Patience is a virtue. Here is a review of Atlanta‘s Robbin’ Season‘s fifth episode titled Barbershop, directed by Donald Glover and written by Stefani Robinson.
Warning: Spoilers ahead!
Plot Summary
The episode begins with Alfred “Al”/”Paper Boi” Miles sitting on a barber chair as his barber Bibby comes into the shop speaking to someone on a wireless earpiece. Al requests the “usual” haircut, but when Bibby becomes too preoccupied with his phone conversation, Al has him cut the conversation short so he can get his haircut for his magazine photoshoot instead. Bibby shaves off a part of Al’s hair, then stops to show him a video clip of Marcus Miles running over patrons outside of a club (as seen at the end of Episode 108 titled The Club). Bibby receives a call from “Raindrops Peach Emoji,” and proceeds to leave the shop. Al tags along in order to get his haircut finished.
Al and Bibby arrive at RPE’s home, where Bibby blames his being late on Al. Bibby cuts RPE’s son’s hair, much to Al’s dismay.
The two then grab a quick bite before heading back to the shop, but, as it turns out, Al discovers they are getting lunch at a construction site and the food is another person’s leftovers. Bibby uses Al to steal some lumber. A property owner arrives as they load the wood onto the bed of Bibby’s truck, and the owner threatens to call the authorities. Bibby and Al leave the site, the latter cautious because he is still on probation.
On the way back to the shop, Bibby spots his truant son Lamar hanging around and skipping school with his friends. Bibby chases him down, and Al educates the kids about how takes he is a normal human being. Bibby has his son ride with him and Al in the truck.
Driving back to the shop, a talkative Bibby loses focus on the road and gets into an accident. The three are screwed: Alfred is on probation; Bibby has a number of warrants on him; Lamar does not have a driver’s license. The three drive away from the scene and make it back to the shop.
Now having lost all patience, Al finally gets a haircut and almost leaves without paying Bibby.
In the epilogue, Al comes back to the shop on another day and gets a haircut from another barber. He realizes he does not know barber jargon, then watches Bibby giving another patron a haircut.
Discussion
This episode of Atlanta pokes fun at how long it takes to get a haircut. It shows an exaggeration of how people wait and spend their time in situations such as this.
Bibby pokes fun at Keanu, a film about a cat that was produced and starred by the iconic comedic duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele.
Al reiterates that despite his life as a local rapper, he is still a regular person who “shits, eats, and brush [his] teeth.” The important thing learned is that we must treat each other equally no matter how we are perceived.
Overall, Barbershop shows the gravity of patience and how it plays out in situations (in this case, a barber shop setting).
What did you think? What was your favorite part of the episode? Let me know! For more Donald Glover and Atlanta–related news and reviews, stay tuned for more articles. If you like my writing, check out my works with Geek Motivation. They’re pretty dope. You can find also them on Twitter (@GeekMotivation) and Instagram (@geekmotivation).
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