Atlanta is an American comedy-drama television series created by Donald Glover. The series centers on college dropout and music manager Earnest "Earn" Marks (Glover) and rapper Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry) as they navigate the Atlanta rap scene. It also stars Lakeith Stanfield as Darius Epps and Zazie Beetz as Vanessa "Van" Keefer. There are 4 seasons total.
Atlanta [Post Episode Discussion] - S03E07 - Trini 2 De Bone
After the death of Sylvia a family is introduced to a different cultural experience in saying goodbye at her funeral.
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"This is how we're sad"
Damn. I felt that mad hard as a man born and raised in the Caribbean
This episode made me so emotional, especially since Trinis are notoriously expressive and passionate and how that is viewed as scary.
It was such a great line in response to the chaos that broke out.
Yep, appealing via empathy is the most human way to connection
That hit me.
ETA I'm a white lady raised in the US but it still hit.
I know a lot of people dislike these one-off episodes, I've personally been a fan of them. As someone from the Caribbean, this is probably my favorite one-off episode yet. Although I'm not from Trinidad, a large part of this episode felt so familiar and relatable. As a black person, I've seen part of myself represented a lot recently. However, this is the first time on a mainstream TV show that I've truly felt represented as whole. Thank you Atlanta.
As a white person I love these episodes because they make me think and feel things most other shows don't and in a way that are both hilarious and horrifying, and the way the scenes are shot have to be some of the best on TV, DG and Hiro Murai are a dynamic duo.
It's so good because anyone of any race or culture can see a lot of similarities to their own identities in these episodes. We, as humans, aren't all too different from one another ultimately.
They didn't overdo the white suburban couple thing too. They seemed like a normal middle class white couple too.
I know it’s been a couple months but just wanted to point out one small thing, they are definitely meant to be upper class or at least high upper middle class. They are shown living in a high rise luxury building in NYC, and the mother casually mentions having ordered a couple coffees and eggs benedict from Balthazar. Balthazar is a very very expensive and fancy line of restaurants in NY and is not the kind of place you would just casually order coffees from unless you were fairly wealthy.
Only reason I mention this is that it heightens the class/racial distinction between the wealthy white couple and the working class black caribbean family who’s mother spent all her time looking after the children of wealthy white people
I do really like how they’re kind of digging more into the culture that way. The wide variety of black people in America and the backgrounds they all come from. This one feels pretty well-placed after the last episode as well.
I don't really understand the hate for the one-offs. People are acting like this show is super serialized when the plot seems to take a back seat to character and message.
"What's gonna happen to Earn and Paper Boi?!" has never crossed my mind and I'm not in a hurry to find out.
Sylvia was Lil Bash's real mom. She doesn't actually know her son and that's sad. He's going to taste Sweet Curry Mango in his dreams! Lol
I had Sarah Jane from Imitation of life movie in head the whole show.
Hidden (trini to the bone) son so he can avoid racial prejudice.
The back rubbing scene killed me omg. So sad
Once that dad ate the mango sauce I knew this episode was going to be amazing. Lil homie was chillin watching the Proud Family too, lol. Props to the kid who played Sebastian, solid performance.
Holy shit, Chet Hanks fit perfectly into this episode. For a moment I thought the stunt casting would be too distracting but he didn't overstay his welcome. The Tribeca line is the hardest I've laughed this entire season. These detours have been fantastic and totally worth the time imo. I feel like this episode was made specifically for the ghost fans too haha.
I diiiieeeed when i realized where i recognized him from, great role/casting
Honestly feel like Chet had one of the most self aware cameos I’ve seen anywhere
Nah fr, glad he knows who he is lmaooo
Katt Williams was my favorite one. But this one is great too
Chet Hanks definitely had a island nanny
Lloyd's was pretty good too.
Wait that was actually Chet Hanks?? I figures he was named "Chet" intentionally but didn't realize it was him.
