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As “Atlanta” fans know, time and reality have often felt heightened, if not eerily fluid, throughout its run. That was never more true in the final episode, aptly titled “It Was All a Dream.” The action largely unfolds with Darius experiencing a series of wild dreams while locked in a sensory deprivation tank. The setup indeed leaves the door open to his heroics being just another trick of the mind — which is suiting as Darius has long served as a sort of spiritual guide for the series at large, and has frequently challenged the nature of time and reality himself.
According to Hiro Murai’s comments to Variety, Darius’ understated, but immeasurable impact on the show’s overarching narratives came into sharp focus as he and Donald Glover were eyeing the end of the show. “We didn’t even realize it,” Murai said, “But once we thought about the idea that Darius is our perspective character for the whole world that we’ve created for the last four seasons, it just made sense.”
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Once that realization hit, Murai claims, it became clear the show needed to end with his perspective directly informing the action. “Darius always felt more in sync with the world of ‘Atlanta’ more than any of the other characters,” the filmmaker later added. “Maybe Darius belonged to the show in a way that the other characters didn’t.” And if you’ve ever seen Darius at play in “Atlanta,” you know that read is about as on-point as you can get. Â
