The episode was written by series creator and main actor Donald Glover, and directed by executive producer Hiro Murai.
The series is set in Atlanta and follows Earnest "Earn" Marks, as he tries to redeem himself in the eyes of his ex-girlfriend Van, who is also the mother of his daughter Lottie; as well as his parents and his cousin Alfred, who raps under the stage name "Paper Boi"; and Darius, Alfred's eccentric right-hand man.
In the series finale, Darius experiences hallucinations as a result of a sensory deprivation tank, making him question what is real.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 0.223 million household viewers and gained a 0.07 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.
Darius (Lakeith Stanfield) is watching Judge Judy when he is questioned by Earn (Donald Glover) and Alfred (Brian Tyree Henry) about joining them at a new restaurant.
London manages to pass the sobriety test but suddenly grabs the officer's gun and drives away in her car, accidentally hitting a girl on a bike.
Earn and Alfred meet with Van (Zazie Beetz) at the restaurant, which is located in an abandoned Blockbuster store.
However, their experience turns out to be exhausting: the tables don't allow them to comfortably sit and the food proves to be too exotic for them.
Alfred wants to leave the restaurant to eat familiar food at the Popeyes across the street, but Earn tells him to stay.
Alfred's patience runs out when he is offered fugu – which the waiter notes is poisonous if not prepared correctly – and he sets out to leave for Popeyes with Earn and Van.
As Earn, Alfred, and Van go outside to smoke a joint, Darius stays in the room, watching Judge Judy.
"[8] Putting Darius as the center of the episode felt fitting for the writers, as they viewed him as "our perspective character for the whole world that we've created for the last four seasons.
Club viewed the final scene as "not a corny reproduction but a clever instance in which Glover takes the belief that the audience has suspended ever since the invisible car and shoves it back onto us all for a brief moment.
"[10] Alan Sepinwall offered his own interpretation of the scene, writing "that the smile on his face is him embracing the life he has, the friends he gets to be with, and the periodic opportunities he gets to share his time with beautiful spirits like Cree.
I'm focusing on the craft of storytelling, the way the episode tricked us along with Darius multiple times, fit another social-commentary monologue into the B-plot, and did it all pretty much flawlessly.
"[11] Ile-Ife Okantah of Vulture gave the episode a perfect 5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "It's the end of an era.
This series will live on in a lot of people's hearts, and this finale, 'It Was All a Dream', solidifies its permanent place in Black culture.