Not That Childish

Donald Glover shares his story in the new drama-comedy, “Atlanta”

By Andrew Linde, Multimedia Manager

After much clamoring and suspense, Donald Glover has returned to television with “Atlanta.”

For those who are used to seeing Glover as the lovable Troy Barnes in “Community,” get ready to see an entirely different side of the actor. Not only does Glover act in the series, he creates it based on his experience in the music scene as Childish Gambino.

The first episode opens with a literal bang as one character shoots another. Despite this, the show can be described as a comedy that is aware of the social situation that its characters are in.

Glover plays Earn, a young man who has dropped out of college, is supporting his baby daughter, and is not on the best terms with her mother, Van (played by newcomer Zazie Beetz). Van and Earn seem happy, but there’s an underlying trouble between them.

Earn is an extremely relatable character. He’s a bit too smart for the world he lives in, but not smart enough to get out of there. He has familial ties to Atlanta, and in the first episode he wants to make use of those to rise up above his circumstances.

Brian Tyree Henry plays Earn’s cousin, a new hip-hop artist who calls himself Paper Boi. Earn offers to manage his career, but Paper Boi is hesitant. There’s some reason why he and Earn’s parents don’t fully trust him.This kind of character depth is fantastic and feels real.

My favorite character, without a doubt, is Darius (played by Keith Stanfield, probably best known for playing Snoop in “Straight Outta Compton”). Darius is Paper Boi’s good buddy who he gets high with all the time. The more non-sequitur jokes come from Darius, like musing how if everyone used rats as cell phones, there’d be at least five ratphones per person in New York City.

The situations that the characters are in feel fully developed and more like what I’d expect in the season finale, rather than the first few episodes. If they’re starting here, it’s going to be a wild ride. And I want to see if Earn can make it in Atlanta.

Rating: 4 out 5 ratphones