Summary: Flashbacks show that Sun did sleep with Jae. However, her father finds them together and is displeased. He sends Jin to deliver "a message" to Jae. Jin beats up Jae and decides to let him go, but Jae ultimately jumps off a balcony and kills himself. Mr. Paik goes to Sun and tells her that it's her place to tell Jin about her affair. On the island, Sayid realizes that Jack and co. have likely been captured and plans to lure the others and ambush them, despite Jin not wanting to go through with it. Sun keeps it secret from Jin, who is unhappy about it. They go through with the plan and Sun stays on the boat. However, the others arrive on the boat and steal it, and Sun shoots one of them to escape. Meanwhile, Kate and Sawyer are put to work by the others. Sawyer attempts an escape to gauge their enemies. He discusses his findings with Kate, not knowing that Ben is watching and listening to them. Ben goes to Jack and proves that they have contact with the outside world. He offers Jack a way off the island if Jack cooperates.
The Good: This was pretty solid television. Sun took center stage here and she got a decent storyline exploring how she has a tendency to lie to people, showing that she prioritizes self-preservation more than anything else, a trait that she more than likely developed from her father. This episode opens up with a big reveal that Sun did actually sleep with Jae and she was lying to Jin back in "The Whole Truth". This sets the tone for the rest of the episode which sees Sun once again keeping secrets from Jin, showing that she's yet to overcome her biggest character hurdle. It would have been more satisfying to see her overcome this flaw in this episode, but it works fine as a set-up for pay-off down the line. A nice touch is how Sun shoots Colleen at the end of the episode. We've learned how much Sun values self-preservation, so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that she's willing to shoot to kill in order to save herself. I found the flashback storyline to be pretty compelling. Mr. Paik in particular was a joy to watch. "Lost" has consistently had terrific side characters (Rousseau, Christian, Desmond and Tom to name a few), and he is no exception. I really appreciated the way that the writers showed us his reaction to Sun's infidelity. He doesn't scold her or discipline her. He simply has Jae murdered to show her that her actions are unacceptable. But his actions are primarily driven by his own selfish desires, and we see that clearly in his scene with Jin as he manipulates him by calling him a son in order to remove the stain that Jae has put on his honour. This entire episode is driven by the theme of selfishness over selflessness and I think it handles this pretty well. The on-island story is pretty interesting at points. Sayid's plan predictably falls apart, and the gunfight near the end has some intense moments. I do like that Sayid was both able to determine that something went wrong and was willing to do something in an attempt to get the advantage back from the others. At the Hydra, I thought the scenes continued the slow-burn build-up that the last episode started in an effective way. Sawyer's escape attempt was fun and gave the story some much-needed momentum. Ben continues to be an interesting bad guy as he remains creepy and mysterious. His scene with Jack was the highlight of the episode (see: Best Moment) The Bad: Unfortunately the problems from the previous episode persist. We still haven't checked in with the hatch after two episodes which is pretty frustrating now. "Lost" has a bad habit of leaving us in suspense from cliffhangers for longer than necessary ("Abandoned", "Man of Science, Man of Faith"). The way the others have been presented is pretty disappointing so far. I'm all for the idea that the others are more civilized and human than we would have expected, but do they have to become so nonthreatening? Alex is able to secretly talk to Kate without anybody noticing, and there's a huge panic about Sawyer despite him being only one man. This hugely diminishes the threat of the others which is a big misstep after they were built up so well last season. There was one particularly poor scene I have to point out, and that's Sun and Jin's conversation in the flashbacks. It's strange that Jin would openly talk to Sun about his work, especially since the whole point of Jin's season 1 storyline is that he wasn't able to tell Sun how much of a monster her father was. Worse yet is how Sun suggests to Jin that they escape to America and he declines. The whole tragedy of their story is how they both wanted to escape to America at the same time but never communicated it. It makes no sense that Jin would be so against the idea here, especially since he came up with the same idea later. The Unknown: So is Sun's baby Jin's or Jae's? Both seem to be a possibility now. What are Kate and Sawyer working on? Are the others trying to build something? Why do they need Kate and Sawyer to do the work? Can't they do it themselves? Is it some kind of test? Who is Karl to Alex? A boyfriend? What is Alex doing in the others' organization? Why is she such a loose cannon? How is she able to break the rules like this? What does Ben want from Jack? Will he actually let him go afterwards? Why don't the others just send the other survivors back to the mainland if they can do that? What does Colleen mean when she says that the others are not the enemy? It echoes Ben's statement about them being the good guys back in "Live Together, Die Alone". Best Moment: Ben comes to Jack and offers him a deal to go home, and Jack being Jack, isn't buying it at all. And so Ben teases him with a short clip of a baseball game. The moment is short, but is executed perfectly. Matthew Fox shows the longing in Jack's eyes beautifully, and it's heartbreaking when Ben suddenly shuts off the TV. Then Ben offers Jack an escape, but the catch is that he must do what they say. The mind games for Jack have built up to this proposal, and things are starting to click into place surrounding what the others want. I expect we will get an answer in the next episode. Character of the Episode: Mr. Paik. Conclusion: This was a solid episode with good storytelling. However, the slower pace of the season is getting a little bit frustrating and episodes like these don't work very well when there's still a major cliffhanger that needs to be resolved. Add on the issues I have with the others, and this season is off to a bit of a rocky start. Looking back on this episode may improve it once we get more information, but as of now I find myself yearning for more, and not in a good way. Score: 63
0 Comments
Summary: In flashbacks, Jack obsesses over finding the identity of Sarah's new lover. He ends up following Christian in his paranoia and attacks him during an AA meeting. Jack is arrested and Sarah bails him out. Jack tries to get her to tell him the name of the man but she refuses to, insisting that Jack instead get over it. On the island, Jack, Kate and Sawyer wake up in various confinements. Jack is in an aquarium. He talks with one of the others, Juliet. Juliet offers him food but Jack is too stubborn to take it. Jack stages an escape but it fails and he ends up back in containment. He eventually relents after Juliet reveals that they know everything about him, including his past. Sawyer is put in a bear cage. There's a second cage with a boy in it. The boy tries to escape with Sawyer but they get taken back. The boy is taken away and Kate is brought in to replace him after she has an awkward breakfast with Ben.
The Good: Just like last season, this season starts with an unexpected plot twist that was executed masterfully. It's evident that something is up since the episode starts with some random woman living her life. It's just not clear what the twist is yet. But when you realize that you're watching the others and that they are normal people living in a normal little town on the island, it's a big shock. This scene throws everything we thought we knew about the others out the window and promises that there's still plenty of new things to learn about these people. This sequence followed the pattern of the opening sequence of "Man of Science, Man of Faith", and it's successful for similar reasons. While I don't think it's quite as impressive as that scene (simply because that scene came first so it was a bigger surprise), this is still wonderfully executed television that legitimately gave me chills while watching. This episode is helped by the focus on Jack, one of the strongest characters on the show. I remain impressed by how flawed this show has portrayed its main protagonist. The further we delve into Jack, the more flawed he becomes and I think that's such a fresh way to portray the main character of the show. The flashbacks in this episode delve into Jack's stubbornness and guilt in a meaningful way. We get to see that Jack gave Sarah a lot more hell than she deserved while finalizing the divorce, needlessly obsessing over what's happened between them, desperate for answers. Based on what we know about Jack from before, this is accurate to his character. But it's still shocking to see the hero of a story in such a negative place, going as far as to physically assault his own father at an AA meeting, causing him to relapse into alcohol abuse. That reveal that Jack prevented Christian from recovering adds another layer to the guilt that Jack carries around. We knew that Jack's morals cost Christian his career, but now it seems that Jack's own obsessiveness indirectly led to Christian's death as well. The story on the island was very interesting to follow. What's most striking is how slowly paced this episode is. "Man of Science, Man of Faith" was an exciting episode where a lot of things happened. This is the polar opposite of that. This episode patiently developed suspense and mystery throughout its runtime and I was consistently intrigued to learn what was actually going on and where Jack, Kate and Sawyer had found themselves. In this regard, the episode works pretty well and it sets up for the rest of the season. There were some good moments here. Juliet revealing that she knows everything about Jack was pretty well done. The show has introduced her very nicely. She's both intimidating and likeable so far. She doesn't hesitate to take out Sawyer when he escapes, but she's also quite nice to Jack. Speaking of Sawyer, watching him solve the puzzle was very entertaining, as was his reaction to only getting a fish biscuit for his troubles. The Bad: This episode did have some major flaws however. This biggest issue I have is the decision to restrict the events of this episode to just one location. After the big cliffhanger at the end of the second season, it's very unsatisfying to get no follow-up on what happened at the hatch. The slow pacing of this episode unfortunately makes this an even bigger issue. Instead of getting as absorbed in what was a pretty good episode of patient build-up, I found myself impatiently waiting to see what's happening with all of the other characters. This proves that constructing a good episode isn't enough to make compelling television, you also have to understand the emotions the audience is feeling and apply that to the episode. Another big issue with this episode is the lack of context, which made things extremely confusing at times. Unfortunately this is a problem throughout the episode. We don't know what the others are planning to do with Jack, Kate and Sawyer. While this does create drama, it also leaves me scratching my head when we see Sawyer and Jack both staging escapes immediately. The others look wildly incompetent for letting this happen, and I'm left confused as to what the goal is. They seem to be playing mind games with the survivors, but to what end? At times it screams lazy writing to me, and even if that's not the case, it does feel that way in this episode. Some little things bothered me as well. I'm confused about why Jack didn't ask Juliet if she knew a way off the island. He knows that the others have access to the rest of the world now, so why wouldn't he ask if there's any way for the rest of the survivors to just leave the island? Another issue I had was with the directing. Juliet asks Jack to put his back on the wall so she can give him food. Jack does so and she leaves, then we cut to flashbacks. The tone heavily implies that Juliet just left with his food. Yet when we cut back, apparently she just walked out to go use a different door to get to Jack. It's very sloppy directing to not make this clearer to the viewers, and it was another case of needless confusion in the episode. Lastly, Ben's commands to Goodwin to bring him lists in 3 days doesn't correspond to what actually happened in "The Other 48 Days", which is a sloppy oversight. The Unknown: Oh there is plenty for this section. Where is that town located? How does this place relate to the others goals? Why do they have book clubs? What do they do on the island anyways? Where is the Hydra in comparison to this place? Why do the others have control of this station but not the Swan or the Pearl? Are the others actually leftover Dharma people? Who was that person in the cage in front of Sawyer's? Why was he caged? Is Tom gay? His comments to Kate suggest that he is. Was that actually Christian on the intercom or is it just another mind game? Speaking of mind games, why are the other doing them? I thought they would be doing ominous scientific tests, but they haven't done anything like that. What are their goals for Jack, Kate and Sawyer? Why was Ben so pleased with Juliet getting through to Jack? Were the others really so incompetent as to let Jack and Sawyer escape so easily? Or was this somehow intentional? What happened to Kate off screen? She looks pretty roughed up, physically and emotionally. What did the others do to her? How did the others get full information on Jack? How acquainted are they with the outside world? Do they have a way off the island? Even more interestingly, do they have connections in the real world? Best Moment: The opening sequence. Once again, "Lost" nails the intro to a new season. Character of the Episode: Jack. Conclusion: This episode was ultimately a bit of a mixed bag. The opening scene was superb, but the rest of the episode never came close to hitting that same level. The pacing was slow, and while there was some good mystery and character work, I just didn't get as invested in this episode as I expected. I'll still call this a good episode, but it's a far cry from the epic thrills of the season 2 premiere. Score: 65 Summary: Fuches doesn't kill Gene but tells him something before leaving. Barry arrives and so do the cops. The cops arrest Gene under suspicion that he murdered Moss. Barry arrives for Sally's performance but is unnerved by what is happening to Gene, and repeatedly calls Fuches in frustration. Fuches contacts Hank at the monastery looking for help but is surprised when he sees that nobody is listening to Hank. Cristobal arrives to kill Hank but Fuches talks to him and gets everyone to make up. The three gangs celebrate their union. The theatre performance doesn't go as planned when Sally changes her scene at the last second to show her standing up to Barry. Sally is horrified by her actions but she is surprised when her performance is praised. Barry discovers that Gene has been released; the cops discovered a Chechen pin that Barry planted in the car and they blame them. Barry receives a text from Hank that Fuches is with him. Angry, Barry goes to the monastery and shoots down tons of people in an attempt to kill Fuches, including Mayrbeck. Fuches escapes. Batir arrives from Chechnya and finds Hank amidst the chaos. Gene remembers what Fuches told him before leaving: Barry is responsible for killing Moss.
