‘Atlanta’ recap: Season 2, Episode 7: The great Drake scavenger hunt

Season 2, Episode 7 | Champagne Papi | April 12

Keeping with the theme of the past two episodes, Atlanta returned with yet another solo excursion. This time giving us the long-awaited Van episode.

The writing was on the wall after she and Earn’s falling out in episode four, and last night’s installment only solidified one truth — getting over someone is hard. The opening scene with Van and her squad (Tami, Candi and Nadine) featured an all-too-familiar conversation about birth control and the disdain for condoms. But it was also the beginning stages of Van’s ultimate plan, and one that has become so customary when attempting to move past a former love interest. “Do it for the ’Gram” is a disease that has infected nearly all of us at some point. And Van had a full-blown case of it.

She’s on Earn’s Instagram stories and instantly plummets into her feelings when she sees him with another woman. From there, the plan is hatched. She’s going to this party hosted by Drake (more on that in a moment), and if nothing else, she’s going to stunt for social media. Not because she necessarily wants to have a good time, but because she wants Earn to see her with Drake. On the surface, it’s a foolproof plan. It’s Drake we’re talking about here. She’s bound to be the muse for one of his future songs, and the last thing Earn would want to hear is Drake singing melodies about meeting Van at his New Year’s Eve party. But on the flip side, it reveals how sadly inauthentic people become on social media.

The Drake house party is exactly how you’d expect a Drake house party to look. From the shuttle in a parking lot taking the girls to the mansion to the one chick forging a Drake invite to wearing footies over shoes so as not to scuff up his marble floors, everything seems to fall into place. Even down to the gummy edibles, which aren’t exclusive only to Drake — every party has edibles if you know the right person to ask — but I’d imagine there’s no shortage at a Drizzy party. From there, the girls split up. All, in their own way, on the hunt for Drake.

Before moving on, let’s give it up one time for the Drake marketing department. Just days after the release of his already smash single “Nice For What” and the simultaneous drop of the superstar-laden video, he now has his own episode on arguably the hottest show on television. As I previously said about Atlanta, nothing Drake does is without careful, meticulous planning. He knew this episode was on the horizon, and it wouldn’t have surprised a soul if “Nice” somehow appeared in the episode.

Nevertheless, the entire experience is a wash — falling in line with a theme of the entire season where the idea of heroes is destroyed. Not Drake himself in particular, but the idea of being around a superstar of that caliber. None of the girls finds Drake. Tami bounces early with her DJ boo to a T-Pain party, which should have been a clear indication Drake wasn’t at his own party. Candi is too caught up on an interracial relationship at the party to care about anything else — but she did give us one of the most hilarious scenes of the season when she cussed out the white girl on the couch. Van, who thank the heavens avoided the creep whose cousin is Drake’s nutritionist, finds out Drake is Hispanic (while actually wearing Drake’s clothes she took out of his closet because, no, that’s not weird at all). She also learns all the pictures from the party with girls posing for selfies with Drake were actually life-size cardboard cutouts. Again, the allure is destroyed, and no number of Instagram filters can change that reality.

However, it’s Nadine, tripping off an edible for the majority of the entire episode, who actually tied the whole thing together. It made sense that she and Darius, who was randomly at the party too, connected on a spiritual level. At a party overflowing with Drake innuendos and shallow conversations, Nadine proved to be Yoda. Perhaps the credit goes to the weed, but she saw through all the nonsense.

"It's a simulation. It's all fake." — Nadine revealing the point of the entire episode. #AtlantaFX

— The Undefeated (@TheUndefeated) April 13, 2018

By far the most fun I’ve had at a party in the past two years was Dave Chappelle’s Juke Joint in New Orleans for NBA All-Star Weekend in 2017. They put your phone in a pouch that can only be unlocked once you leave. The whole point is to omit the dependency we all have to want to be on our phones during a party. We always feel the need to Snap everything or put the “fun” part of our lives on Instagram. It’s superficial. And in the process we forget what we actually come to party for. It’s not even about us having fun. It’s making sure whoever follows us sees we’re having fun. We’re all guilty of it — myself included.

So, yes, Nadine was right. We’re all jaded by a lifestyle that, at best, is fleeting and, at worst, isn’t who we are to begin with. Who says marijuana has no redeeming qualities? Take that, Jeff Sessions.