Wiley was a supernatural entity, a personification of Paper Boi's core insecurity about being seen and accepted for who he really is, beyond his thug persona. The old man in the woods from Season 2 was a personification of Paper Boi's fears of embracing success. That old man was also named Wiley.
How did u find out his name I don't remember them ever saying his name edit: the guy in the woods doesn't even show up in the casting. He's completely un named edit 2: he does say "let old wally help you out" but my subs could be wrong
The whole bit about Socks going apeshit on Wiley over the phone is a play on the whole “the person who stole your shit will be looking for it the hardest to not look guilty.” The gang should’ve known better imo.
My thoughts too. I'm not even super into sleuthing, but from the jump, I thought "why is nobody checking with this rando who has just attached himself to the group and is taking a disproportionate role in how things are moving!?"
In this beginning of this episode, Darius tries to tell Al that he’s seen a ghost before… Al says “That wasn’t a ghost, that was your reflection”… THIS KID REPRESENTS AL… That’s why he gave Al’s same phone number when they asked what his number was! … and the kid said they were born on the same day
I got an outlandish theory about Wiley. What if he isn't real and instead is a reflection of Al's problems with fame and his career. At the start of the episode, we see Al wanting to make small talk with Earn, as he use to in the early days of his career. But now that Earn is a good manager and Al is a successful rapper, they never have a chance to chop it up as cousins. In the interrogation room, we hear that Al didn’t want to become a rapper and its too late to do anything else. I noticed that Al was greatly touched by the lyrics in Wiley's song. Some noteworthy ones, "you were my mirror, my best friend," and "I never needed less, because I don’t need more." Could it be that Al was thinking about how his relationship with Earn diluted to "only business" as his success grew and he wants things to go back to the old ways? Also, it seemed really odd that Wiley talked in omens or weird proverbs. Some problems with my theory though. Wiley is acknowledged by Earn, Darius, Socks, Al, and the venue owner. I could see maybe it stretching to Earn because Wiley also digs into Earns insecurities with not being black enough. But, I am not sure how Darius, Socks, and the venue guy could also see an imaginary character. Maybe those scenes with Al and Earn in the room are just in their imagination, but the rest of the interactions were real? I just can't see how Wiley knew so much about Al without having the phone, unless all those conversations between Wiley and Al were all in his imagination. One last thing, I really liked how this episode started out as a typical episode with each character starting their own adventure. Al hunting for his phone, Earn dealing with his personal problems with the venue and Van, and Darius going on a side-quest adventure. They set up all that in the episode only to throw it out for a super-introspective episode about Al's problems with success. I was really expecting to see Darius go easter-egg hunting in that building to eventually find the phone in one of the hidden rooms. TLDR; I need to get a job or some bitches
I love this shit. I also noticed that Mirror line in Wiley's Song and Al calling out Darius "That was just your reflection!" when Darius said he saw a ghost. I was also expecting a Darius Easter Egg Hunt where he finds Al's phone or something. FUCK SOCKS
Anybody else feel like Atlanta is Donald Glover’s version of “Black Mirror?” I also recently did a deep dive on “Afro-Surrealist Art” and found it fascinating. It makes watching this show even more interesting than it already was.
I feel like the whole venue was in on the gaslighting on Al. I find it odd also that the Uncle didn’t have his nephew phone number when Earn asked for it, but Weily was able to txt him for that guitar on a phone that he pulled outta nowhere? 🤔
@@stl_cooley8007 weily probably doesn’t mean any harm he’s probably mentally ill and a pathological liar because the guy named socks actually stole the phone as we see at the end of episode then he throws it away in a trash can probably because he was scared of being caught with the phone on the tour bus, also his thought process could be man this guy is a rich rapper he could buy another phone also I don’t think socks knew he had songs on the phone, socks is probably poor and didn’t have a iPhone or something
Could not help but recognize the visual of the origami paper crane placed on top of the can of Coca-Cola by Wiley. Paper cranes in Japanese culture have represented a strong symbol of success and good fortune, something that Al and the gang may have come across recently due to Al. By placing this paper crane on top of the Coca-Cola can, a company which literally has its headquarters based in Atlanta, the small gesture seems like a subtle nod to Al's newfound success and his roots to his hometown.
