Donald Glover is one of the most creative people working in modern Hollywood, moving between television and film while also being an accomplished stand-up comedian and musician. He’s the creative force behind the Emmy-winning FX series “Atlanta” winding down with the fourth season set to be the final batch of stories. Glover hopes to move on to some of his other projects, and he’s now given even more reason for ending “Atlanta” before it even comes remotely close to jumping the shark.
The show’s forthcoming third season had its SXSW premiere at Paramount Theater in Austin on Saturday, and Glover spoke to Variety, explaining why ending early —“Atlanta” is still very beloved and has never dipped in ratings or critical favor— is a good idea.
“All good things end. It felt like it was time to end,” Glover said this weekend on the red carpet at SXSW. “I don’t like it when people [are] 40 pretending like they’re 15 and shit. It’s annoying.”
While the characters on “Atlanta” are not teenagers and at worst 20-somethings (their ages are undefined, and maybe one could argue they were in their early ‘30s), Glover is approaching 40 (he’s currently 38), and perhaps he feels he’s outgrown these characters, still hustling to find their way in the world and find success (it’s interesting also when you consider that Lakeith Stanfield and Zazie Beetz just turned 30, though Brian Tyree Henry is 39).
“We just wanted to make a black fairytale,” Glover said, describing the shape and tone of this upcoming third season, set in Europe. “I remember sitting in the writers’ room and being like, ‘What do we write about?’ We just wanted to do short stories. Something I would want to watch.”
The latest season will see the principal cast return with Glover as Earn, Brian Tyree Henry as Alfred, Lakeith Stanfield as Darius, and Zazie Beetz as Van. Surely the location of Europe and that fish out of water element will factor into the show’s sense of comedy, absurdism, and surreality.
“It’s a very honest season,” Beetz said to that end. “All of the characters are out of their element, which allows things to rise to the surface that you would otherwise be able to, in habits and in comfort, suppress. And here, you can’t, because you have nothing to catch you. It’s a lot of truth and reflections of where we’re all at as ourselves and as people — as me, as Zazie.”
READ MORE: ‘Atlanta’ To End After Season 4; Both New Seasons To Debut In 2022
A reminder that “Atlanta” returns with season three starting this week, on March 24, and season four is expected to be released later in the year.