Summary: Hank calls Fuches who agrees to meet upon hearing that Barry has a kid who Hank has captured. Barry buys guns and heads to Hank's place. Fuches arrives first and has a stand-off with Hank. Fuches says he has accepted who he is and will leave Hank alone if he admits he killed Cristobal. Hank breaks down but ultimately can't do it so Fuches shoots and kills him. Fuches dives on John to protect him while the remaining men all kill each other. Fuches delivers John to Barry and leaves. Barry, Sally, and John sleep in a motel. Sally and John leave during the night and Barry goes looking for them at Gene's place. He ultimately decides to turn himself in while talking with Tom, but Gene abruptly kills him. A few years later, Sally is teaching acting again with John. John goes out to a friend's place and watches the movie made about Gene and his father called "The Mask Collector". Gene is serving life in prison and Barry was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full honours.
The Good: This episode subverted my expectations in many ways, and I applaud the writing team for creating an ending that surprised and entertained at every turn. I imagined that much of this episode would have been dedicated to Barry's conflict with Hank and Fuches, and yet the situation was resolved in the episode's first half, amusingly before Barry even got there. I went into this episode expecting another massacre by Barry, so having everyone kill each other before he got there ended up playing on my expectations beautifully to create the perfect surprise. Hank and Fuches also received a terrific conclusion. Their conflict occurred far too quickly and I didn't quite feel the significance of their disagreement until their showdown in this episode. Fuches has done the hard yards to change and he has accepted how bad of a person he is, and because of that he is disturbed by Hank's stubborn delusions where he gets to pretend that he's still a good person without accepting the bad that he has done. Hank killed Cristobal, and rather than face that truth and accept it, Hank hides from it and lashes out angrily at anyone who tells him otherwise. This fundamental difference between Hank and Fuches creates an almost primal distaste for each other, one that is fittingly utilized in their confrontation. Stephen Root and Anthony Carrigan are outstanding as Fuches lays bare what he needs from Hank, and Hank crumbles under the weight of his grief. In the end, Hank is killed and Fuches lives, which is fitting with the message of the show. Fuches did the right thing and accepted who he was. The result for Fuches is genuine redemption as he saves Barry's son and gets an opportunity to set things right with Barry in a beautiful final scene they have together. That they don't speak is perfect as it shows Fuches' restraint to manipulate Barry any further. But on the other hand, Hank dies because he was unable to accept the bad things he has done and was never able to achieve true change. Hank's death is tragic, and I love his final scene where you can tell that he sees Cristobal during his final breaths. The image of Hank's lifeless body holding the Cristobal statue's hand is a beautiful send-off for the character, one that worked exceedingly well. Everything else going on around Hank and Fuches also works really well. The action sequences in this show are excellent, and this last one was no exception. It was ridiculous to see everyone get mowed down instantly, and the grenade going off was darkly comical. I appreciate Bill Hader's direction as always, and the sequence of Fuches walking John away from the carnage as everyone agonizes in their pain was brilliantly executed. As for Sally, she finally gets to confess all that she has done wrong to John in a beautiful moment. This feels like John meeting his real mother for the first time as Sally is finally able to be her true self instead of "Emily", and the mother-son moment here works really well, especially to set up Sally's choice to leave Barry and what we see at the end of the episode. I like that Sally's story has come full circle as she ends up leaving Barry in the same way that she left Sam (sneaking out in the middle of the night), giving herself a chance at another life. It's almost funny how Barry is relegated to the background during all of this. As Fuches and Hank have a tremendous philosophical clash, Barry is just buying guns to prepare for his sacrifice, and it's all ultimately pointless. I have to applaud the show for still including so much comedy in this finale, as scenes like Barry walking through a store fully armed really made me laugh. "Barry" may have shifted more towards drama, but it never left the comedy behind. Barry is all prepared for an honourable sacrifice and one final big hurrah, and yet when he arrives he simply reunites with his family and nothing more. There isn't much for him to do here, but that's the point. Barry has nothing more to contribute, all that's left is for him to turn himself in, but he doesn't want to do it. It's funny to hear him make up excuses to Sally to not want to turn himself in. It's easy to understand why. Barry has a family to hold onto and that prevents him from giving himself up; it's the same deal as before, where Barry held onto the idea of a future where he could be happy to prevent giving himself up. But once Barry realizes his family has left him, he has nothing holding him back and he can finally understand that it's time for him to truly redeem himself and pay for his crimes. It's funny that Tom is ultimately the one to talk him down in this situation, but this makes it clear that it was Barry's own choice, not the will of someone else. And in one final ironic twist, Barry is denied his chance at true redemption. Because by now it's far too late, and it would be almost sick to give this man another chance. In one final brilliant scene, Gene shoots Barry abruptly in a scene that's edited in such a comedic way that I can't help but laugh. Only a show like this one would make me chuckle when the main character was killed off. I can't think of a better way that Barry could have died. Surprisingly, the show doesn't end here. After a nice piece of editing that makes you think for a moment that they are going to do an awful "it was all just a theatre production" ending, we get one final timeskip to explore the legacy that Barry left behind. I love this decision so much. In these final moments we get to see Barry tackle one final interesting theme: the inaccuracy in media portraying the lives of real people. This idea was set up back in the aptly titled "tricky legacies", and it pays off enormously here as we get to see just how badly Hollywood butchered the Barry/Gene story. Seeing a movie about this story that we just watched which so enormously misses the point is comical, but also a sad reflection on how true stories can get lost in translation and how difficult it is to trust in what we haven't seen with our own eyes. "The Mask Collector" was a blast to watch, and it's interesting to think about what John would take away from this movie. Would he be happy to know that his dad was a hero? Would he understand that a Hollywood production like this can never answer his questions, considering that he would know how inaccurate the scene of Barry saving his family was? It's difficult to read, but it is engaging to think through these ideas and create our own takeaways from the story. It's also quite frustrating and almost infuriating to learn that Barry was given a hero's burial while poor Gene rots away in prison, having lost everything in his life because of the one awful man who is now being praised as a hero. Sad, thought-provoking