The Good: Everybody starts off this episode in an awful place. Barry and Gene are in custody being eaten alive by what's happened. Gene is in a horrible way, overtaken by grief after finally learning what happened to Moss. He's a shell of himself and can hardly even listen to detective May. Barry on the other hand is frustrated. His mentor has been detained and it's looking increasingly likely that he will be arrested, and it's all Barry's fault. He deals with troubling emotions as he's put in a place where he has to choose between himself and Gene. Elsewhere, Hank's future is looking grim. He has no control over anything anymore and he receives news that Batir is coming to replace him. At the same time, Sally is a nervous wreck while preparing for her performance, as is Lindsay who tries (and fails) to calm Sally's nerves. I thought this episode worked outstandingly well on an emotional level. So much of what happened here had emotional weight to it and provided a fittingly conclusive end to the storylines that were explored this season. I'll start with Sally's arc. This whole season saw her faced with a similar dilemma to Barry: should she enact the truth and risk facing judgement, or enact a lie that makes her look better. Earlier in the season it seemed like Sally had accepted the truth and was going to use that. But there's a cruel twist in the story as Sally panics about showing hundreds of people how pathetic she used to be and changes the scene at the last second, creating a scene with less emotional power and less meaning. Horrified with herself, Sally tries to leave and her emotions are easy to sympathize with. Despite knowing what she had to do, she just wasn't strong enough to do it. But in what was yet another cruel twist, the audience loved her performance. They praise her and commend her acting skills, and it seems like this performance is about to launch Sally's acting career. And it was based off a lie. It's going to be very interesting to see how Sally deals with this development. Barry's internal conflict was also explored in a new, and powerful way this episode. Since the start of the show, Barry has only killed for self-preservation. He tries to prove that he is a good person by not killing, but he has still ended up in position's where he is forced to kill, like with Chris and with Moss. Each time Barry was given a choice. He could face the consequences for his actions, or he could go back to killing. Both times Barry chose to avoid the consequences and kept on killing. This episode put a slight spin on this conflict. This time Barry's choice isn't one with a selfish nature. This time he's forced between choosing between Gene's future and his own. The predicament this puts him in is fantastic to watch, and as usual, Bill Hader is terrific. Barry wrestles with the guilt of what has happened in realistic ways, seeming unfocused at Sally's performance while being utterly enraged whenever he sends voicemails to Fuches. As the episode progresses it seems more and more like Barry will need to make a decision soon. But he is saved in the end and all of his panic goes away in an instant. Barry is lucky and Gene will be okay. But one emotion still persisted inside of Barry. He still needed revenge against Fuches. This leads me into what Fuches was up to this episode. For the first time this season, Fuches turns to the Chechens and gets in touch with Hank. But Hank isn't in a promising place. His time as a leader is facing its end and he has nothing to offer Fuches. Fuches in exchange, doesn't have anything to ensure the loyalty of the Chechens. Both of them are desperate and need something to work out. So when Cristobal arrives, Fuches seizes his opportunity and gets the Bolivians and the Chechens to make peace. It's almost a fairy tale ending and it's surprising how perfectly everything works out. As such, this storyline ends up being the best place for the writers to squeeze in some comedy, and they do so with a resounding success. Moments like Hank ordering a "heroin table" and Fuches being too far away for Cristobal to hear him were hilarious. The strongest part of this storyline was the examination into the Barry/Fuches relationship. As Fuches gets Cristobal to reunite with Hank, he finds himself describing their situation in the same way as his relationship with Barry. Whether or not he realizes this, or even cares about it is difficult to discern, but either way it's powerful to see Fuches saving Cristobal and Hank's relationship when he can't even save his own relationship with Barry. While Fuches encourages Cristobal to change his methods to continue his bromance with Hank, Fuches himself is unwilling to change himself to suit Barry's needs. And Fuches never realizes this. He still thinks he is justified in what he did to Barry and is still feeling hateful. So when Barry shows up in a rage, Fuches leaves. He views himself as a victim and doesn't care how many other lives are lost as he secures an escape. Barry on the other hand, also doesn't care about all the lives he's taking. The show has spoken out many times about how a real killer is somebody without a soul. But Barry has worked hard to deny this and prove that he does in fact have a soul. Here he completely falls apart, murdering relentlessly and even killing his own protege Mayrbeck without hesitation. Before there was always hope that Barry could maybe be redeemed, difficult as it may seem. But this brutal killing spree proves that there is no turning back for Barry. Despite how much he has grown, he is still the same man that murdered innocents on Korengal, as he makes the exact same error in judgement in the monastery. And that error has cost the lives of dozens of people. Barry's conclusive walk into the darkness after seeing Mayrbeck's corpse was a brutally effective way of showcasing Barry's true nature. Barry may have told Gene that he was right about how people can change, but what Barry wants to believe is completely different from what the truth is. The Bad: Unfortunately, the tonal issues persisted in this episode as well. Some of the jokes in this episode were really well done (like the ones in the Chechens storyline and the sudden reveal of Sasha's dark past), but others didn't work at all. The fact that there were moments that were played for laughs during Barry's killing spree was a complete misjudgement. This is the darkest and most frightening scene of the entire show as Barry murders like a supernatural force. Yet for some reason, the show tries to make us laugh? It's very awkward and takes away from the seriousness and implications of Barry's murders. Unfortunately the comedy issue wasn't only present in the ending. There were numerous points throughout the episode where a very powerful character moment had a lessened impact due to an ill-timed joke. The Unknown: What will Gene do now that he knows the truth? He doesn't seem like the kind of man that would go for vengeance. What are his intentions? Will he try to turn Barry in? Will he try to help him? Will he try to get back in contact with Fuches? How will Sally be impacted by the audience loving her fake story? Will this catapult her into stardom? Will she be happy about this? Or will this only result in more inner conflict for her to resolve? Will Sam hear about this performance from Sally? What happens if he returns to confront her about it? Will Hank still be sent to Chechnya? With almost everyone dead, surely Batir won't be willing to send away the few men that are left. What happens to Cristobal now? How will Barry deal with his killing spree? How will it change his behaviour? What does this mean for his relationships with Gene and Fuches? Best Moment: There are so many moments to pick. I'll go with Barry murdering Mayrbeck. Mayrbeck is ready to defend his people and more than willing to pull the trigger. But when Barry is the one who enters the room, Mayrbeck is a mixture of surprised and glad to see him. He hesitates, but Barry does not. Seeing Barry kill mayrbeck without a second thought was horrifying, and it was made worse when you remember that Barry had previously warned Mayrbeck that hesitation could be the difference between life and death. In this case, it was. Character of the Episode: Barry. Conclusion: This was a terrific season finale. So much happened, plenty of things were resolved, and even more things were left open-ended to leave room for more exciting material in season 3. Had it not been for the tonal inconsistency, this could have been one of the best season finales I've ever seen. But unfortunately, the awkward tone detracted from my enjoyment of the episode. This finale was pretty representative of my feelings on this season as a whole. There was so much to love in this season. The writing, directing and editing was just as superb as season 1, if not better in a few places. I was especially pleased with how the show expanded on its supporting cast, turning Hank, Sally and Gene from solid side characters in a comedy into fully fleshed out characters that were given complete character arcs. And the performances were consistently awe-inspiring. I don't think there was anyone who didn't deliver in this season, and I was especially impressed by the entire main cast of Bill Hader, Henry Winkler, Sarah Goldberg, Stephen Root and Anthony Carrigan. This season could have been near-perfect television had there not been one major flaw: the tone. This show manages to be both an outstanding drama and an outstanding comedy. But the problems arise when you put both of those together. The story doesn't fit together as well when it tries to both make you laugh and make you think about morality. At times it's extremely awkward, and because of that I think this show is one where every individual piece is fantastic, but the overall product isn't as good as any of the individual pieces. Don't get me wrong, I've had a blast with this show so far, but looking back at the entire season as one entity isn't as impressive as looking at every individual scene or even every individual episode. It's difficult trying to make a black comedy. Balancing drama and comedy is never easy, and this show comes close but doesn't quite nail it. But thankfully, the show does nail everything else, and it's because of that that I'm still left thinking that this was a tremendous season of television. Score: 79 Summary: Sally turns down a new lead role because she's disgusted by the TV show she was offered. Barry gets an audition for a movie immediately and Sally feels jealous. She speaks with Lindsay who gives her a chance to show her performance on a theatre stage. Sally gleefully accepts. Barry goes to his audition but is surprised when Gene doesn't show up. Barry gets a call from Gene and learns that Fuches is posing as a private investigator and is leading him to Moss' body. Afraid for Gene, Barry leaves the audition and goes to Gene's cabin. Fuches shows Moss' body to Gene and prepares to shoot him in the head. Meanwhile, the Burmese and Bolivians try to kill Hank and the Chechens. However, the Chechens escape and win in a gunfight. They turn to Mayrbeck as their new leader and abandon Hank.
The Good: This episode managed to both function as a standalone episode while also setting up the season finale in an exciting way. The first 3/4 of this episode tells an individual story before things heated up in a big way towards the end, giving us an epic climax and a memorable cliffhanger. The early parts of the episode were quite strong. The main focus was Sally, and she was terrific. Sarah Goldberg gave out her best performance yet as she got to convey a wide assortment of emotions throughout her scenes. We see a mixture of excitement and disgust when she meets with Aaron Ryan and learns what her new lead role would be like. Sally's choice to turn down the role isn't anything good for her career, but now that we've been given a look at Sally's character this season, it's easy to understand why she would turn down this offer. This one choice defines Sally's frustrations throughout the episode. When she learns that Barry has an audition, she finds it hard to figure out what to feel, and she is left with a mixture of happiness for her boyfriend and anger over how he succeeded quickly while her talents are continually wasted. The best scene of the episode is absolutely Sally's monologue, which nicely paid off of these emotions and created something really memorable (see: Best Moment). Hank's story is a lot of fun too. Having been captured, the Chechens are in danger of dying, but we see Barry's training pay off as they all fight their way out and seemingly secure a new future under Mayrbeck's leadership. Anthony Carrigan is still a joy to watch, and his antics carried this storyline. The escape from the bus was very skillfully (and humourously) done, and every scene with that traitorous accordion guy was quite funny. Barry's story was strong too. This episode has Barry finally living his dream. His relationship with Gene has never been stronger, and now he has a shot to make a name for himself in the acting industry, proving that he can find purpose in his life by leaving his past behind. But then a sudden, unexpected call from Fuches turns that all on his head. While at his audition, Barry is faced with the possibility of Fuches taking away everything that he had worked so hard to obtain. So Barry makes a choice and leaves, dashing over to Gene's place to ensure his safety. But he's too late and Fuches is already setting up Gene's death. And with Fuches' gun raised, the episode ends. It's such a frustrating ending in the best possible way. This is how you do a cliffhanger that builds anticipation for what happens next without making it feel like the audience is being played. I don't think Gene is about to die, but ending the episode in such a precarious position makes anything feel possible. The Bad: Nothing I would call bad. The Unknown: Will Gene somehow be saved? Will Barry make it there in time? What happens when Barry reunites with Fuches? What will the cops do when they arrive to the location where Gene currently is? There are so many possibilities, and I'm very curious to see what happens. Will Barry still get the role? With how excited everyone was about him being 6'2", I wouldn't be surprised if they still give him the role. What's next for Hank now that he's seemingly been kicked out of the Chechens' organization? Best Moment: Sally's 3 minute monologue was outstanding television. To do the entire thing in a single take is simply jawdropping acting, and I think Sarah Goldberg portrayed Sally's complete emotional meltdown perfectly. What's really impressive is how the scene manages to be both emotionally heavy and hilarious at the same time. In most cases, "Barry" has failed to put drama and comedy together in a scene without it feeling jarring. This is one of the few cases where both the comedy and drama came together perfectly. Character of the Episode: Sally. Conclusion: This was a strong episode of storytelling anchored by an outstanding performance from Sarah Goldberg. It may not be one of the show's absolute best episodes, but it's another fun episode. Score: 68 Summary: Barry breaks things off with Fuches and leaves him behind. Barry returns to acting class and learns that Sally has changed her scene to reflect the truth about what happened. With some help from Gene, Barry is able to use his murder of Moss to bring out a great performance and show the power inside Sally's story. Barry completes the Chechens training. Hank prepares to attack the Burmese but his plans get leaked to Cristobal who stops him. Fuches hunts down Moss' body and prepares to use it as leverage against Barry. He seemingly plans to tell Gene what happened to Moss.
