So its fascinating just how distant theAtlantacreator has felt inRobbin Season.
He directedthe droll Barbershop episode, and was never on screen.
Is Glover hiding himself in the spotlight?
Credit: Curtis Baker/FX
When weve actually seen Earn, his lifes been rough.
Glovers performance had trended recessive, inward-crawling.
The second-to-last episode ofRobbin Season, FUBU, is about Earn.
Glover directed the episode but, once again, never appears on screen.
Instead, its a flashback that doubles as a kind of Earn-and-Al origin story.
Young Earn (Alkoya Brunson) is shopping with his mom (Myra Lucretia Taylor) at Marshalls.
Earn spots a yellow FUBU shirt on the bargain rack and begs his mom to buy it.
At school, Earns shirt makes a big statement.
Other boys give props.
Some girls notice him, maybe for the first time.
This FUBU shirt could make his name or break it.
A kid named Devin (Myles Truitt) has an almost identical shirt.
Strong emphasis onalmost: Devins shirt has more stripes, and an important-looking FUBU patch.
From there, FUBU is a ticking-clock episode, countdown to revelation.
We figure out quick that Earns probably got the fake shirt, its coming undone in the armpit.
Plus, bargain rack at Marshalls?
The episode was written by Stephen Glover, who layers Young Earns journey with grace notes and hilarity.
Theres a long scene, mid-science class, where a girl keeps passing Earn notes.
The first one is sweet, nostalgia-soaked: Do You Like Erica, Yes/No?
The second is playful, plot-furthering: Is your shirt fake, Yes/No.
The final note is tense, and hilarious: Are you sure?
Cuz Erica dont like brokeass ns.
Elsewhere in school, young Al (Abraham Clinkscales) struts through school.
Called to the principals office, he talks his way out of an accusation of calculator theft.
During lunch break, we see him going through schoolmates lockers, grabbing aRush Hoursoundtrack album.
Hes cool, it’s possible for you to tell.
And he tries to give Earn some helpful advice.
People give a shot to come at you, justdenyit, he tells his cousin.
Confidence is the key, aight?
This is the Earn-Al dynamic in utero.
The other kids accept this cool-kid alpha wisdom.
Earn gets a girls number; Devin gets hounded to the bus, bullied by the older kids.
Some days later, the kids find out that Devin killed himself.
FUBU ends with Earn at home.
Als in the corner, on a couch watching television.
We know that Al is pretty good at watching out for Earn but at what cost?
In FUBU, our main character learns a rough lesson early on.
In life, if theres a winner, there has to be a loser.
His mom has already got him another FUBU shirt.
The bleakest joke of FUBU comes down to manufacturing.
Earns shirt is made in Bangladesh.
Some know-it-all kid says that thatswrong.
TherealFUBU is made somewhere else, he declares for us, by China.
As Young Al proves in this episode, real is whatever you say real is.
Meanwhile, the possibility of knowing the truth proves elusive.
Lets make a run at be more understanding of one another, says a teacher after Devins suicide.
Earn notices one of his classmates, Denisha (Kailyn Brianna Gainer).
Now shes smiling, happy to be in class, raising her hand to do the days reading.
Earn doesnt know, and well never find out.
