same thing happened to me. So Mariguan is where my father's from, right? And Mariguan's pretty black. There are white people that live there too, but it's pretty black.

A lot of remnants of ex-slaves and stuff. But you go down the road, there's another time there that's pretty much all white. But sometimes when we would hunt, we would stop there because our, where we would hunt was either on Big Papa's place or it would be down a little bit on somebody else's land, but it was outside of the city. This is South Louisiana.

This is the sticks. This ain't bad rude. This is across the river. About an hour outside the city where... No streetlights? Like when you're driving at night is just pitch black? I mean, little bitty towns. Got it. Little bitty towns. So we're going to this one place

because I used to get this drink. They only had in Louisiana. They might have only had in Louisiana. It's called Quick Kick. Quick kick? Yeah. Is this like a quarter water? Is this like what time of drink is this? A quick kick was like a, it was like a Louisiana-based Gatorade.

And I like the better than Gatorade. Like, look, I'm telling you, quick kick. It was like, it was like a-up right now. I'm telling you, quick kick, bro. I used to like a quick kick. Let me see, quick kick drink. Quick kick drink. Quick kick is spotting, gamer.

Yeah. A World Without Gatorade, Quick Kick. The legend of Bingle Punch. Okay, so Bingle Punch, it came from Baton Rouge, all right. It was Bingle Punch because, you know, Gatorade comes from the University of Florida. You know that? That's why it's called Gatorade. So Bingle Punch was a sports drink that was created by, in 1958, for the Louisiana State football team.

2000, Quick Kick was borrowed and distributed. Later became Quick Kick. Quick Kick was owned by Bud Adams, the co-founder of the American Football League, blah, blah, blah, blah. The Brown was popular in the southeast of United States. Bud Adams owned it. The ownership of Quick Kick later resided

with a group of businessmen based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, operating as QK brands until 2000. Quick Kick was bottled and distributed by Coca-Cola's true. It was Quick-kick. I'm looking up Quick Kick right now. I'm sorry, man. Like, what the fuck is this? Quick kick was good, bro.

Look, bro. I'm going to be honest with you. I was on that quick kick more than I was on like any Gatorade. All right. Before you finish the story, just tell the listeners, like, we all know what Gatorade taste. Like, what's the taste of Quick Kick? Okay, so when I was drinking Quick Kick, now it was like Quick Kick trying to be Gatorade. When I was drinking Quick Kick, it was like a Gatorade.

It was only a little, for some reason, it was saltier. Saltyer. I think it had It was that the electrolytes It was not quite as sweet as Gatorade Okay And then when I started playing ball A little later in my life

All they had was Gatorade So I then I developed a taste for Gatorade But when I was a kid I did not like Gatorade I did not like Powerade I only would drink Quick Kitt Only And I wanted a quick kick

And my dad We stopped at this gas station To get the quick kick And we walked it to the gas station. There's a couple of guys outside that was looking kind of crazy. We walked inside and there was a couple people inside that was looking that's kind of crazy. I can't remember the name

of the time we was in. And I'm like, Daddy, what's wrong with that man? And my father said, out loud where everyone could hear. He said, oh, don't worry, son they ain't never seen a nigger before. He goes, but if they act up, I'm going to show him one. Yeah.

I was like, what the fuck? God works to soul. He was like, It was like they ain't never see the nigga before But if they act up I'm gonna show them on I was like oh my God Yo Like can we get my quick kick so we can go

But yeah shout out quick kick Rest of Peace dad But we um To your point back to the show Those kids that were chasing him That was a very That was an incredible scene I'm so glad that you

That you pulled me back The kids that were chasing him got progressively more dangerous as they got nearer to him. At first it was like, oh my God, is that paperboy? Then he runs out of frame and you can only hear them and they're getting

they're getting angrier and angrier and more desperate to find him. Then when the camera sees them again, the looks on their face, they don't look like they were looking for their favorite rap star. It looks like they were looking for something to fuck up.

Yeah, they don't find Paperboy. He's watching them. And then they grab a baby and start throwing the baby. They grab a baby out of a stroller. Start throwing the baby back and forth. So the thing is, this unknown thing, these fans, this, this interaction is actually quite dangerous for Paperboy. He's actually not just running from fans.

