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
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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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