The first two seasons of Atlanta are among the best bits of television I've ever watched in my opinion. It had such a unique voice and style, I was incredibly invested in the characters and their journeys, and I thought the social commentary elements were weaved in really effectively. Also among all the surreal stuff there was a core story at the centre that kept it grounded with Earn and Alfred's struggles to make something of themselves in the music industry.
After season 2 there was a fairly long wait for season 3 to come out because of various different delays (with the Covid pandemic among them) and I was incredibly hyped for it. Living in the UK also meant I had a slightly longer wait for it to become available when it finally came out in the US so when it did eventually drop I was quite underwhelmed.
Season 2 ends with Alfred about to be a supporting act on someone else's tour of Europe, and I admittedly thought it was gonna carry on from that point. Instead it jumps to what I guess is a few years later and they are massively successful. The element of the story I was really enjoying about their trials and tribulations trying to make something for themselves was suddenly gone, and unfortunately from that point it never created anything else nearly as interesting to fill in that gap.
Also the most frustrating thing about season 3 was almost half it was made up of anthology episodes where none of the main characters were even present. It was another element removed which had initially got me so invested in the show and the further deep dive into experimental stories and surrealism wasn't really enough to draw me back in.
Season 4 I thought was fairly solid but there was still a lot of if where I just wasn't nearly as engaged even if I felt the final episode was a fairly decent one to end it on. Episodes in the final two seasons such as 'Cancer Attack', 'White Fashion', 'The Most Atlanta', 'Born 2 Die' and 'Crank Dat Killer' worked at recapturing some of that flavour from the first two seasons but it was few and far between.
My rating is as high as it is because of the strength of those first two seasons. Really wish it ended up building up to something a little stronger but I'm still glad the show exists.
After season 2 there was a fairly long wait for season 3 to come out because of various different delays (with the Covid pandemic among them) and I was incredibly hyped for it. Living in the UK also meant I had a slightly longer wait for it to become available when it finally came out in the US so when it did eventually drop I was quite underwhelmed.
Season 2 ends with Alfred about to be a supporting act on someone else's tour of Europe, and I admittedly thought it was gonna carry on from that point. Instead it jumps to what I guess is a few years later and they are massively successful. The element of the story I was really enjoying about their trials and tribulations trying to make something for themselves was suddenly gone, and unfortunately from that point it never created anything else nearly as interesting to fill in that gap.
Also the most frustrating thing about season 3 was almost half it was made up of anthology episodes where none of the main characters were even present. It was another element removed which had initially got me so invested in the show and the further deep dive into experimental stories and surrealism wasn't really enough to draw me back in.
Season 4 I thought was fairly solid but there was still a lot of if where I just wasn't nearly as engaged even if I felt the final episode was a fairly decent one to end it on. Episodes in the final two seasons such as 'Cancer Attack', 'White Fashion', 'The Most Atlanta', 'Born 2 Die' and 'Crank Dat Killer' worked at recapturing some of that flavour from the first two seasons but it was few and far between.
My rating is as high as it is because of the strength of those first two seasons. Really wish it ended up building up to something a little stronger but I'm still glad the show exists.