It took a while, but with filming for Season 3 of Donald Glover’s critically-acclaimed FX series Atlanta is officially complete, and sometime in the future [Ed. note: Early 2022, currently] on March 24, 2022, fans will finally get to see the intrepid adventures of Earn (Donald Glover), Alfred (Brian Tyree Henry) and Darius (LaKeith Stanfield) continue. The question is, where are they going? On a literal level, they’re headed overseas. On a thematic note, beyond a few basics, it’s anyone’s guess.
Two seasons into its run, Atlanta has blended eccentric humor with drama and surrealism to become one of the most inventive shows on the air—and maybe the most unpredictable. The basic plot (Earn finds out his cousin Alfred is bubbling rapper Paper Boi and sets to manage his career) is set, but it’s threaded by comically unexpected detours, meaning that almost nothing about a future episode is telegraphed by the story that came before it. When you throw in three years’ worth of pop culture events to allude to, the next season of Atlanta could be any and everything.
Glover’s kept quiet about the new season, so how things shake out is ultimately a big TBD. But here’s what we know now and what you can probably expect for Atlanta Season 3.
Where 'Atlanta' left off
What Donald Glover and FX have said about Season 3
What's next for 'Atlanta'?
While we await more information regarding Atlanta Season 3, we compiled some thoughts on what we might see during Atlanta’s third season, based on comments the creators have made as well as some ideas based on the way the first two seasons have unfolded. Here is a brief collection of our thoughts on what Atlanta Season 3 could look like.
Earn and Van continue to struggle
Earn and Van were basically broken up at the end of Season 2, but they’re still going to co-parent. Considering that Earn’s just headed over to Europe and Van’s moving into her mother’s house with Lottie, that’s going to be very difficult in the beginning. How they manage the task of partially long-distance parenthood and possibly mending their relationship should be a focal point of the season.
More Van-centric stories
Donald’s brother, Stephen Glover, says the new season will explore “a very specific perspective from the Atlanta woman.” With Van being the only female lead on the show, and at least some of the story set to take place in Europe, it wouldn’t be surprising to see more Van-centric adventures play out on screen for the new episodes of Atlanta.
Beef with Clark County
Seeing as Earn tried to get Clark County jammed up to save himself, and that Clark himself has been revealed to be pretty ruthless [Ed note: Remember the ordeal with his engineer?], it’s hard not to see some tension build up between the three.
London adventures
Responding to someone who saw the cast of Atlanta filming outside his house in the Stoke Newington section of London, Stanfield confirmed they were filming in the area. As we know, Atlanta goes in all different directions, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see them take on a London-specific adventure, or see their new locale affect them in unexpected ways.
Appearances from UK rappers
Being that they’re filming at least part of Season 3 in London, it wouldn’t be a huge stretch to see Skepta or Stormzy pop out for an episode. The growing popularity of UK drill also leaves the door open for other artists from the area to pull up.
COVID-19 references
Although Season 3 was likely written before COVID-19 was even a thing, it’s hard to imagine there won’t be a scene with Darius positing an anti-vaxxing conspiracy theory or someone telling Earn to keep his mask on, or even some COVID-19-esque pandemic that would be used to comment on the state of our world today.
TikTok
In the time since Season 2 went off the air, TikTok (and Triller) have become significant factors in the music biz, with TikTok having helped revitalize or sustain the careers of countless rappers. Seeing the success of Clark County, Earn and Alfred will eventually realize they have to do whatever it takes to get lit, and these days, that could mean making a TikTok song. If Alfred doesn’t wince after seeing his song in a new TikTok challenge, everyone should consider it a missed opportunity.
A multitude of pop culture references
If you’ve watched Atlanta to date, you know the writers do a good job addressing pop phenomena in one way or another, so whether that’s OnlyFans, NFTs, or scandals like Will and Jada’s “entanglement” conversation or the woman who used Gorilla Glue on her hair, you can probably expect to see it in some way or another.
Donald Glover Drops ‘Atlanta’ Season 3 Teaser on Halloween
Donald Glover is not here for Atlanta comparisons, especially before its new season drops. The artist/actor took to social media after dropping the teaser for Atlanta Season 3 on Halloween and aired out some of his grievances about his show being compared to its FX sibling Dave in some since-deleted tweets.
“I cant wait til this show is out. i watch the roughs like it aint my show,” he tweeted Halloween night. “And just for the record, im watching yall sayin ‘dave’ is on par. like yall forgot what we did. no disrespect. We got black people on here debating which is better, and IM the sellout? I got receipts.”
Glover rarely frequents Twitter outside of promoting Atlanta or voicing his opinion on something he thinks is important. While Atlanta and Dave comparisons might(?) be a topic of conversation, Lil Dicky said in a New York Times interview back in June that he sees the two shows as very different.
“I think they’re very different,” he said. “I think our show is trying to be funny—a lot more jokes. Theirs is just the tonal brilliance. I see them as different shows.”
And just like that, we have a date to look forward to. FX announced on Dec. 22 that Atlanta would return for its Season 3 premiere on March 24, 2022 at 10 p.m. ET on FX (streaming next day on Hulu). Season 3’s first two episodes will premiere on March 24, with the following episodes in the 10-episode season premiering weekly on FX. Fans of the series will have a new teaser to look forward to; it will air first during ESPN and ABC’s slate of Christmas Day NBA games.
FX’s press release included the following synopsis:
Taking place almost entirely in Europe, Season 3 finds “Earn” (Donald Glover), “Alfred / ‘Paper Boi’” (Brian Tyree Henry), “Darius” (LaKeith Stanfield) and “Van” (Zazie Beetz) in the midst of a successful European tour, as the group navigates their new surroundings as outsiders, and struggle to adjust to the newfound success they had aspired to.
“We are thrilled to have Atlanta back with a new season on March 24th,” said Eric Schrier, President, FX Entertainment says in the press release. “Once again, Donald Glover, the producers and stellar cast have delivered another signature season synonymous with the excellence that makes Atlanta so great.”