He's in real danger. And I thought that was an interesting sort of position for him. him to be in because there's a lot of eerie things about Atlanta and the fact that those kids were actually that kind of fucking off their hinges was interesting to me oh it was super fascinating and then when he he hides he ends up at this this art this like art museum and he meets this Lorraine character and immediately like Lorraine is abrasive as she's saying shit that's like true but the way she's delivering it you're like, damn, what's going on

with this Lorraine character? And the first cringe, I'm not going to lie to you, man. I'm not going to lie to you. I host the ringer music show. The first time I was just like, man, are we doing this? This was Lorraine was like, yo, do you own your masters?

And I'm like, all right. Guys, this is not subtle at all. We all know, your hove been on this shit, own your masters. 21 Savage, own your masters. All this shit. Like, dog.

Like, she was like, this is what your master's on. And I'm like, are we really doing it? Am I being a hater for like just being like, no, because I think the Lorraine character was annoying as shit when she first stepped on the screen, right? She was asking them, do you need a friend? It was like, and we should say he escapes into this art installation

away from the kids. We don't realize it's an art installation. Remember, we know that he's tripping, so we don't know to what degree he's tripping. So we're questioning everything that we see. I don't even know at this point Lorraine is a real. character. I'm not sure either. I don't know either.

By the end of this episode, I'm not sure Lorraine is real. I'm still not sure she was ever real. And I think that we have evidence to ask the question about whether she was real. So he sees a woman crying, he doesn't realize that that is actually an art exhibit. And he goes into a more traditional art exhibit

and there he meets a young black lady named Lorraine. And the moment that she meets him, she's fucking with him. Sit down, you need a friend. Hey, that hat doesn't look right. Are you a rapper? like I don't like rappers blah blah blah blah blah everything she's saying

I want you to keep track of the things that she's that she's saying to him your friends are supposed to tell you that hat doesn't look right are you a rapper like rappers suck she's in everybody's business she's also saying like

not only she's saying that she's like do you know where your money is going like all these rappers don't know where their money is blah blah blah and the way she's talking and we're not going to spoil it yet but the way she's talking is not her age.

She's almost talking like an old head, like the way like your grandmother would talk to you about hip hop. You know what I mean? And that's going to play in later in the episode. Right. Unfiltered. I don't know if we're not spoiling anything as if people aren't coming to us

after they've already seen the episode. But I just want to do it this way. I don't give a fuck. But she's unfiltered. She's nagging. She's not leaving. She's overstepping. She's doing all of the things.

things that sometimes a specific person in our life does. And also, let's be real, something interesting. We know Paperboy has no issue with the opposite sex, hitting on people. There was never a point in this episode. He was not willing to cross that boundary of like, I want to have sex with this woman. I'm attracted to this woman. He was kind of standoffish, like, yo, why are you in my business? And to your point, I was waiting for them.

Like, are they going to hook up? Like, what's happening? And that's going to be very, very important later on. Because the fact that they're not hooking up, you're asking yourself, why is he following her? Why is he gravitating towards her? Let's be real. Like, she's also very, very attractive. So you're just like, this is like, yeah, of course, baby boy's a rapper.

This is a very, very beautiful woman. Why aren't they hitting it off? but there's not a romantic connection between those two. Not at all. So they leave this place and they go to another place. They meet a couple of her friends at a spot while they're talking. They've already had the discussion. She asked Paperboy about whether or not he owns his masters.

Paperboy is now. He has now. She's got him to take off his hat and put on one of the goofy hats. The goofy hats like that you wear, you see tourists wearing in Disney World, Disneyland. and this is something that Paperboy had looked at everybody else in Amsterdam with kind of like derision like, yo, why the fuck are you in Amsterdam

wearing that corny shit? And to her point, to Lorraine's point, she's like, yo, like, you're standing out. Like, as a rapper, you should not stand out here. And that's the first time where I was just like Lorraine went from annoying to I'm being like, Lorraine is actually

telling him stuff that Darius or Earn should have been telling him like, yo, this is not the time to be a rapper. This is the time to like lay low and just enjoy yourself. Don't draw attention. Absolutely. And so they decide they're going to go to this place and meet some of her friends. And they go to this very dimly lit, almost underground feeling spot. Now, we should also say that during this time, crazy shit is happening. Crazy shit is happening, right? He leaves the art place and it's already night. It's all right. It's all right.

night. He even asked her. It doesn't seem like he was in there that long. He asked her, he goes, yo, it's night already? She goes, we don't get to sunlight very long here. Doesn't think anything of it. Whatever she says, he trusts for whatever reason. He's going along with it. They go into a club, and they get into this club, and you might hear Charles and I giving you a plot breakdown more than we have in other episodes, and that's because most of this episode, to me, is allegory. So you have to kind of get into the paint and the colors of what actually happens to discuss it more. Absolutely. They get into a place.

