According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 0.147 million household viewers and gained a 0.05 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.
Earn (Donald Glover) leaves with his mother Gloria (Myra Lucretia Taylor) for church, while his father Raleigh (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) chooses to skip attending, intending to go to the mall to buy a phone before the post-church crowd arrives.
While driving, Gloria tells Earn that she is at odds with his aunt Jeanie (Michole Briana White) for the treatment of his grandfather (Bob Banks) and considers "stealing him" from her.
Earn calls Raleigh for advice, but he is not interested in helping, stating that he wants to spend his hours staying at a near-empty mall before more people come.
The boy then asks for a picture and even begs on his knees in front of the mall, forcing an embarrassed Raleigh to comply with his request.
As the cops prepare to leave despite Jeanie's insistence, Earn and Alfred escape the studio through a door designed by Bobby Shmurda.
Raleigh laments the disrespect that young people have for them, before suggesting they could watch a movie from Redbox, to which the grandfather happily accepts.
Or maybe as Robinson, Murai, and everyone else prepares to say goodbye to this show, they not only want to bring actors like Whitlock and Taylor back for well-deserved and funny curtain calls, but to illustrate how intertwined everyone's life here is with everyone else's.
"[6] Ile-Ife Okantah of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "As much as I enjoyed this episode, I felt it was a missed opportunity to rectify some of the criticism Atlanta has received about its depiction of Black women, especially since Atlanta's sole female writer wrote it.
"[7] Ben Travers of IndieWire gave the episode an "A" grade and wrote, "'Light Skinned-ed' draws curious parallels between Earn and Raleigh, especially in their ongoing quests for respect, but that's a conversation for another time.
"[8] Christian Hubbard of Full Circle Cinema gave the episode a perfect 10 out of 10 rating and wrote, "Over the past five years, Atlanta has tried to be a lot of things.
Throughout its seemingly short 38-minute runtime, episode 4 not only establishes a familial bond between the show's main characters, but also allows the viewers to see how they become the men they are today.