I can't stop thinking about ATLANTA

  In an interview following ronny/lily's destruction of the internet, Bill Hader said "We probably jumped the shark but I don't care, it was rad." r/l was the kind of episode that took everything that works about Barry and amplified it until the speakers were blown out, then morphed into something else entirely and left us thinking "Okay, so the show can be anything now." Barry courageously--almost crudely--laughed at the notion that anyone thought they knew what kind of show it was. For a show that backed its protagonist into corners every week to see how he tactically got out of them, this episode was refreshingly dangerous. Now, Barry is back and Season 3 is off to a great start but I'm so entrenched in Atlanta's 3rd season that all other TV revolves around its orbit. It's a show that's well-known for its eschewing of formula, narrative looseness, and surrealism but Season 3 continues to mutate; every episode is a ronny/lily situation. Ditching its main cast for full episodes, just about every other week we're treated to an Anthology short that has nothing to do with the main narrative (so far, anyway [I have my theories]) - you can't categorize this shit, it does what it wants.
 

  I've been waiting for this kind of TV, too, cuz I could never get into, like, Black Mirror. It was fine, sometimes, whatever, but it never grabbed me the way it did a lot of folks so I [used to] feel left out. Atlanta is my Black Mirror. If it doesn't drop the ball (hahaha how many times have I said that before? [haha fuck you {Lololol, Watchmen}]) its 3rd season might end up being my favorite thing of the year. I love it so fucking much. Every episode so far has been outstanding. It's great to look at, it's great to listen to, it's great to think about later, it's great to long for and anticipate and unpack endlessly. I feel like I'm talking about a crush. I spend most free moments reading about it, looking up theories, reading into song lyrics and speculating about where the season is going - which is impossible, yet I do it anyway. And I haven't done this since Twin Peaks: The Return. Both shows nail that feeling of thinking you can 'figure it out' while knowing you won't - they tease their mysteries and lore with the same kind of masterful manipulation tactics. So know when I say "I'm obsessed" that I don't say it lightly. It's the best show on TV and that's saying a fucking lot considering the sea of great TV we're in (Russian Doll, Better Call Saul, Barry, We Own This City, Under The Banner Of Heaven, Outer Range, Made for Love).

  And that's the thing: I'm invested in Better Call Saul but I know what kind of show it is and how it's going to tell its story. Even its episode descriptions give you some kind of idea, albeit vague, of what to expect.
 

  But when I put on a new episode of Atlanta, I don't know what stories it's going to tell nor how it's going to tell them. I can't even look at the episode descriptions because they're deliberately impossible to suss out. Every week is unpredictable.
 

  The latest episode, trini 2 de bone, written by Jordan "Dark Twain" Temple and directed by Donald Glover, is an immaculately-paced, funny, creepy, heartbreaking, thoughtful, provocative, and addictive 30-minute satire. It's one of the best episodes of TV ever produced and, with 3 more left this season, my excitement is practically electric. It's the kind of show that jumps the shark but keeps soaring and sails back down when it wants to, or takes flight again, with the kind of discipline and control that we never know where to look next and that shit is very fucking exciting.