We’re back with another standalone episode, this one written and directed by Donald Glover. Kevin Samuels, the controversial YouTube personality who recently passed away, makes a guest appearance as Robert S. Lee.

This episode, shot in monochrome, focuses on a white-presenting bi-racial high school senior named Aaron who really wants to go to the same college as his white girlfriend, Kate, and their friends but can’t get in because he can’t afford it and his dad refuses to take out loans. Aaron clearly has identity issues – going as far as to call the Black dudes he online games with “n-gger”.

Aaron (whose dad is Black) grapples with the reality of his financial situation but sees there may be light at the end of the tunnel when Robert S. Lee (not to be confused with “Robert E. Lee”) shows up at his school (named Stonewall Jackson High) and offers to give all the Black students a scholarship. All Aaron has to do is prove he's Black enough and all of his problems will be solved, right!?

Anyway, the kid heads to the auditorium where he auditions for the scholarship, in which he’s required to prove his Blackness through a series of questions like: Name six things you can mix with Hennessy, and questions about classic Black TV shows like 227 and Amen. In the end, he’s rejected because he’s not Black enough. He heads home and is further deflated when his girlfriend breaks up with him because he won’t be going to college, and also has been flirting with a Black dude. 

There, he runs into another student who is also there for the same reason. This student is Nigerian and, just like Aaron, is deemed not Black enough. After Aaron insults him with colorist jokes, the other student gives chase, only to be shot in the head by the police who’ve suddenly arrived at the school. Aaron, of course, is spared.

The Nigerian student survives his headshot wound. When Robert S. Lee rushes to the school to see what’s happening, he is so impressed by the fact that the student was shot by the police (a sign of Blackness, after all) that he awards him a scholarship on the spot. Meanwhile, Aaron watches from the back of the police car, where he's been placed to rest but not arrested.

A year later, we see Aaron has traded his side swoop hair for a fade, which he constantly brushes with a wave brush. He's now working at a local electronics store where he’s flirting with a Black girl. His ex-girlfriend, Kate, makes an appearance, clearly surprised by his transformation.

It ends with Aaron smoothly telling her he’s never been more attracted to her in his life while Loose Ends’ “Hanging On a String” starts playing. Aaron then breaks the fourth wall and smirks at the camera, reminiscent of Michael Jackson in "Thriller."

All in all, Atlanta has felt like two completely different shows this season. While the episodes that focus on the main characters have been winners overall, the anthology episodes have been hit or miss (mostly miss), largely because they’re so heavy-handed and uneven in tone.

At any rate, we have one more episode left, and the previews show that everyone is back (including Van).