"Barbershop" is the fifth episode of the second season of Atlanta. It is the fifteenth episode of the series overall. It was released on March 29, 2018 on FX.
Premise[]
You know how you need a fresh cut but your barber is always on some wack stuff? He's lucky I only trust him.
Plot[]
Alfred Miles waits in a barbershop for his regular barber, Bibby, to show up and cut his hair for an upcoming photoshoot. He eventually does, talking on his earpiece to someone and apologizing for his lateness while complaining about his girlfriend. Al accepts his apology and asks for "the usual," only for Bibby to correct him and state that he is talking to the person on the phone. He continues to delay his haircut to talk on the phone until Al prompts him to do his job. He and Al discuss a local T-Mobile robbery, which Bibby condemns while mentioning to Al to send anyone who needs a cheap T-Mobile phone his way. Bibby continues to not cut his hair while he talks about the lack of black actors on movie posters, citing the Key and Peele movie Keanu where they put the film's cat on the poster instead of Key and Peele themselves. Bibby cuts a bit of Al's hair when again prompted before stopping to show him the video of Marcus Miles hitting people with his invisible car on his phone and he steps out to use the bathroom. His phone suddenly gets a call from his girlfriend and Bibby returns to answer it, promising his irate girlfriend that he is already driving to her place. He convinces Al to come to his girlfriend's house with him and that he will cut his hair once there.
As they drive, Bibby tells Al he has a side job with a cable company, gives him business cards to pass out at shows, and offers him toothpicks for fifty cents each, which Al turns down. They arrive at Bibby's girlfriend's house and he blames his lateness on Al, claiming he is a random person whose car broke down and Bibby decided to help, pretending as though his girlfriend's religious teachings are rubbing off on him. She asks why Al is wearing a cape, and Bibby shouts that "he a magician or something! I don't know!" Somewhat convinced, she leaves him alone and he reveals he is there to cut her son's hair, prioritizing him over Al because his appointment was scheduled first. He cuts the boy's hair and goes to deal with his girlfriend's water not working, claiming he paid her water bill. Under the impression that he is a magician, the boy asks Al to do a trick. The power cuts out, Bibby also having not paid the power bill, and he takes money from his girlfriend's purse, justifying it as payment for the boy's haircut and leaves with Al in tow.
Al demands Bibby take him back to the shop and finish his haircut, but Bibby offers him lunch at Zaxby's on him and Al accepts. He instead takes Al to an unfinished house, also working a construction job, and gives him the leftover chicken tenders from an unfinished Zaxby's meal. Al tries to threaten Bibby into taking him back to the shop, but an unfazed Bibby asks him to carry some lumber to his truck, and then they will go back. As they almost finish the workload, the white woman who owns the unfinished house arrives and is aghast to find them taking the lumber. Bibby claims to be the one who loaned it to her and is taking it back until she pays him, and they flee as she threatens to call the police. Driving back to the shop, Bibby notices a group of teenagers hanging around in front of a store and follows them in a rage. He cuts them off and one of the boys is revealed to be his son Lamar, who has skipped school and has not put up the street team posters Bibby told him to put up. He claims he brought Al to inspire Lamar to work hard, and Lamar makes fun of Al's haircut despite his father's warnings. Al storms out of the truck and angrily explains that his father is the reason behind his frayed hair, and Lamar, as steadfast as his father, asks to be featured on one of Al's songs. Stretched thin, Al storms back into the truck with Bibby and Lamar in tow and shouts at Lamar's friends to "take y'all asses to school!"
As Bibby reprimands Lamar and threatens to tell his mother, Al continuously reminds him to keep his eyes on the road until he rear-ends someone. The driver, an asian woman, begins to wail in pain and Bibby drives away after Al refuses to pretend he was driving. They arrive back at the shop and Bibby gets a call from someone just before they go in, promising to give the caller something and moving to leave until Al physically intimidates him. He finishes Al's hair without incident but then demands payment, causing Al to rant at him about his ruined day. Bibby subverts his speech, claiming they had a "good day" in which Bibby "took you to mentor some kids," they "ate at that white lady house," and "we hit that asian lady from the back." Al drops his money on the floor and storms out, and Bibby calls after him, asking for a tip.
Some time later, Al retuns to the shop and gets his hair tended to by another barber, ignoring Bibby entirely. As he watches Bibby cut another patron's hair, he asks for "the usual," but then realizes that neither he nor the barber understand what that means.
Trivia[]
- The episode deconstructs the "Friendly Black Barber" stereotype. While Bibby has an amiable personality, his actions are less than noble.
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