‘Atlanta’ Recap and Review: 'Alligator Man' Avoids the Sophomore Slump

Despite its over-a-year-long hiatus due to creator Donald Glover’s scheduling conflicts, “Atlanta: Robbin’ Season” picks up right where the show left off: with unexplained, yet insightful and subversive takes on the real world. Earn (Donald Glover) continues to (mis)navigate the world Al (Brian Tyree Henry) puts him in, while Darius remains calm, unironic, and unbelievably perceptive in his understanding of society. The show, which set a high bar for itself after the critical and commercial success of its premiere (Glover was the first black man to win an Emmy for Best Director of a Comedy), does not disappoint in its sophomore season premiere, a crucial and often disappointing continuation to the first installment of any show. Despite juggling his music career as Childish Gambino, starring in the “Lion King” remake, and having a second child, Glover’s writing drives the beginning of the second season to success in its premiere, “Alligator Man.”

Unlike Glover, the character he plays is not thriving. “Robbin’ season. Christmas approaches, and everybody got to eat,” contemplates Darius. “Or be eaten,” Earn adds in a conversation that foreshadows the drama of the new season—or perhaps even reflects on that very episode itself. Earn may have (somewhat) proven himself as Paper Boi’s manager, but he is still barely keeping from being devoured whole: He is on probation, remains homeless, and has just been kicked out of the storage unit he had been staying in. He tries to use Al and Darius as resources to rectify his situation, though the two are fighting for some unknown reason. Unfortunately, Earn’s utter failure to solidify a strong enough hold in Al’s life leaves him excluded from the rapper’s true inner circle.

Unsurprisingly, Darius is there to save the day, and with Darius comes his shockingly shrewd observations. In the highlight of the episode, Darius fails to understand that all the “Florida Men” constantly featured in national headlines are not, in fact, one person: “Florida Man shoots unarmed black teenager... Florida Man bursts into ex's delivery room and fights new boyfriend as she's giving birth… Florida Man steals a car, goes to Checkers...Florida Man beats a flamingo to death… Florida Man found eating another man's face,” he lists. The joke brilliantly encapsulates the show’s absurdity, proving that although its title may have changed for the season, the show has retained its subversive edge. In one sweeping montage, Glover alludes to Trayvon Martin’s murder, an incident of drug-induced cannibalism, and flamingo assault—all of which happened in Florida. And yet, the joke does not feel reductive or disrespectful; it is instead putting together the puzzle pieces we have been storing in our subconscious to comment on the occurrences that range from strange to tragic and have, for some reason, happened most often in Florida.

“Atlanta” is back in all its glorious strangeness, and seems to have been worth the wait. Don’t believe me? Just wait until “Alligator Man,” the episode’s titular character (Katt Williams), proves you wrong.