The Good: This was a solid transitional episode that advanced the story in preparation for the final two episodes of the season. As usual, Barry's story is the highlight. For the first time, we get to see Barry bring out a fantastic performance all by himself. He finally figures out how to channel his experiences and turn them into an emotional performance, and it's a powerful moment for him. He makes Gene proud, impresses Sally and it finally looks like he is fitting in. But this isn't meant to be. It's evidence enough that his relationship with Gene is in a tricky place when Gene continually keeps bringing up how Barry killed somebody and got away with it. What would Gene do if he found out that the key to Barry's brilliant performance was the time that he murdered Gene's girlfriend? It's clear that this isn't the happy ending that Barry expects it to be. And with an angry Fuches out for revenge, it seems like Gene and Barry's relationship is under a serious threat. Everybody else had pretty solid story advancement. It's entertaining to see Fuches stumble through the woods during his hunt for Moss. Sally's story continues to be quite good. Sarah Goldberg has been killing it this season, and I think it's fascinating to see Sally face the truth of her past and seemingly be rewarded by receiving a promising new offer from her agent. Hank's story is also a blast. The accordion guy made for a good laugh early in the episode, but it made for a better one when he turned out to be the reason for Hank's downfall. I'm intrigued by the end of this episode. Hank has been put in a really bad position, and I want to see how he tries to get out of this one. The Bad: The biggest problem about this episode is that it hardly acknowledges the events of the previous episode. Barry moves on with his life like he was never even injured, despite the fact that his wound would have certainly been infected. Furthermore, there are no consequences to what happened in the last episode. The cops apparently haven't really looked through the crime scenes enough, because if they did, they should have immediately been led to Barry and Fuches. Furthermore, returning to normal storytelling after the crazy formula break in the previous episode felt jarring. It felt odd to go back to something so ordinary after such a surreal episode, and that resulting in me being less immersed in this episode than I wanted to be. The Unknown: What is Fuches going to do next? Will he tell Gene about Barry? Or about Moss? Both? What does he plan to accomplish? Is he motivated purely by spite or does he have a more cunning plan? What will happen to Hank now that Cristobal knows that he was planning betrayal? Can Hank repair his relationship with Cristobal? Best Moment: Barry remembering Moss in order to act out the scene with Sally was really powerful. I love the touch of Barry opening his eyes to escape the guilt out of reflex only to close his eyes once more and willingly accept the past. It's a beautiful bit of visual storytelling that made Barry's intense performance mean so much more. Character of the Episode: Barry. Conclusion: This is a solid episode with some decent storytelling. However, ignoring "ronny/lily" proved to be a big mistake, making this episode feel both jarring and unrealistic. This isn't a bad episode, but it's certainly the weakest of the season so far. Score: 58 Summary: Barry sneaks into Ronny's house without intent to kill him. He tries to smuggle him out of the city. However, Ronny is a trained fighter and he fights Barry. However, Barry breaks his windpipe and Ronny passes out. Barry tries to leave but Ronny's daughter Lily arrives. Much to Barry's shock, Lily starts acting completely wild and fights him. Lily stabs Barry and leaves out the window. A stunned Barry goes to Fuches, demanding stitches. Fuches wants Barry to kill Lily since she's a witness and they hunt her down. Fuches gets terrified of her antics and they both end up driving away injured. They end up back at the supermarket so Barry can get Fuches some superglue remover (he glued his hands to the wheel). In the supermarket Barry finds Ronny and they fight. The police arrive. Loach is there first and he shoots Ronny btu Ronny gets back up and kills him in one hit. Other cops arrive and kill Ronny. Barry escapes out back and returns to Fuches.
The Good: ... What the hell did I just watch? This has got to be the most unexpectedly absurd episode of television I've seen. After I watched it, I was literally speechless for 10 minutes. Nothing in this episode made sense and I was not expecting anything like this at all. But it was so fun! The one thing I can center my thoughts around is the fact that this is the most fun I've had watching a TV episode. This is easily the most I've ever laughed watching an episode. The humour here was outstanding and I completely lost it laughing at several moments. The whole episode was just so ridiculous and unbelievable, yet it never broke my immersion. I was just floored by the absurdity of it all, and the downright slapstick interactions between characters was the icing on the cake. The funniest part of this show has always been how incompetent everyone is. This episode takes that incompetence and dials it up to 11, allowing us to watch an episode where two fools (Barry and Fuches) bumble around trying to accomplish a single basic hit. Another thing I need to applaud is the masterful directing. This episode was brought to life absolutely perfectly and there were so many little things that I absolutely loved, like the single-shot fight sequence, the patient opening scene which established the plot in a brilliantly simple way without exposition, the horrifying imagery with the monstrous Lily and many other things. I'm honestly struggling to do justice to this episode in this review. I don't think that my words can quite explain why this was so good. You just have to watch this one for yourself. It's such an unexpected surprise, but it's an absurd amount of fun. This is unlike anything else you will see on television, and the uniqueness makes it feel all the more special. As an experience, there's nothing else like this and I can honestly recommend this entire show if only to get to this one episode. Leave it to "Barry" to even include some character exploration underneath all of this madness. This episode likens Fuches to the devil for Barry, as we get to see Fuches waiting there for him when he gets back from deployment. The same shot is paralleled at the end of the episode, and we're left wondering if Barry will ultimately decide to go back with him. It's a lovely story to tell in the background of the utter chaos in this episode. The Bad: I'm unsure about what to score this because there are flaws that stem from this episode. I need to clear up, as a standalone episode this is absolutely superb. But when this episode is looked at as part of a TV series, it doesn't hold up as well. For one, everything here is pretty ridiculous and definitely stretches plausibility. For example, Barry being able to escape the store at the end makes no sense. Hell, there is no possible way that Barry and Fuches get out of this without being apprehended. So many people saw them and Fuches even hit a cop car. Plus Barry most definitely left some blood somewhere which could be traced back to him. There's no way that they can escape scot-free. Going so overboard does have its drawbacks for the rest of the series. Now that we have seen the rules get broken once, it will be hard to buy into future drama knowing that the rules could be broken at any time. While this worked magnificently for this episode, I think that it will have an effect on the quality of the drama in future episodes. The Unknown: What the hell was Lily? What universe does this show take place in? What is she? With Loach dead, will we see May take up the Barry investigation? I'm sure that she will find it suspicious that Loach died responding to a scene where Ronny was. Best Moment: Do I have to choose? There were so many brilliant moments and jokes packed into this episode. Character of the Episode: Barry. Conclusion: This is unlike anything I've ever seen. What an episode. I haven't been this shook up and confused after watching an episode since "International Assassin" from "The Leftovers". I can say for sure that this is one of the all-time greatest TV experiences, and probably the best episode of pure comedy I have ever seen. But as a drama, it feels like there should be more here so I'm unsure on how to score this. In a lot of ways, this is a massive achievement, but in some ways it's also underwhelming. I don't think I can justify anything higher than an 86 considering the flaws but even that doesn't feel right. Take my score for this episode with a grain of salt. This was spectacular and you should absolutely go out of your way to watch this. Score: 86 Summary: Barry and Sally have dinner with Sam. Barry asks Sally what that was about and she reveals that she never stood up to him. Sam sneakily watches Sally rehearse and Barry confronts him. Sam insults Sally and leaves an infuriated Barry behind. Sam invites Sally to his place so he can give her something. She declines but eventually Sam twists the strings enough to get her over. Their meeting initially starts fine but Sam shows his true colours. At the same time, Barry angrily goes to Sam's with the intent to kill him and almost shoots Sally by mistake. Ashamed, Barry tries to contact Fuches who declines, not wishing to turn him in anymore. Barry goes to Gene where he opens up and reveals what happened after Albert got shot. Gene gives him some good advice and sympathizes with him, surprising Barry. Barry tracks down Fuches and tells him about what Gene said but also gives his confession. Loach offers Barry a deal. If Barry kills Ronny, the guy who has been sleeping with Loach's ex-wife, he will let him go.
The Good: This episode quite literally was an emotional rollercoaster. It took me on a ride with so many ups and downs, and I felt so many different feelings throughout the episode, changing between them so suddenly that at times I actually felt like I was on a rollercoaster (especially that final moment which I'll get into a little later). The first half of this episode explores the conflict that comes up when Sam returns to Sally's life. The reason for him being there makes enough sense though not perfect sense (see: The Bad). Regardless of why he's there, the episode explores what Sam's return does to both Sally and Barry, and I think it does a damn good job. Sally is unnerved by Sam's presence and she is forced to face up to the fact that she has been lying to herself this entire time. It's almost too much for her until Barry comes in with his own experience about lying about his past in front of others. He tells her it's okay and actively encourages her to avoid accepting the past and tells her to keep believing the lie. The scene is wonderful, because while it sounds like solid advice, Barry is only telling Sally to avoid facing up to who she is, the exact same thing that Barry is doing to avoid facing the consequences for his actions. The scene has some wonderful layers and allows the show to continue exploring morality in interesting new ways. As the episode went on, the tension gradually increased. Sam's presence was uncomfortable since the beginning, but it managed to get a lot worse when he verbally abuses Sally in front of a seething Barry. Then the episode builds up tension expertly for the next 10 minutes as Sally gets lured into Sam's room while Barry makes his way to Sam's hotel with the intent to kill him. The sequence was edited brilliantly to leave us in maximum suspense, clearly leading to a big climax. Things starting getting crazy once Barry was in the hotel and when Sam started showing his true colours by attempting to harass Sally. Everything led to a suitably horrifying moment as Barry almost kills Sally when trying to take a shot at Sam. However, the moment snaps Barry back to reality and the weight of what almost happened sets in for him. The scene winds down very effectively, allowing me to slowly release the tension I felt. This entire sequence was paced, edited and directed perfectly, and is yet another example of why execution is so important for TV shows. Had this not been executed perfectly, this could have been a pretty dull, and even laughable, sequence. Shockingly enough, all of this was just the first half of the episode. The second half took a different turn and focused heavily on Barry's inner conflict, allowing him to do things he hasn't done before. Fuches unavailability forces Barry to go to Gene instead, and for the first time we get to see Barry open up to somebody about his dark past. It's an unexpected surprise, but it signifies a big change for Barry. Barry always thought that his past made him a horrible person and he tried to suppress it. But now he has told somebody who understood that what he did was wrong, and they forgave him for it. It's not what he expected at all, and he's suitably excited about this. After all, this means that there is hope for his new future! But Barry makes the mistake of going back to Fuches, to tell him about what he just discovered, and it bites back badly at him. It's complete heartbreak for Barry, and by extension for us as well. Just as Barry finds hope for his future, it's all gone and he is forced to face the consequences. I especially love the storytelling touch that it's Barry's relationship with Fuches, who is representative of Barry's past, which defeats him. But it's over for Barry now and a vengeful Loach will ensure that justice is dealt to Barry. At least that's what I expected to happen. What came next was one of the most unexpectedly brilliant plot twists I've ever seen. Right at the height of suspense, when it's clear that Barry is in danger and that we might be hit with a hugely cathartic moment, the tension is completely thrown away. Loach reveals his true motivation: not to avenge Moss, but to get himself a hitman to take out Ronny, who has been sleeping with his ex-wife. This was a genuine shock for me, and I was left as speechless as Barry. Then the titular "what?!" comes out and the episode ends. After one of the most intense and exhilerating episodes of the entire show, we are hit with a sudden relief of tension as "Barry" drops one of the best set-up punchlines I've ever seen. The ending is nothing short of a genius decision, and it provides a hilarious conclusion to an episode that truly put me on edge. Sure it's all pretty absurd, but "Barry" has always been a little bit ridiculous, so this actually fits with the style of the show. The episode ended with one of the most impressive comedy moments so far. But it also had a damn good moment at the beginning of the episode. The timing and placement of the title card in this episode was superb and it made for a stellar joke to kick off the episode. If there's one thing that this show is absolutely nailing, it's using creativity to always surprise the viewer in pleasant ways. The Bad: Unfortunately, there was more attempted comedy in this episode. The two jokes at the beginning and end work very well, but everything else fell woefully short. Regardless of how skillfully put together this was, there were still a lot of tonal issues. For such a serious episode with so much natural suspense, there should not be any jokes squeezed into it. I was too on edge to laugh at anything, and many of these jokes only served to lessen the tension that the rest of the episode had done so well to build up. It's a shame that my immersion was being broken so frequently because this could have otherwise been an all-time great example of how to do suspense in a TV episode. Would Sam really learn about Sally's play? Not very many people watch these things, so I find it hard to believe that word would get passed down to him. The Unknown: I imagine we will see Sam again? Is he going to be angry with Sally about her performance? What will he do? Will Barry deal with him somehow? Apparently Loach wants Barry to go kill Ronny. How is that going to work? Will Loach literally just let Barry and Fuches go if they succeed? Also how long has Loach planned this? Was this his plan from the very beginning? It certainly seems like it, and it actually makes sense too, looking back on what Loach has done this season. Best Moment: Barry telling the story of Albert to Gene was pretty stunning. Barry's enraged murder is quite shocking and it makes it clear that Barry has always been overly violent. More subtly, the show even answers why Barry has been indebted to Fuches all along, which I appreciate. But what makes this scene truly great is Gene's speech that follows. Gene is understandably shaken by this reveal. But he actually puts in the effort to help Barry out, connecting his own story with his son to Barry's experiences and leaving him with the positive message that your mistakes don't define who you are. Character of the Episode: Barry. Conclusion: This was terrific stuff. The tension was top-notch and the writing was even batter. This was a really well-crafted episode that built to one of the most ingenious endings I have ever seen. Had this episode not been filled with attempted comedy that bogged things down, it would have been even better. Still, this was easily one of the best episodes so far. The first half of season 2 has certainly delivered. Score: 74 Summary: Esther is still alive after Barry's failed hit and as a precaution, Cristobal gives Esther the Chechens' headquarters as a more protected base. Angry, Hank decides to kill Barry. Barry and Sally work on their stories and struggle. Barry finds it hard to come up with a good story while Sally struggles to come to terms with the fact that she never got a chance to tell Sam off. Hank and an assassin takes shot at Barry but miss. Barry confronts them and he and Hank agree to a deal where Barry teaches the Chechens how to be hitmen. Gene again tries to reach out to Leo but is unsuccessful once again. Fuches confronts Barry and they have an emotional talk together. At acting class, Barry's new story is a failure. Sally tries to get Barry to play Sam but Barry can't do it and storms out. Sally follows him and unexpectedly finds Sam in the parking lot.