Just wanted to point out that Earn tells Al he's dehydrated before the performance and I figure that ties in with the whole water theme you pointed out previously. Great content my guy.
I have two thoughts on the primary devices that lead the narrative of this episode: On initial viewing, I saw a dichotomy between Socks and Wiley as far as fans of music or artists. Wiley, while eccentric, awkward, and at times purposefully aloof, has no ill motivations for Al. I really don't think there's merit to him being something fantastical within the story, like a ghost or dream. I think through the surrealist lens that Atlanta thrives in, having Wiley knowing basically everything about Al's best kept secrets is just a hyperbolic way of presenting him as a diehard fan of Paperboi, who knows every detail about an artist they love. Kind of similar to how Nardwuar interviews artists and will pull up facts that no one would know about. Wiley doesn't know any of this or use any of this knowledge to his advantage or his own clout. He just cares about Paperboi and his music. I think he's truly sincere about his affection for The Postal Mixtape, and have a lot of the same motivations and hardships linked to their lives. If you listen to the song he sings, its a direct response to Al's monologue about not having place, and basically being stuck in limbo between two sides of himself: The one that is good at being a rapper, and the one that doesn't want to be. I think Al realizes this when he starts to let his guard down when the song plays. After that, Wiley thanks Paperboi and leaves, basically just being happy to have a moment with an artist he idolizes. Not wanting any sort of fame, photo ops, etc. Meanwhile Socks represents the type of fan that wants to gain from his connection to an artist in terms of exposure and/or clout. We've seen already that a lot of his feelings on racism in episode 3 are basically just virtue signaling when he almost says the slur. I felt like him stealing the phone had a lot to do with how artists will have their music leaked by fans, or artists who've died will have postmortem albums released after death without permission. Basically just clout chasers who want to separate themselves from the other fans of an artist by doing something memorable. My second thought, is that Wiley is thematically being represented as a Bard, or minstrel in ancient literature and fantasy literature. Basically a musician / poet that function as an extension of a protagonist or main plot to deliver exposition to a story or deliver wisdom / knowledge / inspiration to a character. Much of their music is used as the voice of reason, or used to de-escalate stressful situations. Like how Wiley was able to de-escalate his situation while also delivering a song that I think truly spoke to Al's soul and thoughts on his own life up to that point. They can also commonly be magicians, cheaters, crooks, sneaks, jesters etc. Which aligns with Wiley's aloof and purposefully riddling responses. Basically nail on the head for the character.
totally agree on Wiley just representing a super diehard fan. certain type of fans would know paperbois phone number and the vehicle he drove in high school. Not entirely sure of the song Al says never released and was only on his phone, but could just be leaks like maybe that song was from a time before Darius told Al to not back his storage to the cloud.
This my theory Wiley is his inner “white boy”. Like everyone’s theories in the comments are spot on also but simply put, he’s the inner “white” side of us that our community weeds out as we grow up in order to be accepted by the rest of people that look like us, that inner child with fantasies and aspirations that a lot of others would consider “white”. That’s why he pointed out Earn’s “white” voice and resonated with it. I also would like to believe this is the same melody that Al himself sung on at the harbor while alone. That’s why he doesn’t say anything and his face looks equally scared but also at ease and comforted. Shit it could’ve been the same exact song, because like Wiley said earlier, he felt the same. Not similar, not relating, but, the same. AND THE SOCKS IS THE REPRESENTATION OF HOW THE WHITE COMMUNITY STEALS THAT INNOCENCE FROM US IN ORDER TO KEEP TO THE “tour life” and other superficial hip-hop/rap things that rappers stick to. Because notice how everyone else throughout the episode all have their own aspirations that don’t even relate to the performance, but they gotta do that show bc it’s work. But that work further us from our true self, our inner white kid lol I think Socks represents how the black culture just accepts and coexist with hypocritical white guilt/community even though we can all acknowledge amongst ourselves that “that nigga trippin” however, we’re all dealing with our own realities and issues that none of ever actually address it or question why they’re even with us or their motives but the constant brushing off is the probably. Rather than coming together and either questioning Socks unreasonable behavior or even just simply telling him to leave. Because compared to the rest of the group. Socks had no real purpose of being their nor did he have anything to do, he wanted to go the strip club and they all rejected that idea because they unanimously thought it was a waste of time and money. It was the only thing the group agreed and laughed at through the episode aside from trying to look for Al’s phone. But they only did that because it affected them as a whole because it impended their work. Wiley’s “I hope you find your phone” can be seen as, I hope you find that golden piece of solace that allows you connect with your true inner self. That melody that can be so fleeting because we all run on company time rather than colored people time. We have no time for ourselves or each other. But notice how at the end Socks gets away with it and forgiven and even throws away the phone. Many of us don’t ever get to find our phones again because the show must go on. Donald is fricking genius!
