History YMMV / Atlanta

* AwardSnub: An example that’s both downplayed, but still noticeable. Despite being one of the most acclaimed programs of the year and garnering an impressive number of nominations, ''Atlanta''’s second season lost every category it was nominated for at the UsefulNotes/EmmyAward's main ceremony, with ''Series/TheMarvelousMrsMaisel'' and ''{{Series/Barry}}'' dominating that year. While both ''Maisel'' and ''Barry'''s wins are very deserving, many fans were disappointed that such an acclaimed season went home empty-handed.

* TakeThatScrappy: If you’re not a fan of Justin Bieber, you’ll likely enjoy seeing an entire episode devoted to mocking him.

** The Plot of “Alligator Man” might have hit harder if Paper Boi had gone to deal with his uncle rather than Earn.

** The Plot of “Alligator Man” might have hit harder if Paper Boi had gone to deal with his u nclerather than Earn.

* VanillaProtagonist: Earn comes across as less interesting compared to the scene-stealing Paper Boi and Darius. Even the show seemed to catch onto this, as Earn winds up becoming noticeably OutOfFocus as season 2 goes on. Interestingly enough, Donald Glover’s most critically acclaimed performance on the show wasn’t even as earn, but as [[spoiler: Teddy Perkins]] in his one-time appearance.

* AcceptableTargets: Music/JustinBieber is portrayed as a complete douchebag who’s unworthy of his fame and gets assaulted by Paper Boi.

** [[ThePhilosopher Darius]]'s bizarre perception of the world (and sometimes rather lax safety standards) can make him seem off putting at first glance, but a few scenes (such as his talk about Bostrom's Simulation with Candice in "Champagne Papi") makes it clear he's a very thoughtful and softspoken soul who enjoys sharing with his thoughts with anyone willing to listen.

* AwardSnub: An example that’s both downplayed, but still noticeable. Despite being one of the most acclaimed programs of the year and garnering an impressive number of nominations, ''Atlanta''’s second season lost every category it was nominated for at the UsefulNotes/EmmyAward'ss main ceremony, with ''Series/TheMarvelousMrsMaisel'' and ''{{Series/Barry}}'' dominating that year. While both ''Maisel'' and ''Barry'''s wins are very deserving, many fans were disappointed that such an acclaimed season went home empty handed.

** "Three Slaps", the opening episode of season 3 is a DreamEpisode about a young boy who acts up in school and eventually ends up with a white lesbian couple as foster parents, who are abusive and after murdering a social worker, eventually drive out into the countryside to commit familicide with the other adoptive kids in tow. While all the children get away safely, said boy returns home to his biological mother with a better outlook on his home life. Sadly the real life murder-suicide of the Hart Family murders in 2018 that served as inspiration for the episode did not end as happily.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Notice how many of the tropes on this page are about Teddy Perkins. He was only in a single episode. He made that big of an impact on the audience with that little time.

** Earn himself. His life has been in a tailspin for years (beginning with [[spoiler:his academic career crashing when a white girl falsely accused him of breaking into her room]], and he's working hard at representing Alfred in the music business with no real experience, resulting in various humiliations for him. A lot of potential sympathy is canceled out by Earn being a selfish asshole who takes Van for granted and blames most of his failures on others.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Priah Ferguson, who you might recognise from Series/StrangerThings, shows up as a little girl in the Season 1 episode "Streets on Lock".

** The Plot of “Alligator Man” night have hit harder if Paper Boi had gone to deal with his father rather than Earn.

* VanillaProtagonist: Earn comes across as less interesting compared to the scene stealing Paper Boi and Darius. Even the show seemed to catch onto this, as Earn winds up becoming noticeably OutOfFocus as season 2 goes on. Interestingly enough, Donald Glover’s most critically acclaimed performance on the show wasn’t even as earn, but as [[spoiler: Teddy Perkins]] in his one time appearance.

** The normally unflappable Darius is left shaken and terrified by his experience with Teddy Perkins, which all amounts to nothing. Kind of hard to not feel bad for him.

* WinBackTheCrowd: Season 3 received mixed reviews from fans and critics, mainly due to its off-kilter anthology storylines, making a lot of the principle cast OutOfFocus, and having the more subtle and nuanced political and social statements be much more explicit and one-sided. The episode ''Rich Wigga Poor Wigga'' was under substantial criticism, as it was received as a poor commentary on racial identity in America. Season 4 was called a return to form for the series, as it went back to its more surreal roots, focused on all of the main characters, and had acclaimed episodes such as ''Crank dat Killer'' and ''The Goof Who Sat by the Door.''

* WinBacktheCrowd: Season 3 received mixed reviews from fans and critics, mainly due to its off-kilter anthology storylines, making a lot of the principle cast OutOfFocus, and having the more subtle and nuanced political and social statements be much more explicit and one-sided. The episode ''Rich Wigga Poor Wigga'' was under substantial criticism, as it was received as a poor commentary on racial identity in America. Season 4 was called a return to form for the series, as it went back to its more surreal roots, focused on all of the main characters, and had acclaimed episodes such as ''Crank dat Killer'' and ''The Goof Who Sat by the Door.''

* TrueArtIsAngsty: A central theme in "Teddy Perkins," as the reason Teddy [[spoiler: intends to kill Darius is because he ''likes'' Darius, and the tragedy will drive Teddy to create great music. Darius, understandably, disagrees.]]
** Thomas Washington, short-lived Disney CEO, apparently believed the same thing. His original plan for ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie'' was to show a dark story of a Black single father traveling in America with his son, which would end with them finding Black activist Huey P. Newton's wicker throne in a thrift store before Goofy is gunned down by a white police officer during a traffic stop. The finished (real) film was "corrupted" by studio interference, resulting in [[spoiler:Washington's suicide.]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The show received some criticism for its portrayal of trans women (the trans inmate in "Streets On Lock" is treated as a male and used as a joke for her ex-boyfriend's GayPanic, and the debate about trans people in "B.A.N" is held between two cisgender characters with no trans perspective). In Season 3, trans female actor Ava Grey co-leads an episode, playing a nuanced character with no jokes about her gender, and has been considered a highlight of the season.

** Thomas Washington, short-lived Disney CEO, apparently believed the same thing. His original plan for ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie'' was to show a dark story of a Black single father traveling in America with his son, which would end with them finding Black activist Huey P. Newton's wicker throne in a thrift store before Goofy is gunned down by a white police officer during a traffic stop. The finished (real) film was "corrupted" by studio interference, resulting in Washington's suicide.