Juneteenth (Atlanta)

In September 2016, FX announced that the ninth episode of the season would be titled "Juneteenth" and that it would be written by Stefani Robinson, and directed by Janicza Bravo. This was Robinson's second writing credit, and Bravo's first directing credit.[1]

The episode was watched by 0.651 million viewers, earning a 0.3 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale. This means that 0.3 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode.[2] This was a 32% decrease from the previous episode, which was watched by 0.948 million viewers with a 0.4 in the 18-49 demographics.[3]

With DVR factored, the episode was watched by 1.62 million viewers with a 0.9 in the 18-49 demographics.[4]

"Juneteenth" received extremely positive reviews from critics. Joshua Alston of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B+" and wrote, "It’s hard not to think about the narrative looseness during a moment like the closing scene, in which a soused Van tells Earn to pull the car over and initiates sex after hours spent needling Earn about their odd relationship. Their physical reunion feels heavy and earned, pardon the pun, but also like it might never be mentioned again. Atlanta is about savoring the moment."[5]

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "'Juneteenth' is another remarkable half-hour of TV in a debut season full of them. It's one of the purely funniest episodes of Atlanta so far, as the Juneteenth party thrown by Van's friend turns into a parade of ridiculous people behaving ridiculously, and Earn and an increasingly drunk Van doing their best to hide their natural reactions to them. But it also works as an achingly poignant look at where things stand between the two of them now that Van is no longer the obvious breadwinner."[6]

Michael Arceneaux of Vulture gave the episode a perfect 5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "I'll be honest: I don't know how these two are going to make it work. I don't even know if they can. I want them to last, though. They offer a good balance to each other, and although much of their tension is rooted in Earn's precarious place in life, I like watching them move together. Their relationship has led to some of the best aspects of Atlanta's inaugural season. Let's hope they get closer to figuring it out in next week's finale."[7] Michael Snydel of Paste wrote, "'Juneteenth' continues the season's prevailing interest in race, class, and self-definition, but it also uses those political themes to dissect the way that relationships can become a series of obligations, even as two people care about each other."[8]

The episode drew attention for the character, Craig, who is played by Rick Holmes in the episode. TheWrap deemed Craig "the wokest white man we all love to hate", further adding "we applaud Craig for being woke and aware of the social injustices in the black community, but he's past being the cool ally and reached into dangerous territory of white privilege. Don't be Craig."[9]