They meet some of Lorraine's friends. There are some small talk to be had. They claim that Lorraine and Paperboy are having sex. And they say that even though she said she didn't like rappers, that she's fucked so many that her apartment is known as 106 in part. What did you take from that scene? So I can only like regard that scene, knowing what we know what comes after it. But like her friends are so unfiltered. And Lorraine herself is unfiltered.

Lorraine talks in a way that people don't talk anymore. And what I mean by that is like, yeah, we got Twitter. We got Instagram. Like we have podcasts. There's the way people talk like face to face. There's the way people talk in text. But it's not like, I. I think we got to spoil it.

The club that they're in, at one point, Paperboy takes away his cup, and we realized that the coaster says cancel club. And the minute when the friends are just like, yo, she's fuck so many rapists is like 106 in Park. Neither of these people are black.

I'm like, oh, this is the only place where people can say their true emotions. This is where all the canceled people. This is like, this is the island of misfit toys. This is whoever. And we realize, like, everybody's like, how'd you get in here?

How'd you get in here? They're asking you, how'd you get in here? He's like, yo, what the fuck did you do to get in here? Like, who did you fuck over? What did you say? What did you say on Twitter that would get you canceled? And that's when the 106 in Park Line made sense to me. Because I'm just like, oh, everybody in here actually gets to say what they're feeling

and what they're saying without the optics of the world because they've already been canceled. And now comes what I believe to be. And I'm saying this unironically. The bravest scene acted by an actor that I have ever seen before in my life. Paperboy is at the bar. He has gotten annoyed with Lorraine's friends waiting for their drinks. He goes to the bar to get what he says a pre-drink drink, because he's just got to get away from these people.

He wants a white, he wants a white Hennessy meat, which they call a Chris Evans, which is actually like a fucking dope life. Amazing, right? He hears a voice that sounds like Liam Neeson. He turns around and it's fucking Liam Neeson in this episode of Atlanta. Dog, all right, when I tell you,

I took a double, here, I shut my computer after the episode and then I lifted it back up and like, wait, let me actually look at the credits. Because at first I thought this was a deep, was like, was this a deep fake? Was that actually Liam Neeson? So I looked at the whole credits to see if he would be credit.

I was like, Atlanta got Liam Neeson to be on this episode to talk about being canceled. What the fuck? I didn't think he was real. Not only did he talk about being canceled. He was honest about it. He talked about, obviously, you guys know if you're listening. Maybe you don't know. I shouldn't say obviously.

Liam Neeson was quasi-canceled, not really. to be honest. Not really. I think that's actually what this episode is about. That cancellation is not necessarily real, but continue. Yeah. A couple of years ago, he said that a friend of his had been raped, and after that friend was raped, he had heard that the person that raped them was black. So he just was on the streets of Ireland or wherever he's from, looking for some black guy to beat up. All right. The reason I'm laughing is it's not funny, but that was one of the funnier moments on Twitter.

That was so, we, we, we had, there was so many memes. There was so many memes. It was like, it was like, it was like, it was so many memes. It was just anything that anybody was looking for anything. It was like, Liam Neeson looking for black people to beat up. Like, it's just like, the thing that got on me at the time was, I wasn't judging Liam Neeson for the wildness of blaming every single black person for what his friend went through.

I wasn't even going that far. I was like, why in the fuck would you say that and think that we would be like, I'm glad you've changed, Liam? We're going to be like, Nick, are you nuts? Are you fucking crazy, Liam? Go ahead.

I wanted to tell you something. And tell me if I'm wild for saying this. Tell me if this is going to get me canceled. Yeah. Paperboy looks at Liam Neeson. At one point he's like, he's real. He does what black people really do it.

real life, he's like, man, I don't know whatever I say, but I still like you, Leo. Are black people the most forgiving race on the planet? Are you out of your fucking mind? Of course. What the fuck? How is that even a question?

I just wanted to know. Like, I thought... Do you know what that stems from? Let me tell you, let me tell you like this. And I'm not going to speak for all black people. I'm going to speak about, like, why people where I'm from are like that. So, I'm with my uncle. in the car one day.

Okay. I'm going to Burger King. Going to get Burger Buddies. Burger Buddies were these little mini sliders that they had in Burger King in the 80s. I always bring up defunct foods and drinks. I'm sorry. So we end the thing.