There's a lot going on in every episode of Atlanta, and this one is no exception. It will take multiple watches to really get all the nuance, but here's at least one thing I take away from this episode on the first watch. Wiley and Socks are opposites. So much of the episode is misdirection and a lot of the most consequential misdirection relates to the differences between them. People who genuinely understand what it's like to be "othered" may appear different from what you expect. Wiley has a meaningful connection with Al's music because of shared experiences of the world that no-one would have anticipated, yet they consider him to be the most suspicious because of his strange manner and how circumstantial evidence may point toward him. The show mentions he was in a juvenile facility at some point, and I wonder if that may relate to his anticipation of Earn and Al's good cop/bad cop routine. In the end, I really hope Wiley sharing his song with Al helps to inspire him. I'm not sure if our main characters are supposed to take from this experience that Socks is the cancer attacking the group, but it seems like the audience is. Wiley may or may not be a ghost, I'm not sure how much that actually matters. It seems as though he would be a bit of a ghost, alive or dead. Socks pretends to care about the voices of black people and black artists, but in reality he cares so little about them that he literally throws Al's phone (containing his art) away when things don't go as he wanted. He clearly saw Wiley, another person who is actually othered by society, as easy to pin a crime on for clout. Socks is self-centered, he doesn't actually "see" any of them and he doesn't care to. He lacks the capacity to meaningfully connect with them. also I thought that asshole had the phone from the beginning, what a shit head.
You’re one of the best Atlanta breakdown channels on here with your consistency episode after episode. Amazing catch on that Batman reference, definitely feels that way now
I think socks is the super natural entity he’s the ghost and he’s the personification of white guilt constantly trying to fit in and help but secretly being the not caring or just putting on a facade to sabotage just like the theme of the first episode
Exactly how we got introduced to his character too, perfectly said and even at the end of E3, basically lead a witch-hunt to destroy the chick, even tho she did racially profile Darius
@@neca4604 right, he new to the gang so he might not understand that the slight digs they take at eachother is apart of the trios bonding process, and Socks def proly took it personal l
Socks bout to ass beat by season end huh? What's he up to? In a way it's karma for what Earn did at the end of last season with the gun at the airport and it's affecting Paper Boi. I asked about this on Twitter. And this next little theory, I found on Twitter. It's interesting... What Wiley is saying is probably the thoughts of Socks. He wants to be seen....and a part of a group. Socks keeps disappearing during the interrogation. Earn tells Folks that he doesn't even know his nephew...and the kicker is...they don't know Socks.
So i couldn’t help but fish for some info on April 28th since you said you’d found nothing. Apparently it’s the international Worker’s Memorial Day to encourage remembrance of workers killed, disabled, injured or made unwell by their work. This COULD be a reference to Al’s connection to Wiley as the part of himself he has lost in pursuit of work opportunity. The theme of the season being ghosts we can no longer ignore, I believe Wiley is a ghost of Al. Work has injured him emotionally and spiritually.
With the security guard, I also noticed that right after he checks Earn, Wiley waltzes right by him without him so much as looking up. Also, with Earn being distant with Al, it think it very much ties into Al's character arc with his fame. In the beginning, he was constantly hounding Earn for not being a better a better manager. Now Earn is basically the perfect manager, but distant. He's no longer someone Al can connect to and is all about business. I think it ties wonderfully into Al not really wanting the life he wound up with it.
