It took a long time, but filming for Season 3 of Donald Glover’s critically acclaimed FX series Atlanta is now complete, and fans will finally get to see Earn (Donald Glover), Alfred (Brian Tyree Henry), and Darius (LaKeith Stanfield) continue some time in the future [Ed. note: Early 2022, currently] on March 24, 2022.
The question is: where do they intend to go? On a literal level, they’re leaving the country. On a thematic level, it’s anyone’s guess beyond a few fundamentals.
Atlanta, now in its second season, has combined unique humor with drama and surrealism to become one of the most inventive—and possibly the most unpredictable—shows on television.
The core premise (Earn discovers that his cousin Alfred is the blossoming rapper Paper Boi and sets out to manage his career) is set, but it’s laced with comically unexpected detours, such that absolutely nothing about a future episode is telegraphed by the one before it.
When three years’ worth of pop culture events is thrown into the mix, the upcoming season of Atlanta might be anything.
Glover has been mum on the next season, so we’ll have to wait and see how things pan out. But here’s what we know so far about Atlanta Season 3 and what you can probably expect.
‘Atlanta’ picks off where ‘Atlanta’ left off.
Earn, Alfred, and Van (Zazie Beetz) was at a fork in the road at the end of Atlanta Robbin’ Season. Van, who had grown disillusioned with Earn’s lack of commitment and overall unsteady lifestyle, had just informed him that she and their daughter, Lottie, are intending to move to her mother’s house.
Alfred, for one, was becoming a touch bored of Earn and had been considering leaving him as his boss.
Earn, Alfred, and Darius was getting ready to get to Europe for a tour with Clark County (RJ Walker), a cheesy but lowkey-ruthless rapper Alfred had just signed on to open for.
Earn realizes he’s neglected to remove the Alligator Man’s gold-plated weapon from his backpack as they enter the airport and go through TSA, so he puts the gun in Clark County’s luggage so he’ll be in trouble instead.
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Earn, Alfred, and Darius then board the plane, where Alfred informs Earn that he saw him take the gun and commends him for his decision. Earn’s occasional clumsiness was on display here, but the way he handled the situation demonstrated a ruthlessness and loyalty that Alfred admires. They’re all they’ve got in a dog-eat-dog industry, according to Alfred.
TLDR; Earn’s partnership with Alfred appears to be safe at the end of Season 2. But, as is so often the case, everything else in his life isn’t.
Season 3: What Donald Glover and FX Have Said
The third season of Atlanta was supposed to premiere in January 2021, but the COVID-19 epidemic apparently made that impossible, forcing production delays. Glover and team were able to write the script for Seasons 3 and 4 during the epidemic, according to FX Networks chief John Landgraf, so they’re currently filming them back to back.
Season 3’s ten episodes were shot in Europe, and Season 4 will reportedly have eight episodes. While Glover hasn’t revealed many specifics about Season 3, he has commented on its quality on a few occasions. He seemed to be comfortable with what he’s written thus far.
Last November, Glover tweeted, “While I’m here: ‘Atlanta’ s3+s4 are going to be some of the best television ever filmed.” “Only the Sopranos have the power to affect us.”
He compared Atlanta to Kanye West at an Emmys panel three years ago, saying Season 3 would be like Yeezy’s Graduation. “I think I align the seasons like Kanye records,” he said at the time. “It feels like we’re graduating.”
This is perhaps our most approachable, as well as the most real—and honest interpretation of it—and, like the previous album, the most pleasurable.”
What does the future hold for ‘Atlanta’?
While we wait for further information on Atlanta Season 3, we’ve compiled some suggestions for what we might see in the third season, based on remarks from the show’s creators as well as some theories based on how the first two seasons played out. Here’s a quick rundown of our views on what Atlanta Season 3 might entail.
Earn and Van is still battling it out.
Earn and Van is still going to co-parent despite the fact that they were effectively broken up at the end of Season 2. Given Earn’s recent trip to Europe and Van’s move into her mother’s house with Lottie, this is going to be quite difficult at first.
The season’s focus should be on how they handle the challenges of partially long-distance fatherhood and potentially healing their relationship.
More Van-centric stories
Stephen Glover, Donald’s brother, claims that the upcoming season would focus on “a very distinct perspective from the Atlanta woman.”
With Van being the show’s only female star and at least some of the tale occurring in Europe, it wouldn’t be shocking to see more Van-centric escapades on screen in the upcoming Atlanta episodes.
Beef cooked in Clark County
Given Earn’s attempt to clog Clark County in order to save himself, and Clark’s exposed ruthlessness [Ed note: Remember the ordeal with his engineer? ], it’s difficult not to imagine some tension between the three.
Adventures in London
Stanfield said they were filming in the Stoke Newington neighborhood of London in response to someone who observed the cast of Atlanta filming outside his house.
Atlanta is known for going in a variety of directions, so it wouldn’t be unusual to see them embark on a London-themed adventure or have their new surroundings affect them in unexpected ways.