Teddy Perkins

"**Teddy Perkins**" is the sixth episode of the second season of *Atlanta*. It is the sixteenth episode of the series overall. It was released on April 5, 2018 on FX.

## Premise

Darius is trippin in this one. Y'all know I woulda been left.

## Plot

On his way to an unknown location in a U-Haul truck, Darius stops at a shop and and notices a hat with the confederate flag and the words "SOUTHERN MADE" on it. He buys the hat and scribbles out some of the letters, making it read "U MAD", earning a disapproving look from a nearby woman.

He arrives at his destination, a decrepit mansion owned by Theodore "Teddy" Perkins, a pale man that exhibits strange behavior: eating an ostrich egg with his bare hands, leaving messages for himself on a tape recorder, and taking a picture of Darius without his permission. Darius is there to pick up a piano with multicolored keys that he found on Craigslist, and Teddy tells him the piano belonged to his brother, Benny Hope, a famed pianist that is now a recluse because of his photosensitive skin condition. As Teddy wanders off, Darius hears piano music coming from upstairs. When he tries to enter the room it is coming from, Teddy answers the door and blocks his way in, claiming Benny is sleeping. Darius notices an empty wheelchair at the piano.

As Teddy goes to get Darius a glass of water, Darius calls Alfred Miles to update him on the piano. Al insists that he leave, and though Darius agrees that Teddy's strange behavior might be him trying to keep Darius in the house, he still wants the piano. He tells Al that he believes Teddy and Benny are the same person. Alfred tells him to be blunt with Teddy, and ends the call while he, Tracy, and Earnest Marks laugh at pictures of Sammy Sosa, inspired by Darius comparing him to Teddy.

Teddy shows Darius the Benny Hope gift shop he created, discussing his plan to turn the house into a museum for his brother, as well as an exhibit that is just a mannequin wearing a suit. Teddy explains the mannequin is his father, who used to beat him and Benny until they practiced piano, wanting to turn them into prodigies. He claims the exhibit is a tribute to all abusive stage fathers that "motivate" their children to become stars. When Darius presses Teddy to give him the piano, he starts signing tax paperwork to legally let go of the piano, during which he raises his voice at Darius when he tries to sympathize with Benny's disease. Before loading the piano into the mansion's elevator, Darius notices blood on one of the keys.

The elevator accidentally takes him to the basement, where meets the mute, wheelchair-bound, masked Benny. He communicates to Darius via a small chalkboard that Teddy plans to kill them both, and that he needs to get a shotgun stashed in the attic. When Darius goes back up to the foyer and tries to leave with the piano, he finds that Teddy has parked his car so that it blocks Darius' truck. He finds Teddy watching a home movie of his father threatening Benny while he plays the piano, and Teddy reveals that he knew of Benny's plan, having watched Darius the entire time on the house's hidden camera system. He points the gun from the attic at Darius and orders him into the foyer.

As he has Darius handcuff himself to a chair, he tells him his plan is to make Darius look like an obsessed fan who murdered Benny and was killed by Teddy in self defense. As Teddy sets down the gun, Darius tries to empathize with him, telling him about his own abusive father and how he would try to justify it by pretending it was normal. He subverts the words of Teddy's father, telling him that "not all great things come from great pain. Sometimes it's love." He tries to appeal to Teddy's love of Stevie Wonder, saying that Wonder "saw through his music." As Teddy ignores him, Benny comes up through the elevator, seizes the gun, and kills his brother. He has Darius pass him the poker he was going to use to attack Teddy and kills himself by using it to pull the gun's trigger. As the police arrive and take the bodies away and the piano as evidence, Darius watches from his truck, troubled, before driving away.

## Trivia

* Teddy/Benny are primarily based on American singer Michael Jackson.
* Teddy is played by Donald Glover.

## Gallery

### Videos

Season 2 Ep. 6 - Teddy Perkins PreviewSeason 2 Ep. 6 - Understanding Teddy Perkins Scene