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
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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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