Atlanta doles out several laughs as it deals with a blast from the past

This week marks the halfway point of Atlanta’s final season, and the show has built a rhythm with its episodes. Unlike the third season, which switched between interstitial tales and the main quartet’s European adventures, the fourth has more back-to-basics installments. The new episode balance some pretty heavy themes on life progression and the value of stardom in between Earn and the crew’s day-to-day life. After last week’s excellent mind trip, “Crank Dat Killer” is a more down-to-earth plot that still provides a bit of commentary on Black life, while delivering the belly laughs. (There will be full-on laughter screams while watching several scenes.)

The titular serial killer is introduced in the first scene, where we learn (courtesy of Lipstick Alley) that someone’s going around killing people who participated in one of the first viral trends to hit YouTube. For anyone else who felt extremely washed up remembering “Crank Dat,” it came out in May 2007, the same month as that “Charlie bit my finger” video. The idea that a person’s sad dance cover from 15 years ago—which only got 25 views and a dislike somehow—could lead to their death is made for an audience who remembers a time before Facebook and Snapchat took over our lives (and even those references are already dated).

The “Crank Dat” plot is also the less ridiculous of the episode’s two storylines, mostly because writer Stephen Glover leans into the slightly-pathetic nature from the second we see Al’s grainy clip. (Even Darius doesn’t like it.) Glover and Hiro Murai, who returns to direct after the excellent “Light Skinned-ed,” turn up the tension slowly, with the skull comment and the news making it to Twitter. They even got Soulja Boy himself to warn Al to get out of town, as the creator packs up his own house. Al gets so shaken, he even goes to Greenbriar Mall, where he filmed the video (the episode is filmed at the actual mall).

The serious tone gets even more heightened when the gunman comes for all, thanks to Murai’s POV tracking shots as the rapper tailed through the mall, followed by the shaky cam when he’s running away. A lesser show would fall on this tightrope of heightened reality, probably around the time when every mall goer seems to pull out their piece, but the sequence stays tense until the final release of the wannabe MC getting pushed through the breakaway glass.

Speaking of the episode’s wannabe MCs, there’s an interesting parallel between mall worker Roberto and Some Guy Named Doug, who’s an “incredibly kind guy” with horrible, horrible music. Both want Paper Boi to put them on, though Doug has at least started on his career if he’s already in the next studio over. Roberto uses the story of Kanye discovering Big Sean as some talisman to show he can make it if he gets some pie-in-the-sky opportunity. How many rappers with real power to put someone on just pop into Greenbriar every day, even if it’s a place where Chris Evans posts up now and again? He’s not putting the kind of initiative into his rapping that Earn did in season one when he first started managing Al, or even like Sean did when he went to the radio station to rap for Mr. West. Even though he’s a literal throwaway character, he’s a great foil to put next to Doug, who eventually gets Paper Boi on the (again, horrible) track. He’s even a possible look into an alternate life for Earn, where he didn’t convince Al to work with him, or maybe if he didn’t get into Princeton.

I appreciate the inclusion as a thoughtful nod to the basic hustle ethos of the show, especially in an episode that also included nods to the debut season (in case you didn’t catch the “B.A.N.” Easter Eggs on the YouTube sidebar.) While all that is going on with Al, we have Darius and Earn’s journey into the resale market, the storyline that prompted those screams I mentioned before. Those two are always a fun duo to follow, and we’re reminded from their joint roasting of Al’s CNN Uncle energy in the opener.

The Shoe Man is an absolutely wild plot that is hilarious even if you aren’t familiar with the cutthroat sneaker resell culture. Any subculture that includes limited edition merch and a parasitic resell market can be subbed in; if I were in that situation with some Beyoncé or BTS tickets at face value on the line, I would lean more toward Darius’s stance than Earn. It’s a very surrealist, Atlanta version of reselling culture that totally works as some sort of perverse power play. (Also, before I go on a rant against resellers, it was reported on the day I’m writing this that Nike has updated their terms of sale to crack down on resellers and bot use, in some perfect timing.)

The entire sequence in the sneaker van had so many details that just added to the effect of the jokes. The composition of the van is slightly creepy from the jump, as the Shoe Man primarily looks at Earn and Darius through the rearview mirror, with the entire scope of his face showing up in the mirror at least once but the focus on his leering gaze. He never looks at them directly except when they enter the van, not knowing what they just stepped into. Donald Glover and LaKeith Stanfield’s expressions are in response to Shoe Man’s demand, “Let me see you two kiss.” The over-the-shoulder shots during the duo’s conversation focus on their lips instead of the sides of their faces. When they finally decide to do it, after all the hemming and hawing from Glover, Shoe Man turns up the radio, on “All My Life” BY Boyz II Men! *Insert screaming laughter*

Even in this absolutely wild sequence, the Glover brothers still fit in some commentary about Black culture. Earn doesn’t want to sacrifice his dignity for the shoes, and he gets philosophical on why sneaker culture even matters so much to Black men when tech millionaires wear dirty Vans. He wears $900 loafers to look presentable at work. Besides some in-the-know coworker, his goal in getting those shoes is to stunt, which is inherently ridiculous, just like showing off a Chanel bag or a Ferrari. It’s a totally logical conversation that many people have probably had in their heads before clicking “Pay Now” on a luxury anything. Once Earn’s down, Darius is good to pucker up and chalk it to the game, later telling Al, “I had to do something for ‘em.” That something never needs to be named, the effect of a stray bullet.

When considering the literal events of the episode, “Crank Dat Killer” could’ve solidly fit in Robbin’ Season, or even into a hypothetical run between the show’s four hiatus years. It’s a step away from timeless, thanks to Al’s plot focus on viral Internet dances (and the comparison to kids making Tik Toks outside the mall). The themes take on another layer of meaning when placing the events within the trio’s come-up, especially when it’s bookmarked by Al’s gorgeous new house. There isn’t a lot of character development, maybe Al considering buying a Safe Farm somewhere, and that’s fine. Sometimes we just need to laugh our asses off and watch Donald Glover and LaKeith Stanfield kiss.

Stray observations:

• I can’t let this pass without saying more about the house! Al got money money, with tons of natural light and a little weed garden! Although those creepy noises from the third floor weren’t cool.
• I need to attend a ‘00s theme party so I can do Earn’s version of the “Laffy Taffy.”
• For those who missed it, the YouTube sidebar included a Montague clip and a commercial from Ahmad White. (I can’t read the titles when I zoom in on the episode, so if someone wants to drop them in the comments, thanks!)
• I haven’t watched Rick & Morty since college (there’s too much TV), but I recognize the animation style on the studio’s TV.
• Brian Tyree Henry’s face is so expressive, and it elevates every scene he’s in, like when he rolls his eyes as Soulja Boy says he basically invented YouTube.
• It probably is hard to spot someone wearing a baseball cap without a logo on it.
• Even after watching Al spill Hennessy on the soundboard, I still underestimated how bad Some Guy Named Doug’s beats are. As Earn says, “It’s more sound than music.” (Also, I wondered for a second whether Doug set Paper Boi up, but Al does say the shooter was some dude he had beef with in high school.)
• God, the men who are supposed to be hunting and fishing are kissing each other for Nike Miracles. (And making return trips; Shoe Man said, “Damn, y’all back,” to the two guys who were waiting.)