In the episode, Van and her friends attend a New Year's Eve party hosted by Drake, hoping that meeting him will improve her image.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 0.694 million household viewers and gained a 0.4 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.
[1][2] On New Year's Eve, Van (Zazie Beetz) meets with her friends Candice (Adriyan Rae), Tami (Danielle Deadwyler) and Nadine (Gail Bean), with all four planning to go to a party at a mansion hosted by Drake, who will be present.
She returns upstairs to the party and is dismayed to discover guests paying $20 to take pictures with cardboard cutouts of Drake to pretend that he was with them.
In March 2018, FX announced that the seventh episode of the season would be titled "Champagne Papi" and that it would be written by Ibra Ake, and directed by Amy Seimetz.
[3] Gail Bean, who played Nadine in the episode, auditioned for the role by performing two scenes that could take on a party, explaining "It was just me in line at the bathroom and somebody was cutting in and bumping into us, and I said something, but Zazie's character Van is the one who got a little hostile.
The site's consensus states: "While not quite as surreal as its preceding episode, 'Champagne Papi' delivers an effective and entertaining critique of social media obsession and vanity.
"[10] Hanh Nguyen of IndieWire wrote, "Although seemingly more straightforward than the horrifying 'Teddy Perkins', Thursday's episode 'Champagne Papi' goes deep and questions the very nature of reality.
There's the hype before the show, there's the posturing throughout, and then there's the walking back to your car afterward: a journey we all make alone, at the end of the day, stuck inside of our own heads.
"[12] Leigh-Anne Jackson of The New York Times wrote, "It's both a big-picture observation and a critique of the posturing - social media-fueled and otherwise - of the partygoers around the characters.
"[13] Jacob Oller of Paste gave the episode a 8.5 out of 10 rating and praised Powell's performance, "At the end of the night you're gonna be walking home with the rest of the losers on your own social rung, so you might as well take the revelations where you can.
But on Atlanta, where NBA players drive invisible cars, Michael Vick is ready to race you for cash outside a nightclub, and Justin Bieber is black, perhaps it's literal.