stuff. The Bad: This can't help but feel a little underwhelming. A big reason for that is because of the timeskip happening so late in the show. With only 4 episodes to develop a story post-timeskip, the show wasn't quite able to make this final act as emotionally engaging, dramatic, and interesting as it could have been. Barry and Sally's story was fleshed out, but they didn't ultimately end up doing a whole lot in these final three episodes. Meanwhile Hank, Fuches, and Gene all felt underdeveloped and I never got a clear sense of who they were post-timeskip to connect with their emotions in the way that I had with the characters pre-timeskip. It's a shame because so much of this finale was beautifully written, well-acted, and thematically significant, but I didn't have the same level of emotional investment as I did before the timeskip. It's disappointing to learn that Jim genuinely did let Barry just get away. Are we seriously going to pretend that Jim doesn't want any justice for the man who pulled the trigger on his daughter? Barry could offer such valuable information on the Gene Cousineau case, so Jim should absolutely want to keep him imprisoned. Ultimately, Barry getting away from Jim's captivity is just a moment of very lazy writing in a season that was otherwise pretty well done. The Unknown: Will John believe that his father was a hero? Or will he recognize the inaccuracy of "The Mask Collector" and understand that this film is not the truth he would have been seeking? What has Sally told him about Barry? What became of Fuches after he left Barry? Did he continue to live a life of crime until it inevitably caught up to him? Best Moment: The stand-off between Hank and Fuches, and the carnage that resulted was hugely satisfying. Character of the Episode: Hank. Conclusion: Overall, this was an emotionally satisfying, poetic, and enjoyable finale that concluded this series in as darkly comedic of a way as you would expect. I've seen a lot of mixed opinions on the final season of "Barry", but I don't quite agree with them. Yes, this season had its weaknesses, but I found it to be every bit as compelling as the other seasons of the show. Season 2 is still easily the best for me, but I rate season 4 as similar in quality to seasons 1 and 3. There was a darker tone to this season and some heavier scenes, but there is still absurdity and comedy in every episode in this season. While the tonal balance may have shifted towards drama this season, I never felt like "Barry" lost its heart, nor its comedic edge. The storytelling in this fourth season was superb, and every character was given a memorable send-off and conclusion, with all of them coming with their own twists and turns that both surprised and impressed me. As such, I'm very satisfied with this season as a finale, and even though there weren't quite as many laughs as I'm used to seeing from "Barry", I'm overall happy with how the series ended. "Barry" has been a lot of fun to watch and I'm very glad that I got to experience it. The blend between comedy and drama felt unique from the first episode, and I continued to be both captivated and entertained by the show through all four seasons. Bill Hader's sense of humour and his directing style came together nicely to create a visually memorable and funny show that also happened to have some well-written and thought-provoking storylines, even if they weren't the most subtle. At only 32 episodes long, I can easily recommend "Barry" since it offers an incredible amount of content and entertainment with such a small time commitment, and incredible consistency that ensures you will be entertained until the very end. I don't rate "Barry" as one of the greatest shows of all time, but it's still terrific; it's an easy, entertaining watch that I thoroughly enjoyed and I look forward to rewatching in the years to come. Score: 73
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Summary: Jim tortures Barry using VR and learns that he gave $250,000 to Gene. Suspicious, Jim leaves. Barry escapes but cuts his hand and passes out. Gene gets a call from an agent looking for advice on the movie. He tempts Gene by saying they are making the movie with Daniel Day Lewis and Mark Wahlberg. Gene is suckered in and agrees to meet, but it's a trap set by Jim, who now suspects that Gene hired Barry to kill Janice. Hank sends four men to kill Fuches but they are all killed. Hank then tries to send a rocket at Fuches' house, it fails, and Hank barely escapes. Hank decides he will track down Barry. He watched Gene's house where Sally arrives with John, looking for help. Hank captures them and calls Barry. Barry wakes up and answers and learns that Hank is holding them hostage.
The Good: Barry didn't have a huge role in this episode, but he continued to carry most of the drama in the show. Barry's VR-style torture is a unique idea, and compellingly executed. It's unclear how long Jim left him with it on, but it's evident that it was really breaking him down. These scenes are intense and well-done overall. We got to see the facade Gene has been putting on crumble to great effect in this episode. The man said he had changed, but he's still the same guy with the same weakness, and this time he's really getting punished for it. Once again, Gene's ego completely ruins everything for him. He said he had changed and he was honourable, yet the mere mentioning of Daniel Day Lewis and Mark Wahlberg immediately makes him sing another tune. Suddenly it's not about protecting Janice's legacy, it's about "getting her story out there". Barry isn't an evil bastard anymore, he's a "sympathetic soul". Gene swings whichever way the breeze takes him as long as he's still the center of attention. It's frustrating to watch Gene fall back into these habits, and immensely satisfying when we learn that it's all a trap. It's absolutely fitting that the man who conned him was a former student, and it's even more fitting that the mistake Gene made was the exact same mistake he made with Lon all those years ago. He really hasn't changed at all, and now it looks like Gene will face some major consequences for his enormous ego. Hank steals the show in this episode. His attempts to take out Fuches are absolutely hilarious and I thoroughly enjoyed them. The FUBAKs is a really funny concept, and I loved Hank's reactions to each of them like he had just received exciting new toys. Even better was the reveal of the heads in boxes, and Hank opening each one ("why am I still opening these?") was really funny. Then it all culminates in a fantastic sequence as Hank comically misses the one rocket he brought to kill Fuches (his henchman "was thinking budget") before we launch into a hilarious gunfight that culminates in Hank falling down a hill Looney Tunes-style. The sequence is all done in a oner, which is quite impressive, but is also laugh-out-loud funny throughout. Then the episode takes a turn towards the end as Hank captures Sally. It's surprising that it's taken this long to see Hank and Sally in a scene together, and it's great that we get one before the end of the series. Poor Sally's paranoia has taken her back to LA, and it's sad to see her PTSD continuing to engulf her as she fails an attempt to confess due to the lingering trauma of the man she murdered. Now it looks like things are going to come crumbling down for her and her family, and it's an exciting cliffhanger with Barry preparing to go save them. The Bad: I find it hard to believe that Jim would be so sloppy that he lets Barry escape his garage. did he really not tie up his feet? Or bolt the chair into the ground? Or take out all the weapons from the room? Jim has been the one competent