Summary: Fuches is shot and left for dead by the bikers but he's saved by a rural family living on a farm with goats. Fuches again contemplates turning a new leaf but ultimately heads back to LA to go after Barry, contacting Janice's father next. Barry is invited to dinner by Chris's wife Sharon. Barry heads over there but is confronted by Taylor's sister's biker group. A chase ensues as they try to kill him and he drives away. Eventually the bikers get wiped out and Barry arrives at Sharon's, but she has been contacted by Fuches and poisons him. Hank realizes his operation has been shut down and ponders his next move. Sally has an interview for a position in the writer's room at BanShe but doesn't know if she should take it. Gene gets an offer for his own new show and offers to give the entire pay to Annie.
The Good: This episode dived deep into absurdity, and had an immediate comedic impact. This episode is funny and it shows in every single scene. Barry's story is the centerpiece, particularly that incredible chase sequence towards the end of the episode. I've praised how this season has married the comedy and drama together in a way that previous seasons struggled with. Instead of bouncing between drama and comedy in this sequence, every beat of this chase sequence offered both drama and comedy at once, avoiding the tonal whiplash that I used to feel so often with this series. Some highlight moments include the absurdly unsubtle way that the bikers recognize Barry, the gun "hand-off" which ended in a hysterical disaster, and Taylor's sister shooting through the roof at the store only to be killed by that one guy who thought his ex-wife was coming for retribution. I was laughing the whole time, and also in suspense to see how this chaos would finally end. Another thing to praise about this sequence is its direction. The framing, creative shots, and editing is all stellar and makes the experience feel much more cinematic. The conclusion of the episode is another stunner that caught me completely off guard. I did not expect Sharon to have been contacted by Fuches already, and the ending is a big surprise that makes me excited to see where the show goes from here. Fuches' story is another absurd example of combining drama and comedy. On paper, there's a really good character story here. Fuches is shot and karma catches up to him, but by some miracle he's saved by a group of people and once more brought to a peaceful farm life where he's given a chance at redemption. But ultimately Fuches is immune to good decision-making and decides to continue pursuing revenge. It's a simple character drama story. The only difference? This episode presents this story as pure comedy and it is fantastic. While the story beats are presented logically enough, they are very clearly exaggerated to be played for laughs and it works spectacularly. Fuches' ability to somehow end up on farms with hot girls and goats is funnier than it should be, and what really sent me over the edge is the overdramatic music that plays over all of his scenes. The laughs are all there ("what do your people call water", "there's a Starbucks right over that hill"), and what we end up with is a character exploration that is seamlessly converted into a comedy. Also up there in absurdity is Mitch and the entire concept of the beignets store. The details about it are slowly revealed over the course of the episode, but I really laughed at how much of a commodity Mitch and his idiot wisdom was, and he somehow did seem to pierce the heart of the issues that our characters were having. This show really knows how to create memorable side characters that can make you laugh, and Mitch is quite possibly the best that we have seen so far. I loved the suggestion that people would line up for miles outside the beignets store specifically to use him as a simple therapist. Perhaps even funnier is the subtle suggestion that people might not even realize why they keep coming back, since they seem to be unrealistically obsessed with the beignets. Or maybe the beignets really are that incredible, and Mitch is just an added bonus. Who knows? This concept is so genius and funny, and I was delighted every time we returned to Mitch as he rambles on in that same position with that same facial expression. The side stories in this episode are fine. Gene surprised and impressed me by making a genuine effort to repair Annie's career, and there was the delightful bit where his agent breaks into his house dramatically for seemingly no reason. Sally gets an interesting career choice in this episode, with a highlight scene being that hilarious meeting where her agent and the BanShe manager (Vanessa Bayer) used ludicrous noises to represent what Sally could provide. Hank continues to spiral as he loses everything, and I did get a good laugh out of his complete misunderstanding of what "red flag" means. The scene of Barry using voice-to-text in the store, leading to him sending the most nonsensical message to Sally was another fantastic comedy highlight. The Bad: The dive into absurdity did have some big downsides though, and I can't help but feel that the show loses something whenever it has these insane episodes where the rules no longer seem to matter. A lot of the happenings of this episode make no sense, and that will make it hard for the show to carry dramatic weight when the story tries to be more serious. This is very similar to my problems with "ronny/lily" from season 2, and while these episodes are some of the show's finest, there's no denying that they have also managed to hurt the show a lot. A lot of details in this episode don't add up. How did the bikers find Barry casually on the road? How did they find where he was staying? Why did they even shoot Fuches? Why did they make some of these batshit crazy decisions? Like shooting Barry out in the open with no regard for who else they kill. Also isn't Taylor's sister an olympic gold medalist? Why on Earth is she so concerned about $1700? The logistical details in this episode don't work at all, and that unfortunately drags down the experience because you realize that the rules don't matter, so there are no real stakes. It's still funny, but the drama gets significantly downgraded because the details are no longer there. Again, I still feel that having all the characters on their own with their own personal stories is a mistake. The season is still too crowded, and you can really feel that with how many side stories there are that barely progress in this episode. We are always jumping from place to place and that prevents these side stories from gaining any momentum. The pacing of the show is still badly hurt by the sheer amount of disconnected storylines that are being told at once. The Unknown: How will Barry survive that ending? Will somebody save him? Will Sharon be unable to murder him? Will Albert get involved somehow? How will Janice's father play into things? How will Sally move forward at BanShe? Will she take this opportunity? Will Gene and Annie's partnership last? Best Moment: The sheer insanity of that chase sequence. Character of the Episode: Barry. Conclusion: This episode delved head-first into absurdity, and while that resulted in both ups and downs, we ended up getting what was easily the best, funniest and most focused episode of the season. I still have my problems with this third season and how it is handling its story, but there's no denying that this show has a competent team who know what they are doing. Score: 73
2 Comments
Joe Y
6/2/2022 11:34:17 am
I'm a bit skeptical of dramedies, for the reasons that you've mentioned before. Comedy and drama have fundamentally different aims and goals, and I think that presents some fundamental issues when a show tries to be both at the same time. When it comes to comedy, it's more acceptable to bend the rules of logic to get a laugh. A laugh is the main purpose of a comedy, after all. It also usually involves pushing characters beyond the bounds of absurdity--again, fine for most comedies. The problem is that both of those approaches don't work nearly as well for drama. And so it's very, very difficult to strike the proper balance. There are dramas with funny moments, of course, and comedies with heartwarming/dramatic moments, but actually fulfilling both approaches to their fullest potential strikes me as something of an impossibility.
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Aaronic
6/6/2022 08:20:38 pm
Excellent points as always Joe and I totally agree with you on this. I've enjoyed Barry a lot, but the show is yet to strike that perfect balance. Each season tries new things to overcome past flaws, but discovers new ones along the way. Season 1 told a good story with Barry, but struggled to make me care about its side characters because they were all presented as pure comedy. Season 2 corrected that, but felt so dramatic at times that it didn't function nearly as well as a comedy, and often it was jarring to switch between drama and comedy so sharply. I suppose that's what made "ronny/lily" such a special episode, but it also sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the season. Now season 3 has found a better way to balance the comedy and drama, but because they are both so cleanly intertwined, this has made the drama much less interesting and entertaining compared to season 2. The completely disconnected storylines aren't helping things either.
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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