Atlanta's Stefani Robinson Talks Season 3's Finale
A Breakdown of "Atlanta"'s Chaotic Season 3
Watch out! This post contains spoilers.
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Watch out! This post contains spoilers.
"Atlanta" surprised viewers in season three by exploring uncharted territory without its main cast in a series of stand-alone episodes. "Three Slaps," "The Big Payback," "Trini 2 De Bone," and "Rich Wigga, Poor Wigga" all introduced new characters in place of Earn, Paper Boi, Darius, and Van, and by design, Robinson informs us that these episodes all revolve around similar themes. "A lot of those follow-up episodes are dealing with the relationship of being Black and being white in America, what that can look like, and picking up the layers of what that is," she says.
Season three of "Atlanta" was shocking in every sense of the word. But despite viewers' claims of it being "'Black Mirror' for Black people," Robinson reveals that the show's writers didn't intentionally split up the season. "I don't necessarily remember it being a conscious choice of, 'Hey, this is what we're going to do. It's going to be half and half, and this is how we're going to do it.' I think it was just what happened organically in the creative process . . . We can tap into these little stories, like little short films almost. I feel like that's always been in the DNA of the show, and I think what everyone's seeing in season three — us just taking that to a logical conclusion."
Another big part of "Atlanta"'s third season is the deep analysis of identity. It's the overall foundation on which every season of the show sits. "I think Van, in season two, is obviously dealing with a little bit of, 'Who am I, and what am I?,' and maybe doesn't quite know yet what she's going through. But the progression that we're seeing at the end of season three, it's that she's actually giving voice to that thing, finally . . . I guess, yes, to your point about identity, it's absolutely valid."