character in this series so far, so to see him suddenly become incompetent is frustrating. Even if he believes that Gene is the real target and not Barry, surely he wouldn't just let Barry get away like that? The man killed his daughter! I have suspended my disbelief in a lot of places for this show because of how generally incompetent most people are, but Jim is the one character who I have been told should be competent. So I struggle to get over this issue. There was a possible inconsistency in this episode with Sally calling Gene's phone. We heard in the previous episode that Gene changed his phone number after he ran away. If that's the case, then how was Sally able to contact him? There's no way that she should have his phone number. This is most likely an oversight by the writers. The Unknown: What's next for Gene? Will he be put behind bars for this "crime" he committed? Will Barry get involved somehow? How will Gene's story intersect with everything else that's going on? Is Hank going to give Barry the address to Fuches' place? What will happen when they meet? What is Hank going to do with Sally? Will John find out who his parents really are? Have Sally and Gene been in somewhat regular contact? How does she have his number? Why did Jim leave Barry in a position where he could easily escape? Best Moment: Hank's failed rocket followed by a gunfight was a beautifully shot sequence and also absolutely hilarious. Character of the Episode: Hank. Conclusion: A compelling and funny episode to set up the endgame of the series. This isn't exceptional television, but it more than did its job of setting up the series finale while still providing enough story beats and laughs to stand out on its own. Score: 68 Summary: Barry leaves Sally with a gun and goes to L.A. to kill Gene. He looks for a religious podcast to justify his choice to kill Gene. Gene claims he is back in town to stop the movie being made. He visits Leo to explain himself and tells him he will be in town. Gene heads home and Barry follows him to kill him, but suddenly Barry is captured and taken to the garage by Jim. Sally gets drunk and gives alcohol to John to stop him from crying. She seemingly gets attacked in her house, but it's unclear if this is real. Fuches gets out of prison and meets with Hank, agreeing to be protection for his business in exchange for getting Barry. However, Fuches gets drunk and congratulates Hank for killing Cristobal, which Hank denies. Hank gets upset and takes the deal off the table.
The Good: Barry's sheer stubbornness and the extremity of his claims throughout the episode are a blast to watch. I think we can all agree that Barry is a terrible person, and watching terrible people do things is endlessly funny. Poor Sally tries to be reasonable with Barry, pointing out that he likely only wants petty revenge on Gene, and naturally Barry denies it and tries to paint himself as doing the right thing. This idea is taken even further as Barry hilariously searches for a religious podcast that aligns with his worldview so that he can feel justified. It's hilarious listening to increasingly questionable pastors, culminating in a really fun Bill Burr cameo as he announces the validity of murder, finally giving Barry what he's been looking for. This religious aspect to Barry has been an excellent source of comedy so far, and I really enjoy it. The story culminates in Barry finally moving in to kill Gene, but he's apprehended by Jim and taken to the garage in an excellent twist. It's been nearly impossible to predict where the story heads in every episode this season, and this Jim twist continues that unpredictability in an exciting way. Sally is a total mess right now. This episode stitches together a fantastic sequence to show how Sally is haunted by her past, and afraid of everything that goes on in her life. It's awful how she treats her son, making him a burnt grilled cheese and then sneaking him some booze to get him to stop crying. And after getting herself wasted, Sally then enters a surreal sequence that sees the house get attacked by some mysterious men, triggering her PTSD in interesting ways. I'm not certain how much of what we saw was actually real (see: The Bad and The Unknown), and that makes it mysterious and engaging to try to figure out if what we're watching is actually happening. The sequence also builds tension very effectively, leaving us at the edge of our seats. Lastly, there's Fuches and Hank who steal the show this episode. We haven't seen them for a long time, so seeing what they have done in the past 8 years in entertaining. Fuches' transformation into a prison big-shot is absolutely hilarious, and his mannerisms and behaviour after leaving the prison are a never-ending source of entertainment throughout the episode. Hank's new businessman role is amusing to watch, and it's sweet to see all of the Cristobal tributes that he has placed all around the new "Nohobal" building. Fuches and Hank's reunion is nice to see, and it's sad but understandable to see thei rrelationship fall apart rapidly. Fuches is drunk and not able to see that Hank genuinely did love Cristobal, and the result is that Fuches opens old wounds by pointing out that Hank did murder Cristobal, a truth that Hank has clearly ignored for a long time. I like this character work, and it's set up an intriguing new relationship between Fuches and Hank. The Bad: I praised the Sally storyline for effectively making us connect with her terror by having it be totally unclear how much of what she was experiencing was real or if it was all in her head. But if this was never the intention of the scene, then the scene completely failed to communicate what was real and not real and it became confusing for no reason. I suppose we'll find out next episode if this sequence was good or bad. The Unknown: Is Gene actually a changed man? Why was he in Israel for 8 years? How did he get there? Why didn't he ever come back? Is Jim involved somehow? How will Leo handle his dad returning to his life? Will Hank be able to track down Barry? Will he even try after arguing with Fuches? Where is the Hank/Fuches story going? Are they going to end up fighting each other? Will Barry get involved somehow? What the heck happened with Sally? How much of this was real and how much was in her head? Was there actually a man in the house? Did the house really get attacked by a truck? Or did she imagine that? I'm sure she was imagining the lines that were identical to those said by the man she murdered back in "starting now", but how much else was imagined? Was the whole thing a hallucination, and did she trash the house herself? What does Jim have planned for Barry? Has he been looking for him this entire time? Did he set a trap with Gene? Best Moment: The image of badass prison Fuches strutting out to his car while Black Sabbath plays is absolutely hysterical, and my favourite part of the episode. Character of the Episode: Fuches. Conclusion: The previous episode derailed some of the momentum of the season, but this episode restored it. This was a thoroughly enjoyable episode that effectively sets the stage for the final act of "Barry". Score: 66 Summary: Barry is homeschooling his son John, making him sheltered and preventing him from spending time with other children. He tries to teach him not to be angry. Sally works as a waitress and is trapped within her life. She is sad to see Natalie with a successful TV show and is not invested in her new family. She chokes Bevel, a bad co-worker who tries to hook up with her before getting him fired. After returning home, Sally sees that Gene has re-emerged after 8 years with the intention to speak out in a movie about Barry.
