After last week’s events, Paper Boi is clearly upset with the way his rap career is spiraling downward. Episode nine of Atlanta‘s Robbin’ season finds Alfred giving Earn one last chance to prove his worth as a manager. “North of the Border” kicks off with Alfred and Earn packing up some final things before they begin the trek to Paper Boi’s free performance on a college campus. Earnest makes the case that a free show with this demographic could result in a larger payday down the line.
Before leaving Alf’s apartment, Tracy pops up out of nowhere, scaring Paper Boi to the point he pulls out a gun. Tracy somehow convinces Alf to let him come on the trip as his security on campus for the night and brings up that he only needs a hotel floor to sleep on. Earn informs the crew they’ll be saving money by staying at a student’s apartment, who happens to be a huge Paper Boi fan. Darius becomes skeptical of the whole situation when he finds out the person they’re staying with only has 300 Instagram followers.
Kodak Black‘s “Patty Cake” booms through the car’s stereo system on the way to the gig and everything seems to be going according to plan when the crew arrive at Violet’s apartment. “This place kinda stinks,” Darius mutters as Violet’s roommates seem less than enthused with the newcomers invading their space.
Violet gets right down to business and locks her eyes on Paper Boi, coming off like a predator stalking her prey. She leads him into her room where the two cuddle on the bed while making small talk. Atlanta once again pries that eerie feeling out of viewers when Violet tells Alfred about an erotic, and somewhat violent dream she had about him. “I had a dream about you. We were holding each other naked by the river and you were this white crane and I was this magnificent crocodile and then I ate you. I knew that meant we were connected,” she weirdly explained. As if Alf wasn’t creeped out enough, he noticed dirty footprints scattered on her ceiling while laying in bed.
The scene switches to the crew relaxing at the venue after Paper Boi’s successful performance. The crew is funnily laced in silky pajamas playing along with the Pajama Jam theme for the night. Rapper Clark County makes another appearance in the show, with County’s manager making a point to dap up Paper Boi, which had to scare Earn a bit.
Violet gets an aerial view of what’s going on and gets jealous that Paper Boi is mingling with other women, pouring a bucket of water on his head in retaliation. Tracy reacts swiftly to the trouble by chasing Violet up a few flights of stairs where things turned violent. The instrumental to Nina Simone’s “Funkier Than a Mosquito’s Tweeter” begins playing as Tracy shoves Violet down the steps. Earn actually catches her mid-fall while running to the scene and is rewarded with a hard smack across the face for his heroic actions.
Violet’s big brother enters the picture and presses Paper Boi about his out of pocket crew, but as we’ve seen over this season Alfred never backs down from a fight. Earn tries his best to diffuse the situation, which spills outside the education building, where Tracy comes out of nowhere and sucker-punches Violet’s brother. Just like that, a huge manhunt ensues throughout the Georgia campus.
After narrowly escaping the angry student mob, Paper Boi refuses to go any further with the night until he finds some weed. Darius notices a marijuana aroma in the air and follows the scent all the way to a frat house. A couple of members recognize Paper Boi and invite him up to smoke with them. The frat’s address is ironically 1863, the year Abraham Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation.
The group makes their way inside and find some pledges running around the house naked with a bag over their head. Earn and the gang take a seat on a couch with a huge Confederate flag hanging above them and one of the older frat brothers lets Paper Boi know he’s one of his favorite rappers out right now along with Post Malone. Darius and Tracy get escorted to the house’s gun room after professing their appreciation for the NRA.
The stage is set for an important moment between Paper Boi and Earn after the head frat brother leaves with the pledges for a “mud bath,” but not before he makes them break out into a hilarious dance to D4L‘s classic “Laffy Taffy.” “I think we need to talk about a real problem,” Paper Boi proposes. Earn believes the real talk is about cutting ties with Tracy, but Alfred flips the conversation on Earn by letting him know that he’s looking elsewhere for new management and even names County’s manager, Lucas, as a possibility. Even though Earn is family to Paper Boi, he has his doubts about this business relationship every truly working out. “I don’t think you’re cut out for it,” Paper Boi quips as he gets up and leaves Earn alone in the room.
The next morning comes quickly, as the gang heads back to Violet’s apartment to a rude awakening to find their car sideswiped and broken into and their ripped-up clothes spread across the lawn. Tempers boil over when Earn realizes his laptop is missing, so he pulls the complex’s fire alarm before storming off. On the car ride home he’s had it with Tracy’s antics and pleads with Paper Boi to pull over so he can fight someone twice his size. The knock-down goes as you might expect, proving Earn’s heart is strong, even as his fight game falls way short.