The Good: After a slightly weaker episode, "Barry" returned to top-tier comedy and drama (for the most part) in this episode. There was so much to enjoy throughout the episode, and just about every scene captivated me. I'll start with the opening sequence with Hank. Hank is quickly growing into my favourite character of the series. He is this absurdly nice and unthreatening man trying to be the head of a mafia, and I enjoy him every time he's on screen. He was hilarious in the opening of this episode as he dreams of proving himself as the very best to Cristobal in absurd fashion (a conference with Thomas Friedman). Then he all but gives away his plans to Cristobal and Esther in a brilliant scene before deciding to extract revenge on Barry for blowing up everything in his face. This led to Hank's horrible failed attempt to murder Barry. The incompetence was wonderfully funny to watch with some pretty great jokes, such as Hank's relief after Barry doesn't shoot him and the absurd Cristobal dance. But on a more serious level, this scene did a lot for the characters of Barry and Hank. Despite being pretty much a joke, Hank understands that he has nothing at the moment, and the fact that he does stare down death unflinchingly is commendable. Barry on the other hand, still can't find himself able to pull the trigger, even to protect Sally and himself. It's a frustrating moment for him, and the acting makes it clear how much everything has gotten to his head. Once it becomes clear to both men that there is no physical threat from either, they decide to come to a reasonable compromise, which makes sense from a character viewpoint, and also fits with the absurdity of this show as an assassination attempt ended with a deal and a dance. Barry's internal conflict in this episode is pretty well done. The episode raises some interesting questions about how Barry saved Albert's life (see: The Unknown), but we know that it's something he should not be sharing to the acting class. Though we don't know exactly what he did, we can still understand Barry's emotions as he tries to write the script, struggling to find something that makes him appear as more human to his classmates. Barry is a very violent man, but he doesn't want to fall back on being a ruthless hitman ever again. No scene shows this better than when Sally and Gene try to shake Barry into choking her in a scene. You can understand why Sally is being so aggressive; it's just acting after all. But Barry's internal conflict makes the simple act of pretending to choke Sally that much more frightening, and Bill Hader acts Barry's discomfort perfectly. Barry has avoided facing up to what he has done and is trying to forget about it and move on. But as this season is proving, that's simply not possible for him to do since his past will always creep up again. Sally had a really good continuation to her story as well. Now we know why she was trying so hard to convince everyone that she is a stronger woman now. She still hasn't had the emotional relief of standing up for herself against Sam, and as such she is trying to tell herself that she is stronger despite having never proved it. This is a wonderful bit of storytelling that humanizes Sally more. Gene's story also continued nicely as he tried and failed to connect with his son for a second time. He's clearly genuine in wanting to reconnect, but he won't be able to win Leo back unless he apologizes and makes up for the mistakes he has made. It should be wonderful to see the egotistical Gene struggle with the idea of an apology. One final scene I want to highlight is Barry's emotional reunion with Fuches. The scene was surprisingly touching since, for the first time this season, Barry openly accepts his past and reconciles with Fuches. Furthermore, Fuches is given a nice character touch as he still helps Barry out despite the fact that he is actively working against him. Fuches may be angry with him, but deep down he still cares for Barry. The Bad: What happened to Barry's injury in the last episode? It felt a bit strange to gloss over his recovery, especially since how much his movements had been hampered. I'm not a big fan of how Sam showed up at the end. Don't get me wrong, my problem is not with the storytelling. I think that confronting the past is a perfect way for Sally to overcome her baggage. But the execution of the scene felt strange to me. Instead of it being a powerful moment, it came off like the ending of a soap opera. It was just such a random cliffhanger that felt cheaply engineered to create a "shock" ending. I don't think it fit with the style of the show at all. The Unknown: Why is Sam there? Did he track down Sally? Is he simply wanting to join acting class? How will Sally react to Sam's arrival? Will she finally be able to tell him off? What did Barry do to save Albert? Albert got shot in the face, which doesn't seem like it would be easy to fix. How did he manage to save him and why is it a story that he shouldn't tell anyone? Best Moment: Sally trying to get Barry to choke her only for Barry to freak out was the most emotionally powerful scene, but I enjoyed Hank's failed assassination attempt so much so I'm a little torn. I'll leave this one up to you since both scenes did wildly different things but were still so good. Character of the Episode: Hank, though everyone is a contender in this episode. Conclusion: This was more really good stuff. The storytelling is still top-notch, and the comedy is still consistently making me laugh. This season has been a blast so far, and I look forward to seeing if the back half of the season can pay off of the brilliant set up in these first few episodes. This show is proving the importance of writing in a TV show, as the execution has been near-perfect which is one of the key reasons that I'm enjoying it so much despite there having only been one truly fantastic episode so far. Score: 69 Summary: Gene announces to the acting class that they will all act out a story about themselves. Barry, not wanting to act out his time in Afghanistan, convinces Gene to let him act out the first time they met each other. Gene initially agrees, but after a failed attempt to develop a relationship with his estranged son, he tells Barry that the story has to be about Afghanistan. Loach contacts Fuches and enlists him to help capture Barry. Sally becomes frustrated with her acting career as she continually lands small parts. Barry goes to kill Esther but finds he can't do it. He attracts the attention of the Burmese and is shot escaping. Fuches is waiting for him at his place, and Barry rebukes him. Fuches tells Loach that he will eventually get a confession.
The Good: This episode branched out a lot and shifted the focus away from Barry and onto the other side characters instead. There was a lot of work done with Sally, Gene and Fuches in this episode. A lot of storylines slowly inched forwards in this episode. Barry didn't have a whole lot in this episode, but there was still some good stuff. His attempt to kill Esther was very entertaining, and it made sense that he would struggle to pull the trigger and return to a life of killing and being evil. That's the last thing he wants, and so he doesn't go through with it. And he faces some consequences as the Burmese notice him and nearly gun him down. The other characters have very good stories too, setting up for more interesting character exploration this season. Fuches allying with Loach made perfect sense, and both characters' motives were well defined. Sally's story was a highlight of the episode. She's very unhappy with the state of her career and the well-intentioned compilation of her 5-second roles did more harm than good for her. At first it seems like a simple case of an actor being disappointed by their lack of success in the industry, and that's a decent story to tell. But in a later scene at the theatre, we are given evidence that there is much more under the surface than what meets the eye, which serves to turn Sally's story into something much more engaging (see: Best Moment). Lastly, we get to Gene who was given a wonderful bit of backstory in this episode. Gene was always a fun character because of his egotistical nature and charismatic behaviour. He hadn't received much in-depth exploration in the last season, but now we get a look at his personal life with a son who he abandoned, Leo. It's sad to see Gene attempt to start a relationship with Leo, only to get rejected because his son understandably holds a grudge. But in this quick storyline, we get to see that Gene's selfish behaviour is the root of most of his problems, including his fractured relationship with his son. So when Gene sees Barry practicing a scene about him, he can't bear to let his ego get in the way of somebody else's development once again, and he forces Barry to act out Afghanistan instead. This was a wonderful little story to experience. As usual, the comedy was pretty good. There aren't as many jokes as the last episode, but what we got was quite good. I particularly liked Hank calling Barry the most evil guy he knows, and Esther staring blankly at a wall while enjoying a song. The Bad: This episode does feel pretty messy with so many storylines moving forward at the same time. It isn't as satisfying to watch as a result, and while there are good moments, the episode as a whole doesn't gel together as well as I would have hoped. This is a problem that typically happens when the focus shifts towards side characters instead of the main character, so an episode like this is pretty unavoidable. At the very least, it is comforting to know that "Barry" is planting the seeds for much stronger stuff in future episodes by developing the supporting cast. But that doesn't make this episode any better unfortunately. This episode is an investment for the future. We will get better content, but in exchange, the quality of this episode suffers. I think that the emotional weight of this episode doesn't fully land since the stories are jumping from place to place. Both Gene and Sally's stories could have been far better had only one of them been the central focus of the episode. But since both of their stories are squeezed into the B-story of the episode, I wasn't able to invest in their struggle as much as I would have liked. The Unknown: Is there more to Sally's background that we don't know yet? She seems horrified by the idea of revisiting the time when she was weak. Is there more to Gene's past than his relationship with his son? Will Barry end up confessing to Fuches eventually? How will Hank react to Barry's botched assassination attempt? Will Barry be able to redeem himself for his failure? What happens when Sally discovers that Barry is a killer? It's quite ironic that she has moved on from a man who was violent with her to a man who is violent with everybody except her. Best Moment: Sally tries to make her personal story about her struggles as an aspiring actress. But Gene sees right through Sally's farce and doesn't let her words sway him. And seeing that she isn't convincing him is enough to get Sally to snap about her past, proving that she still hasn't overcome the pain that her previous relationship had put her in. It's a fascinating scene that allows the show to finally start exploring Sally. Character of the Episode: Sally. Conclusion: This was good stuff. The supporting cast got to shine in this episode and I understand all of the characters a lot more than I did going into this episode. The only issue is the messy structure of the episode, which can feel choppy and unsatisfying at times. The poor structure brings down the score and detracts from the power of the episode. Score: 61 Summary: Fuches is arrested after his new hitman fails a job badly and is killed. The cops connect him to the tooth recovered from where Goran was murdered. Loach is given this information and connects Fuches to Barry. Meanwhile, Gene has a nervous breakdown and leaves the class. Barry tries to keep everybody's spirits high but nobody is into it. Barry tries to convince Gene to come back but it doesn't go well. Hank is enjoying his new life as Cristobal's partner, but is surprised and hurt when Cristobal wants to bring in a rival gang, led by Esther. Hank pins the blame of Goran's death on Esther and tries to get Barry to kill her. Barry refuses angrily. At the play, Gene shows up and cancels it, announcing he's done teaching. To get him to stay, Barry tells the class a story about his first kill, but is shaken by how different the class' interpretation of it is from what actually happened. Gene decides to stay. Barry encounters Hank who threatens him, telling him that he has to kill Esther or he will tell Goran's family that Barry murdered Goran.