The Good: This episode confirms that what we are seeing is an 8-year timeskip, which is such a bold move for the final act of this story. I quite like this decision as it throws us off in a way that we don't expect, making the story feel even more unpredictable and exciting. Now Barry and Sally have a new life to fight for, and it's tough to see where both characters are going to go, and how the rest of the main cast fit into this. As for that new life, this episode's entire purpose is to establish what this new life is, and what it means to Barry and Sally. Barry is clearly living it up playing this new role. As a father to John, Barry can play up all of the aspects of his character that he wants to be true, but we can see that evil within him as he holds Sally prisoner in this life and creates a traumatic environment for his son to grow up in. This is the answer that "Barry" provides to those asking the question "is it just if Barry gets a second chance". The answer ends up being a resounding no. Barry has tricked himself into thinking he's a good man, but it's a facade, and Barry's statement that he has to kill Gene at the episode's end confirms that the evil within Barry is still there. The soft-spoken, religious father that we see here is not the real Barry, and even though he's having a good life and has created a bubble to hide from what he's done, the things he has done continue to haunt the world around him. Sally is suffering immensely (more on her in a bit), and poor John is living through a traumatic childhood without even knowing it. This episode is uncomfortable and bleak in showing Barry's parenting style, how he manipulates John to love him with his stories, and how he isolates John from being able to form relationships with others. Add on these false stories of Barry's past, and John is set up to have a horrifying moment in his growth when he learns who his dad really is, and finds that he has no ability to connect with other people to overcome this. The knowledge of all this makes Barry's bond with John feel disgusting. Even if Barry seems like just another caring parent at first glance, this episode firmly hammers in that what Barry is doing is not good. Poor Sally is living a trapped life, and it looks like she has nothing to live for with this new family. Barry has it easy staying at home to parent, and naturally Sally is the one that has to go work and take risks with other people so that Barry can live his fantasy life. We can see how this new life weighs on Sally. Being a waitress is crushing for her as she knows she could be so much more, indicative with how she tortures herself watching Natalie's show regularly. To cope with her new life, Sally drinks, Sally ignores her son, and Sally chokes disgusting men to at least give herself the power of being the abuser instead of the victim for a change. This is her sad fate, and the episode portrays this nicely. Seeing Gene again was a blast, and a welcome departure from seeing Barry and Sally's new life. His re-emergence raises several exciting questions, and provides a necessary hook to make me anticipate the final three episodes. The Bad: This episode is too bleak and uncomfortable to watch. The storytelling is good, and the show artfully and impressively conveyed Barry and Sally's new life, but it is too much. "Barry" is a tragicomedy that gets by with lots of humour to take the edge off of some of the darker moments in the show. Because of this, it has always operated at a fast pace, offering plenty of jokes, and never forcing us to sit in the uncomfortable subject matter that is being discussed. Even the most dramatic of episodes obey this rule. The season 3 finale, "starting now", is another bleak and intense episode, but because it moves quickly between scenes, it's constantly entertaining. It doesn't linger in the misery felt by the characters, and its primary goal is still to entertain. "tricky legacies" struggles because it does linger in misery, and it doesn't do much else. This episode is deeply uncomfortable and dark, and instead of channeling this tone to tell a story, the entire point of the episode is to sit and watch how uncomfortable and dark it is. This doesn't make for entertaining television, and after 10 minutes I already got the picture and was more than ready to move on to see what came next. Instead, the episode continued to beat us over the head with the horror of Barry and Sally's new life to its detriment. The pace of the episode is painfully slow, and because of that, this doesn't feel like an episode of "Barry" anymore. So many scenes move at a glacial pace to get to the point, and the length of scenes is much longer than what we typically see in "Barry". This is not necessarily a bad thing - "Better Call Saul" does slow, long scenes to great effect - but this style of storytelling has never been what "Barry" does, and the switch to it in this episode did not work because it made "Barry" feel like a different show altogether. It felt jarring, odd, and out of place. Was the story competently told, and was the episode directed well? Yes, absolutely. But the story was told in such a weird and ultimately unnecessary way (a 10 minute sequence could easily accomplish this), that it did not work the way it should have. I usually love episodes that break the norm (just look at how much I praised "ronny/lily"), but when an episode does that, it should still feel like it belongs in the TV show it is a part of. For example, great formula-break episodes from "Lost" still very clearly had the same tone, directing style, and emotional resonance as other episodes in that show, but "tricky legacies" did not feel like it belonged as a part of "Barry". The Unknown: Where has Gene been for 8 years? Has he just been at his cabin? What happened to Leo, did he die? Or did he simply abandon his father? Why has Gene emerged now? Is it really just to tell the story of Barry in a movie? Or does he have ulterior motives? How is Barry going to kill Gene? What is he going to do? Will Sally be willing to risk everything for this new life with Barry? Or will she ultimately choose to escape from Barry? I get the sense that Sally will have to make a choice about this soon. Where have Hank and Fuches been? How are they going to fit into the final act of this story? Best Moment: Honestly, the brief scene with Gene because of how it felt more like the old "Barry" that this episode tries so hard not to be. Character of the Episode: Barry. Conclusion: Quite possibly the strangest episode of the series. This episode showed us the bleak reality of Barry and Sally's new life. While this was effective, the way it was shown to us was out-of-character for "Barry", resulting in a weird episode that has a very limited entertainment value. Score: 57 Summary: Fuches is beaten by prison guards to reveal where Barry is gone but he does not know. He earns respect from other prisoners for not selling Barry out. Hank and Cristobal celebrate the sand, but Hank cooperates with the Chechens to kill all of their men. He tries to get Cristobal to join him to work with the Chechens but Cristobal is furious. He tries to leave and Hank fails to stop him. The Chechens kill Cristobal. Gene is isolated in his cabin and learns that Barry escaped. In his paranoia, he accidentally shoots his son who came to visit. Sally continues to help Kristen and tries to swipe her role when she fails. Realizing she has no career, she returns home dejected. Barry is waiting for her and she wants to leave with him. A hallucination/timeskip sees Barry and Sally living in the middle of nowhere with their son, John.
