Sportin' Waves

In February 2018, FX announced that the second episode of the season would be titled "Sportin' Waves" and that it would be written by executive producer Stephen Glover, and directed by co-executive producer Hiro Murai. This was Stephen Glover's fifth writing credit, and Murai's ninth directing credit.[1]

The acoustic cover of "Paper Boi" that appears in one scene and plays during the credits is performed by Bryce Hitchcock, a YouTube cover artist.[2] She auditioned for the part, aware of the episode's mockery of the Acoustic cover, explaining "part of the process was finding a way to make Paper Boi's song my own thing. I found more acoustic-y chords to go under it and found a different flow, almost jazzy in some places."[3] One of the series' writers, Jamal Olori, said "We've had a running joke for years about popular songs that were initially trap and extremely gutta, and they get really mainstream", comparing it to Niykee Heaton covering Chief Keef's "Love Sosa".[3]

The episode was watched by 0.714 million viewers, earning a 0.4 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale. This means that 0.4 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode.[4] This was a 17% decrease from the previous episode, which was watched by 0.851 million viewers with a 0.4 in the 18-49 demographics.[5]

With DVR factored, the episode was watched by 1.61 million viewers with a 0.9 in the 18-49 demographics.[6]

"Sportin' Waves" received critical acclaim. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating for the episode, based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 9/10.[7]

Joshua Alston of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A-" and wrote, "To a certain extent, Atlanta is just a show about a guy who could probably be a lot more successful if he was just a bit choosier about the company he keeps. I've never winced harder watching this show than I did when Earn gladly hand $4,000 to a recently released prisoner who promised him a 100 percent return on a mall gift card. That's literally the shadiest thing I've ever heard of, and it's a pretty potent illustration of why Earn is still referred to as 'the cousin' more often than 'the manager'. He has some drive, some smarts, some people skills, some judgment, but he doesn't have a surplus of anything."[8]

Alan Sepinwall of Uproxx wrote, "In not much time, Tracy's proven to be a fine addition to the group, even if he's cutting into the amount of Darius a bit. 'Sportin’ Waves' didn't have anything quite as surprising as the premiere's fast food robbery or alligator saunter, but it's one of the series’ most consistent — and consistently funny — installments yet."[9] Matt Miller of Esquire wrote, "Donald Glover has often said that the purpose of Atlanta is to 'show people what it's like to be black'. And this week, he's offered his white audience a mirror to view their own reflection — albeit one that they might see through a different lens than they're used to."[10] Bryan Washington of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Paper Boi isn't the only one having a hard time performing: Earn is starting to realize that a manager's shoes might be too big for his feet, while Tracy spends the episode prepping for a job interview. Everyone's on stage, but no one's really enjoying it, and 'Sportin’ Waves' is a master class on the forces underlying those performances: code-switching and authenticity — or the lack thereof."[11]

Leigh-Anne Jackson of The New York Times wrote, "Tracy's wave cap expertise is where the episode gets its name, 'Sportin’ Waves'. Watching these guys sit around sharing laughs and potshots about a hair care phenomenon that's pretty unique to black men — without expounding on its nuances for the benefit of a wider audience — felt like witnessing a secret handshake."[12] Jacob Oller of Paste gave the episode a 9.0 out of 10 rating and wrote, "Atlanta's been riding the wave of bleak comedy for a season and change now, which has allowed its cast and crew to perfect their balance of incredulity and deadpan into an episode like 'Sportin’ Waves'. This is an episode where Earn functions as an outsider sucked into various bubbles while his cousin Alfred, a.k.a Paper Boi, has his familiar bubbles burst. That's because 'Robbin’ Season' is in full swing and everyone gotta eat."[13] Justin Charity of The Ringer wrote, "Apart from the streaming hustle, the rest of the episode, titled 'Sportin’ Waves', invokes Paper Boi's music career only obliquely, as fans badger him with recognition, praise, and photography. 'Sportin’ Waves' is one of the few Atlanta episodes to belabor a single theme — humiliation—with each scene, though the corporate comedy interlude is bookended by much humbler story lines."[14]