Atlanta: Season 3/ Episode 8 “New Jazz” – Recap/ Review

Al joins Darius on a drug trip that eventually leads to a nice lady telling him to mind the people around him.

Title Card - Atlanta Season 3 Episode 8 New Jazz

Al joins Darius on a drug trip that eventually leads to a nice lady telling him to mind the people around him.


Aired (FX) 5/5/2022
Directed By Hiro Murai
Written By Donald Glover
Introduced This Episode
Lorraine Ava Grey
Himself Liam Neeson

This content contains pertinent spoilers.

Recap

It’s Sometimes Best When I Don’t Know – Al, Earn, Darius

Earn knows Darius and Al get into things. They are grown men, Darius has various interests, and with Al often fronting the money for said things, he takes Al exploring. Earn has learned that Darius is into some weird things that often end up bad, so staying out of it is how he keeps his sanity.

Case in point, Darius has found some legitimate, top-tier hallucinagetics validated on Reddit, and he has Al pay for them to get high. But, no sooner than that starts to kick in, Darius abandons Al to go who knows where, and Al is left high, running from tourists, until he sneaks into a strange exhibit.

Lorraine and The Cancel Club – Lorraine, Al, Liam

Liam Neeson saying his famous "Taken" line for Al's entertainment
Liam Neeson

In this strange exhibit, a young lady named Lorraine keeps bugging Al. Clearly, he isn’t interested since she insults his look, job, and just plain him. Yet, with her being one of the few Black people around and him increasingly uncomfortable in the European places he finds himself in, he has no choice but to follow her.

However, she is sort of a mixed bag. On the one hand, Lorraine does push Al to think about where his money is going, who is trying to spend it, and his masters. Yet, on the other hand, she takes him to the Cancel Club, where Liam Neeson is, and he talks about hating Black people for trying to get him cancelled, and it is just wild.

It isn’t clear if this is part of the drug trip, but it seems Lorraine knows how to play men like Al, so when he gets a bit too out of pocket, she uses what she knows to break him down to look like a crackhead.

I Got A Question – Earn, Al

Darius is nowhere to be found after Al spends a day or more high on the streets of Denmark and gets found passed out. But, Earn does find him, cleans him up, puts him to bed, and checks on him. So, one point for Earn, none for Darius.

But then comes a test: Who owns Paper Boi’s masters? Earn negotiated the deal, so did he get them? The answer is yes. So now, two points for Earn, none for Darius, and now if Al ever sees Lorraine again, he has an answer for her smart ass about who owns his masters.

Things To Note

Question(s) Left Unanswered

  1. Was Lorraine real, or did she come from the drugs?

What Could Happen Next

  1. Al reevaluating his friendship with Darius

Review

Highlights

Lorraine With The Wakeup Call

Lorraine (Ava Grey) getting ready to ask Al the real questions
Lorraine (Ava Grey)

When you think about it, Earn has, no pun intended, earned his place as part of Al’s team. He works hard, makes sure Al isn’t looking crazy out here and makes sure he gets his money. Darius? What does he do? He doesn’t have a job and doesn’t seem to be asking for one to earn his keep. He goes about trying to go on adventures for food, drugs, or random experiences, and if you go with him, you better keep an eye on him, or he will wander away from you.

Lorraine, who shares a name with Al’s mom, could have been a hallucination that was meant to wake Al up to what’s going on. She could be the one who pushes Al to ask more questions about this rap thing, about being a celebrity, about the people in his life, rather than just enjoying the moment. And with that, so comes the question of what responses will he get, both in terms of answers and reactions, when Al is less chill about what is going on and instead holds people accountable. Especially Darius.

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