The Good: This episode is a testament to how interesting and compelling the supporting cast is in this show. Barry doesn't appear until the very end of this episode, and all other scenes are dependent on the supporting cast to create a compelling episode. As you would expect, "Barry" steps up in this department because the side characters are all terrific. Hank, Sally, Gene, and Fuches are more than enough to carry this episode on this own, and all of their stories are effective. Hank is definitely the one who steals the show. This episode creates a very memorable story with Hank as we slowly learn that Hank has sold his soul to the Chechens and finally embraced his darker side, something that I have theorized about since season 2. This development works really well. Hank has always been naive as he never had to do any typical criminal actions himself, but ever since his traumatic experiences in the season 3 finale, he's changed. We are seeing the results of that change in this episode as Hank is able to turn on these newly hired men in the blink of an eye, killing them all and almost killing Cristobal too. It's sad to see Hank change like this after being one of the friendliest people in the show for 4 seasons. Last episode saw Hank accuse Barry of being narcissistic, self-centered, and murderous, yet now we see Hank exhibit these same traits with how he turns on Cristobal. It's sad to see him fall into darkness and destroy his life, a pattern that we see throughout this episode. Cristobal's death was sudden and heartbreaking, and it forms the centerpiece of this episode. The sand-sinking scene came right out of nowhere, and it was horrifying to watch. The lack of music as Cristobal cried out for help, the visuals of us sinking with him, and the muffled sound effects were masterful at making this feel terrifying. For a moment I thought he was actually going to die like this, but that wasn't the case. Having this death fake-out does serve a greater purpose because it gets our guard down for later when Cristobal actually does die, making the moment hit that much harder. Hank and Cristobal's break-up is a tough scene to watch. Anthony Carrigan is fantastic throughout the scene showing Hank's varying emotions, and hearing him go from defending his actions to panicking and begging Cristobal to stay while apologizing was devastatingly sad. Even sadder was the extent of Cristobal's betrayal, as he's ultimately unable to even touch Hank after seeing what he did, which was so far removed from the Hank that he knew. Michael Irby and Anthony Carrigan played off of each other so well, making this feel so raw and emotional. The ending with Hank walking back, knowing that he won't see Cristobal again is an incredible moment, and the breakdown on the couch was really sad. The episode does one more excellent move by making us think that Cristobal has walked back in, only for it to be someone else. Ordinarily, this would feel cheap. But since Hank has his back turned and is also hoping desperately that this is Cristobal coming back, the moment works because it connects our emotions with Hank's emotions, adding extra weight to the moment that Hank realizes it's all over. I can't praise this sequence enough. Masterful filmmaking, terrific acting, and the intense emotional weight made this terrific. Sally's time as a teacher goes exactly where you would expect with her. She is caring and she genuinely wants Kristen to succeed as her teacher. But Sally has always been jealous, and when the time comes, Sally chooses to stop helping Kristen and instead attempts to poach her role by "auditioning" for Sian Heder (whose presence is a great meta joke on directors getting swooped up to do franchise films like Star Wars and Marvel). Seeing Sally switch over during her performance to appeal to Sian Heder was quite funny, and the confirmation that she is trying to steal the role is when she comically steps right in front of Kristen while performing. This is a pretty disgusting thing to do, but it's absolutely in-character with Sally, who gets jealous of absolutely everyone. Thankfully, her attempt her doesn't work and Sally is faced with the harsh reality that her career is essentially done. No matter how good she is, no matter what she tries to do, she will never be able to have the career that she dreamed of. The despair of everything being done gets to her, and when faced with reality, she has opted to run away with Barry instead. The final scene between Sally and Barry is excellent with Barry stepping out of the darkness. His presence has lingered throughout the episode with us never knowing where and when he's going to turn up. This reveal made the most sense, and followed by a fantastic time-skip/hallucination scene (see: The Unknown), ends the episode on a great note. Gene and Fuches have less to do in this episode, but their stories are still good. Gene is consumed by paranoia, and it looks like his paranoia may have just cost him his son. In his sheer panic, Gene ends up shooting his son (hopefully not fatally), and I suspect that this may be the straw that breaks the camel's back for Leo. The saddest touch is that Leo was likely just trying to surprise his father by dropping off the coral tree cafe that he had been asking for. Fuches is comically beaten up immediately upon the realization of Barry's break-out. Fuches absolutely deserves this for all that he has done, but funnily enough, it works in his favour. Despite genuinely not knowing where Barry went, the prisoners think that Fuches is remaining loyal to Barry and that earns their respect. Next time we see Fuches, he may just have that gang he was talking about a few episodes ago. There are a few other great moments in the episode. The cops charging into the D&B and annihilating everyone was hilarious, and the comment of "there was one guy in a Houston Oilers hat which was confusing" is a great joke. I continue to enjoy Tom, and his comment on how his phone "leapt to life" is quite amusing. The Bad: I do have some problems with Hank and Cristobal's break-up. As well-executed as the scene was, I was a little confused by Cristobal being so fundamentally against any form of violence or killing. Cristobal always has been a softer leader, just like Hank, but he has never been so innocent and legitimate that he would never condone murder. His first scene sees him getting his men to kill everyone in Barry and Taylor's car when they tried to bum-rush him. Later, in season 2, Cristobal allows Ester's men to burn Hank and the Chechens alive in a bus, which is extremely messed up. Considering this, I found it difficult to believe in Cristobal making such a big stink over Hank being willing to murder. Should Cristobal have been furious? Yes, absolutely. But this should not be the main reason. He should be furious that Hank never told him any of this and didn't even look for an alternative