(SPOILERS for this week’s Atlanta will be found below.)
Following ten weeks of chaos, dark humor, a European music tour that seemingly improved everyone’s life, and much more, the third season of Atlanta has come to a close. This season featured an alternating plot pattern with every other episode focusing on the same world — that being the dealings between Earn, Paper Boi, Darius, Vanessa, and more or something going on somewhere in White America. Following last week’s “Rich Wigga, Poor Wigga” episode that featured an unexpected appearance from the late Kevin Samuels, the main crew of Atlanta is back at center stage.
In this week’s episode, titled Tarrare (named after a French showman and soldier who was known for his odd eating habits), Vanessa leads the way as she’s gotten quite comfortable in her new life in Europe. She eventually runs into an old friend, and from that moment on, they along with two other women find themselves on a wild journey in the Paris city streets. Finally, after a day’s worth of chaos, things come to an end but not in the way that any of the aforementioned names thought it would.
Here are some of the biggest questions we had after season three’s final episode.
What Is Vanessa Running Away From Or Trying To Find?
In the second episode of season three, we see Vanessa join Earn and Darius on Paper Boi’s European music tour. Shortly after she arrives, she stumbles into quite the unique memorial service, but it’s here that she says that she hopes to find herself during her time in Europe. Vanessa was fresh off a breakup with Earn, and she’d also lost out on a job that she really wanted. During a conversation with a “death doula,” Vanessa admits to being “aimless,” however, she’s told that she’s exactly where she’s meant to be. As we now know thanks to the season finale, Vanessa’s aimless approach put her in a dangerous predicament, one that found her completely detached from the person she once was. Through it all, was Vanessa seeking a thrill? Running away from the pressures of her Atlanta life? Start fresh? Or something in between all of that? Regardless of the answer, Vanessa will now have to start fresh on her journey toward rediscovering herself.
Things Can Always Get Worse, Can’t They?
Just when you think things can’t possibly get any worse, life will pop up and show you that they in fact can. Vanessa’s season was filled with a bit of turmoil following struggles with her now ex-boyfriend Earn, raising her daughter and figuring out a co-parenting plan with Earn, difficulties with landing a new job, as well as self-doubt. It’s certainly a lot to deal with, which makes sense why she took a trip to Europe to find herself, but it’s there that things go downhill. While she strives to rediscover herself, she only loses herself more after stumbling into an odd cult that serves fried hands for blindfolded attendees. Vanessa seems brainwashed in the whole ordeal, and it’s not until her longtime friend Candice mentions Vanessa’s daughter Lottie that she snaps out of it, but not without erupting into a fit of rage and stress after she comes to her senses. It’s also not until she sits with Candice later that Vanessa realizes that things can actually get worse than what she thought was the worse. We’ll have to wait until season four this fall to see how it all pans out.
Would You Rather Eat A Fried Hand Or A Moldy Six-Month Old Baguette?
Stick with me now. In this season finale we that she, Vanessa, Candice, and her two friends end up at some dinner where the two friends and others are blindfolded and served a dish that featured a large person’s hand. Moments before that, Vanessa assaults a man with a moldy baguette that she says she’s kept out for six months. So with that being said, if you were forced to eat either of the items (pre-blood splatter of course) would you eat if your life was on the line? Yes, this is a very extreme situation that will result in you either being labeled a cannibal for the rest of your life or having to suffer from irreversible stomach damage. I, for one, will not supply an answer because as the person who asked the question, I don’t have to!
How Does So Much Happen In Two Weeks?
During Vanessa’s conversation with Candice towards the end of the episode, she reveals that it was just two weeks ago that she landed in Amsterdam to join Earn, Paper Boi, and Darius for the tour. Vanessa’s arrival in season three of Atlanta occurs in episode two which means that all of season three’s events occurred in just two weeks. Phones were stolen, extremely trippy drug trips were conducted, reparations were (somewhat) paid, trees were nearly cut down, Nigerian cuisines were explored, and a whole lot more went in season three. It’s chaotic, but it’s in line with what we expect from Atlanta. We can only imagine what’s in store for season four.
How Does That Guy Know Earn?
At the end of the season three finale, Donald Glover aka Earn appears as he’s called down to collect his lost luggage from his trip to Europe. If you recall from earlier this season, Earn reveals that they were lost in transit in episode six, “White Fashion.” When the bags are handed to him, Earn notes that he already retrieved his luggage, making for an award situation between him and the delivery man. Nonetheless, Earn accepts the bag and goes back to his room to see what’s inside it. It’s here that we see that the items belong to a familiar white man. That individual originally appeared in “The Big Payback,” and at the end of that episode, he commits suicide and falls into a pool. Earn has never interacted with that man throughout Atlanta, so it makes us curious as to why his bags were sent to him after his death. That seems to be of little concern to Earn as he takes out a Deftones t-shirt from the bag to seemingly put with the rest of his belongings.
What Will Season Four Bring Us?
With season three in the books, it leaves us to wonder what will go down in season four. We can only speculate, but season four can go in a lot of directions. The group could continue their journey in Europe to close out the series, as Glover previously said season four would be the show’s last. However, it’s unlikely that things end outside of Atlanta for the show, but you never know what it comes to Atlanta. Earn and Vanessa may reconcile and resume their relationship. Paper Boi may move on to be a worldwide superstar. Darius will most likely continue to be his wacky and eccentric self. There will even be some notable celebrities to join the cast and crew for quick appearances. Whatever it is, we just hope that the show’s farewell season is one that caps off a series that delivered excellent and unique entertainment for its fans over the last almost six years.
FX’s ‘Atlanta’ will return sometime this fall for season four.