My uncle loves me. He knows that I love a burger buddy. Stop, get me a burger buddy from Burger King. So I'm in the car. I look at him. He looks and he sees somebody. He goes, oh shit. And he smiles.

I see the gold teeth in the smile. Smiles. Oh, shit. Hold on real quick, Neff. I'll be right back. I see him get out of car. He walks up to a guy smiling. I'm thinking he sees one of his friends.

Pulls out a big-ass gun, 357, big-ass gun, smacks the man in the face, puts a gun to his head, and he was like, what I told you last week. He's very calm. He's like, what I told you last week? What I told you last week?

He's like, you think I give a fuck that all of these people are around, I'll do it right here. And I'm just looking. It's like, what I told you. I told you, all I hear is, I, I slim, I slim, I slim, I slim, and he took the man's shoes. And told him he could get his shoes when he got his money.

He was back in the car. I look at him, we drive off. Okay. So that guy taught me how to swim. That guy used to teach me about girls. That guy would have burned the world down to get me than burger buddies.

How can I judge anybody else? It's like, I come from a place where the people to the outside world a lot of times would be so inherently flawed

that they would never be given a chance. So you saying some shit you shouldn't have said, you're probably going to get another shot with me. You know what I'm saying? Like, now, if you are Kelly, I got to say,

fuck you. If you Bill Cosby, I got to say, fuck you. But saying some shit, you shouldn't, to say it, like on that level, like, I've had to look past more with people who've been surrounding me. I've watched my homies go from being full of shit fucked up people,

like really dangerous people, to being some men who I consider to be good men. So I think sometimes because America has showed black people such a dark time in this country for so long that we might be the last group that actually searches for the light. And if we see just a little bit of it in someone, then we really try to magnify it. I really truly believe that. Oh, I mean, I agree. I was raised by my grandparents. My grandparents, like, took me to end double ACP meetings.

Like, we're just like sit there in color. And like, and I'd be like, what the fuck is I know this if you? Why are we here? So like, like, black, like when I would come home, be like, yeah, have you heard about Martin Luther King. Like, yeah, nigga ain't shit. Like, not really. But really, like, they told me one story. They're like, yo, you know this neighborhood? Like, they lived in a suburb. Like, yeah. You know the people across the street? I'm like, yeah, you know the people across from us? I'm like, yeah. Like, yeah, when we moved in with your mom, with your mom and uncles, they were standing out there

staring at us. They were like, they wanted to protest. They didn't want black people here. We were the first black people in this town. They didn't want us here. I'm like, those nice people who wave at me, the old people? They're like, yeah. They're like, yeah, you know her? She used to be married to a white man. Now she married to a black man. That's how much she has changed since you've been birth. And I was just like, wait, why are you so friendly with them? Like what, like, I was like, it was insane to me that they're like just good neighbors now. And I'm like, oh, black people for real have a different way of viewing the world. Like, we're just like, nah, like, it's fine. We just got to, we learn

For as much talk as people say As for as much talk as there is About the fact that we don't get over shit Like get over it We've gotten over a fucking ton of shit I'll be honest with you All we do is get over shit I don't know why

It's like they gas like the shit out of us Like we've gotten over A fuck ton of shit If we hadn't gotten over it Shit would be way different But back to the show real quick Paperboy is talking to Liam Neeson, and Liam Neeson goes on a mini diatribe about what happened that time, right?

Talks about the fact that it happened and that he was a much younger man and he told the story. And then it gets to the point to where you think the writers of the show and Liam Neeson himself will want to get out of this situation. Paperboy asks him, he says, but you learned a lot from that and you're cool now. He says, no, not really. Wait, can I read? Can I read it to you? Go for it, please. These are two quotes that I'm just like, when Liam Neeson hops on screen, I'm like, oh shit, this is the wildest shit I've ever seen in TV.

He starts talking and I'm like, yo, fuck Don Glover, fuck Atlanta. They're trying to, they're trying to like save Liam Neeson. I hate this show. And then Liam Neeson says two quotes when I'm like, dog, this is the wildest shit, the best shit I've ever seen. He says, quote, can't stand the lot of you. Well, no, I feel that way because you ruined my career. And then he says, the best and worst part about being white is we don't have to learn anything if we don't want to. And I was like, God damn, Atlanta did that shit.

Because you think for this whole talk, like, Liam Neeson is going to say some deep shit about, like, how sorry he was and blah, blah, blah. And Liam Neeson says the thing. White people don't got to learn. Like, it's like, the funny part of it is, like, I was just like, it's a little on the nose they call it can. cancel, you know, cancel club. And I'm like, oh, no, Liam Neeson wasn't canceled. He wasn't canceled. He's actually mad that black people fucked up his bag.