The Good: This was a wonderful premier that did a lot of things right. Right from the get go, I knew this was going to be great. The cold open shows a newly recruited hitman trying to do a job and botching it horribly, leading to a trainwreck of events that results in Fuches' arrest. The whole thing was hilarious, and I couldn't stop laughing the entire time. What's most striking is how this scene focuses on one of this show's defining styles of humour: incompetence. It took me a little while to understand how this show worked in season 1, but now I can appreciate how everybody in this show is so woefully incompetent, and how funny it is to watch everything go wrong. Overall, the comedy was done superbly well here. This was the funniest episode of the show for sure, and I was laughing in nearly every scene. It would take far too long to go over all of the jokes I enjoyed, so I'll go over a few highlights. Fuches trying to play smart with the cops only for them to take his DNA from his coke was a perfect comedy moment. Barry attempting to hype up the acting class by imitating Gene was great. Everything that Hank did was simply a joy to watch, and I laughed at his antics. This episode proves that "Barry" has found its footing as a comedy. The tonal issues I had early in season 1 are all but erased. The show has figured out that its best drama comes from inside the heads of the characters, not through tension or action. There are no attempts at unnecessary tension-based drama, and that allows for the comedy to be the focus. What's most impressive is that the show doesn't focus too much on the comedy. There is a balance between drama and comedy, and that balance was maintained perfectly here. Barry's character arc in this episode was really good. We can see that he's desperately trying to ensure that Gene doesn't abandon the class. This class has allowed Barry to move past the person he was, and he is fighting hard to ensure that he doesn't regress back to his depressed mental state in season 1. But tragically, to ensure the continuation of the acting class, Barry ends up revisiting old wounds that he had hidden. After being unsettled by the difference between how the acting class portrayed his first kill and how it actually went down, Barry is once again questioning if he is a good person or if he's just a heartless monster. This shakes Barry to the core, and in a stroke of horrible luck, Hank returns to see him immediately after this with a completely different atmosphere. Hank threatens Barry and forces him to return back to the life of a hitman. And unlike in the clothing store, Barry doesn't have the resolve to push Hank away, and so he has found himself sucked back into the same conflict he thought he had just escaped. One thing about this episode that really surprised me was how much character was put into Hank. Hank was a fun background character in season 1, but he is treated as much more of a main character in this episode. Hank's been given an actual character arc this season, and I'm really excited to see how he adapts to his new role. This episode shows us that Hank really is a genuinely kind and goodhearted guy. He enjoys his new partnership with Cristobal, and enjoys the finer things in life, like volleyball. That initial sequence with Hank was hilarious, but it also does well to show us that Hank really isn't suited to be a big mafia boss. Yet that's the position he's in, and he's doing his best to achieve his goals. After being talked down by Esther and Cristobal, and then abused by Barry, Hank has enough. He forces a change inside himself and comes off as downright chilling in the ending scene with Barry. But it's not quite the right fit for Hank, as the show proves when he drives off listening to absurdly unintimidating pop music. The Bad: Nothing I would call bad. This was a really fun episode to kick off season 2. The Unknown: Will Barry accept the hit? What will this mean for his relationship with Sally and his commitment to acting class? Loach has discovered a connection between Moss' death and Barry now. Will he go after Barry in revenge? Where will this storyline go? What else will the cops do with Fuches? I presume that he's going to return to Barry at some point. How will that happen? Best Moment: Barry's speech about the first man he killed was pretty good, but what took the moment over the top was the contrast between Barry's actual past and how the actors were portraying what happened. It was a chilling reminder for Barry of how messed up he is, and Bill Hader conveyed Barry's shock and unease brilliantly. Character of the Episode: I'll give it to Hank this time. He had a great episode all around. Conclusion: This was a near-perfect way to kick off this season. I'm already extremely interested in what comes next and there are a couple of really engrossing plot lines that were set up. Outside of the set up, this episode managed to function as a great episode on its own with plenty of comedy and a couple of powerful moments. I may be going a little high on this one, but I really loved what it accomplished, and I had a lot of fun watching it. Score: 72 Summary: Barry returns to Fuches, takes his money and leaves him behind. Angry, Fuches goes to the Chechens with hopes to give them Barry if they don't kill him. Goran isn't interested and orders Fuches to be killed. Barry decides to quit acting class, but Sally talks him into staying. Barry goes to Fuches and frees him, killing Goran and his men in the process. Hank sees this and is able to escape before the cops arrive. He makes peace between the Chechens and the Bolivians. Ryan is framed as the murderer. Time passes, and Barry, Sally, Gene and Moss are all on vacation together. As discussion turns to Barry, Moss starts to realize that Barry is the killer she was looking for. Barry tries to talk her out of arresting him but she refuses to listen. Distressed, Barry most likely kills her.
The Good: This episode was logical fallout from the last episode, and it provided a satisfying conclusion for this first season. In this episode, Barry closes the door on his hitman life by severing ties with Fuches and the Chechens. I really enjoyed all of the scenes between Barry and Fuches. Fuches has taken the brunt of the blame from Barry over Chris' death, so Barry is extremely aggressive towards him. But Fuches is still like family to him, so Barry does end up saving him from death, and takes him to the airport as a final act of friendship. Their last scene is surprisingly powerful, and it's hard not to feel for Fuches as Barry forcibly removes him from his life. The acting from Stephen Root was top-notch and played a big part in that scene's quality. The war between the Bolivians and Chechens was ended before it even began as Goran gets killed by Barry. The scenes with them were delightfully entertaining as always, with Goran's "exercise" and Ruslan's torture device being the two biggest comedic highlights. Goran's death made no sense and was very over-the-top... but it's fitting for a character who has always been very over-the-top. After tidying up the loose ends, the biggest surprise of the episode came when we jumped to a future where everyone was living happily. It was a very unexpected direction for the show to go, and I was actually expecting it to be another fantasy vision of Barry's. But it wasn't. Against all odds, Barry actually found a happy ending for himself and managed to move on with his life. But of course, it's not meant to be, and Moss ends up finding the connection she needed to prove that Barry is actually the murderer she has been hunting. This ending is so tragic, as it pulls Barry back from his happy life and forces him to kill somebody close to him to preserve his own happiness. This is horribly sad, and I expect that this murder will prevent Barry from moving forward in the way he wanted to. As a final note, I really want to give more praise to all of the actors on this show. The casting was excellent, and everybody from Sarah Goldberg to Glenn Fleshler did a fantastic job with their characters. The side characters aren't a very fleshed out part of the show, but the stellar acting made it consistently enjoyable to watch these characters. I want to give special praise to Henry Winkler and Anthony Carrigan who were tremendously charismatic as Gene Cousineau and NoHo Hank respectively. And of course, Bill Hader is my pick of the actors for his fantastic portrayal of Barry. The Bad: There were no scenes that I would outright call bad, but something about the overall story didn't make this episode feel as memorable as it should have been. This episode didn't hit me enough on an emotional level for me to give it a score of 70+. I think that's because the storytelling was pretty simplistic, and while I was satisfied with what happened, nothing went to that next level to make me say "wow". This was a very good episode, but it was also too safe for my liking, not ever going the extra mile to really get me to connect with what was happening. The Unknown: The cops found Fuches' tooth in the crime scene. Will they go after him now? Will that be a catalyst for Barry to return to his job as a hitman? What is Moss' fate? Did Barry kill her? He probably did, because I can't imagine a situation where Barry lets Moss live. What will come from the new relationship between the Chechens and Bolivians? Best Moment: The final confrontation between Moss and Barry was quite sad. Barry tries to explain to Moss to let him go, proving to her that he is trying to be a good man and that he deserves a chance. But Moss doesn't see it, and tragically she chooses to view Barry in the same way that the acting class viewed MacBeth back in "Do Your Job". And so Barry decides that he has to kill her, but unlike with Chris, he begs her to reconsider her decision so that he doesn't have to do what comes next. Barry ultimately making the move to kill her is a sad conclusion to the scene, made tragic because of how avoidable it all was. Character of the Episode: Barry again. He really is the heart of this show. Conclusion: This was great stuff. More comedy, more tragedy, and yet another outstanding performance from Bill Hader made this a worthy finale. While there wasn't anything that spectacular here, it was still a very well executed episode. The season as a whole was very enjoyable. This is one of the best executed TV show's I've seen. It's clear that there was a lot of thought put into this story, and every episode flowed seamlessly into the next. The acting was top-notch and the directing was consistently above par. The biggest flaws from the show came from issues with tone early in the season, and from my minimal investment in the side characters. But outside of that, this is really consistent and enjoyable television, with one terrific episode standing out over everything else. I would definitely recommend this show. It's a short and easy watch, and while it only got me completely emotionally invested in one episode, I still think this show offers much more than your usual "fun" show. Score: 68 Summary: Cristobal sees the carnage and calls Goran to figure out what happens. Goran is surprised by how nice Cristobal is, and decides to kill Fuches for giving him bad advice. Cristobal declares war on Goran. Barry and Chris escape, but Chris has to kill a man to save Barry. Chris is shaken up by this and tells Barry that he wants to turn himself in. Barry realizes that he has to kill Chris and eventually does so. Barry arrives at the MacBeth play and has a mental breakdown which allows him to deliver his line with a lot of power. Sally's performance gets much better following that and she catches the attention of the agent who she had invited to the play. Meanwhile, Moss examines the evidence left by Taylor's death and suspects Barry to be involved.
The Good: This episode had two halves to it. The first half was typically more light-hearted, examining the plot in pretty funny ways, focusing heavily on the Chechens/Bolivians conflict. But then there's the second half of the episode, which was unexpectedly dark and showcased the best acting and writing we have seen in the series so far. That's not to say that the first half was poorly done. In fact, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Showing Taylor's foolish bum-rush from the Bolivians' perspective was quite funny, and it set the tone for a wonderful scene where Cristobal called Goran to figure out what was going on. I've really enjoyed this show's fresh take on mob bosses. Rather than making them threatening, these two are the polar opposite of that. The phone call scene was excellent and it made me laugh a number of times, while also providing an ominous closing note. The cops storyline was pretty solid too. I like that they've tapped into Goran's phone and are well aware of what's going on. Goran is so hilariously incompetent, and it's a joy to watch. The cops sorted through the evidence and they made connections that led to the logical conclusion that Taylor was working with Ryan, but Moss is convinced that Barry is her man. It's standard storytelling, helped along by a couple of decent jokes. There's also Fuches and Hank reflecting on Barry since they think he's dead. Their interactions were hilarious, and I loved that Hank casually told Fuches that they had to kill him. These characters don't have a whole lot to them so far, but they are just a joy to watch. Then there's the rest of the episode, which is stunning. The main story concerns Barry and Chris. Chris was never a killer, yet here he murders a man to save Barry's life. And that happens just a few minutes after he watches two of his friends die. For Chris, it's too much and he can't deal with it. But Barry is the one with the real problem. Since Chris is no longer trustworthy, Barry knows he has to kill him. The show takes on a lot of weight as Barry sits in the car, looking empty as he realizes what must be done. To add on, Chris realizes what Barry is thinking and tries to talk him out of it. The tension amps up with every second, and the outstanding acting on display really sucked me into the scene. And then in a moment, Barry kills Chris, and the full weight of what Barry has just done hits us. Barry stages the scene to look like a suicide and walks away, having killed a friend. Now that scene is dark. Barry is forced to go to a place where he has never gone before, and it's so painful to watch. What comes after is somehow even more powerful. Following this murder, Barry has a complete mental breakdown as he imagines what happens to Chris' family following his death. This scene is edited superbly well, and the quick cuts brilliantly convey how these thoughts are invading Barry's mind (likely stirred on by his exposure to grief back in "Use It") and that Barry is trying to find some way out of this guilt. The end result is that Barry performs his singular line perfectly, and gives Sally everything she needs to get her life back together, perhaps even reigniting their connection. While it's nice to see Barry finally doing well as an actor, the implications here are horrifying for Barry. The only times we have seen Barry be competent as an actor is when he is reflecting on his life as a hitman. What if the only way that Barry can adequately be an actor is if he continues working as a hitman? That's a really tragic conclusion to come to, and it's easy to sympathize with the dilemma Barry finds himself in. Before now, there was always hope that Barry could just move on as an actor if he could break free from his old life. But this episode has crushed that hope. It's become clear that Barry needs to keep working as a hitman if he wishes for this acting career to work. In fact, looking back at previous episodes, it's clear that this was always the case. The hope that we had for Barry never truly existed. That's some outstanding storytelling, and it has pushed the morality of this show into an even more gray territory than before. That's fascinating stuff, and I'm eager to see more of it. The Bad: It doesn't make much sense that Chris would join the marines in that woefully constructed plan if he had never killed anybody before. Chris' choice to go makes even less sense when you see the consequences he faces in this episode. Why would he take such a risk for no apparent reason? The show only treated Chris as a character in this episode, not the previous one. He was only in that car because the plot required him to be there. The Unknown: Can Barry somehow find a way to be a good actor without relying on his life as a hitman? What will happen in the war between Goran and Cristobal? Will the cops get involved? Moss is after Barry now. What will she find about him? What will the cops uncover when they find Chris' dead body? Best Moment: Barry's meltdown and his terrific line delivery was a standout moment. The implications of this scene (as discussed above) were groundbreaking for the show, and allow this show to be looked at from a completely different perspective. Character of the Episode: Barry. Conclusion: This was easily the best stuff of the show so far. Barry's inner conflict exploded with complexity in this episode, and there were so many spectacular moments that made me feel something for the character. And somehow, the show managed to tell such a dark and powerful story without giving up on its comedy. This was so skillfully put together. Score: 78 Summary: Barry plans how to kill Cristobal, the leader of the Bolivians, using stealth, but Taylor wants to bum-rush him. Barry tries to get Taylor to listen to his plan unsuccessfully. Taylor sneaks money into Barry's bag when Barry doesn't take it. Barry goes to acting class where he continues to learn new lessons. He discovers the money in his bag and he hides it in the bathroom. Vacha wants revenge on Barry but he is ordered not to kill him. Vacha goes after Sally instead and ends up in a gunfight with Moss who was going to acting class to meet with Gene. Vacha is killed, and the cops find Barry's money hidden in the bathroom. Barry tells Taylor that he will do the job on his own. However, Taylor shows up with a horde of marines and he drives a car straight to the landing site. The car is shot at and several marines are killed, including Taylor.
