Barry is the best show on television and it's not even close. Written and directed by the great Bill Hader, this HBO show is currently on its third season, with the finale just last night. Have you ever seen a show so unique that literally, every single decision they make is the most interesting choice they could’ve made? That’s Barry, in a nutshell.
Barry is the show about Barry Berkman, a low-rent for-hire assassin from the Midwest who finds a new purpose in life when he’s tasked to assassinate a man named Ryan Madison. Barry follows Madison to his acting class, where he is taken back by the new purpose he’s found for himself, as an actor. He enrolls in the class, taught by the legend himself Henry Winkler, playing a washed-up actor turned teacher in Gene Cousineau. Barry also meets Sally Reed, played by the incredible Sarah Goldberg, a girl who he slowly starts a relationship with. When Barry’s old hitman manager, Fuches, played by the hilarious Stephen Root, shows back up, he slowly starts entangling Barry's new life with his old one. Just reading that description back this show feels like it should be much darker than it is, but is truly a masterclass at dark comedy. The show has some of the most laugh-at-loud moments I’ve seen in a show, but most of them when described out loud seems more fucked up than anything, and to me, that’s the real genius of this show.
The main thing I try to warn people when recommending this show is that Bill Hader is not the comedic lead, not even by the slightest. He is pulling in the most dramatic role I’ve seen him play, while still building up a world that is just absurd enough that there is still a level of comedy his character can bring. The real comedy comes from the standout character and performance of the entire show, Anthony Carrigan as NoHo Hank, a Chechnyan effeminate gangster. Holy shit is Hank so fucking funny in this show. From going 50/50 with Cristobal to his interactions as the boss of the Cehchnyans, he steals every minute he’s in. His character was not supposed to be a mainstay, however, Caragan was so damn funny on set Hader said he rewrote his scenes to keep him in the show. This is all to say that season three of Barry is a completely different show, and I’m so happy this happened.
Tv in the early 2010s and into the mid-2010s had a problem with lead characters, specifically lead male characters, and that is what I like to call the Breaking Bad Effect. In short, because of the rise in popularity of characters like Walter White or Don Draper, the TV industry and the general public, fell in love with an anti-hero main character. That to me is why Barry feels so unique because they really want to make a character that you should hate ten times over, yet each and each episode you feel more attracted to the character. Not so much for Season 3 Barry. This is a different man, one who is in serious need of a purpose in life. Someone who is slowly letting the anger harnessed in their other career, permeate the new world he is creating. It’s almost as if Barry built himself a new home, smack dab on top of an active volcano. Insurance must be a bitch, but ultimately you cannot be surprised when a big ass plume of magma hits your roof, it's inevitable. There are lesser shows out there that would’ve kept barry in this weird equilibrium where his actions of previous seasons could come back, yet he still is able to live his life in a relatively normal way, which would feel like a cop-out to the audience. This is a show with the guts to upend the status quo of nearly all of its main characters, for the sake of character growth, and for that, it should be applauded.
I find it really hard to talk about shows without spoilers. I am going to wrap up my thoughts here, then do a brief recap of season 3 and my thoughts, in case of anyone reading has not finished the show.
The big takeaway I have from Barry is the idea of originality. On paper, a show about a hitman turned actor seems very original. But, anything on paper can work, the key in filmmaking is taking what works on paper and tweaking it. Bill Hader, over one season of television, has become the most interesting director working in that space. His ability to craft shots, especially the cold opens of each episode, is unparalleled in all of Hollywood. This is a show unlike any show I have ever seen before, from story to directing choices, and I implore anyone who hasn’t given the show a try to really sit down with it. It is the smartest and funniest show on Tv, and some days it’s not even close.
Spoilers for season three of Barry ahead.
You’ve been warned.
Bill Hader said on The Ringer’s Prestige TV Podcast that the main theme of season three was the idea that forgiveness needed to be earned, not given. This is exemplified by the very first scene of the season, Barry being hired off a Craiglist ad to kill a man named Jeff, just for the man who hired Barry to forgive Jeff at the curtains call. Barry, of course, shoots both of the guys, yelling about how you “Can’t forgive Jeff.” This idea presented in the first scene of the season really solidifies the much darker tone season three is reaching for. Throughout the season, all of the main characters, seem to have it all, barry excluded, as we watch the consciences of Barry’s actions slowly start to engulf those he cares the most about, which in turn leads to his downfall. The main episode I want to focus on is the season finale, as I feel the way it was directed hints towards a different tone moving forward for the show that I cannot wait for.
The season finale is very serious. From the start, there were only two real moments that got a laugh out of me, one for a darkly fucked up reason. This is a heavy episode in all sense of the word, as we watch Barry’s life seep into Sally’s, Gene’s, and Hanks's. First, Sally. The scene of her being nearly choked to death by the biker guy was one of the most heartwrenching scenes I’ve ever seen, mostly thanks to the superb performances and direction. Keeping the shots so tight on Sally and her attacker, while having no music playing whatsoever was such an effective choice that made the scene that much more brutal. Then to follow that up with a shot of Sally attacking her attacker with a baseball bat inside of a soundproof room was awe-inspiring, in a twisted fucked sense of the word. Finally, ending the scene with a distorted close-up of Sally as she hyperventilates and cries just put the icing on the hard-to-watch cake. The best part of Sally as a character is she never feels that stupid, so having her leave back to Missouri to flee this psychopath was a really refreshing character choice.
Hank’s scene in this episode deserves him an Emmy nomination, at the least. After being captured by Cristobal’s wife, we watch Hank in a harrowing scene where we can hear his friends being viciously torn apart by a panther. Hader does the genius move of never showing us the carnage, instead of leaving what is happening up to the nasty sound design and the reactions on Hanks's face. To know the actor Anthony Carrigan had to act against nothing truly shows the talent he has. This scene then leads to the prettiest shot in the whole season, Hank walking down the hallways of a lavish Colombian Mansion to find his lover, Cristobal, enduring electro-shock therapy to try to “zap the gay away.” The final shot of the sequence, with Hank embracing Cristobal and coming to terms with what he’s done is one of the more powerful shots in the series.
Finally, we must talk about the man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Gene Cousineau. After the intense interrogation scene in the previous episode between Jim Moss and Gene, I wasn’t sure where they were going to take Gene’s character. When Jim calls Gene back to this house, I wasn’t sure if he was going to break under the pressure, and the show never gives us the outright confirmation on whether he does or not. This all leads to the final scene of the season, Gene calling Barry implying he’s going to go kill Jim Moss. Barry was just given a free pass out of this life, but his love for Gene forced him back to make sure Gene doesn’t become what he is. When the rug is pulled out from Barry and we realize Jim set up a police sting operation, I was blown away. When it’s then revealed Gene set Barry up with his acting, something previously established to be terrible, I had to pick my jaw up off the floor to allow it to drop again. It was a masterclass in surprise filmmaking that made perfect sense for the characters. This season could not have ended any other way, yet I was still surprised when it did.
Barry is the best show on TV and it’s not close, I just hope and pray we don’t have to wait nearly as long for season four.
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