And he's just like, dog. No, actually, I don't really fuck with all y'all. But like, baby boy, you cool. And I was like, damn. So, no, I can't say a lot of you. You tried to ruin my career. And he goes, he's basically like, yo, the reality is I don't have to learn shit. Like, I really, the scene ends with him basically saying,

I don't really need y'all niggas. Exactly. This is not a hanging offense from my people. So the reality is I'm going to do whatever the fuck I want to do. You know what I'm saying? And like any hits that Liam Neeson's career has had, it hadn't because he's like a 70-year-old action star and they just don't fucking do that in Hollywood.

But I thought that scene, whether or not that scene had, and this is the question about Atlanta. That's a brilliant scene. It's not a perfect scene. It's not a perfect scene, but it's a brilliant scene. It's a brilliant scene. Does it have anything to do with this episode? Not really.

It seems like it's a scene almost out of one of the anthologies. Are you drinking to cut water? No, you're drinking some of that other stuff you try to drink. I'm drinking a salt, right. It seems like it's a, it seems like it's a scene out of one of those anthologies. It really doesn't have much to do with the plot of this particular show, if we're being honest, but oddly it still fits. Do you feel me? Like, oddly... I actually think it fits

beautifully. Give it to me. So, I think a lot of this episode is about celebrity. And throughout this entire episode, Paperboy is trying to figure out what it means to be a black celebrity. Like, he has to take care of Darius, take care of his family, people that his inner his inner Lorraine is telling him, like, are you sure? And he has to be careful. The reason he has to hide away from those white kids, Liam Neeson goes, fucks up those white kids. His career is going to be fine. Nobody's going to give a shit. Paperboy fucks up those white kids. He's ASAP Rocky in jail.

And when we get to Liam Neeson, we realize, like, there's so much stuff in our culture about cancel culture, cancel culture. And the irony of this whole situation is Liam Neeson's fine. He didn't really get canceled. Liam Neeson can literally say something racist as fuck and be fine, where Paperboy literally has to take the hat off his head, just so white teens won't harass him in the street and put him in a situation that he does not want to be in. There's a difference between being a black celebrity

or even being black and wealthy and being Liam Neeson. And socks even, like socks in the previous episode, they have that joke. They kind of tell you where they're, going. And I think like you know this, I know this. Like I'm not famous. I don't have money like that. But there is a sense where like I know in terms of my family, I've reached a financial point where not many people in my family have ever reached. And there's a certain responsibility like you can't fuck it up. Like a couple weeks ago, I had to be like a cousin that fucked me over.

Like my uncle's like, yo, what do we got to do to make it cool, cool? Like what's the money situation? I'm like, don't even worry about it. Like don't. even worry because it's just like it's not about that. Like once you get to a certain level of success when you're black, it's like, dog, this is kind of for, this is for the family, this is for my friends, is for the culture. Like, come on, don't fucking worry about that. That's what Paperboy is dealing with. Liam Meeson is still mad that a couple black, like, the black culture was just like, this is kind of fucked up. That to me is the theme of that episode. What does it mean to be a black celebrity and wealthy? And what does it mean to be a white celebrity

and wealthy. Absolutely. Fucking amazingly put. We leave after that. We go outside. Lorraine comes back. It is now daytime again, miraculously. Okay.

And Paperboy is now feeling the effects of what he's taken. He finds himself, he leaves Lorraine and goes back to where he is staying and he runs it to earn. Wait, wait,

Before that, because I think there's something thematically that's very important. Actually, Lorraine, this is when we get the sense that I'm like, I don't think Lorraine, like, I knew, like, I'm just like, I think she's a hallucination. But in the beginning of the episode, Paperboy and Darius passed this guy who's tweaking off the same drug that they're about to take. And he's in this little cubby and, like, Darius is like, yo, you don't want to be that guy. And what we realize is, Lorraine is like, you can't feel your arms right now. I can't feel your legs. Oh, yep, she sure did. And Paperboy like shrivels and he's like convulsing.

And we realized that the person that Darius and Al passed was Paperboy. It's Paperboy. And that's how kind of clues you went to the hallucination of it all. And that to me was like a genius thing because I was just like, oh, no, that's just a man tweaking. Because like here's the thing too. like, I went to Temple University in Philly. The sad thing is, and I live in New York

about living in some of these areas, is like you can pass somebody having that experience, like nothing is happening. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like, you just don't want to be that. You know what I'm saying?

