The first scene opens with a gunshot, followed up by a few establishing shots of Atlanta, with a rap backdrop, sets the stage of life for a struggling artist in the south.

Atlanta is a relatively new TV series following the lives of two cousins trying to reach stardom to help their families. The show stars Donald Glover as Earl, a Princeton dropout, with a daughter and quite a few problems to deal with, including finding a source of income that pays more than about $90 a month.

The main character, Earl, gets put through a few different scenarios throughout the few episodes I have watched, and it sees a man trying to make it in the rap business. The show includes Vanessa (Zazie Beetz), the mother of Earl’s daughter; Darrius (Keith Stanfield), a friend of Earl’s cousin who is very laid back; and Earl’s cousin Alfred “Paperboy” (Brian Tyree Henry) a up and coming rapper, all of whom did some superb acting.

The show has gotten multiple awards for its first season, and Donald Glover received the Best Actor in a Comedy Series award. After watching the first four episodes, I didn’t really see Atlanta as just a comedy so much as a good show. The story takes advantage of the medium it uses to show us as much as possible by making use of body language and playing music that’s relevant to the mood being portrayed in the scene (which makes sense, considering the fact that one of the show’s creators, Donald Glover, also happens to be a rapper; and there’s a few references to his albums in the backgrounds of a few shots.)

The show flows between funny moments to very serious situations.  Take the entirety of the seventh episode. Deciding to take a chance, the show splits itself from what was expected and played more like a new interview, with the added twist of “Paperboy” being the one interviewed. While being hilariously unapologetic, the show also manages to tackle a very controversial topic.

What I find most interesting in the show is how Donald Glover’s character Earl struggles to try and manage his cousin’s rapping career as well as raise a daughter. All that being done, while basically being broke. The end of the first and only season shows Earl choosing to live in a storage room that he rents, instead of living in the comfort of an apartment with his cousin or with his family. Atlanta kind of shows, how the daily struggles of anyone will lead to something; that everything anyone does, means something.

If you’re into rap or just like a good story with complex stories, Atlanta is the show for you. Atlanta is Rated Mature. I do not recommend this show to anyone uncomfortable with vulgar language. If you didn’t already know, I am a huge fan of this show, and if you still don’t let me sum it up to you. When I finished the only season of Atlanta so far, I felt genuine disappointment because I was left wanting more.

This show isn’t your average comedy, it focuses more on the plot and sprinkles in some great moments as it goes along. Overall, I give the show a 9.5/10. Atlanta is streaming on Hulu. Watch it here

Samuel Misa is a freshman, who enjoys going to school  and working hard. Samuel is originally from Virginia Beach, but born in New York. When he’s not binge watching ‘Atlanta’ for the third time or the Eric Andre Comedy Show, he plays right tackle for the high school football team and his vehicle of choice on Halo is the scorpion tank.