The following article contains spoilers for Atlanta.
Atlanta took several odd turns in its third season, which is why this week's finale is the perfect mix of bizarre, hilarious and clever comedy writing fans of the show have come to expect, all capped off with a concentrated dose of character depth for its protagonist. Overall, “Tarrare” is exactly how one would expect the show’s European tour to finish and great piece of entertainment as well.
The episode sees Donald Glover express his full directing mastery to create scenes that love to pay off the many European films it draws inspiration from, whereas Stefani Robinson’s script gives Van all the spotlight she previously lacked this season with plenty of shock, awe and motive. That it does so with a certain air of mystery and constantly teasing viewers that something might go wrong at any time is precisely what propels it as one of Atlanta’s best episodes this season.
This time Atlanta is off to Paris, where an old familiar face is the one who reintroduces the audience to Van, in this case, it’s Candice who appeared in season 2’s “Champagne Papi” as Van’s more carefree friend, but boy have the tides of fortune turned for these two. Candice is in Paris with her friends Shanice and Xosha when she suddenly runs into Van, who’s pretty much now an Amélie lookalike pretending she doesn't know her friend from back home in a scene that basically invites those watching to accept the entire premise for the next 30 minutes.
It doesn’t take long to get the pétanque ball rolling as Candice and company soon discover Van has setup an entirely new Parisian life for herself here, in which the feigned French accent is the least unusual thing one will hear or see. French language, French job, French apartment, and French boyfriend, but all carefully hiding a perpetually ringing phone with more than a few calls or messages from Earn - overall nothing that a fun scooter ride can’t cure.
The girls then move to a fancy hotel, where the most impressive of Van’s new acquaintances is none other than The Northman himself, Alexander Skarsgård. Candice is equally impressed with Van’s new friend, who gladly gives a hearty performance that sees the actor fully willing to ridicule himself dancing around in a leopard Speedo, exactly the kind of absurd imagery that’s soon to follow for the rest of the ride.
Van is very much like Amélie, an absolute French tour de force, whether she’s setting up Skarsgård for smoking crack or taking her friend to the shadier sides of Paris, she behaves very much like Atlanta’s version of Audrey Tautou in that movie. Jokes are not to be spared as Shanice and Xosha constantly make remarks on exactly why Van is carrying that huge baguette with her at all times, while Candice looks on absolutely perplexed.
It quickly becomes clear Van has fallen with the wrong crowd, though the museum payoff with the baguette is easily one of the episode's best moments in what is already a stellar performance from Zazie Beetz. She is undoubtedly the star of the show, yet Skarsgård’s second appearance at the dinner party actually manages to eclipse his dancing thanks to a very on the nose but nonetheless hilarious self-pleasuring scene, where Van continues to assert her dominance in an event filled with the kind of privilege and debauchery Atlanta often criticizes.
Actors Shanice Castro, Xosha Roquemore, and Adriyan Rae (Candice) also do a fantastic job putting Beetz on center stage without interrupting the flow of the plot, so much that by the time Van’s French chef lover shows up it’s almost a shame the entire Amélie parody is about to come to an end. It’s here where Candice finally confronts her unrecognizable friend, whose French armor is only pierced when she brings up Lottie, who at this point is practically her only remaining tie reality.
Van breaks down, but not without telling Candice how she can also be the one taking control as she’s been doing this entire time, just like Al, Earn and Darius in other Atlanta episodes. The moment is simply the culmination of Van’s entire story arc ever since that German festival in season 2, when she decided to (mostly) end her never-ending cycle with Earn, something her conversation with Candice sums up pretty well along with another bunch of issues she's facing like having trouble finding her place in this world to the point she's put herself at risk.
The final scene featuring Shanice peeing on some well-paying French customer is the cherry on top of what has been a unique season, funny, oftentimes difficult to understand, but always keen to make viewers think. Atlanta’s third season was filmed during the pandemic, an element that could have played its hand in this approach where the main cast only appeared in half the episodes, however, as Glover has said before, each Atlanta season is like a music album, so the Childish Gambino may have something entirely different in store next time around. If anything this Atlanta season speaks highly of his credentials as an art-house director and screenwriter.