The Club

"**The Club**" is the eighth episode of the first season of *Atlanta*. It is the eighth episode of the series overall. It was released on October 18, 2016 on FX.

## Premise

Baller Alert! NFL players, not to mention Jeff Miles and the bottle boys at Primal tonight. Paper Boi gonna be in this thang too. Liiiiiiiittttttttt. I got pre sale bands.

## Plot

At the night club "Primal", Alfred Miles is hanging out in his private section with Earnest Marks and Darius. Al tells Earn to go get their payment from the nightclub's manager, Chris, while failing to get women to come to his booth and deriding the quality of their free drinks. Darius is unfazed by this, as he insists people like to give him drinks for free because "I'm the guy." Al notices the VIP section of the club crowded with people and wonders who is at the head of it. As Earn leaves to go find Chris, Al is approached by a fan who starts reciting his lyrics in a monotonous tone. When he finishes, Al stares blankly at him then awkwardly thanks him.

The club's DJ announces that Marcus Miles, a famed NBA point guard, is in the club, drawing wild cheers from the attendees, less so when he also announces Al's presence. Earn wanders through the crowd until he spots Chris, who satiates him with drink tickets and tells him to follow him to the back for his payment, but slips away into the crowd. Al complains about his lack of enjoyment of the night, shouting "fuck the club!" and dissing Miles for his higher status. Darius insists that Miles is cool because of his "invisible car," showing Al several Instagram photos that show Miles posing as though he is showing off a car, when he is in fact posing with nothing, which Al scoffs at. Darius tries to cheer Al up by pointing out a girl, Janice, who has been staring at him, and Al brings her over by inviting everyone nearby to drink with him.

Earn finds Chris at the bar and again asks for payment. Chris complies, but again distracts Earn by having him take shots to women he claims to know, only for them to state that they do not know him. When Earn turns around, Chris has vanished into the crowd again, causing Earn to groan that he hates shots. Fed up, he follows him to the bathroom and angrily insists that he get paid, and Chris again complies and tells him to follow him. Darius wanders off to go watch people smoke and asks a bouncer if he has ever had to throw out another bouncer and if it was hard to do so, the bouncer saying it was because "he knew all the moves." A passerby gives Darius a drink, exclaiming that "you're the guy!" He later tries to get back into Al's section through the same bouncer, but is turned away because he has the wrong color wristband. Upset, he declares the band system "meaningless" and wanders off.

Chris and Earn stop at another bar and Chris buys him a drink, only to escape through a rotating wall while Earn's back is turned. Stunned and irate, Earn gawks at his disappearance and the bartender pours him a shot, which Earn again says he hates despite drinking it anyway. As Earn rambles about his hatred for the club and it being a "money suck," the bartender advises him to leave if he is unhappy, as being at the club in the first place indicates him wanting to be there. She concludes that he is not special for hating the place, even though he is not the usual patron. She points to an example of a typical Primal attendee, a shirtless man wandering around and rubbing his nipples who is ejected by security. Al tries to get a man with a camera to take a picture of him and Janice, but he is instead more interested in taking pictures of Miles' leather jacket-clad pet peacock. Al and Janice laugh at the absurdity of the situation and drink together.

Earn and the bartender watch a man sleaze on a group of girls with promises of VIP access, the bartender stating that "everyone needs to feel special sometimes." Earn asks her why he is here, and she tells him that he is there for the same reason as everyone else: "to feel good about yourself and stunt." Earn insists he is just there for work, but the bartender points out that that still fits her description. Earn takes a check and finds that the bartender has written "fire alarm" on the underside of his receipt. He hesitantly stands before the wall Chris vanished behind and pulls the fire alarm, causing the wall to open up to the staff area. A man approaches Al and tries to top off his drink, claiming to be a new rapper that wants to make connections. Al looks around his section, suddenly becoming disillusioned with the self-promoting people he has surrounded himself with and orders everyone but Janice and her friends out of his section. He tries to get more alcohol, but the DJ announces that Miles has bought all the liquor in the club and is now leaving. As Al stares in awe, a man laughs at him and shouts "you broke!"

Earn finds Chris in his office smoking with a woman and demands his $5,000 payment, throwing up on the floor in the process. An annoyed Chris tells Earn that he has cut his payment down to $750 because of his promotion of Al's stay at the club and Al's subsequent refusal to do the set he promised, then gives him his cut and threatens him out. Janice tells Al tonight was not a total loss because she met him, and Al smiles and calls Darius, who is already home eating cereal and playing video games. Janice moves to leave and Al asks for contact information, but she only gives him her Instagram and says she has a boyfriend before leaving, enraging Al. Earn meekly tells Al that Chris shorted them, and Al storms into Chris' office and beats him until he gives him the rest of their money, also taking a case of beer. As Chris' girl helps him to his feet, he wistfully proclaims that Al is going to be a star before telling her to call the police.

Earn and Al laugh in the parking lot and talk about getting food as an argument breaks out nearby. They watch and chuckle until gunshots erupt, causing them to flee in their car. Miles drives by in his invisible car, hitting several people in the way because they cannot see it. Earn, Al and Darius eat at a diner as they discuss the shooting. A news report states that Al is wanted for apparent ties to the shooting because of him robbing Chris minutes before. He puts down his food and sighs "fuck the club," and the three sit in silence.