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
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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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