In the context of afro-surrealism, the world the main characters live in is off, strange, and sometimes supernatural. The main characters share the same real-life sentiments as the viewers and notice these oddities and strange occurrences. Whenever they acknowledge the strange things happening around them, the world responds and their attention is diverted or their concerns are ignored. Wiley was just a random, weird super fan, who didn't steal the phone. The cell number, the name of the ex, the birthday, even the melody of the song he played were all coincidence. Like the dude said below, Wiley is also a reflection of Al's insecurities, but he is also the world's supernatural attempt at misdirecting the main characters from Socks. Socks was the last person in the room with the phone, and most likely the one who took it.
I think everybody of our main cast is going to or will have met some form of reflection of themself, a doppelganger if you will. Wiley clearly seems to be the reflection of Alfred. White Earnest from the boat scene is the one for Earn and the both of them might happen to meet at some point during this season. Darius has met a ghost this episode which was supposed to have been his reflection. As for Van, this is probably a stretch but maybe her meeting with 2Pac and seeing him being suffocated reflects her own suffocating life being a single black mother. We know she seemed to be struggling with things.
Darius already met his doppelganger the dude that sits down and chats with him at the party when the mob of people went after that lady and they talk about about Coke and Pepsi and how if Coca-Cola is being sold there's probably racist stuff going down and Pepsi isn't racist...and in this episode Wiley is giving a Coke...I think the "dreams" aren't dreams but a glimpse at the change that's happening in Atlanta while the crew is touring... I think that the white Earn is connected back to the crew maybe he always one of them restitutions... Maybe the finale is both a flashback and flash Forward episode...Where the two earns meet and discuss what happens earn leaves him there to drink alone for heading back up to his hotel room... He hears The gunshot goes to the window and sees the dude face down in a pool which is what triggers him to have the nightmare in the first place... Flash Forward is them returning home each one visually changed by the experience that they've shared for better or for worse I think that Al is going to hit Illuminati statues and the City of Atlanta is going to have striving black owned businesses and Montague I'm willing to bet anything that that show is going to get a bump in production value come next season or possibly this season if we see a glimpse of it...Earn should have taken that bite of the Nutella sandwich from episode 1... Now it's coming back to bite him
you need to watch this again because its not a man he hears singing its his own inner voice .If you watch with subtitles on you will see it .Atlanta is a show where you have you need to almost watch every frame and listen to every syllable.No time is ever wasted on this show
Your commentary is mind blowing. I’ve been watching this show since 2016. This is my favorite season yet and your commentary is the most enlightened I’ve seen. Just wow. I happily subscribed.
3:30 scene is so good because earn clocks it. his next line talking to someone else was something along the lines of « make sure that guy checks everyone. i don’t want people just walking in and out. »
Wiley's the ghost that Darius was trynna explore in the beginning of the episode. He was too caught up in finding the adventure, when he was already in one..
"Socks" represents individuals whom associate with high - profile individuals as 'a friend' yet wishes to destroy them in twisted pleasure and jealousy. This same exact thing has happened to a young English Soccer ⚽ Player whom was going to be the next big thing yet had his career destroyed by alcohol and partying due to his crew. Always be aware of people around you regardless of your status that's the moral of this entire episode.
NNY, I love what you are doing with this series. It has deepened my appreciation for the show. @13:44 you paraphrase Wiley as saying he could not empathize with Al. I think you got that wrong. What he said was "When I heard the Postal Mix tape, I felt the same. I didn't empathize. I didn't sympathize. I felt.... the same". In other words, sympathy and empathy are merely adjacent to a truly shared feeling, and that his experience of hearing the tape was not merely adjacent, but truly the same. A way to emphasize the real depth of their shared connection. Yes?