to killing everyone, and he should be furious that Hank's actions nearly killed him as well. I wish the scene had leaned into this angle more. The Unknown: What is that ending scene supposed to be? Is this another hallucination? The desolate landscape is similar to what we've seen in Barry's head, and details like the donut in the fridge (the same one Barry was eating in "forgiving jeff") suggest that this may be a vision, just like previous visions in Barry's head. Or is this actually real? It's hard to see how this could be a reality, but you never know with this show. I was tricked into thinking the sequence at Gene's cabin to conclude season 1 was a hallucination, when it was actually reality. Is it possible that Barry and Sally went off the grid and established a new life in the middle of nowhere, with a sheltered child who they desperately do not want to become violent like Barry? Where are Barry and Sally going? How will Jim get involved? Is Leo going to survive his gunshot? How will this affect his relationship with Gene? What's next for Hank now that Cristobal is dead? Will he lean further into his villainous side? What's next for Fuches? Will he also get out of jail, or will he build a community for himself? Best Moment: Hank and Cristobal's break-up followed by Cristobal's death is an absolutely devastating sequence acted to perfection by Anthony Carrigan and Michael Irby. Character of the Episode: Hank. Conclusion: Another excellent episode. Though this one leans further into the drama side than comedy, it is just as effective. Still, this episode is a testament to the strength of the supporting cast, and it provided a shocking, tense experience. Score: 73 Summary: Hank meets with Toro, who is sending hitmen to kill Barry. Fuches calls Hank and learns about this. Barry meets with Lon and learns that Gene has told Barry's story. He calls Hank to kill Gene, but Hank blows him off and refuses. Barry meets with a witness protection agent and notices a man is there to kill him. There is an attack and everyone in the room is killed except Barry. Barry escapes. Lon meets with Jim who takes him to his garage. Gene is fearful that Barry will come after him after making his deal and tells Tom what he told Lon. They go to hunt down Lon and find out he talked to Jim. Tom flees, leaving Gene to face Jim. Sally starts a teaching class and uses Gene's method on Kristen. Everyone else is horrified and leaves, but Kristen stays.
The Good: This is peak "Barry", combining humour and drama masterfully. On the dramatic front, Barry's story is really sad to watch. He's so broken, and angry, and utterly soulless. It's far removed from the socially awkward and relatable figure he was in season 1. Now he's at his worst, and every scene here reflects that. After speaking with Lon about Gene, Barry falls into a fit of absolute rage at how Gene is ruining his deal as well. Barry has been frightening when angered, and in this episode he falls to a whole new low, raging at Lon, and then raging on his own (though amusingly a bystander witnessed the whole thing). This sets up Barry calling Hank, a scene that absolutely steals the show. Barry is pathetic and manipulative here. He has called Gene and he has called Sally, but here he only carries Hank when he wants something from him, and he tries to manipulate Hank into giving him what he wants. It's desperate and pathetic, and this time Hank can see that too. Seeing the sheer hurt, betrayal, and pain in Hank's face contrasted with Barry's sadistic desperation, frustration, and rage is starkly impactful. Seeing this long-running friendship finally dissolve is very sad, and hearing Hank accuse Barry followed by Barry's angry response confirming the worst is very painful, and I can't help but feel for Hank who has lost his friend. Despite this intense emotional drama, "Barry" still leaves plenty of room for comedy. The opening of the episode sees Hank and Cristobal meeting "Toro", which is where the episode pulls out a very fun Guillermo Del Toro cameo. This scene seems like your typical arrangement of a hit, but it takes a delightful turn when Hank starts instead criticizing a gadget podcast that Toro is clearly a huge personal fan of. It's so funny to hear Hank complaining about this podcast because of the non-functioning gadgets, and being forced to only imagine them since he often listens to the podcast while driving. The best part about this joke is that it comes back later when the two podcast hosts try to kill Barry and the pen gadget blows up, becoming completely ineffective. This final scene is so fantastic for a lot of reasons, not just the comic timing of the gadget not working. Fred Armisen's facial expressions as he works up to killing Barry are so funny, and I love that Barry's mass murderer instincts kick in and he immediately figures out that this guy is here to kill him. The wacky action involving a ceiling sniper that follows is a ton of fun, and the sheer violence that accompanies the wacky ridiculousness has become a signature touch of "Barry". I really enjoyed this ending scene. More on the comedic front is Gene's story, and the laughs here are fantastic. Last episode got its laughs from Gene's vanity and narcissism, but this episode instead gets most of its comedy out of Tom's absurdity through visual gag after visual gag. I adore the variety in humour between episodes, and it makes both of the last two episodes equally memorable in terms of comedy. However, I give the edge to this one because the visual humour was so good, and it made me laugh more. The wide shot setting up Tom crashing the car was a hilarious delight, you have an idea of where this is going, but the execution is tremendous. Breaking into Lon's house was even funnier, and got a lot of comedy out of keeping Gene and Tom outside of view of the camera. Tom throwing a rock through the window is so funny because we don't see what he's doing until it happens; hearing Gene falling into broken glass and Tom fumbling around through the kitchen is funnier because we are left to fill in the holes with our imagination. Then a terrific gag of Lon's wife being in the backyard the entire time with the backdoor unlocked makes the entire break-in even more absurdly funny. Add on one final gag of Tom throwing Lon's monitor into the pool in the background and the scene is a masterclass in comedy (nothing is even stored in monitors so this is absolutely meaningless to add the cherry on top). The episode has a few other terrific comedic bits. Having Fuches get yet another change of heart after seeing himself and Barry in "Rain Man" is a hysterical moment. Seeing Fuches have a change of heart in practically every single episode now is really funny, and is a clever self-parody that makes good use of the character. The torture done to Lon was outrageously unexpected. I was afraid that Jim may have cut out his