'Alfred Miles' (Brian Tyree Henry) is a new hot rapper trying to understand the line between real life and street life. 'Darius' (Lakeith Lee Stanfield) is Alfred's right-hand man and visionary. 'Van' (Zazie Beetz) is Earn's best friend and the mother of Earn's daughter.
While Donald Glover is the creative genius behind Atlanta, and the series' aesthetic owes much to frequent director Hiro Murai, Brian Tyree Henry is the show's MVP.
I think that's part of the writing's genius. Just when you get sick of Earn, he's absent. Just when Van's absence becomes distracting, here she come (in lederhosen).
It's a familiar structure for Atlanta, the circular Odyssey. It's also a great showcase for Henry, who says so much with his weary expression, a not-unamused exhaustion suggesting he already knows how all the stories end.
Powell has the talented tempo of Chris Tucker on his best days, the hustling charisma of Bernie Mac at his scoundreliest, and the wild desperation of Charlie Day's It's Always Sunny character.
"Barbershop" is an underwhelming episode...The problem is the writing, which isn't bad, but pushes the scenario too hard and not hard enough at the same time.
The title of this episode is "Barbershop," which may evoke the movies of the same title. But it's absolutely nothing like those films at all. There is no punchy give and take among the barbers and regulars, no trash talking, no political debates.
