'Atlanta' just dropped its funniest episode in years

[Editor's Note: The following review contains spoilers for "Atlanta" Season 4, Episode 4, "Light Skinned-ed".]

In Season 4, "Atlanta" doesn't just return to its hometown; he's hosting a comedic comeback.

Before we get to the sublime silliness of episode 4, take a look at what we've seen so far: the premiere opens with Darius (LaKeith Stanfield) delivering an exquisite and well-deserved dig into Marshall, before spending the rest of the episode harassed by a (racist) woman driving a slow scooter. Alfred (Brian Tyree Henry) embarks on a treasure hunt led by a dead man. Tracy (Khris Davis) makes her triumphant return as the bossy receptionist (in what turns out to be a pretty impressive undercover performance). Earn (Donald Glover) has to leave a meeting after a colleague utters the gloriously unconscious phrase, "I just finished this book." It gave me a real paradigm shift on how things might not always be what they seem. Even Van (Zazie Beetz), who has been sadly rare since last season, cracks a few jokes at a haunted Atlantic resort.

"Atlanta" has always been and always will be funny. Whether the jokes are dark or silly, they're always cooked, but — even compared to the choppy “Robbin season” — Season 3 drifts from jittery giggles to jitters altogether. Somehow, a feeling of unease is in order. Who doesn't get a little more worried when they're away from home? Bad dreams (“Three Slaps”), bad trips (“New Jazz”), bad food (“Tarrare”) — not to mention the pointed commentary in most single episodes of the penultimate season — they all threw a sailing on the group's crazy journey; a veil that is more noticeable in light of Season 4 and especially Episode 4, "Light Skinned-ed".

Writer and executive producer Stefani Robinson, who breathed welcome vigor into the Season 3 finale (via Alexander Skarsgård's bikini briefs and Van's "Amelie" reimagining), is penning her first episode of the season 4 - an episode worthy of the creator of Jackie Daytona (she is also a writer and EP on "What We Do in the Shadows") and author of "Atlanta" episodes like "Barbershop" and "Juneteenth". "Light Skinned-ed" is a worthy successor, both in its self-contained story and its thunderous laughs. Earn and his family are on their way to church, namely his mother, Gloria (Myra Lucretia Taylor), his aunt, Jeanie (Michole Briana White) and his grandfather (Bob Banks). Earn's father, Raleigh (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.) walks away, choosing instead to take time for me at the mall, which turns into his own little misadventure.

From the second Raleigh gives a simultaneous "hello and goodbye" to his wife and son, Episode 4 delivers one delightful surprise after the next. Gloria informs Earn of his secret plan: to "steal" Grandfather from his sister. Then, without hesitation, she does just that: pull away as soon as Earn and Jeanie get out of the car to go to church, with the old man still in the back seat. (The look on Earn's face when he realizes his mother is about to abandon him - priceless.) Jeanie, a woman as controlling as she is critical, soon clings to Earn, suspecting he knows the plan. of his mother, and even follows him to a recording session with Alfred where she berates them both. (The one-word conversation between Earn and Jeanie - "So." "So..." "So?" - would make Meisner proud.)

The ensuing phone calls between Jeanie and her siblings, and then Jeanie and the cops, imbue the episode with pathos. (Gloria's fragile relationship with her father is called out, then strengthened.) But just when you think things might slow down, the comedic beat picks up. There are little beats, like the way Alfred and Earn sit on the sofa, reflecting their shared frustrations of being caught up in a mess. There are exciting cameos, like Katt Williams, returning for the first time since his Emmy-winning guest starred in "Alligator Man." And there are some nice lines: "You can't kidnap your own father", says Uncle Willy to his desperate sister. "I don't have time to...