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
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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