The Good: The writing in this episode stood out to me. Everything that happened was logical and satisfying. There was a string of events that led to the conclusion of the episode with Taylor bum-rushing the Bolivians and the acting class falling under suspicion again. It was pretty complex, but the story was always easy to follow, and I really love the way that several pieces fell perfectly into place at the end. For example, Moss and Vacha running into each other and getting into a gunfight made perfect sense, and I was really impressed with how Barry's stashed money came into play as evidence. In the other half of the story, Taylor's actions were consistently unpredictable, yet it all made some sort of sense based off of what we knew about the character going into this episode. The reveal that Taylor read Barry's acting book was really well done, and it neatly explained Taylor's stunning behaviour in a way that actually made sense (I could definitely buy into the unhinged Taylor being easily influenced by a book). Barry was terrific in this episode, as always. His interactions with Taylor were a highlight, and I found myself laughing more often than not. He was presented with a very real dilemma here as his hopes about Taylor working with Fuches to let him go free were quickly dashed, and in the end both Fuches and Taylor were demanding Barry to kill the other. It was a big problem for Barry, and one that was examined in a very humourous way, which I think was surprisingly effective. There's something oddly funny about this situation that Barry put himself in, so it feels right to ridicule it. The ending however was really intense. Barry tries to cut Taylor out, but it totally backfires and Taylor arrives with a party of marines to go attack the Bolivians. The scene is scary in a lot of ways as Taylor leads the entire crew to their deaths with a single reckless move. Even with the humour coming out in a few moments, the repercussions of Taylor's decision are quite horrifying, and it's a fitting end for his character to be killed while making an overly aggressive move in an attempt to kill some people. As usual, we were given another strong scene in the acting class. Barry and Sally's relationship has been put in the background these past few episodes, but it's still getting some solid development. This episode shows Barry being forced to deal with the fact that Sally doesn't love him by way of working an acting exercise with her. It's a subtly acted scene, and one that ends up being more powerful than expected. The Bad: The gunfight didn't quite work for me. The scene itself was built up perfectly and it made sense that Moss would kill Vacha. But what was missing was any kind of emotional investment. I don't really care about Moss, and Vacha is the least interesting villain that the show has offered up so far. So when they fought, I was never really at the edge of my seat. The adrenaline rush from the implications of Moss finding a Chechen wore off pretty quickly, and we were just left with a pretty hollow gunfight that never did anything to keep me hooked. This show has an interesting problem which is preventing it from scoring higher. Everything surrounding Barry is fantastic, but whenever the story shifts away to Gene, Moss or Sally, I find myself getting pretty uninterested. The show has done so well with Barry that any time he's offscreen, I find myself just waiting for him to come back. That's not to say that the scenes without him are bad. They aren't. They are well-made scenes with characters who I understand and enjoy watching. But I just can't seem to get invested in them. The Unknown: What will come of Sally playing the role of MacBeth? Will she get the results she desires? The cops will presumably be watching over the acting class now. What will they discover? Will they be back on Barry's tail soon? Who survived in the car at the end? Are Barry and Chris alive? How are they going to get out of the situation that Taylor threw them into? Best Moment: The ending sequence was a perfect escalation of tension, but I have to give it to the acting class scene once again. These scenes provide such brilliant insight into Barry, and he always walks out having grown a little bit as a character. I love the way that the show is handling the character of Barry, and I hope that we continue to get more of this stuff in the final two episodes of the season. Character of the Episode: Barry, thought Taylor really did make me laugh a few times. Conclusion: This was another great episode. The character development and writing was really impressive, and I continue to enjoy myself while watching this show. I can argue that the style of the show makes emotional investment in anything other than Barry quite difficult, but when the execution of the show is this good, I find it hard to be bothered too much by that. Score: 69 Summary: Barry tries to fix things with Sally who wants to be on a break instead. Unfortunately for Sally, she gets put with Barry for a scene in MacBeth. Moss visits the acting class for interviews but doesn't get any more leads. She ends up going to Gene's and they seemingly have sex. Meanwhile, Barry freaks out at acting class after a speech from MacBeth makes him face the possibility that he is an irredeemable killer. Barry and Taylor raid the Bolivians successfully and Taylor saves Barry's life. Fuches wants Barry to kill Taylor after the job but Barry can't bring himself to do it.
The Good: A pattern of this show is that Barry is always given a fantastic moral conflict in every episode. It's always nice to see a TV show where the main character is the best part of the show, seeing that we spend so much time with the main character. Bill Hader put in one hell of a performance in this episode. Here Barry is faced with the problem of Taylor. Fuches wants him to kill Taylor, but Barry isn't sure if it's the right thing to do. It's wonderful to see Barry contemplate what to do with Taylor throughout the episode, and his ultimate decision made perfect sense and even put a smile on my face. Barry has much more to deal with in this episode though. We get to see the fallout of his conversation with Sally in the previous episode, and things advance logically as they grow further apart. Barry's fantasies are made even more sad since it's clear that these dreams aren't something that Sally shares. Also, we get to see Barry deal with the fact that he's a killer in a fresh new way, as a speech from Lady MacBeth forces him to look at his own future in a new way. Barry is horrified by how everyone dismisses MacBeth as a killer for what he did, and he tries to defend MacBeth, obviously in an attempt to fight the the fact that he can change and become a better person despite the horrors he has committed. It's a powerful scene, and easily one of the best of the entire series. There were lots of other things I really enjoyed. The climactic raid scene was a nice mix of intense and hilarious. Taylor got to grow a little more as a character in those scenes, which I appreciated. I really like how this show is portraying Sally. She is a total bitch, and I actually like that. It makes sense that not everyone is going to be a likeable person, and unluckily for Barry, he's dreaming about a girl who I think will be disliked by a vast majority of viewers, similar to Skyler from "Breaking Bad". But Barry isn't a particularly social or emotional person, so you can't really blame him for being in love with her. Lastly, I really enjoyed Fuches' stash of cell phones, and his system with Barry for dealing with police involvement is excellent. The Bad: Nothing I would put down as bad. The Unknown: How will Fuches react to Taylor joining the crew? Best Moment: Barry attempting to justify his own actions by defending MacBeth's actions was really powerful stuff. Character of the Episode: Barry. Conclusion: This was really good stuff. The comedy was still present and enjoyable, but it was toned down and used sparingly so that the dramatic scenes were able to fully connect with me. This was the best episode of the series so far. Score: 68 Summary: Barry leaves Sally's and is given a new job from Fuches to raid the Bolivians. Barry isn't happy with the assignment but he takes it. After a speech from Gene in acting class, Barry goes back to Fuches and throws the papers back in his face. Barry goes to a party with Sally and meets with an old marine friend Chris who brings two other friends who cause chaos. Fuches follows Barry to the party and ensures that he takes on the job anyways. Later, Barry sees Sally talking to another man and misinterprets that he needs to step in to save her. Annoyed by this, Sally leaves a confused Barry. Barry leaves the party later and is approached by one of the marines who wants to join in on his raid of the Bolivian compound. Meanwhile, Gene goes on a date with Moss.
The Good: While not quite as good as the first few episodes, this was a sound continuation of the story with some new problems for Barry to deal with. Barry gets some really good development here. We finally see him step up to Fuches after a rousing speech from Gene in what was both a very funny scene and also a logical continuation of the story. Barry doubles down on his acting life and refuses to deal with Fuches anymore. To cement his new life, he buys Sally a laptop as a present. But Barry is still socially inept, and he ends up ruining his new life. Fuches appears at the party and forces Barry back into his job. Then, Barry invites his old friend Chris, who brings some friends that end up ruining the party. Finally, Barry misinterprets his relationship with Sally as more intimate than what she wants, and as a result he loses her. Despite wanting to double down on his new life, Barry just can't fit in, and now he has a big reason to return to his life as a hitman. It should be interesting to see what choice Barry makes next, and how it impacts his life. The comedy delivered once more with several funny moments. Barry's daydream featuring Jon Hamm was terrific. Gene's desperate interactions with Moss to get a date were quite clever. All of Barry's interactions with Fuches in this episode were very well done and they all made me laugh. I especially liked the show poking fun at how Barry didn't notice Fuches following him, which was a nitpick I was going to make. Being so self-aware lets me know that I'm watching a very well written comedy series. The Bad: Again, the side stories simply don't work as well as everything surrounding Barry. There are side plots with both Gene and Sally in this episode and they don't quite connect with me in the same way that Barry's struggles do. Perhaps it's because the characters of Gene and Sally aren't fully formed yet, and I still don't have a good reason to care about them. Regardless of what it is, the scenes with Gene and Sally were the least interesting parts of the episode for sure despite still having some solid laughs. This episode doesn't feel as important as the others. The party setting isn't very interesting, and there isn't enough plot movement in this episode for it to be as good as what came before. The comedy also isn't quite as memorable in this episode. The Unknown: Are Chris and the marines going to join Barry's operation? Is Barry going to go through with the raid? Will there be any consequences to it? The cops have discovered Barry's figure, right as Moss gets in contact with Gene. Will Gene be the one who realizes that Barry is a murderer? Best Moment: Probably the Barry and Sally fight. I feel sorry for Barry who simply doesn't understand what he's done wrong, as he sees his new life falling apart all around him. Character of the Episode: Barry again. What can I say, he's easily the best part of the show so far. Conclusion: This was more solid storytelling with some well-placed humour to keep things fun. I don't think this was quite as strong as the previous episodes, but I still had fun watching it. Score: 60 Summary: Barry prepares to kill Paco, but Hank calls him, telling him to wait until a bullet is sent to Bolivia for dramatic effect. Barry is frustrated by this. Sally goes to an audition but runs into an old friend who is more successful. Sally breaks down and messes up the audition, so she goes to Barry for comfort. Barry wants to comfort her but he gets the ok to kill Paco so he goes to do that first. Barry strangles Paco so he can go to Sally's quickly. They have sex. Meanwhile, the Chechens bring in their own hitman Stovka to kill Barry and Fuches after everything. Stovka is depressed and after talking with Fuches he kills himself. Goran is distraught and bonds with Fuches, who offers to get Barry into his service to replace Stovka.
