Value (Atlanta)

In September 2016, FX announced that the sixth episode of the season would be titled "Value" and that it would be written by series creator and main actor Donald Glover and Stefani Robinson, and directed by Glover. This was Donald Glover's third writing credit, Robinson's first writing credit, and Donald Glover's first directing credit.[1]

In August 2016, it was reported that Glover would make his directorial debut with the episode. Producer Hiro Murai praised Glover's directing and the episode's focus on Van, "It's a funny dynamic that she fills a role in this show because it is about these guys in this male-centric world, this hip-hop world. So I think it'll give you a nice window into the other side of that, where Van's coming from and how she fits into that world rather than being like a foil or an obstacle for Earn."[2]

The episode was watched by 0.827 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.[3] This was a slight decrease from the previous episode, which was watched by 0.860 million viewers with a 0.4 in the 18-49 demographics.[4]

"Value" received critical acclaim. Joshua Alston of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A" and wrote, "'Value' is a tough break for Van, Earn, and Lottie, but it's an outright triumph for Atlanta, which has officially allayed the biggest fear about the show going forward. Can these characters carry the weight of an entire episode? The answer, judging from the terrific writing and Zazie Beetz' stellar performance, is a resounding yes."[5]

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "Atlanta so far has been flexible enough to become whatever it wants from week to week, so it's not surprising that we would get an episode like 'Value', in which Earn and Alfred barely appear (and Darius is absent altogether) while the focus is on a misadventure of Van's. Still, it's impressive how satisfying the episode turned out to be, what a good job it did changing our impression of Van, and feeling very much of a piece with previous outings even though the guys were barely in it."[6] Michael Arceneaux of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "As Donald Glover has made clear, Atlanta doesn't go out of its way to offer grand statements about race or class. Nevertheless, Van's ordeal in 'Value' tells an especially smart story about the burden of single mothers — especially black mothers who hold their families together. It's easy to understand why Van desires a night of release, and it's sad how quickly she gets punished for indulging such a momentary pleasure."[7]

Michael Snydel of Paste wrote, "After last week's entertaining but shallow dive into media perception and the politics of how to conduct oneself as a celebrity, this week's episode is comparatively much smaller. Throwing away the two/three story system of the last few weeks, it's a single well-constructed, funny, and effortlessly smart story about Van, a character who’s previously been pushed into the background."[8] Grant Ridner of PopMatters gave the episode an 8 out of 10 rating and wrote, "With 'Value', we finally get a long-awaited Van-centric episode, and Zazie Beetz carries the weight of the arc effortlessly."[9]