The Ending Of Atlanta Season 2 Explained

One of the tensest moments in recent television history came during the Atlanta Season 2 finale. Throughout the episode, Earn tries to get everything together for Paper Boi's upcoming European tour, such as making sure Darius has his passport ready to go. Through all the craziness, he forgets that earlier, he put the golden gun belonging to Alligator Man (Katt Williams from Episode 1 of the season) inside his backpack. He's now at airport security, and he, a Black man, is about to be caught with a gun. 

Earn manages to act quickly, and when no one's looking, he places the gun among the luggage belonging to fellow rapper Clark County (RJ Walker). Clark County's manager ends up taking the blame so that the rapper can board the plane, but what's done is done. Earn may have thought no one saw him, but Paper Boi, who's been questioning whether to even keep Earn as a manager, says how much respect he now has for Earn, seeing as how he's proven he's willing to do whatever it takes to come out ahead. 

Throughout the series, Earn has largely been aimless. He dropped out of Princeton for still unknown reasons, and the only reason he wanted to be Paper Boi's manager (who also happens to be his cousin) is so that he could make some cash. He's largely devoid of agency, going along with whatever Al and Darius want to do, but with those final moments of Season 2, it's clear we're going to get a very different Earn moving forward, one who isn't afraid of operating on the wrong side of the law if it means he can come out on top.