11). Champagne Papi
10). Barbershop
9). Money Bag Shawty
8). Sportin Waves
7).Helen
6). Alligator Man
5). Woods
4). North Of The Border
3). Crabs In A Barrel
2). Teddy Perkins
1). FUBU
It was REALLY hard to whittle down the top 3 because i fukking loved damn near every episode of this season. I almost put Alligator Man in the top 3 as i felt it was the absolute PERFECT season opener after such a long hiatus. Kat Williams was perfect, Darius was perfect, Donald wrote the hell out of it. But i couldn’t in good conscience leave Crabs In A Barrel out of the top 3 after that fantastic ending.
I started this post thinking that Teddy Perkins was going to be number 1. It was exquisitely acted, phenomenally written, and expertly shot. A perfect horror mini movie. No flaws.
But FUBU captured something about the black middle school experience that is unmatched in anything i’ve ever seen. With Teddy Perkins you have Get Out as a reference. FUBU is wholly unique in concept and execution. I really felt like I was back at school, petrified that the kids would roast me for rocking Pro Wings when everyone else had Jordans. Mad at my mom for forcing me to wear suits. Crushing on girls who were 100% out of my league.
FUBU is the best episode of Atlanta since BAN. It is a triumph of black expression. An unearthed time capsule that transports us back into a period of our lives where we didn’t quite know who we were, so we tore down those around us in an ultimately selfish quest of self-discovery. To be black in America is to be prey. And in our youthful ignorance we gleefully made one another feel that same sense of ostracism that the world would soon make us face as a reality of, not which designer tag is on our backs, but the color of our very skin