tongue, so when he started speaking German, I was baffled in the best possible way. The real kicker is that Lon's snack of choice seems to have changed as well from Skittles to Haribo gummy bears, making his German transformation even more authentic in hilarious fashion. Sally has her own story in this episode, and most of it is really good. It's amusing to see her taking Gene's role as teacher, and she adds some typical Sally flair to make things enjoyable. I don't think we've seen Sally with glasses before, so if she just grabbed them to look more professional, that's a good touch. I also like that she simply skips the "boring" parts of class so that she can only teach the parts that she likes. As fun as this is, the most impactful part of this storyline was her dressing down of Kristen, which was done in the same way that Gene did with her. Sally was ruthless and cruel, but the result was that she drew something out of Kristen that Kristen never would have unearthed otherwise. The class reacts poorly to this, but it's telling that Kristen comes back for more, highlighting that even though Sally may be in the wrong for subjecting others to the challenges that she faced, it still ultimately bears fruit. I appreciate the complexity in this story, and Sarah Goldberg is great as always. The Bad: Sally's story is starting to feel like a disconnected side story again, so I hope that she can get back in touch with the main plot to avoid similar problems as last season. Her story also has the one moment of weak writing in the episode. When she executed Gene's acting strategy, I was confused about how everybody decided that it was abusive. This caught me off guard because nobody raised this point in Gene's class, furthermore she used a type of strategy that we commonly see from coaches and acting teachers, so this is far from abnormal behaviour, and most certainly not abusive. Furthermore, students usually won't have the courage to confront teachers like this about abuse, so there's a sense of realism that is lost when absolutely everyone up and leaves after that. Add on how inconsistent this type of moral behaviour is in the world of "Barry" where people are often shown to be too stupid or ignorant to notice these things, and the scene feels out of place in this show. The Unknown: Batir has returned and is possibly planning on eliminating Hank's new operation. Where is this storyline heading? What's next for Fuches? He has been a bit adrift in this episode. Where has Barry gone? Will he try to escape prison? Why is he missing? What the hell did Jim do to Lon to make him German? Best Moment: Barry's phone call with Hank. Character of the Episode: Hank. Conclusion: This is "Barry" at its dark, comical best. There are some emotionally charged scenes here that hit like a truck, but they are interspersed with some absolutely hilarious sequences that are a blast to go through. The best episode of the final season so far. Score: 73 Summary: Fuches tries to convince others in the prison to help him and Barry. He tells Barry that the FBI made him wear a wire but he refused. Barry meets with Sally who is horrified by him but tells him she feels safe with him. After this, Barry meets with the FBI and cuts a deal with them. Hank and Cristobal pitch their new sand business to a couple of gangs. Hank tries to get the group to help break Barry out of prison. Cristobal talks to him, and after Fuches calls to say Barry is speaking with the FBI, Hank decides they have to kill Barry. Gene puts on a one-man show for Lon to tell an exaggerated story of his relationship with Barry. Sally finds that she has no future career in acting. After talking with Gene, he suggests that she teach.
The Good: Last season I talked a lot about how episodes were hurt by the sheer quantity of disparate stories being told, as it resulted in episodes feeling disjointed with lots of short scenes and minimal story progression in each episode. Thankfully, this season so far seems to have broken that habit, at least in these first two episodes. There are fewer stories being told in this season, scenes are given more time to breathe, and every story thread has meaningful connective tissue that makes this feel like one clear story instead of a series of different story threads. I've really enjoyed the different feeling of this season so far. Barry's time in prison has been fun to watch, and Fuches' presence keeps things feeling light. He's so emotionally charged, and makes such braindead decisions sometimes, and it's really funny. His attempt to win over the prison by interrupting TV time and giving everyone obnoxious nicknames was quite funny. Fuches seems to think he has everyone playing in his hands, but he lacks subtlety and ends up never accomplishing what he wants to. This is also exemplified by Fuches trying to tell Barry how he had to turn on the FBI for trying to break him away from Barry to try and give him some points. But nobody buys it. The cops obviously don't buy it, and Barry doesn't buy it either, knowing full well that Fuches is full of crap. Because of that, is it any surprise that Barry seems to have betrayed him by the episode's end? Barry is a shell of who he was before, and after a phenomenal scene with Sally (see: Best Moment), I could totally buy into Barry coldly sacrificing Fuches and Hank for his future. Hank and Cristobal remain so much fun to watch. Their coordinated pitch meeting for the two gangs was charismatic, silly, and perfectly in character for the both of them. The direction was superb, the comedy was perfectly timed, and they were convincing enough that I could honestly buy into the gangs agreeing to get into the sand industry. I also can't help but feel bad for Hank here. He saw Barry was arrested and immediately got to work trying to get him out only to learn that Barry never cared and was immediately willing to sell him out. It's a sad moment for Hank who finally realizes how one-sided this friendship has always been, and true to form to the show, the scene ends with a fantastically funny line delivery of "we have to kill Barry". As great as Hank was, it's Gene who steals the show this time. Poor Gene just can't help himself. He's such an attention-seeking person and despite his best judgement he does something really stupid by contacting Lon and telling him an exaggerated story of what he did. I couldn't help but laugh in amazement when Gene desperately tried to confirm that he was an "anonymous source". This is going to blow up in his face, I'm sure of it. It helps that everything we see of Gene is absolutely hilarious. Lon catching up to him before he can put up his stupidly obvious letters that anybody could pick up is really funny, as is his impression of Barry and his laughably inaccurate readings of what happened in his conversations with Barry. Henry Winkler kills it here, and I was having a good time in all of his