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Plot

The series follows Earn (Donald Glover) during his daily life in Atlanta, Georgia,
as he tries to redeem himself in the eyes of his girlfriend (the mother of his
daughter), his parents, and his cousin, who raps under the stage name "Paper
Boi". Having dropped out of Princeton University, Earn has no money and no
home, and so he alternates between staying with his parents and his girlfriend.
Once he realizes that his cousin is on the verge of stardom, he desperately
seeks to reconnect in order to improve his life and the life of his daughter.

Production

FX first began developing the show in August 2013, and then the pilot was
ordered to series by FX Networks in December 2014. It was directed by Hiro
Murai and shot in Atlanta. It got picked up to series with a 10-episode order in
October 2015. Glover, who grew up in Atlanta and also works as a musician,
stated that "the city influenced the tone of the show"

Cast

Cast 1

Donald Glover as Earnest “Earn” Marks, a young Princeton dropout turned manager trying to get his cousin Paper Boi's rap career off the ground

Cast 2

Brian Tyree Henry as Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles, an up-and-coming rapper trying to understand the line between real life and street life. He is Earn's cousin.

Cast 3

Keith Stanfield as Darius, Alfred’s right-hand man and visionary

Cast 4

Zazie Beetz as Vanessa "Van" Keefer, Earn’s best friend and mother of his daughter

1: "The Big Bang"
September 6, 2016

The series opens with a confrontation between local rapper Alfred "Paper Boi"
Miles and a man who breaks off the side view mirror of Alfred's parked car.
Alfred's cousin Earn tries to mediate the situation while stoned sidekick Darius
has a sensation of déjà vu. Working a deadend job and trying to co-parent with
Vanessa "Van", Earn approaches Alfred about managing the rapper since he has
connections. Though Alfred sees Earn as a leech, Earn finds a way to get his song
played on the radio. But just as they listen to the song on Alfred's car radio, a
man walking by suddenly snaps off the side view mirror, resulting in the incident
at the opening (hence the déjà vu) which ultimately culminates with a gunshot.

2: "Streets on Lock"
September 6, 2016

Issues like police brutality, mental illness, and transphobia are addressed
as Earn awaits bail after the boys get arrested for their shooting incident.

3: "Go for Broke"
September 13, 2016

Earn goes on a date with Van even though he's broke; Paper Boi proves he
might have what it takes to hustle. Migos guest star.

4: "The Streisand Effect"
September 20, 2016

Paper Boi deals with a social media troll, internet criticism, and
exploitation; While Earn tries to trade his phone for quick cash,
Darius sets up an investment for the future.

5: "Nobody Beats the Biebs"
September 27, 2016

Justin Bieber, who is depicted as an African-American, makes an appearance
in Atlanta at a celebrity basketball game, rubbing Paper Boi the wrong way.
Meanwhile, Earn sneaks his way into a high-powered agents meeting after being
mistaken for someone else, and Darius gets involved in an incident at a shooting
range where he is criticized for a controversial choice of a target paper.

6: "Value"
October 4, 2016

Van meets her WAG friend Jayde for dinner and they clash over their
respective lifestyles. Later, they smoke weed and reconcile, but Van forgets
she is scheduled for a drug test the next day. She tries to use her
daughter's urine, but spills it and finally admits to her boss that she's
smoked, who understands but has to fire her.

7: "B.A.N."
October 11, 2016

A satirical episode, Paper Boi features as a guest on a talk show called
Montague, being part of a discussion on the media's indictment of Black culture
and its intersection with trans people. Commercial parodies play
throughout the episode during the breaks of the talk show.

8: "The Club"
October 18, 2016

An NBA star named Marcus Miles is in the same club as Paper Boi, hogging the
drinks, women and limelight, which aggravates Paper Boi. Additionally, their
promoter is avoiding paying Earn, who attempts to chase him down throughout the
night. Eventually, Paper Boi strong-arms him and takes his money. Later, another shooting
happens (outside of the club), which the police link to Paper Boi on the news due to his "armed robbery".

9: "Juneteenth"
October 25, 2016

Earn wakes up in another woman's bed and Van comes by to pick him up for a
Juneteenth-themed party which she believes will help her establish
good networking. The luxury home's owner is a rich White man who is shown to know
quite a lot about Black culture in an anthropological way and his bourgeois Black wife.
To impress the party's attendees, Vanessa and Earnest have to pretend they
are a married couple who love fine art. Earn ends up going off on the homeowners
when the wife insults Paper Boi and his hip hop management career
after he is outed by some valets. On the drive back home, Earn and Van have sex in their car.

10: "The Jacket"
November 1, 2016

Earn loses his jacket, which has imporant items to him, after a night of partying.
The Uber driver, who is a drug and weapons dealer, has it but
ends up getting shot by police while wearing it. Later, Paper Boi gives Earn
a generous 5% pay which he gives to Van. Earn's coworker Justin
comes by and returns the important item he desperately needed—a
key which unlocks the storage facility space he is living in.

Swift, Andy (September 20, 2016). "Atlanta, Better Things Renewed at FX". TVLine. Retrieved
September 20, 2016.

Metcalf, Mitch (October 19, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals
& Network Finals: 10.18.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved October 21, 2016.

Metcalf, Mitch (October 26, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals
& Network Finals: 10.25.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved October 26, 2016.

Metcalf, Mitch (November 2, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals
& Network Finals: 11.1.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved November 2, 2016.

FX press release (December 12, 2014). "FX Networks Orders Comedy Series Pilot "Atlanta" from
Award-Winning Actor and Writer Donald Glover". The Futon Critic. Retrieved January 22, 2016.

FX press release (July 2, 2015). "Donald Glover Pilot "Atlanta" Casts Its Leads as Production
Gets Underway". The Futon Critic. Retrieved January 22, 2016.

"Atlanta (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 3, 2016.