Review- ‘Atlanta’ Starring Donald Glover!

Atlanta feels right at home on FX, the home of shows like Louie. While it has a very different feel from that Louis C.K. series, it’s emboldened by a similar comfort – which also pops up in HBO and Showtime comedies – to constantly walk the line between drama and comedy and sometimes spend a considerable amount of time on the drama side. Atlanta has some heightened and even weird moments, but it often feels tremendously grounded, with Earn and his life portrayed in a straightforward manner that comes off as impressively genuine.

From Earn’s parents chastising him for stopping by their house when they’re out just to use their bathroom, to the tricky dynamic between Earn and Van (are they friends who share a kid? Ex-lovers with a kid? Or something in-between?), this is a fully realized world Glover has created that gives the audience a fly on the wall perspective.

Oh, and Atlanta is funny, to be sure, including moments like Earn bemoaning a grandmotherly-type he shares a job with who can use tactics he can’t, to Earn and Alfred’s relationship, not to mention Alfred’s offbeat roommate and fellow drug dealer, Darius (Lakeith Stanfield). But ultimately, it’s the more subtle aspects that really stick out and stay with you, even as the show also includes an overtly strange side that begins to expand, as we get to know some of the unusual people, places and events that surround Earn.