- 6,260
- 7,219
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2014
Was Tracey with that stripper he met in the Michael Vick episode?
FX's ATLANTA (Starring Donald Glover) S4 Final episode
- Thread in 'General' Thread starter Started by Arthur Shelby,
- Start date
- 39,152
- 78,511
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2008
Hiro Murai 
Hiro Murai on ‘Atlanta’ Season 2 Finale and ‘This Is America’
The first season of “Atlanta” ended with Earn (Donald Glover) sleeping in a storage unit but seemingly content — hinting that his life was on an upswing. But the season that followed, subtitled “Robbin’ Season” to denote the time of year when people often resort to desperate measures to provide for their families at the holidays, lived in far more anxiety and tension. Still, while the season two finale “Crabs in a Barrel” had to follow suit in some moments, director Hiro Murai wanted to loosen the tone a bit.
“One of my favorite moments in this episode is the scene where they’re all on the couch together,” Murai tells Variety. “We haven’t seen [that] since the first season, when it became kind of an iconic location. And so even though the episode is a little harsher and at that point Earn doesn’t know what’s going to happen to him — whether Al’s going to fire him or not — there’s a flash of how things used to be where it becomes a little more casual. There’s something about that moment that really struck me and felt right.”
In the previous episode, which Murai also directed, Al aka Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry) told his cousin Earn he was going to have to fire him. Earn tried to suppress his anger at being cast aside, only to unleash it on Tracy (Khris Davis), who was unfairly replacing him in Al’s confidence. But the next episode flashed back to show the origins of Al and Earn’s relationship, leaving Earn’s fate unresolved.
Murai acknowledges that the show is not typically plot-driven and therefore they don’t “feel liable to a lot of the moments that occur.” The second season of the series leaned into the concept that episodes could be standalone “short films” that pivoted to different genres, followed specific characters, and sometimes were bottle episodes. For Murai, this led him to shift his approach episode to episode because there was no “default ‘Atlanta’ structure.”
But in being tasked with closing out the season with “Crabs in a Barrel,” Murai notes there were some callbacks they wanted to make and pieces to pay off before season’s end — and whether or not Earn would continue to be Paper Boi’s manager was just one of them.
“Darius’ shirt and even just down to the scar on Earn’s face and obviously the gold gun from episode 1 — there are things that signify all of the things that these characters went through,” Murai says. “So in a way I think this episode serves as a nice bookend, even though we’re not a super plot-heavy show.”
Al ended up taking Earn on tour with him, aided by the fact that Earn helped rush some passports. But when they got to the airport, Earn found the gun he got from Willy was still in his bag. He made a spur of the moment decision to plant it on someone else so he could continue onto the tour.
“The structure of the season was we see all of the characters overcome hardships and make difficult decisions,” Murai says, “so even though Earn and Al’s relationship story gets resolved and Al comes to the conclusion he needs Earn because he’s one of the only people who knows who he is outside of his Paper Boi persona, the difficult part for Earn was having to pull another rapper down for his gain and for Al’s gain.”
This leaves Earn conflicted over a “****tail of emotions,” Murai notes, even as he’s outwardly onto bigger and better things, traveling overseas. For these moments, and some that came earlier as Earn contemplated his future with Van (Zazie Beetz) and Lottie, Murai felt it was important to be “kind of quiet and meandering and [not to] move the camera very much.”
“We let people talk inside the frame,” he explains. “We’re sort of reacting to what we see in the moment. Obviously his connection with Lottie is a little more intimate, so the moment where she grabs and touches his face in the car, it felt like it wanted to be a moment we wanted to see through a window in a voyeuristic way.”
For Murai, it’s important to tell his actors to take their time and sit in the pauses. Although he can manipulate them in post if he needs to, he prefers not to so that they feel “honest and real.”
“That’s something that’s really important to us on this show — people taking a moment to take in their situation and digest it,” he says.