White Earnest is only in the "dream" eps. Wiley is a reflection of paperboi, the age, girlfriend, wanting to actually be seen that all Al also. The song wiley played gave al the same feel wiley had when her heard paperboi mixtape the lyric said it all, seeing paperboi in the greenroom alone then hearing a song about the other side and how he doesnt want more hit me
@@olwethumkhize2438 not a literal reflection genius. Look at it like this paperboi is a rapper and alot of times fans identify with artist thru their music. Kinda like Socks right how he's talkin about being plugged in and being on mob shit, but wiley said when he heard the mixtape he didnt empathized he felt the same. Him and Al actually feel them same, he saw al as a person and not just paperboi
Great video! I really look forward to these videos after watching the show! Also I have a friend that socks reminded me of, kinda funny actually right down to the weird racial mishaps 🤣
Soccs took the phone to create a supply and demand scenario to solidify his usefulness to the crew, which is why he was so amped up to get in the interrogation. He was most likely gonna “find” the phone on Wiley and “save the day”
Damn they must have intentionally put those Batman elements into this episode; I didn’t notice any of that when watching the episode. Your videos are a gift to all of us rabid Atlanta fans! 🙏🏾
@@ajb66658 When Earn texted Van he was asking if she was good because it had been six days since he'd seen her. Which was when they ran out and left her at Fernando's.
I was shocked to hear this channel only has 2000 subs. Guess I never looked at the sub count. I've watched a couple of videos and the content quality is really, really good. This channel will have a ton of growth :)
Thank you!! I'ma do the other seasons at some point after I try some other stuff out. I just don't want this channel to be only Atlanta videos. Let me know what other reviews you would like to see of up coming content. Preferably something new we can all watch together as it's coming out week by week you know?
I think the name "cancer attack" might be a play on the plot of this episode. Wiley was an inside threat that caused problems for the whole group. The whole group represents a body and Wiley is the cancer, An inside threat to the body basically. He attacked the group by stealing the phone, there for being a cancer attack.
I also peeped that when Earn is doing his check for the concert, and gets stopped by security, after security let's him go through, you see wiley walk right pass and security didn't stop him
I wouldn't put it past the writing team to make Wiley more like a living ghost. Some one who wants to be seen but isn't by people around him. His uncle thinks he is 19, the security doesn't even notice him (both when he enters the back stage, and when he gets up on stage, which if you pay attention is something Earn specifically goes over with the stage crew pre-show), and whats even weirder is that the guys call him to get him to come back, but then ask for his number when interrogating him. Anyway, this really gave me a weird Nujabes and J Dilla vibes. 2 people born at a similar time exploring similar passions with a lot of coincidences between them as people. I think the idea was that in a weird way Paper Boi and Wiley were just kindred spirits, and Paper Boi realized that after Wiley sang him the song, that he knew he was telling the truth. Mostly because they were two similar people who ended up taking different paths in life, I mean Wiley was a really good singer. I have some other thoughts but those were the ones that mostly came to mind. Also notice how much tech trouble they get in because they refuse to use anything that would help them like a cloud lol.
Just wanted to say you've done a great job with these analysis videos. Each one has been thoroughly entertaining and I look forward to the rest. ALSO Wiley and Al's birthday is April 28th, which happens to be the the seventh episodes premiere date, which could be the final "dream" episode?? just thought that was interesting, would love to hear your thoughts!
Paper Boi is coming to grips with himself. Wiley knows Al’s his inner secrets because Wiley (and Earn and Darius and Socks) are all Paper Boys inner thoughts/Personality. Watch it all again. Darius wants to have fun Earn is all about business Socks is the new, reckless, cultural appropriation. Wiley is… a mirror… None of them truly exist.
Hey! I really do like these videos you keep putting out. You have serious potential. One small thing. The episode took place in Budapest, Hungary and not Prague. All signs and background chatter are in Hungarian, I think Wiley even mentioned Budapest during the interrogation. Keep up the good work. ✌️
Wiley’s name derives from the word wily. Wily is defined as skilled at gaining an advantage, especially deceitfully. Cunning, tricky , artful , slick, sly ……sounds exactly like Wiley
Sox character could be symbolic of bad Karma following the guys. They Did cause a few problems along the way. ( Earn put the gun in dude bag last season at the airport, Fernando tree, etc) Everyone Sox encounters has bad luck. From Darius, the fiancé of the investor, Al. Sox is unpredictable and uncontrollable like karma. And he follows them like karma, they can’t shake him. They not even trying as if they know they can’t control karma(Sox). Van knows bad karma is following them so she’s absent intentionally maybe until they began to live in the moment like she suggested. They are too busy to realize what’s happening. Van is on a spiritual journey so she’s more in tune to vibes and got the hell away while Sox is around
@@j.c9837 Sucks that we are only getting one more season but maybe its for the best. Id rather have a short A1 series than a long one that becomes mid.
