‘Atlanta’ EP Stephen Glover On The Series’ Legacy And Whether The Final Episode Was All A Dream

10.11.2022 - 07:29 / deadline.com

SPOILER ALERT: The story below reveals plot points fromFX’s Atlanta series finale.

FX’s Atlanta came to a close Wednesday night and, forgoing typical fanfare of a series finale, the episode once again does what Atlanta does best by subverting the idea of what, exactly, a series finale should even be.

Aptly titled “It Was All A Dream,” the episode sees Darius (Lakeith Stanfield) grapple with reality while in a sensory deprivation tank, which eventually calls into question the events of the entire episode. After several outlandish encounters that turn out to be dreams, Darius manages to help Earn (Donald Glover), Al (Brian Tyree Henry), and Van (Zazie Beetz) escape a Black-owned sushi restaurant after the owner tries to hold them hostage.

As the episode wraps, the core characters all share the screen together for the last time, discussing their days — but viewers are left to wonder whether or not any of it actually happened. With another show, the answer might be clear, butas executive producer and writer Stephen Glover told Deadline, “everything has felt so dream-like in Atlanta anyway.”

Glover spoke with Deadline about the legacy of Atlanta, finding the right way to end the series, and why we’ll never know if Darius really was still in that sensory deprivation tank.

DEADLINE: As you approached the finale, how did you determine what would be the right send off for Atlanta?

STEPHEN GLOVER: The idea was like, ‘Let’s just make a fun episode.’ So this came from just a fun idea that we built off of, not trying to bear the weight of like ‘Oh, it’s the last episode. You gotta do something crazy or weird.’ I think we talked about the last episode being like King of the Hill. It’s just a regular episode.

DEADLINE: The series has