And like Paperboy becomes that person. He becomes that person who needs that help. Yeah. And ironically, Lorraine has been in his ears, who can you trust, like, who can you trust? Your family, your friends are leaching on you. And at the end of the day, it's Earn.

Absolutely. Earn who saves him. By the way, you're putting up a triple double in this episode. It's like, I'll let you know. Brilliant. You're brilliant, man. So, Earn and Paperboy back together, and we learned three things from this conversation.

They are very important. Number one, I'll put them in level of importance to me. Number one, Paperboy owns his masters. Earn has made sure of this. Paperboy asked Earn, yo, do I owe my master's? Earn says, huh? And then he asked him again.

When Earn said, huh, there was a moment where you thought Earn might have fucked Paperboy. Oh, because it's accusatory. I think Paperboy says something to the effect of like, who owns my master's? Who owns my masters? When I thought, like, when Ern says, huh, I was like, oh, fuck.

Shit, I was like, fuck, man. Don't tell me, Earn. his fuck paper boy out of his master's I'm like fuck and then he goes he goes who owns my masters and then he goes you do he's like you work that out with the ring company he's like yeah you own him and he I think either he says

who asked you to ask that he says Lorraine told me and it turns out that Lorraine is his mother's name I'll be honest with you she mothered him the entire episode that's that was the beauty of this she mothered him the entire episode.

That's what we didn't say earlier. What we didn't say earlier is the fact that sometimes she came across like she was nagging. He listened to everything that she said. She was nagging him, giving him uncomfortable, hard truths, wrapped in wisdom with this underlying cake of love from it

to where there was some authority to it. The whole episode, she mothered him, and it turned out that she was probably a hallucinogenic, representation of what his mother's wisdom means to him. Fantastic caper on the episode. And I also think what happens is Lorraine is nagging him to ask the hard questions that he doesn't want to ask. He has to ask Earned, did you fuck me?

And I think the beauty of that scene is like, we learned so much about earning that. There's an act of love it takes. They're cousins. It's not like they're cousins. And like I know for me, like my cousins in my family are like brothers and sisters. When Earn had to change Paperboy, like Paperboy is a big, big fella. He had to change him out of his clothes because he messed himself.

Put him in bed. He didn't leave Paperboy alone in the hotel. He watched him. He said, here's water. I got you some food. I'm going to go do something. I'm going to be back to check on you. Even when Paperboy in the last season was like,

I don't know if Earn is the manager I want, even when Paperboy didn't know to care about his masters, Earn cared about his masters. I think his mom was actually pushing out, like this representation of Lorraine, his mom, was pushing him to realize how important Earn is to him, how important family is to him. I'm not here to take care of you.

You have to know that. the people in your life who are willing to take care of you, even when you're not willing to take care of yourself. And that's what Earn did. Earn did that years ago when he's like, I didn't sign your master's away. You don't have to worry about that. And to me, that says, honestly, it's one of the most poignant moments of the entire series to be.

Absolutely. I got to be honest with you guys. This particular episode was fantastic. This season of Atlanta is great. New Jazz It's fantastic I loved it I thought the performances were amazing

The actress who played Lorraine Her name is Ava Gray Great performance New Jazz Ava Gray as Lorraine Donald Glover Wrote this episode

Fantastic episode of television Y'all had him on the ropes That interview Mag put my man on the fucking work. My man did it. He did it. I'm proud of you, Donald. I'm proud of you, Donald. I'm proud. You guys, the season of Atlanta might not be the most popular one, but it is fantastic television that is happening. I really do believe that. Charles, thank you for joining me again.

I can't wait until the next episode. Yo, man, we're killing it. We're killing it. Who else in the podcast space can do multiverse and madness and come and give you Atlanta talk? Come on. In the same day. Woo! Nasty. That is Charles Holmes. He is from the Ringer Music Show and the Ringerverse.

I am Van Lathen from Higher Learning with Rachel Lindsay and Van Lathen and from the Ringerverse Midnight Boys, PooPoooo. Our producer today is Steve Almond Joy, the cuddly lover bear, also one of the Midnight Boys, PooPew. And editing this is Jonathan Kerma, aka Lil Spidey,

aka Boulder Shoulders. the Boston Brute. Love you, Kerm. Love you, Kerm. We will be back next week to recap another episode of Atlanta. We're getting close to the Indian season. It's been a lot of fun. I can't wait to see you next week, Charles.

Peace.