‘Atlanta’ Season Four, Episode Seven Recap: Earn Gets Serious About Van
In new Atlanta episode "Snipe Hunt," Earn decides to commit to Van while celebrating the birthday of their daughter, Lottie.
After four seasons of Atlanta, Earn (Donald Glover) is finally ready to settle with Van (Zazie Beetz). The two have disputed about the status of their on-and-off relationship while raising their daughter Lottie (Austin Elle Fisher), but in new episode "Snipe Hunt," the parents finally come to an understanding.
Written by Francesca Sloane, who also wrote season three episode "The Big Payback,” Earn, Van and Lottie embark on a trip to the wilderness. Similar to Van-led episode "Work Ethic!," the episode opens with an '80s ballad, this time "Your Love Is King" by Sade. Renting a private campground for Lottie's sixth birthday, Earn does it big and purchases a 12-person REI tent, although Lottie seems disinterested in the trip. Ultimately, Van plans for her daughter to go "snipe hunting," a prank that Van was introduced to in Girl Scouts as a child.
Throughout their nature excursion, Earn urges Van to discuss the possibility of moving to Los Angeles, who brushes off the conversation for a later time. At the beginning of the season, Earn shared that he was unfulfilled with living in Atlanta and was ready to relocate. Van calls it "manipulative" for Earn to rent the campground but he rebuts, "What's so great about Atlanta that you can't leave it behind?" Van says she refuses to be Earn's "security blanket," but the discussion gets interrupted by Lottie, who catches an indistinct creature.
In the tent, Earn and Van finally continue their conversation, where Earn breaks down in tears over wanting to relocate as a family and being in love with Van. Earn reveals that since Van began showing signs of depression in Amsterdam last season, that he sees her more clearly than before. The episode concludes with the trio riding home to another Sade song, "Love Is Stronger Than Pride," and Lottie beaming at her reconciled parents.
The revelation is a long time coming for Earn, who's been emotionally unavailable toward Van throughout the series. In season one premiere episode "The Big Bang," Earn laughed – and then grimaced – at telling Van that he loved her. In "Juneteenth," also from season one, Earn publicly declared his love for Van during a Juneteenth-themed mansion party, startling Van. In season two episode "Helen," the two got into a tense disagreement about where their relationship was headed, with Earn admitting that he enjoys noncommittal perks while Van asserted that she wanted to become official. In "White Fashion" from season three, Earn and Van have a brief fling in London, but Earn wakes up to Van having disappeared the next morning.
Going to therapy at the beginning of the season may be the reason for Earn having a change of heart about his relationships and future. A conversation about moving from Atlanta with his cousin Al could be next, as the series comes closer and closer to its end.