But rather than end the episode on Earn’s “stoic” reaction as he tries to digest what he just did in the airport, the final scene of the finale is Tracy, forgotten back at home in Atlanta. It’s a moment Murai acknowledges punctuates the point that Al chose Earn over Tracy, but also was one that they just “honestly thought was really funny.”
“It’s all about a kind of push and pull,” Murai says of the tone. “You can build tension but you have to release it at some point. Obviously it’s not a show that prioritizes comedy over everything else — it’s an ingredient that we add and it’s important to us — but we want each moment to feel real.”
That vibe is important to Murai, and also to Glover. The duo also recently collaborated on Glover’s “This Is America” music video, which features Glover singing and dancing his way through the foreground of a warehouse while a number of topical issues are addressed around him. The sound is upbeat, even when the visuals depict gun violence, suicide, Jim Crow laws and bystander apathy.
“We worked on music videos together before ‘Atlanta,’ and the way we work on ‘Atlanta’ came from how we worked on music videos, so it was sort of a fluid, intuitive process,” Murai says. “Donald took the creative charge on the initial conceit [of the video] because he knew what the song was going to be and I came on when he was mixing down the final pieces of the song. But the creative process for the video was like we were playing hot potato with ideas — even while we were shooting it.”
Visually, “This Is America” was inspired by the idea of a “dance video that took place in the last 20 minutes of the movie ‘Mother’ or in the world of ‘City of God,'” Murai says. But like the various episodes of “Atlanta” that have their own individual feel, he adds, “ultimately it was about putting all of the pieces in the frame and figuring out what we wanted to emphasis and what felt like the tone we wanted to hit.”
Like “Atlanta,” it was important for Murai and Glover to mix the light and the dark for “This Is America” to give the audience something to digest and to hopefully discuss.
And although Murai says he was “curious” — not concerned — about how viewers would react both to this season of “Atlanta’s” darker tone as well as “This Is America,” he says he has been “pleasantly surprised” by the response.
“When we’re working on something, I’m just trying to make it interesting for us and hope that whatever’s interesting for us will connect with people watching it,” Murai says.
http://variety.com/2018/tv/features...iew-1202806049/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
The first season of “Atlanta” ended with Earn (Donald Glover) sleeping in a storage unit but seemingly content — hinting that his life was on an upswing. But the season that followed, subtitled “Robbin’ Season” to denote the time of year when people often resort to desperate measures to provide for their families at the holidays, lived in far more anxiety and tension. Still, while the season two finale “Crabs in a Barrel” had to follow suit in some moments, director Hiro Murai wanted to loosen the tone a bit.
“One of my favorite moments in this episode is the scene where they’re all on the couch together,” Murai tells Variety. “We haven’t seen [that] since the first season, when it became kind of an iconic location. And so even though the episode is a little harsher and at that point Earn doesn’t know what’s going to happen to him — whether Al’s going to fire him or not — there’s a flash of how things used to be where it becomes a little more casual. There’s something about that moment that really struck me and felt right.”
In the previous episode, which Murai also directed, Al aka Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry) told his cousin Earn he was going to have to fire him. Earn tried to suppress his anger at being cast aside, only to unleash it on Tracy (Khris Davis), who was unfairly replacing him in Al’s confidence. But the next episode flashed back to show the origins of Al and Earn’s relationship, leaving Earn’s fate unresolved.
Murai acknowledges that the show is not typically plot-driven and therefore they don’t “feel liable to a lot of the moments that occur.” The second season of the series leaned into the concept that episodes could be standalone “short films” that pivoted to different genres, followed specific characters, and sometimes were bottle episodes. For Murai, this led him to shift his approach episode to episode because there was no “default ‘Atlanta’ structure.”
But in being tasked with closing out the season with “Crabs in a Barrel,” Murai notes there were some callbacks they wanted to make and pieces to pay off before season’s end — and whether or not Earn would continue to be Paper Boi’s manager was just one of them.
