Atlanta's Trippy Finale Draws Comparison to Nolan's Inception

The 41-episode Donald Glover's series revives around music manager Earnest "Earn" Marks, rapper Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles, and their friends, with an eccentric Atlanta hip-hop scene in the background.

In the course of its four seasons, the show proved that nothing was off-limits but has never been interested in explaining all the surreal stuff it featured. However, standalone episodes often not featuring the main cast, random dialogues, unexpected situations, and a dream-like state might have all been explained by the show's finale titled It Was All a Dream.

The finale is shown from the perspective of Earn and Alfred's friend, Darius, who undergoes a sensory deprivation tank session balancing between dream and reality and apparently having no idea which is which. The very last scene shows Darius in an Inception-like situation where he is looking at the detail – Judge Judy's body structure – that can tell whether he is in a dream or the real world, but the viewers never get to learn the truth.

This similarity to Christopher Nolan 's movie left viewers wondering if the entire show had been Darius' dream. The theory first appeared on the r/AtlantaTV Subreddit in the discussion of the series finale.

"This ending couldn't have been more perfect. The ending is meant to show he's happy. No matter which reality he is in. And that's what matters. The real question is, was it just this episode or the whole show? Almost every single episode had some really surreal [stuff] happen. It would only make sense..." the theory read.

This comment made many fans go searching for proof in the show and Darius' past. The commenters noted that though Darius was the most positive and free-spirited character in Atlanta, he had a very troubled background, so remaining in a dream state could be his way to cope with the tragedies of his life.

Besides, fans admitted that the dream theory would explain all the surreal moments happening throughout the show and any random things that Darius said and did.

Darius says in the finale that he's been visiting a sensory deprivation tank weekly, which could mean that every episode of Atlanta is a tank session, with some dreams being closer to reality, and others being deeper and thus crazier.