Yeah after the channel 5 interviews I recognized the man immediately
Kinda like the dad listening to hip hop on his jog, I understood The Proud Family to illustrate the parents’ attempt to maintain the illusion of tolerance/acceptance while actually being scared of any real influence of another culture on their child.
…a family so busy striving that they couldn’t make time for Family Picture Day..!
But Sylvia did lol
Those pictures were creepy.
Didn’t even realize that was him. That’s gold!
Minutes before, when they first arrive at the funeral, I had a thought of “woah, this is totally how you end up with a Chet Hanks situation. Sylvia being more of a parent to Sebastian than his actual parents, he might have a fierce identity crisis when he gets older… I wonder if that’s what they’re going for with this episode” and when he sHOWED UP ON SCREEN I JUST ABOUT SHIT MY PANTS
I lost my shit when I saw him lol
Lil Bash was Trini 2 De Bone
Hahah spot on. In fact, once Bash started talking to Khadija (sp?), the daughter, and they were chopping it up…
having already known the name of the episode, I thought someone at the funeral would say that to the family about Bash.
Something like, “ohhh I see lil man is Trini 2 de bone”.
Honestly this episode is so sweet, everything about it. It still got me to laugh hysterically a few times (stop! You are scaring the White people away! Had me dying).
But the way it dealt with death and culture, it's made with so much love, and i love it back.
Sylvia didn't connect with all of her kids since she was working. Bash's mom basically passed off her son to Sylvia. Such a sad cycle
At the end when the Dad sees that Sylvia was the one who took Bash to his school pictures and it hauntingly pans out I was like THIS.FUCKING.SHOW.
Yes, when that mom said how Sylvia treated her children, that was a moment of self reflection.
But at the end of the day, i still find it such a sweet episode, and it's absolutely beautiful how they dealt with death.
It made me laugh, and it made think, it made me feel sad for a character who did even have a line, and it made me feel so much love throughout.
What a show. What a show.
That look on Sylvia's face in that last photo was so perfect. That's the look when she knew that kid was GONE, those parents are never gonna be able to relate to him.
And not only Sylvia's face but the fact that Bash's expression mirrored hers for a "familial" resemblance. Haunting. That kid only lives there now, he ain't theirs.
Oh yeah the dialogue is definitely suppose to convey the hypocrisy of it all.
The mom at the end, while laying in bed, talks about not wanting to be absent from Bash’s life and to be there. And from her perspective, she’s certainly meaning like in the future. Like as time passes, she hopes they don’t grow too distant from his life
The sad/ironic/hypocritical/delusional part of it all is that… well… she had already “lost track” of lil man.
Not knowing:
his sleeping routines, and especially not knowing that he’s sung a Trini folklore type nursery rhyme thing.
presumably, the parents didn’t even know what Slyvia even was, so Bash knowing she was from T&T was news to them. (The way the mom moves back after Bash says, “maybe she went back to T&T”)
being pleasantly surprised by how Bash can sorta chop it up with Khadija, and him knowing Trini idioms
and especially the way she looks at him when he astutely replies during the prayers as if Slyvia and Bash had prayed together in some capacity.
TL;DR: Yeah Donald and co definitely wanted to highlight the hypocrisy of the mom not wanting to grow distant from her son, like Sylvia had to her own children; when in reality, she already had
Yes especially this!
And near the end when the mom says "I don't want Bash to ever feel this way" at the funeral about Princess bashing (pun intended) her own mom, Bash was OK. She just said it to hide that it is SHE who doesn't want to feel like she neglected her own child like Sylvia. It's still only about herself in the end.
Bash is OK because he had someone to love and look after him (and will presumably get a new surrogate parent now). I don't know who took Sylvia's place with her own children but it's likely the oldest one was left minding the younger ones at some point.