“Darius’ shirt and even just down to the scar on Earn’s face and obviously the gold gun from episode 1 — there are things that signify all of the things that these characters went through,” Murai says. “So in a way I think this episode serves as a nice bookend, even though we’re not a super plot-heavy show.”
Al ended up taking Earn on tour with him, aided by the fact that Earn helped rush some passports. But when they got to the airport, Earn found the gun he got from Willy was still in his bag. He made a spur of the moment decision to plant it on someone else so he could continue onto the tour.
“The structure of the season was we see all of the characters overcome hardships and make difficult decisions,” Murai says, “so even though Earn and Al’s relationship story gets resolved and Al comes to the conclusion he needs Earn because he’s one of the only people who knows who he is outside of his Paper Boi persona, the difficult part for Earn was having to pull another rapper down for his gain and for Al’s gain.”
This leaves Earn conflicted over a “****tail of emotions,” Murai notes, even as he’s outwardly onto bigger and better things, traveling overseas. For these moments, and some that came earlier as Earn contemplated his future with Van (Zazie Beetz) and Lottie, Murai felt it was important to be “kind of quiet and meandering and [not to] move the camera very much.”
“We let people talk inside the frame,” he explains. “We’re sort of reacting to what we see in the moment. Obviously his connection with Lottie is a little more intimate, so the moment where she grabs and touches his face in the car, it felt like it wanted to be a moment we wanted to see through a window in a voyeuristic way.”
For Murai, it’s important to tell his actors to take their time and sit in the pauses. Although he can manipulate them in post if he needs to, he prefers not to so that they feel “honest and real.”
“That’s something that’s really important to us on this show — people taking a moment to take in their situation and digest it,” he says.
But rather than end the episode on Earn’s “stoic” reaction as he tries to digest what he just did in the airport, the final scene of the finale is Tracy, forgotten back at home in Atlanta. It’s a moment Murai acknowledges punctuates the point that Al chose Earn over Tracy, but also was one that they just “honestly thought was really funny.”
“It’s all about a kind of push and pull,” Murai says of the tone. “You can build tension but you have to release it at some point. Obviously it’s not a show that prioritizes comedy over everything else — it’s an ingredient that we add and it’s important to us — but we want each moment to feel real.”
That vibe is important to Murai, and also to Glover. The duo also recently collaborated on Glover’s “This Is America” music video, which features Glover singing and dancing his way through the foreground of a warehouse while a number of topical issues are addressed around him. The sound is upbeat, even when the visuals depict gun violence, suicide, Jim Crow laws and bystander apathy.
“We worked on music videos together before ‘Atlanta,’ and the way we work on ‘Atlanta’ came from how we worked on music videos, so it was sort of a fluid, intuitive process,” Murai says. “Donald took the creative charge on the initial conceit [of the video] because he knew what the song was going to be and I came on when he was mixing down the final pieces of the song. But the creative process for the video was like we were playing hot potato with ideas — even while we were shooting it.”
Visually, “This Is America” was inspired by the idea of a “dance video that took place in the last 20 minutes of the movie ‘Mother’ or in the world of ‘City of God,'” Murai says. But like the various episodes of “Atlanta” that have their own individual feel, he adds, “ultimately it was about putting all of the pieces in the frame and figuring out what we wanted to emphasis and what felt like the tone we wanted to hit.”
Like “Atlanta,” it was important for Murai and Glover to mix the light and the dark for “This Is America” to give the audience something to digest and to hopefully discuss.
And although Murai says he was “curious” — not concerned — about how viewers would react both to this season of “Atlanta’s” darker tone as well as “This Is America,” he says he has been “pleasantly surprised” by the response.
“When we’re working on something, I’m just trying to make it interesting for us and hope that whatever’s interesting for us will connect with people watching it,” Murai says.
http://variety.com/2018/tv/features...iew-1202806049/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
- 11,430
- 1,975
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2008
Earn went from being on the brink of being no one's manager to managing the top 2 acts on an overseas tour with a split second decision. Robbed Clarks manager without a pistol, oh wait... #RobbinSeason
- 6,260
- 7,219
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2014
Darius killed me with that " Opt Out".