Poor Darius! The entire episode Darius has been pining to unroll his blueprints and go on a hunt for these hidden rooms the building. As the episode progressed, I felt more and more sure that would somehow tie into the missing phone. I was getting Phantom of the Opera Vibes from Wiley, and was waiting for the gang to discover that Wiley had been squatting in one of these hidden rooms for the last decades, unbeknownst to anyone, lost to the world, stealing souvenirs from all the passing performers, maybe even killing the odd stagehand but arranging it to look like an accident. After all, Darius even says the venue “is, like, haunted” with “a lot of creepy unexplained events.” Wiley, with his almost ghost-like or mouse-like appearance and demeanour seemed to be the perfect explanation, haunting the venue from behind some false walls. And Darius keeps bring-up the blueprints, at key moments when everyone is looking for the phone, insisting they pay attention to him, and if they would only look at the blueprints... But again: alas no. That plot potential of Darius’s blueprints, and his hidden rooms, is left unexplored, and Darius is left playing “devastated cop.”
Liam Neeson was talking about how hate can consume you. He was being honest and open. I don't think he would talk about it if he truly still felt that way
I think Wiley was a weird superfan who was potentially literally following the tour - I think Socks just took advantage of that situation bc he's a shithead and he got offended when Al and Darius said the strip clubs sucked and did the accents lmao
i don't have any interpretation on the meaning yet but i was watching old atlanta clips and realised theres a connection with the theme of ghosts this season. In the Juneteenth episode in season 1 craig's poem is all about jim crowe being a ghost that is haunting him.
This episode was great. It shows that no matter where The Gang is, be it Atlanta, Budapest or London some BS is bound to go down. Hope we get another Van episode this season
Per Batman reference, Socks gets rid of Paper Boi's phone to keep him from blowing up. As in the movie Joker sneaks a bomb disguised as a phone into the prison to aid in his escape.
Regarding the date April 28th, the next week's episode will air on that date on FX. Something I just noticed when you brought that up so I guess we can wait and see if that episode will have any connection to this one.
Adored this analysis tbh. It's now my favorite episode of the entire show because of the interrogation scene. I think the show was coding Wiley as on the spectrum - the way he talks to the gang and also the "part of the team" quote has me feeling that he's trying to find common ground with the gang and try to help them. The encounter gets more emotionally surreal when he sings the song. He couldn't empathize with the Postal Mixtape, but can relate to Al's fear of losing his artistic voice. I don't know if it's the melody that Al heard on the docs or not, but since he gave Wiley something to keep moving forward, he wants to do the same for Al. I feel Al has been disconnected this season and not himself. In season 2 he kept saying he wanted to "keep it real", and I wonder if his level of fame had been making him more distant from his actual self. Then when Wiley exits after his song he just sits there - speechless. This is possibly a turning point for Al in the search for his artistic voice as he's givin an emotionally surreal experience that's quite possibly going to stay with him forever. On the rewatch the song made me cry. It's such a beautiful moment and I think my new favorite scene of the show. Hats off to the Batman connection too - honestly don't think it's a reach at all. Love your vids.
You saying that E deleted himself has me crying. But I’m curious as to why they let Socks stay around, and how they’re comfortable enough to not have considered him a culprit. I kind of feel that Wylie was some sort of alternate reality Al, that’s why they had things in common. Also, are you going to make a separate video about Van?
fun fact: the venue in Milwaukee they are talking about, The Rave, is actually haunted by a few ghosts. thought that was really cool. I hope they do an episode or a flashback there. That building is a pretty sweet location.
This series is pretty great. Each episode is simultaneously humorous and ominous; you never know what will happen next- lighthearted comedy or real-world horror. Regarding Socks (not “Sox”): Dude is a problem. He’s like an avatar of misfortune and an agent of chaos. The sooner they cut him loose, the better (although I fear it might already be too late).
