ATLANTA actor BRYAN TYREE HENRY in SEA. 3, EP. 8
culture

'Atlanta' S3E8 "New Jazz" Recap

'Atlanta' S3E8 "New Jazz" Recap

Published Fri, May 6, 2022 at 12:00 PM EDT

Al takes a psychedelic trip in Amsterdam where he runs into Liam Neeson.

We’re back in Amsterdam for what's turning out to be an incredibly long tour for Paperboi, also known as Al. Darius and Al have decided their day will consist of eating a "Nepalese Space Cake,” which is probably laced with Nepalese hallucinogenic honey, though nobody knows for sure what's in it, while Earn thoughtfully purchases them a trip to the day spa for afterwards.

Al (who’s rocking a groovy purple hat that Darius compliments) and Darius head to get the cake after Darius artfully dodges splitting the bill at the cafe where they all met up earlier. On the way there, Al sees a person wearing a 'Goofy' hat, lying in an alleyway, moaning and shaking. Darius waves him off before he can investigate further, telling him to come on so they can get their cake. When they arrive at the space cake/coffee spot, Darius is told he doesn’t have enough money for that either. “I’ll just let fate take care of it,” he concludes, closing his eyes and seeming to meditate on the spot as Al rolls his eyes from behind, before begrudgingly offering to pay for it. Seriously, Darius? Since when has he been this obnoxious?

After they eat the cake, Darius provides Al with a soundtrack for his trip, Stereolab's "The Flower Called Nowhere." It isn’t long before he accidentally loses Darius (after having a creepy run-in with a dead rat on the street) who’s trying to lead them to the spa, which means he's now running around Amsterdam with no security. Lo and behold, a group of nihilistic teens spot him, thanks to his groovy purple hat, and promptly begin following him in an ASAP Rocky style. Al dodges them by dipping into a dark building, watching through the cracked door as the teens lose interest in chasing him and proceed to grab a woman’s baby from a stroller and play catch with it.

Al hears a woman crying in the building and turns to console her, only to be shushed by her when he asks what’s going on. She’s actually in a play of some sort, and it turns out he’s wandered into some elaborate museum where he promptly runs into a woman named Lorraine.

Lorraine isn't impressed by his status as a rapper; in fact, she hates rappers.

She calls his hat stupid and says that his friends aren’t really his friends because they never told him his hat was stupid. She then tells him to take it off and gives him a literal Goofy hat to wear instead, telling him to “become what you fear.” The hat also helps him blend in with the other Goofies who’ve been spotted around town throughout the episode.

“You have no clue where your money is,” she says. She also claims he’s pretty dumb because he doesn’t even know who owns his masters.

But she seems to take a liking to him, and despite being insulted by her, Al seems content to follow her around and listen to her strange whispers of philosophical advice: “Everybody is nobody, but are you a nobody to everyone?” After Al wonders why he should even trust her, given that all she does is insult him, she tells him “she’s all he’s got.”

Lorraine leads him on a trippy adventure, where day turns to night and back to morning in mere minutes. Al encounters the actual Liam Neeson at a bar named “Cancel Club,” where Neeson recounts his real-life scandal. He then tells Al (who, of course, loves his movie "Taken") that he doesn't like Black people because they tried to ruin his career. Al retorts, “Didn’t you learn you’re not supposed to say that kind of stuff?” To which Neeson replies, “Aye, but I also learned the best and worst parts about being white: you never have to learn anything if you don’t want to.” Message!

As Lorraine continues to share revelations with Al that force him to reflect on the people in his life, he eventually finds himself collapsed on the street. In a surreal twist, it appears the Goofy person Al saw earlier was actually him.

ATLANTA actors (L-R)  INDY SULLIVAN GROUDIS and CHRISTINA BENNETT LIND in Season Three, Episode Seven

'Atlanta' S3E7 "Trini 2 De Bone" Recap

Apr 29, 2022

ATLANTA actor BRIAN TYREE HENRY

'Atlanta' S3E6 "White Fashion" Recap

Apr 22, 2022

ATLANTA actors (L-R) DONALD GLOVER, BRIAN TYREE HENRY and LAKEITH STANFIELD

'Atlanta' S3E5 "Cancer Attack" Recap

Apr 15, 2022

Al wakes up in bed, disoriented, but Earn is there to tell him that he found him on the street and brought him back to the hotel. A foggy Al’s trippy experience still lingers, and he asks about Lorraine. “Your mom?” Earn asks, confused. Al then poses another question: Who owns his masters? After a brief pause, Earn says Al does, and then exits the room.

The cyclical episode leaves much to ponder. Does Al truly own his masters? Was Earn genuinely savvy enough to negotiate that kind of deal for him, given his limited experience in the music business? We know Al has been grappling with his identity all season, as brilliantly depicted in a previous episode titled “Cancer Attack” (where Liam Neeson’s name first comes up in a comedic context). Is he perhaps spiraling inwardly?

At any rate, we'll see where Al’s journey to self lands him in these last couple of episodes.

What's new