[ Atlanta is tackling the big, uncomfortable questions no one
else would dare— can we resolve systemic racism and reconcile this
country’s history with slavery, when some won’t even acknowledge
either] [[link removed]]

PORTSIDE CULTURE

ATLANTA TAKES ON THE ANTI-CRT CROWD WITH A DARKLY SATIRICAL SPIN ON
REPARATIONS  
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Michael Martin
April 7, 2022
AV Club
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_ Atlanta is tackling the big, uncomfortable questions no one else
would dare— can we resolve systemic racism and reconcile this
country’s history with slavery, when some won’t even acknowledge
either _

Justin Bartha as Marshall in “The Big Payback”, The last two
episodes of Atl

 

The last two episodes of _Atlanta_
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Darius, and Van on the first legs of a European tour. Episode four
diverts the action back to the titular city, away from the main
foursome and into an unrelated story (the same approach taken by the
season opener, “Three Slaps”). It’s hard not to feel a bit
cheated by these anthology-style episodes: _Atlanta_’s primary
quartet are as well-written and portrayed as any characters on TV, and
I always want to spend more time with them. (I’m still having
trouble processing that season four will be the show’s last.) But
this detour—a dark satire that tackles systemic racism and the
concept of reparations, laying bare the worst nightmares of the
anti-CRT brigade—is absolutely worth taking.

The episode opens as we follow Marshall (guest star Justin Bartha) in
line at a coffee shop. AirPods in place, he absent-mindedly slips some
cookies into his jacket pocket as he witnesses a confrontation between
the cashier and a Black customer. Marshall gets his coffee and goes on
scot-free, while the other man goes to the back of the line. It turns
out Marshall is a separated dad; as he’s driving his daughter to
school, he hears a radio news story about a Black man who’s
successfully sued a Tesla investor because his ancestors enslaved the
plaintiff’s forebears. It’s a development the anchor notes could
have “wide-ranging” implications, “especially in America.” (By
the way, a lot of plot and spoilers of the episode follow, but
they’re worth unpacking.)

At the office, Marshall’s co-workers express disbelief and concern
at the story, while layoffs are announced; his company is being sued
for the same reason. His white co-worker says she’s researching her
family tree online—”everyone is”—while observing of their
Black colleagues: “Lucky them—not a care in the world.”

"The Big Payback"

A-

SEASON

3

EPISODE

4

At home, Marshall is confronted at his front door by a Black woman,
Sheniqua Johnson (Melissa Youngblood), who is live-streaming on her
phone that Marshall’s ancestors enslaved hers, he owes her money,
and she’ll probably take his house. She later shows up with a
bullhorn outside his office, demanding a payout.

This is beyond-heavy stuff, but it’s deftly written and directed.
Many moments in this script (by Francesca Sloane) would do Paddy
Chayevsky proud, particularly when Marshall seeks counsel from a Black
co-worker and his estranged wife won’t let him see their daughter
because of his ancestral past. “I’m Peruvian,” she says. “This
never would have happened to me!” Marshall protests: “You were
white yesterday!” His wife replies that they have to make the
divorce official because “I can’t have my finances take a hit.”

Relegated to a hotel because Sheniqua and several compatriots have
camped out on the lawn outside his apartment, Marshall turns on the TV
and sees a law-firm commercial, shot in classic ambulance-chaser
style, urging anyone eligible to claim their cash. (It’s another
moment worthy of _Network_.) In the lobby bar, Marshall meets a man
(“Ernest”—homophonically the same as Donald Glover’s
character, of course—“call me E”) who says he’s “in the same
boat … you owe a lot.”

“Two days ago, I had a good life, and now I’m being fucked by some
shit I didn’t even do,” Marshall complains.

The lobby man (a riveting Tobias Segal) reveals that he’d recently
been clued into some realities about his own grandfather, a man always
sold as part of the “pulled himself up from his own bootstraps”
myth: “Turns out he had a lot of help—and a lot of kids.”

“We don’t deserve this,” Marshall says.

[Image for article titled Atlanta takes on the anti-CRT crowd with a
darkly satirical spin on reparations]

Photo: Guy D’Alema/FX

“What do _they_ deserve?” E replies. For Black people, he says,
slavery is not past and has a monetary value that keeps compounding.
But as white men, they’ll be okay. “We’re free,” he says,
before stepping outside and shooting himself in the head. My first
impression was that this was a misstep, an instance of over-egging the
dramatic batter. His monologue—with its premise that white men are
privileged even when they’re down-and-out—was powerful enough. But
the ending of the episode made it feel justified. Some people can bear
certain truths, and some people can’t.

Ultimately, we see that Marshall is working in a restaurant, where 15
percent of his paycheck is going to “restitution taxes” paid to
Sheniqua. In a poignant moment, we’re taken through the kitchen,
where nearly everyone on the line is a person of color. Marshall, of
course, is a waiter, an acceptable face for the front-of-the-house,
and the episode closes with him serving ritzy dishes to a Black party.

Hiro Murai’s direction is stellar, as usual: He knows how to make
irony land without hitting you over the head, and the performances are
perfectly modulated. Segal is a standout, and Bartha is very effective
as a hangdog everyman avatar who’s just letting life happen to
him—trying to do the right things on the surface, but not doing too
much to right the wrongs. This episode and “Three Slaps” are so
dramatically rich that I’d like to see the Glovers and Murai launch
an anthology series of their own, an updated _Twilight Zone._ No
need to brand it as sci-fi or horror. Modern life is just a step or
two apart.

For a show labeled comedy (for lack of a more apt genre), “Big
Payback” isn’t a fun 30-plus minutes, but it is great
television. _Atlanta _is tackling the big, uncomfortable questions
no one else would dare—namely, can we resolve systemic racism and
reconcile this country’s history with slavery, when some won’t
even acknowledge either—and this episode is worth spending time
with. Unfortunately, the people who most need to consider its themes
won’t see it; they can afford to turn away.

Stray observations

* Another good moment: Marshall claims his background is
“Austro-Hungarian...we were enslaved too” (to the eye-rolling of
his co-worker). But he’s not interested in researching the truth
about his ancestors.
* E’s lobby-bar monologue is exceptional writing. “We’re
treating slavery as if it were a mystery buried in the past, something
to investigate if we chose to. That history has a monetary value.
Confession is not absolution,” he says, and for Black people,
slavery is not past—it’s “a cruel, unavoidable ghost that haunts
in a way we can’t see.”
* Episodes two and three of this season were so moody and evocative
that I keep finding myself thinking about where the main characters
are—a fortunate/unfortunate consequence of watching a show that
unspools week-by-week and is unbingeable.
* The writing in the first four episodes of _Atlanta_ is better
than I’ve seen in any drama this season. But it’s a 30-ish minute
show, so where do the scripts for “Three Slaps” and “The Big
Payback” get submitted? Is there a way to diversify the Emmys’
rigid comedy-drama dichotomy (which has punished some
excellent-but-ambiguous 30-minute shows in recent years)?

* Atlanta [[link removed]]
* CRT [[link removed]]
* Critical Race Theory [[link removed]]
* Black culture [[link removed]]
* wokeness [[link removed]]
* reparations [[link removed]]

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