Streets on Lock

"**Streets on Lock**" is the second episode of the first season of *Atlanta*. It is the second episode of the series overall. It was released on September 6, 2016 on FX.

## Premise

See every rapper think he a thug, well you do the crime, you do the time. Dont drop the soap haha. Free my uncle Jay!

## Plot

Awaiting their processing in a police station following the standoff in the parking lot, Earnest Marks and Alfred Miles discuss their separate experiences with the cops that arrested them, Al's cop telling him to "own up to what you did" and Earn's cop trying to get him to rat on Al. Earn bemoans forgetting to throw away their weed and Al sees who he believes to be an attractive actress from a T-Pain music video. He and Earn debate over whether or not it is her, and he confirms it when he pretends to sneeze while calling her name. They laugh and Earn asks if Al thinks the man he shot is dead, Al warning him that now is not the time or place to discuss it. His name is called over the PA and he leaves Earn sitting alone.

Al is released on bail and told he is still being investigated for the shooting. He asks after Earn, and is told that he is "not in the system" yet, and thus cannot be charged or released. Darius arrives to pick Al up and informs him that "Paper Boi" is being played on repeat at the station Earn secured because of the shooting. As they leave to go get food, a black cop who claims he is responsible for arresting Gucci Mane has Dairus take a picture of him and an unamused Al. Earn calls Vanessa Keifer and it goes to voicemail, apologizing and insisting he is working on something "really big for us" before asking for bail money. A large white prisoner and a black officer watch disapprovingly as he says "I love you" and hangs up.

Earn is stopped from sleeping by officers, who tell him he cannot rest until he is processed. A man in front of Earn tells him he was locked up because a man he had not seen in years convinced him to publicly drink and they were both arrested for public intoxication, the man in question revealed to be sitting in front of him, who sheepsihly apologizes. As they wait for their ribs order to be finished, Al reminisces about the previous night and Darius muses that humans exist on close calls, noting "how would you know you were alive unless you knew you could die?" Bringing the two their order, a waiter recognizes Al and praises him for engaging in "that 90s shit" and shooting the man. He notes that the cook made Al lemon pepper joints for free, and a light shines when Darius opens the box, leaving him stunned. Al thanks them and the waiter solemnly tells him not to let him down, leaving him visibly troubled. Later at a gas station, Al notices a man staring at him in the store, then sees him talking to another man in a car, both staring at him, when he goes outside. He quickly drives off.

Earn gives his station-issued sandwich to an old man out of kindness, who laughs and remarks that Earn will never make it in prison. A mentally ill man who is reportedly in processing weekly dances around to the officers' amusement, then dips his water cup in the toilet and drinks from it. When Earn asks if someone should help him, an officer tells him to shut up. A chuckling white officer asks how the man is doing, and he spits his toilet water at the officer in response, causing him to be beaten and restrained while screaming, the incarcerated men sitting in silence. Disillusioned with the success of his song and brand being based on violence, Al rejects Darius' offer to hang out and wanders the neighborhood. He observes a little boy being berated by his mother for playing with a toy gun "just like Paper Boi" and he interrupts, trying to tell the boy that gun violence is wrong. Though initially not believing he is Paper Boi, she is delighted to find out he is who he says he is and takes a couple pictures with him, one in which the boy holds the gun at the camera.

A man and his transgender ex-girlfriend flirt with each other on either side of Earn, who is ignored when he offers to move seats. The men around them tease the man, insisting he is gay for having sex with her, which he angrily rejects, shouting at the men until a guard tells them to be quiet. Al returns home in a better mood, having gotten the woman's number, and he and Darius get a knock on the door. A man in a Batman mask is on the other side, running off once he confirms that Al lives there, and Darius notes that Al is now "too hot."

Earn is called over the PA just before he can be sent upstairs to the holding cells, Van having paid his bail and come to pick him up with Lottie in the backseat. Earn assures her that Lottie will not remember picking her father up from jail and starts to crack jokes about it to try to get Van to laugh. She tells him he can shut up, and he does as they drive away.

## Trivia

* This episode aired as the second half of the one-hour series premiere of *Atlanta*, preceded by "The Big Bang."