The Good: All of my praise from previous episodes holds up here. This is more of the same and it is a lot of fun. I still adore the black comedy, and there are creative jokes in every episode. Like before, the show finds a way to make really dark and disturbing scenes funny, and I thought that this was done with better effectiveness here than in the previous episode. The highlights were Barry getting busted trying to stealthily kill Paco and Stovka shooting himself after a hilariously depressing speech while Fuches talks about the wonders of LA. Barry's given a good conflict throughout the episode. He's not allowed to kill Paco for the most absurdly hilarious (yet believable) reason, so he grapples with waiting outside of Paco's house for the moment he is allowed to kill him and spending some more time with Sally at acting class. There are a lot of good moments for Barry in the episode, and he's put on the spot to make a crucial decision a couple of times, and those scenes worked really well. I also appreciate that there was some added humour in Barry just switching between phone calls from Hank and Sally without either one noticing. I like that Sally got some added depth in this episode. We don't really know much about her, but now we get some insight into her past and we get more characterization as Sally nicely plays up her bitchy side in this episode. Of course Barry doesn't see this as a problem since Sally is the closest to love he has ever been, so he simply enjoys his time with her and even dreams of going to the grocery store with her in what was another really funny scene. The Bad: Some of the stories aren't quite working. The cops storyline remains pretty dull and I'm still not hooked on it. I also didn't enjoy the scenes between Fuches and Goran as much as everything else in the episode. I don't think I'm invested enough in Fuches and the Chechens to justify spending so much time with them instead of Barry. Most TV shows like to spend maximal time with the main character before introducing side plots. This way we can get invested in the story through the eyes of the main character in the long run, that way when the focus shifts from the main character, it's still interesting. "The Walking Dead" and "Better Call Saul" are great examples of this. "Barry" is trying to both develop the main character and the story at the same time, and that's resulting in a little bit of roughness in these early episodes. Compared to the previous episode, I don't think this episode had quite as much of an impact. The emotion and comedy wasn't as strong as the previous episode, though I do think that this one was executed a bit better. The Unknown: Who is the guy following Barry? The Chechens don't acknowledge him, so is he not one of them? Best Moment: There were lots of good moments. I'll go with the funniest scene this time, which was Stovka shooting himself. Black comedy at its absolute best. Character of the Episode: Barry. Conclusion: This was more wonderful black comedy. While there are some small flaws in storytelling that prevent this from being great, it's still very funny, very entertaining television. Score: 64 Summary: The acting class mourns Ryan's death. Barry is invited to a memorial and decides to act out a scene with sally. Fuches meets with Barry who tells him to get out of town. However, the Chechens break in and capture both of them. Barry is sent to kill an informant and Fuches is being kept hostage. Barry goes to the memorial instead and has a strong reaction to Ryan's dad mourning his son's death. Sally cheers him up so he ends up walking her home. Sally makes strong advances to have sex, but Barry obliviously denies them. A Chechen takes a picture of Sally. The police investigate Ryan's murder and discover a camera inside of the Chechens' car.
The Good: The comedy is what stood out most to me. While the first episode was more focused on the dramatic elements of the show, this episode doubled down on the dark humour. There were a number of great jokes here, all of which took full advantage of the dark tone of the series to create some of the best black comedy I have seen. I especially loved how the episode turned pretty dar and horrifying scenes into something lighthearted. Fuches getting his tooth filed is a very uncomfortable scene, yet there is a moment where Goran gets told to keep things quiet so he doesn't disturb his daughter's sleepover. It's a clever joke that made me laugh. The best joke of the episode is certainly when Barry is on the phone talking while Fuches is getting beaten by invading Chechens. The trope subversion of Fuches breaking a bottle to use as a weapon, only to get cut by the glass was hilarious. The continuation of the Chechen storyline was pretty well done. It made sense that the Chechens would attack Barry for what he did, and I like that the attack was both swift and aggressive. A mob wouldn't waste time, and I like that their attack on Barry and Fuches happened practically immediately. Barry was put on the spot when he was forced to choose between Fuches life and his decision to quit killing. It seems like Barry won't be able to simply drop his hitman career the way he wants to. The stuff between Barry and Sally was pretty solid. It's evident that they both like each other and their interactions have been fairly organic so far. Barry is socially uncomfortable and depressed, and in Sally he sees an escape from his miserable world. But I don't think he's looking for any kind of relationship. Sally on the other hand clearly just wants to have sex with him, and it's hard to gauge how much she actually values him with what little information we have of her so far. I'm interested to learn more. I'm also interested to see how she gets involved with the Chechens now that they are watching her. There was one standout moment in this episode. That's the part where Barry sees Ryan's father grieving for his son and starts feeling guilty and ashamed for what he did and what happened. It's clear that Barry hasn't ever been exposed to somebody who has grieved somebody they have lost, and the realization that Barry has been doing that to so many people is quite a shock for him. The Bad: The problem with black comedy is that it can completely destroy drama by making everything feel too lighthearted and jokey. The material in this episode could easily fit into a dark and serious drama, yet it doesn't really have an impact because there is a joke every 20-30 seconds that makes us laugh. This variation in tone is a problem that all black comedies suffer from, and it still persists here. In particular, I was taken out of the direness of Barry and Fuches' situation when the jokes kept getting thrown at us. I was enjoying myself laughing, but I wasn't feeling the high stakes of the moment as much as I should have. Some of the comedy felt way over the top. A lot of the scenes with the cops weren't very good, and I found the crying cop gag to be particularly unfunny and insulting to the audience. There were a few other jokes scattered throughout the episode that also didn't land for me. The Unknown: Is Barry on the camera? Will he be identified once the cops get it unlocked? Are the Chechens making an attempt to recover the camera? Has Barry really never dealt with grief and guilt until now? That seems strange for somebody who has killed so many people. Are the Chechens going after Sally next? What do they plan to do with her? What are their plans for Fuches? What do they want from Barry in the long run? Best Moment: Barry's reaction to Ryan's dad. Character of the Episode: Barry. Conclusion: Black comedies are really hard to judge. On one hand, this was really funny, so as a comedy it was very successful. But score this as a drama and it doesn't hold up nearly as well. In the end I'll settle with a middling score to show how this episode made me laugh more than most modern sitcoms, but it didn't quite live up to expectations on the drama front. Score: 64 Summary: Barry is a hitman who is struggling to find any enjoyment in his life. He takes a job from the Chechens, a mob in LA and goes to murder a man named Ryan Madison. Barry follows him to an acting class where he somehow gets roped into the class and even meets a girl he really likes. The Chechens are upset and Barry's handler Monroe tells him to murder Ryan or the Chechens will kill him. Barry wants to keep acting but is told not to. He goes to the teacher, Gene to quit and gives an impassioned monologue but Gene mistakes it for acting and tells him he is talented. Barry decides to continue acting but goes to kill Ryan anyways. However, the Chechens get there first and kill Ryan. Barry kills them when they try to kill him.
The Good: I really like the premise of this show. It's absurdly ridiculous which is perfect for a black comedy, yet it maintains an emotional core which makes it ideal for a drama. I've never seen anything like the story of a hitman who wants to become an actor instead to find some sort of happiness. The show has uniqueness on its side, and that makes me excited to see more. The comedy aspects of the show have been a blast so far. I laughed out loud a couple times at some very well done jokes. I also really like the acting class setting as it allows for some clever recreations of famous movie scenes. I got a good laugh at Barry's dry delivery of dialogue while enacting a scene from "True Romance" with Ryan. The character of Barry works really well. Bill Hader is a terrific actor, and he conveys Barry's depression very effectively. We can see that being a hitman isn't the thing for Barry and that he desperately needs to go into this acting class. But it looks like making such a change is going to be tough. After this one episode we already have two established threats in the Chechens and Monroe, both of whom will not be content to simply let Barry go on to his new life. The standout scene of the episode was Barry's speech to Gene. That scene is a tough one to do correctly and requires the rest of the episode to be executed perfectly. Buying into the stoic and quiet Barry to release some emotion would be difficult. But Bill Hader's acting, strong writing, and perfect direction made it easy to follow Barry's progress as he builds towards this speech which promptly reveals a lot of details about Barry's history while simultaneously allowing him to vent his frustrations that have pooled inside of him. I was pretty happy with the 30 minute length. I was initially worried that it would feel either too short for a drama, too long for a comedy, or both, but it actually ended up being the perfect length. The episode was paced very well and it ended at a point that made me feel satisfied with what I had seen, while also making me eager to watch more. The Bad: A couple nitpicks here and there. The Chechens looked completely inept in that final scene as the one guy utterly failed at loading the gun. Did the four of them seriously only bring one gun that they couldn't even use effectively? I thought that Barry instantly falling in love with Sally was a bit too cheesy for my liking. The Unknown: Is there more to Barry's backstory than what we learned from his speech? How will the Chechens respond to Barry killing a car full of their men? Best Moment: Barry's speech was a fine piece of acting that provided the emotional core for the episode. Character of the Episode: Barry. Conclusion: This was a strong premier episode that was executed perfectly. While it doesn't do anything too spectacular, the episode hooks me on an interesting premise with a very good lead character. Let's see what the show can do now that it has laid a solid foundation to build off of. Score: 67 Summary: In flashbacks, Desmond is discharged from prison and meets with Charles Widmore who doesn't want him to talk with his daughter Penny anymore. Desmond decides to do a race around the world to win Widmore's respect to get Penny. He ends up on the island and meets Kelvin. Desmond learns from Kelvin that the button is to discharge intense electromagnetism but that there is a failsafe to blow it all up instead. After two years, Desmond discovers Kelvin was lying to him and accidentally kills him in an argument. Desmond misses the button counting down and a system failure occurs but it is aborted. This ends up causing the Flight 815 crash. On the island, Desmond is the man in the boat. Sayid comes up with a plan where he, Jin and Sun take the boat to the camp while Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley follow Michael through the jungle. After engaging in a fight with some of the others who followed them, Jack reveals to everyone that Michael is lying and they continue. However, Michael leads them into a trap. Sayid raids the camp but finds nobody there, and Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley are captured in an ambush. Michael is given a boat and leaves the island with Walt. Hurley is sent back to the camp, and the remaining 3 are taken by the others. Meanwhile, Locke tells Desmond that the button is just an experiment and they lock Eko out of the computer room with a lockdown. Desmond realizes that the button is actually real but Locke doesn't believe him and breaks the computer. The timer runs down and the hatch starts to destroy itself. Desmond desperately goes to the failsafe and turns the key. Elsewhere, two people detect an electromagnetic anomaly and inform Penny that they finally found it.
