Following four seasons, the Atlanta finale provided viewers with a gratifying but unclear resolution by providing just enough explanation.
Three of the four characters on the FX series have been given more screen time in its final season: Earn (Donald Glover), Vanessa (Zazie Beetz), and Alfred (Brian Tyree Henry) have all had solo narratives.
LaKeith Stanfield’s character Darius is the only major character who hasn’t gotten much attention. In the Atlanta finale, he is given the limelight, serving as the focal point of an episode that is only sporadically grounded in reality.
“It Was All a Dream,” the bizarre Atlanta season 4 conclusion, features Earn, Vanessa, and Alfred making plans to dine at a Black-owned sushi fusion restaurant. Darius plans to go to the sensory deprivation tank following his appointment.
When he feels overwhelmed by his powerful dreams in the tank, all he has to do is glance at Judge Judy. He needs to wake himself awake if he notices that she has a more prominent posterior than usual. Darius finds it more difficult to tell what is genuine from unreal, though.
Atlanta Season 4 Ending Explained
The series has covered many different things over its course, and the Atlanta ending kept that tone consistently. It’s absurd, certainly, with daring cameos by Liam Neeson and semi-frequent references to Chris Evans.
In this parallel reality, Justin Bieber identifies as bisexual and there was a Black CEO of The Walt Disney Company for a brief period. It’s also surprisingly meaningful and very real.
These three opposing theories hold for Darius but not for Earn, Alfred, or Vanessa. He lives his life as if it were a dream, despite all of the mystery surrounding him. He treads on the edge of what is real and what is not.
It makes sense that he serves as the main point of view for this ethereal farewell. Written by Donald Glover and directed by Hiro Murai, the Atlanta finale primarily follows Darius with sporadic cuts to Earn, Vanessa, and Alfred.
At the sushi restaurant, they are having the worst time ever. But for the most part, Darius remembers the episode. The character discovers a means to wake himself up in the deprivation tank if things get too intense or hazardous, like when Darius meets up with his deceased sibling.
He occasionally sees Judge Judy, which brings back memories of his fantasy world. In other cases, he just screams in terror and snaps back to reality. That is, up to the very final Atlanta scene.
Darius finds himself alone with a Judge Judy show. He keeps staring, hoping that her appearance will change and that this is all just a dream. However, viewers never receive a response.
With a strained smile, Darius’s face turns from Atlanta to Black. Is his smile a result of realizing that this is a dream? Does he have the opposite motive for smiling? The conclusion is ambiguous.