scenes. His story culminates nicely with a moment between him and Sally. Sally comes in with accusations, but Gene does well to focus on how they are both victims of not only Barry, but their own hubris, before giving her some advice on how to move forwards. The Bad: Nothing. The Unknown: Did Gene really do all of this just for another taste of fame? Jim will inevitably find out about this. What happens then? Who is Toro? What plan did he have to get Barry out of prison? Is he going to try to kill Barry now? What is the purpose of Barry's hallucinations in this season? We see flashbacks of his childhood with Fuches, and some hallucinations of a better life with Sally, similar to what we had in season 1. I'm curious to see if these scenes are leading somewhere. Will Sally start to teach acting? It does parallel nicely with Gene, since both of them were cancelled by the industry. Is Barry really going to make a deal with the FBI? Is he going to give up everyone? Who is the person he is taking with him? Is it Sally? That seems to be the obvious answer. Could it be Fuches? It would be funny if he was taking Fuches all along, but Fuches jumped the gun by freaking out and calling Hank. Best Moment: Barry and Sally's scene is outstanding television. It makes sense that Sally only came back to make sure that the murder that traces back to her is covered up. But she stays around after that, and this totally changed the dynamic. At the start of the conversation, Barry looked like a shell of a man who was ready to say farewell to this chapter of his life. He was repentant, apologetic, and seemed to understand that he never deserved Sally to begin with. He has accepted what went wrong in his life. Bill Hader conveyed this masterfully, and he looked terrifying, like a broken, soulless man throughout this scene. But then Sally makes a mistake by telling Barry that she feels safe around him. And Barry latches onto that. The acceptance vanishes in an instant, and suddenly all that Barry sees is an opportunity to get Sally back, and then his desperation comes out. Sally runs away, but the damage has been done, and it's so sad to see Barry reduced to this pathetic, disillusioned mess. Such a good scene with phenomenal acting and writing. Character of the Episode: Gene. Conclusion: "Barry" is back to doing what it does best in marrying drama and comedy in a way that is tremendously entertaining. This is a great episode to shift season 4 into gear. Score: 69 Summary: Barry is taken to prison and is heartbroken by Gene's betrayal. Fuches is terrified of Barry being in his cell block and cooperates with the cops to wear a wire to bust Barry. But when Barry apologizes to Fuches and says he was right, Fuches has a change of heart. Gene has a taste of fame after busting Barry, but Jim wants to keep off of the media. Gene contacts a reporter posing as Jim. Sally goes back home to her unsupportive parents and struggles to process that she was dating a murderer. Hank and Cristobal set up in a place in Santa Fe, but Cristobal wants to get into the sand business. Hank is reluctant, but after seeing Barry was arrested, he is ready to return to LA.
The Good: This episode is your typical season premier so there is nothing too spectacular here, but the episode is very competent in terms of establishing where our characters are currently at, and what conflicts they are going to face this season. Barry is still the most fascinating part of this show, and the character is a joy to watch here. We get to see Barry reach a level of mental fragility that he hasn't ever hit before. Now that he's been betrayed by Gene, we see a furious, self-destructive, and disappointed version of Barry. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't realize that he is the problem, and instead lashes out at Gene for taking away his chance to be a better person. It is highly evocative to see Barry lashing out at a poor prison guard who tried to help him and reaffirm him, an interaction that results from Barry's fury towards Gene. Barry's change following his arrest has led to yet another reunion with Fuches. This episode is reminiscent of season 2 with Fuches once again trying to sell out Barry to save his own ass, only to immediately have a change of heart the moment Barry starts saying nice things to him. Fuches is so emotionally driven, and Stephen Root plays this aspect of him to peak hilarity. It's darkly funny to see Fuches unsubtly trying to get Barry to confess to a murder while desperately trying to stop himself from embracing him, only to give in by the episode's end, destroying the wire and reconnecting with Barry. These two are almost like a will-they-won't-they couple with how they go from love to hate so frequently, and I get a good laugh out of that. Part of what made season 2 so effective was how it dove into Sally's personal life to make the character easier to sympathize with and understand. Season 4 seems to be taking a similar approach by exploring Sally's family, and immediately we can see why Sally is so self-absorbed after we spend a single scene with her mother. Sally's parents are opposites and it's clear that they have had a huge impact on her upbringing. It's quite devastating how cold and callous Sally's mother is, and her father goes too far in the opposite direction, being caring to the point of over familiarity and treating her like a child. It's sad to see that this is all Sally has for family, and their inadequacy is immediately prevalent with how poorly they support Sally when she realizes that Barry was a murderer the entire time, and that she had no idea. Hank and Cristobal remain fun. I appreciate that the show is not ignoring the terrors that Hank went through in the season 3 finale, and we see that he's suffering from PTSD. It's in-character that Hank would be unable to let go of Barry, and seeing that he was imprisoned will likely lead to Hank trying to get him out of jail. As is always the case with Hank and Cristobal, there is a fun new story introduced here where they are going to try to get into the sand industry, paralleling it to the drug industry in an amusing way. The Bad: Nothing. Very solid episode all things considered. The Unknown: It looks like Barry and Fuches are connecting again. Will they try to get out of prison together? Will Gene be able to handle court? Will he be able to stay away from the media? He's always been Best Moment: Barry letting out his rage at Gene towards Birdwell. The subtext was clear, and Barry's fuming words for Gene were powerful and terrifying. It looks like Barry has turned a corner into darkness after what happened. Character of the Episode: Barry. Conclusion: A rock solid season premiere that sets up new stories and lays an interesting foundation for the final season. Score: 67 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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