The Good: Similar to "Exodus", this was an epic finale that concludes the season's stories with a bang, completely changing the landscape of the show for the next season. There were tons of major events and reveals in this episode, and it was a blast to watch the entire time. Though the episode was a season finale, it was still a character-centric episode. I think it actually worked quite well as Desmond was a good character to center on for such a big episode considering how we knew nothing about him and that his story ties directly into the history of the hatch. As expected with "Lost", the show gave Desmond a surprising amount of depth, and we learn a lot about him in this episode. Back in "Orientation" we saw a picture of Desmond with another girl, who we can only assume that he was in a relationship with. Now we learn a little bit about that relationship. The episode is subtle with the details of their story, and from what I can determine, Desmond left her out of fear and ended up in prison after disobeying orders in the army. He wrote to her frequently, but Penny's father Widmore hates Desmond and intercepted his letters. To prove to Widmore that he is worthy, Desmond took the race around the world but tragically ended up on the island, away from the woman he loved. It's a sad story, but also a good one that leaves room for further exploration in future episodes. I think the writing really made this story stand out. The writers used clever tricks to tell us this story, relying on character dynamics and emotions to tell us the story rather than giving us major exposition dumps. It's an expertly crafted story and it's clear that a lot of thought was put into writing this. Once Desmond reaches the island, the story takes a big turn. We meet Kelvin, who is a surprisingly familiar face (see: The Unknown), and he provides us tons of interesting answers. We learn the history of the blast door map, the nature of the hatch, and more hints about what the sickness actually is. His scenes with Desmond are quite good, and it becomes easy to understand why Desmond is so hysterical in the present, having been trapped in this little world for so long with a man who he learned was lying mere moments before his death. Desmond's life was a misery without any purpose, filled to the brim with unanswered questions to drive him insane. That scene near the end where Desmond finally snaps after reading the letter from Penny was extremely powerful and gave the episode the emotional heart is needed (see: Best Moment). In the present, the hatch storyline was superbly done. There was tension from the conflict between Locke and Eko. The return of the dynamite was a good way to build some unpredictability, and Charlie's involvement was also intriguing even if it didn't amount to much (see: The Bad). The closer the countdown got to zero, the more intense things seemed to get. Once Eko knocked himself out, Desmond began to get doubts and tension came from that. We get two very strong hints that The Pearl was the real psychological experiment, and that added to the sense of building dread as Locke forced Desmond to wait until zero, even going as far as to break the computer. The moment where the timer reached zero was fantastic. The direction was superb as we got to see everything falling apart while Locke reacts in a stunned panic, realizing that he was wrong. The turn of the key at the end was a dramatic moment that the show nicely transformed into an emotional moment as well, turning it from a great scene into something even better. This was a pretty tricky story to execute. Had Locke's motives not been understandable for all of this, that would have destroyed the credibility and believability of what we were watching. But I was quite impressed with how well Locke's turn had been handled in the past few episodes. This episode gave us some surprisingly poignant moments with Locke. First we get to see him tearing up in the jungle after he gets hit and scolded by Eko which is a small but effective moment to show us Locke's headspace. Then later we get a brilliant speech from Locke as he reveals to Desmond how the island had betrayed him, reflecting on Boone's death and how much it had shaken him. The speech was wonderful, and it recapped the sadness of Locke's story effectively. The episode gave us some big answers to long-running mysteries, and all of them were quite satisfying. We learn that the button is real and that it's used to disperse electromagnetism which charges to an extreme degree every 108 minutes. The incident was an electromagnetic leak which likely did a lot of damage. Everything isn't crystal clear, but these are effective answers that fit with everything we have learned so far. On top of that, we also get an unexpected reveal that Desmond actually crashed Flight 815 with a burst of electromagnetism from the hatch. I don't think very many people were wondering why the plane crashed, but "Lost" went the extra mile to impress us by answering a question we didn't know that we had to ask. The other half of the episode saw a trek across the island, which is becoming a signature for "Lost". The trek was filled with drama considering that only Jack and Michael were aware that there was something deeper going on. This resulted in a large amount of tension which culminated in a brilliant scene where Jack puts Michael on the spot and gets him to confess to what he did. That scene was superb. Everybody acted tremendously, and Harold Perrineau continued to impress me as he embodies Michael's guilt in a near-perfect way. I really appreciated Hurley calling Michael out on his claims that killing Libby was an accident, and Michael's response to all of this was tremendous. All he can say is "it's my son", a feeble attempt to justify what he did as the right thing, not only to the others but to himself as well. The Bad: I have a few griped with this. The biggest problem with this episode, and perhaps even the season itself, is Charlie. Charlie is impossible to like in this episode. He relishes in Locke pain and never seems to have anything nice to say to anybody. That may be acceptable if the writers want him to be a character we detest, but seeing that Charlie kisses Claire at the end of the episode, I don't think that's the case. The last scene with Claire was really bad. Charlie doesn't seem to care whatsoever that Eko, Desmond and Locke may be dead, and he makes no effort to help them. He doesn't even tell anybody what went down in the hatch! It's so unbelievable that he would do this, and his sarcastic replies to Claire are more frustrating than charming. The character has done nothing to deserve the kiss he gets at the end of the episode, and I can't help but feel that the writers have turned a rather simple redemption story into something nearly unwatchable because it makes little sense and completely destroys a character who I really liked in season 1. There are some holes in Michael's plan. The others never communicated to him that he should be taking Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley to anywhere other than the camp he visited. That's a big hole, and it made the dramatic ambush mean less since the writer's fingerprints are all over the episode in order to set up that scene. I was also confused by Sayid charging into the others' camp all alone. What would he have done if people were actually there? There's no way he could fight them all by himself. There are also some inconsistencies with the planning from the others. It looks like Henry is some kind of a leader among them. If that's the case, then why has he allowed to be captured by Rousseau? Also, a major issue for Michael was getting Hurley to join the trek, especially since he isn't a fighter. This is pretty much what allowed Sayid to determine that Michael was lying to begin with, since Sayid couldn't come along. Yet the others inexplicably let Hurley go back to the camp. SO why did Michael need to bring him specifically? Bringing Sayid could have been way easier and he would have served the same purpose! The Unknown: Libby appears in Desmond's flashbacks. Is there still more to learn about her and her dead husband? What's with the bird that shouted Hurley's name? What is that four-toed statue? Who built it? What destroyed it? Michael is apparently only able to leave the island at a specific bearing. How is this possible? Why is this the only way to leave the island? How are the others aware of this? Was the Dharma sickness fabricated by Kelvin somehow? He seems to be completely aware that it isn't real but he still tricks Desmond into believing that it is. Is Henry the leader of the others? He seems to be in command of everybody else. We also learn the names of "Zeke" and "Miss Klugh" as Tom and Bea respectively. Is there any significance to the others hiding their true names? What happened when Desmond turned the failsafe key? Why did the sky turn purple? What happened to the hatch? What happened to Locke, Desmond and Eko? Are they still alive? Very interesting ending scene. Is Penny aware of the island's existence? How? Is she looking for it because she knows Desmond is there? Will we be seeing her next season? Best Moment: Following Kelvin's death, Desmond realizes there is no purpose in his existence and he contemplates killing himself. But at his lowest moment, he finds a letter from Penny encouraging to keep fighting so they can be together again. Now unsure of what to do, Desmond panics and has a complete breakdown. Henry Ian Cusick is brilliant in the scene and makes it remarkably easy to sympathize with Desmond. Then we get to see Locke at his lowest moment as well, and unknowingly both of them give each other the hope to keep pushing on. It's a beautiful message, and the scene ends on an optimistic note. Then we cut to the present where Desmond tells Locke this story and decides to repay Locke by saving his life. That's fantastic writing, and it makes me connect a lot more to the characters. Character of the Episode: Desmond. Conclusion: This was excellent stuff. A huge episode to end the season in a memorable way while also including some new mysteries and big cliffhangers to pave the foundation for season 3. This is everything I want to see in a season finale, and then some. This season has been rough for "Lost", but at least the show found its groove eventually. The first half was very inconsistent, with plenty of disappointing episodes saved by a few outliers that included some of the best episodes of the entire series. But thankfully, the second half found some consistency, and while the writing was still a little awkward at times, I was hit by the same emotional magic that "Lost" had mastered in season 1. This season took the show in a new direction with an emphasis on plot development, but the characters still managed to shine in several episodes, including this brilliant season finale. But I still feel that this season pales in comparison to season 1, which I think is one of the greatest TV seasons of all time. This season is still very good and at times excellent, but there's no denying that it is a step down in quality. I look forward to season 3, and I hope that we get a more consistent season that can balance plot and characters in a more effective way. Score: 83 Summary: Flashbacks show Michael going after the others. He is captured and taken to a small camp where he is broken by a brief meeting with Walt. The others send him back to free Henry and to bring them Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley. In the present, Michael tries to get Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley to attack the others, but everyone decides to have a funeral first. Sawyer invites Sayid on the trip so Michael goes to him and tells him not to come. At the funeral, Sayid tells Jack that he suspects that Michael is lying, and suggests that they play along for now. Meanwhile, Charlie learns that Eko is no longer working on the church. He tries to work alone and accidentally stumbles upon the heroin which he throws into the ocean. At the end of the episode, a boat appears off the coast of the island.
The Good: Harold Perrineau carries this episode. His performance is incredible and he gives it his all to make Michael somewhat sympathetic, an impressive feat considering that he just murdered two people in cold blood. This episode does a great job of making us understand why Michael did what he did. We learn that he wasn't brainwashed; he did everything of his own accord, and the reason he did so is presented simply, but effectively through an outstanding scene with Walt (see: Best Moment). Outside of Michael's story, this is good if unspectacular set-up for the season finale. The tensions in the camp develop organically to prepare for another epic trek across the island in order to get Walt back. The ending cliffhanger is very interesting, and I'm curious to see who is on the boat and what it means for the story (see: The Unknown). The flashbacks were some of the most interesting parts of the episode. The others were portrayed just as mysteriously as ever and I was fascinated by the little tidbits that we learned about them. The others are very cunning, and the ambush to capture Michael was clever and intimidating. Their interrogation of him was very interesting. Miss Klugh's questions for Michael intrigued me and it seems like these people are much more interested in science and experimentation than any kind of physical torture, recruitment or whatever else that has been theorized. There were a few moments that I really liked. Eko's speech about the boy and the dog was a signature Eko moment. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje plays the role with such charisma that every scene with him becomes must-see. I also liked that Claire was momentarily afraid of Charlie's claims that he tried the vaccines, considering his history as an addict. I was very happy with Sayid being able to see through Michael's crap and determining that something was up. Locke being able to walk again after such a short time was also quite nice. The Bad: Some things didn't work in the episode. I was surprised that Jack agreed to let Michael decide who went on the trek. Jack has always been overly emotional and often insists on being in control of things, so I expected that he would have wanted to make some suggestions. The fact that he was alright with Hurley going with them is quite baffling. Hurley doesn't even know how to use a gun! And he's also proven to be squeamish (Tabula Rasa) and fearful of violence (Exodus). Why would anybody want to take him to go kill people? Charlie throwing away the heroin was a wasted moment. It feels too late for him to pass up on the heroin as his character has already been sabotaged by poor writing and questionable behaviour. The moment doesn't have the weight that it would have had if Charlie had been giving a better story. This simply felt like a hollow attempt to course-correct a character who had been badly mishandled. It's a small detail, but the location where Michael had a brief gunfight with the others doesn't match up with the location in "The Hunting Party". It's a small thing, but it did bother me. The Unknown: Why do the others want Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley specifically? Does it have something to do with them assorting people as good or bad? Miss Klugh mentions that Walt was apparently appearing in places he wasn't supposed to be. Does this have something to do with Shannon randomly seeing Walt earlier this season? What tests are the others doing on him? What are the others pretending to do? Does this have something to do with those fake beards that Kate found? Also what is the room that Miss Klugh threatened Walt with? Who is on that boat? Is it the others? Could it be Desmond? Or another group of people who have discovered the island? Best Moment: The others allow Walt to speak with Michael, albeit briefly and the relief in Michael's eyes is palpable. But then Walt has to be taken away from Michael again and we get to see the panic set in as Michael is forced to watch, helpless, as the other take his son away from him once again. And it breaks him. Michael breaks down into tears and submits to the others, willing to do whatever it takes so that he wouldn't have to look at himself as a failure of a parent anymore. It's a really sad scene that is acted brilliantly, and it allows us to sympathize with Michael. Character of the Episode: Michael. Conclusion: This was a solid enough set-up episode elevated by Harold Perrineau pouring his heart out to make Michael sympathetic. Score: 68 Summary: Monica makes candy for the neighbours who all demand more. Ross buys Phoebe and bike and tries to teach her to ride it. Tag accidentally submits a joke evaluation from Rachel which puts her in trouble.
The Good: This is solid stuff for the most stuff with some good jokes. The candy storyline has solid moments, particularly the Gary cameo (see: Best Moment) and Joey joining in with the mob. Chandler has a pretty good episode as a character even if he doesn't make too many jokes. Ross has some good moments in the Phoebe story. Rachel and Tag's story is fine as well and they have some nice moments in their story which reaches a logical conclusion. The Bad: Phoebe is awful in this episode as she comes off as childish in almost every scene. Monica doesn't look good either as the writers play up her desire to make food for people to a ridiculous amount in an attempt to develop her character in a new way. Best Moment: Gary's cameo was brilliant. "Friends" really knows how to make one-off characters memorable. His 4AM visit was quite funny, and the end of the scene with him hitting on Monica was excellent. Character of the Episode: Rachel. Conclusion: This was a harmless episode with some good laughs. Nothing special here, but nothing particularly unsatisfying either. Score: 64 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
February 2024
Categories
All
|