Summary: Fuches contacts the families of Barry's former victims, giving them a chance for revenge. Barry gets the bomb from Hank and is supposed to bomb Cristobal's house while he is gone to pilates. Barry tries to detonate the bomb, but the app doesn't work. Cristobal returns home but finds out that Fernando has learned about his affair. Cristobal runs outside and right then the house explodes, killing the Bolivians. Barry brings a shocked Cristobal back to Hank. Gene prepares to leave town but finds out that his role has been increased in his show and that he's starting to become well-liked due to how he helped Barry. Gene returns home and Barry tells him he will leave him alone and that his family is safe. Sally attends her TV show premiere and is overjoyed. Katie tells her about her concerns about Barry. Sally has a realization and chooses to break up with Barry after he arrives late.
The Good: The entire bomb plot was really funny. This required the usual suspension of disbelief that "Barry" requires of us due to its inherent ridiculous portrayal of the real world. But if you can do that, this is fantastic comedy. To start, the reveal that Hank decided to keep the bomb out in a parking lot in broad daylight due to pure fear of blowing up was fantastic. Then the bomb starts speaking in some other language and doesn't stop speaking, and I couldn't help be love the absurdity of that. Barry plants the talking bomb and it works so well because we see Fernando accusing Cristobal suspensfully while their men investigate this mysterious sound they are hearing in the background. This is surprisingly funny. I also really enjoyed the entire concept of the detonate app which has a consumer-friendly customer service number. This universe never ceases to amaze me. The remaining three storylines are good but unremarkable. Gene's story is solid as he panics and tries to get out of dodge as fast as possible, but he's constantly barraged with career successes that give him good reason to stay. It's a good conflict for him, and features some funny bits like Gene's endless nicknames. Fuches is out for revenge, and building an army of vengeful past victims is a creative idea. I'm curious to see where this story heads. Lastly, we have Sally who is great in her scenes. Sarah Goldberg again portrays her brilliantly as she is overcome with emotion during her TV premiere. I greatly enjoyed the irony of newbie Katie being mature and composed, while experienced Sally stutters and screams in excitement like a baby. The emphasis on rotten tomatoes scores was a great touch. This takes me to the end of the epiosde where Katie finally confronts Sally about Barry, and after a moment of introspection and realization, Sally makes the harsh decision and immediately breaks up with Barry. I'm shocked that it happened so soon and so suddenly, but I'm happy that Sally was able to get away from Barry's dangerous messiness. The Bad: Something about this didn't quite click for me. One big issue I have is that this show has burned down a lot of its key relationships. The relationships between Barry/Sally, Barry/Hank, Barry/Fuches, Barry/Gene, Sally/Gene, and Hank/Fuches have all either been burned down, or hardly have much going on at the moment. This is a significant problem because good comedy depends on there being relationships between characters that allow for the humour to emerge. Right now we don't have very much character interaction that isn't marred by characters being cold towards each other and that hurts this show's ability to make you laugh. Season 3's best episode so far got laughs out of the Barry/Gene relationship, but since then there has been a lack of focus on relationships. The comedy is suffering, but so is the drama. This is mainly because every character is on their own at the moment, resulting in too many story threads that aren't able to be fully explored. With so many disparate story threads, it makes these short 30 minute episodes feel unsatisfying since these episodes can only spend 7-8 minutes on each storyline as there are so many stories squeezed into each episode. This makes the stories feel rushed, and it makes them less emotionally effective as the stories we have seen in seasons 1 and 2. This third season has already resolved a lot of the storylines that started off the season, but I didn't have much of an emotional reaction to any of it. Barry and Sally's break-up was good, but it didn't have that emotional level to it. Likewise with Barry's decision to stop going after Gene. The resolution of the Bolivian threat was also very abrupt and anticlimactic. Since "Barry" is juggling so many storylines, it has struggled with giving them the time to breathe, making them lose a lot of their power. There was too much crammed into this short episode, and nothing hit me as hard as I expected it to. The Unknown: Will Fuches be able to take revenge on Barry? How will Barry respond to people coming to his place to kill him? Is the location Sally's house? Will she get caught in the crossfire? How will Barry handle Sally breaking up with him? I don't imagine that this relationship will simply end so suddenly. What's next for Gene? He's definitely going to be sticking around, but how will he remain important to the show? Will Cristobal be okay after the explosion? Will this change how he interacts with Hank? Best Moment: I laughed the hardest at Barry going to pick up the bomb which was placed comically far away from the Chechens. Character of the Episode: Barry. Conclusion: This was solid story progression, but I had some concerns about the state of the show and some pacing problems that are hurting this third season right now. Score: 64
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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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