- 22,895
- 26,767
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2010
Very fitting that Earn & Darius having the Convo of him being paperboi's manager in a Jewish Space. Considering they move as a mob, keep it all in the family & build with eachother.
- 20,616
- 10,222
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2011
Darius 
- 6,935
- 24,673
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2003
- 11,430
- 1,975
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2008
- 6,262
- 2,067
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2010
Probably the hardest I laughed all season. Great episode
- 9,928
- 572
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2006
When Darius yelled “opt out”Clark didn’t give a damn that his manager got caught up. Just Yoo-hooping his way to his seat.
Perfect episode name.
- 6,935
- 24,673
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2003
- 150,523
- 201,300
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2007
I'm watching again just to see who was directly behind earn and who he asked to grab him a bin and thus distracting THAT person
- 6,935
- 24,673
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2003
- 87,852
- 50,360
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2007
He asked Clark County. He was directly behind Ern and his manager was behind Clark.
Ern even tells Al he put the tool in Clark's bag. That's why they both make that face when Clark says the manager got arrested.
Ern even tells Al he put the tool in Clark's bag. That's why they both make that face when Clark says the manager got arrested.
- 10,314
- 8,636
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2016
Episode had me in shambles. This Loki felt like a series finale.
Dead at the boy crying while getting the beats put on him
Darius with the Benny Hope shirt
Earn depressed af. Glad he finally caught a W. Like he said he’s been putting in work.
Clark County knows Earn slipped that **** in his bag
Dead at the boy crying while getting the beats put on him
Darius with the Benny Hope shirt
Earn depressed af. Glad he finally caught a W. Like he said he’s been putting in work.
Clark County knows Earn slipped that **** in his bag
- 150,523
- 201,300
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2007
I don't trust what earn said, cause he stood to benefit more from manager getting got
Al seeing is what I put more stake in
- 25,661
- 46,217
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2010
Yea he said he put it in Clark’s bag, tried to get him out the way ...Wasn’t about his manager
- 6,935
- 24,673
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2003
- 87,852
- 50,360
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2007
Why would Ern lie about whose bag he put the gun in?
Al saw him put the gun in Clark's bag anyway.
There's no contradiction in that exchange.
Plus given that we saw Ern ask Clark for a bin when was he able to get behind Clark and slip it in his manager's bag?
The manager basicay took the fall so Clark wouldnt get locked up.
- 22,895
- 26,767
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2010
Also thought Earn's decision this episode was kind of ill considering the events of the Fubu episode. The last time he let someone take the fall & saved himself the kid committed suicide. That really sheds some light on Earns willingness to just let things happen to him, instead of trying to survive.
Paperboi also played a part in that & it seemingly didn't phase him at all. He applauded Earn for Surviving even if that means harming someone else.
Paperboi also played a part in that & it seemingly didn't phase him at all. He applauded Earn for Surviving even if that means harming someone else.
- 150,523
- 201,300
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2007
Just watched again it was definitely Clark county's bag
But yea, after PB told him what he did THEN he could have benefited even thou his plan was to screw the manager
Also the manager asked PB about paperwork he sent him right in front of earn right before dudes was about to go through TSA
- 27,929
- 41,999
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2007
There was no possible way for Earn to have put it in Luke's bag.
Once you re-watch the scene, you'll see Clark call Luke back while the TSA agents asks whose bag is this. Luke took the fall like a champion. He'll probably get a slap on the wrist too. Suspended white privilege sentence.
- 150,523
- 201,300
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2007
Yea saw it when I watched again and paid attention especially to that
Couldn't remember who exactly was behind him and who he asked to get the bin
- 9,995
- 3,286
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2015
Too bad Tracy can't go on the tour since he's an ex-con, would've been great to see Tracy running around Europe
- 11,430
- 1,975
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2008