Just FYI, Trini 2 de bone is not a "folklore type nursery rhyme", it's an incredibly popular Soca song by David Rudder
the moment white mum said "if sebastien could become fluent in mandarin" and her eyes rolled and she made that face and went HHHH i KNEW donald glover directed this episode
like i just paused my stream to look it up and confirm bc LMAO that's his stamp
I'm surprised more people aren't talking about that scene...
Like, WOW! 🤦♂️ SMH That actress - who I only know from a pretty small role on Boardwalk Empire - did an amazing job as the mother. Funny enough, she played a nanny to the main character's kids in Boardwalk... (Irish gangsters can afford Irish nannies lol)
The kid going Yes, Yes Lord had me dying 😂 The mom didn't know what to think
Especially because we know the parents aren’t religious. When Bash asked where people go when they die, the mom said “no one knows”
White people in a black church is comedy gold 😅
“We’re scaring the white people”
Yes.
Amen.
i died 3 times
I love how Bash's mom thought the guy from Tribeca was from Trinidad, due to Sylvia raising him to have an accent, just as Bash would've had she not passed.
I have a white friend who has a slight Haitian accent and is bilingual in French as an adult thanks to the influence of his nanny. :)
Two floor apartment is rich rich
G h o s t 👀
The penthouse to boot! Which makes sense for two floor. You can see it labeled as the penthouse during the end scene, on the number plaque next to the door
Not just owning a car in Manhattan, but a Range Rover
Not just owning a nice car but a one with lots of problems and a very expensive maintenance bill lol
That’s the Range Rover Leasing program. Not cheap..!
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That tattoo ain’t ironic girl. I LOVE RUGRATS
/UnexpectedCamp or shall I say /Expected
In fairness, while he did show an air of hesitation, he did end up leaving his Range’s keys on the hood
So, idk, I feel like saying he/they were “terrified” is mad harsh… on at least the dad and obviously the son.
(I know the son explicitly answered that question, and said he was indeed scared; but that could have nothing to do with race. Take any kid, drop him into a funeral, and then the family starts squabbling, it’ll rattle most)
I think the dichotomy between the mom and the dad was pretty evident. The mom wanted a white/chinese nanny instead of a black one and seemed more afraid of exposing her kid to different cultures. The dad was certainly hesitant but seemed more willing to try to experience Sylvia's culture.
I don’t think the mom mentioning wanting the next one to speak Mandarin, is any slight on black people.
I think it’s more to further echo one of this season’s main themes and that’s culture vulturing. The mom wants a Chinese nanny, b/c she wants the Mandarin to rub off on Bash, which will help him make more money down the road (it’s quite well known that for at least a decade, learning either Mandarin and/or Arabic is extremely smart for anyone entering business/finance/economics).
If American Fortune 500 companies imported and exported hundreds of billions with, idk, say Uganda, I think this scenario would play out with the mom wanting the next nanny to be able to speak Swahili.
So, color of skin isn’t as important as what culture elements that mom can “cherry pick”
But she did say she wanted the new nanny to be more "metropolitan".
This is more of a class issue, but it directly correlates with black communities.
I agree with you, I don't think it's so much about wanting an Asian nanny than it is viewing a Trinidadian nanny as "useless" vs the usefulness of Bash learning Mandarin. It's a view of culture in a very capitalistic sense, similar to the white lady when she saw Darius's Nigerian food place, where a culture's only value is what they can provide for you. Since English creole isn't a valuable commodity, it's to be discarded.
I think you got it, he tried the curry while she was dismissive about it
Also at the end he is reading up about the culture and learning about it on his ipad.
honestly, that’s a really important point the episode makes about the kid. he is scared at the funeral but he also says he is scared the scene before when he goes into his parents room after they talk to him about death. he is scared and sad and doesn’t know how to handle it but after the man at the service tells him they are dealing with their grief, he is able to sleep well on his own.
Once again, gotta say I screamed at the Lipschitz and immediately kept thinking of Angelica's mom lol
ALSO totally missed the bed (lol f that) and her bag, once again very subtle statements at how consumption is navigated and what is deemed acceptable/not