"Teddy Perkins" is the sixth episode of the second season of the American comedy-drama television series Atlanta, and the sixteenth episode of the series overall. It was originally broadcast on FX in the United States on April 5, 2018. The episode features series regular Darius Epps visiting a mansion to pick up a free piano, where he encounters a strange man named Teddy Perkins. Against the phone advice of Alfred, Darius continues his attempt to leave with the piano, and discovers that Perkins intends to turn the mansion into a museum.
In a deviation from the typical comedic structure of Atlanta, series creator Donald Glover wrote the episode and played the titular Teddy Perkins character with more of a dramatic/horror bent. Hiro Murai directed the episode, his eleventh directorial credit for Atlanta. The episode is longer than a typical Atlanta episode, running 34 minutes. In its initial airing, the episode was shown by FX with no commercial breaks.
The episode received universal acclaim, with some critics lauding it as one of the show's most innovative episodes. It received 776,000 viewers in its initial airing, and 1.77 million viewers in total with DVR viewership.
Plot
Darius Epps (Lakeith Stanfield) answers a message board advertisement for a valuable piano owned by a famous musician named Benny Hope. This leads him to a mansion owned by a pale, idiosyncratic man with a mask-like face named Theodore "Teddy" Perkins (Donald Glover). Teddy exhibits strange and unsettling behavior during their conversations. He claims that Benny is his brother, whom he watches over. Teddy will not let Darius meet Benny, as he uses a wheelchair and has a skin condition that makes him extremely photosensitive.
After exploring some of the mansion, Darius calls Alfred (Brian Tyree Henry) who urges him to be direct and leave as soon as possible. Darius hypothesizes that the man he has been dealing with is actually Benny, and uses the persona of Teddy to cope with his dwindling career and physical condition. Teddy then shows Darius the mansion's gift shop and informs him that he is turning the mansion into a museum and historical site. Teddy also claims that he and Benny were physically abused by their father in his desire to make the two of them musical prodigies.
Darius is eventually granted the piano and attempts to leave via the elevator. A malfunction takes him to the mansion's basement where he encounters a man in a wheelchair, dark sunglasses and heavy bandages, presumed to be Benny (Derrick Haywood). Benny, unable to speak due to the bandages covering his face, warns Darius by writing on a small chalkboard that "Teddy [will] kill us both" and that he should retrieve a gun located in the attic. Darius, believing that Benny is actually Teddy in a disguise, ignores this and attempts to leave with the piano immediately. Reaching the porch, he discovers that Teddy is blocking the loading bay of Darius's rental truck with his car. Darius returns to the house to ask Teddy to move the vehicle.
For protection, Darius picks up a wrought-iron fireplace poker and locates Teddy upstairs by following the vague sound of light piano. He enters a large study and discovers Teddy, alone, watching a home movie of his father giving Benny a piano lesson. Darius, unnerved, asks for the restroom. Teddy mentions that the restroom is up the stairs further, near the attic, before revealing a large double-barreled shotgun.
Teddy holds Darius at gunpoint, and states that Darius will be his "sacrifice." He marches Darius down to the foyer and forces him to handcuff himself, and reveals his plan to kill Darius and stage the scene like a home invasion by an "obsessed" fan in order to increase interest in his planned museum. As Teddy sets down his shotgun, Darius unsuccessfully attempts to dissuade Teddy from following through with his plan by sympathizing with his past, revealing that he too had an abusive father.
Despite Darius' effort, Teddy prepares to go ahead with his plan. The elevator door opens. To both men's surprise, the injured Benny exits the elevator and enters the room, revealing that Teddy was telling the truth about Benny: he exists. Benny picks up Teddy's discarded shotgun as Teddy exclaims "Benny, you're alive." As Benny lifts the gun, a bloody wound can be seen on his abdomen, implying that Teddy may have attempted to kill his brother, and that his ultimate plan was to frame Darius for his murder.