Summary: Barry plans how to kill Cristobal, the leader of the Bolivians, using stealth, but Taylor wants to bum-rush him. Barry tries to get Taylor to listen to his plan unsuccessfully. Taylor sneaks money into Barry's bag when Barry doesn't take it. Barry goes to acting class where he continues to learn new lessons. He discovers the money in his bag and he hides it in the bathroom. Vacha wants revenge on Barry but he is ordered not to kill him. Vacha goes after Sally instead and ends up in a gunfight with Moss who was going to acting class to meet with Gene. Vacha is killed, and the cops find Barry's money hidden in the bathroom. Barry tells Taylor that he will do the job on his own. However, Taylor shows up with a horde of marines and he drives a car straight to the landing site. The car is shot at and several marines are killed, including Taylor.
The Good: The writing in this episode stood out to me. Everything that happened was logical and satisfying. There was a string of events that led to the conclusion of the episode with Taylor bum-rushing the Bolivians and the acting class falling under suspicion again. It was pretty complex, but the story was always easy to follow, and I really love the way that several pieces fell perfectly into place at the end. For example, Moss and Vacha running into each other and getting into a gunfight made perfect sense, and I was really impressed with how Barry's stashed money came into play as evidence. In the other half of the story, Taylor's actions were consistently unpredictable, yet it all made some sort of sense based off of what we knew about the character going into this episode. The reveal that Taylor read Barry's acting book was really well done, and it neatly explained Taylor's stunning behaviour in a way that actually made sense (I could definitely buy into the unhinged Taylor being easily influenced by a book). Barry was terrific in this episode, as always. His interactions with Taylor were a highlight, and I found myself laughing more often than not. He was presented with a very real dilemma here as his hopes about Taylor working with Fuches to let him go free were quickly dashed, and in the end both Fuches and Taylor were demanding Barry to kill the other. It was a big problem for Barry, and one that was examined in a very humourous way, which I think was surprisingly effective. There's something oddly funny about this situation that Barry put himself in, so it feels right to ridicule it. The ending however was really intense. Barry tries to cut Taylor out, but it totally backfires and Taylor arrives with a party of marines to go attack the Bolivians. The scene is scary in a lot of ways as Taylor leads the entire crew to their deaths with a single reckless move. Even with the humour coming out in a few moments, the repercussions of Taylor's decision are quite horrifying, and it's a fitting end for his character to be killed while making an overly aggressive move in an attempt to kill some people. As usual, we were given another strong scene in the acting class. Barry and Sally's relationship has been put in the background these past few episodes, but it's still getting some solid development. This episode shows Barry being forced to deal with the fact that Sally doesn't love him by way of working an acting exercise with her. It's a subtly acted scene, and one that ends up being more powerful than expected. The Bad: The gunfight didn't quite work for me. The scene itself was built up perfectly and it made sense that Moss would kill Vacha. But what was missing was any kind of emotional investment. I don't really care about Moss, and Vacha is the least interesting villain that the show has offered up so far. So when they fought, I was never really at the edge of my seat. The adrenaline rush from the implications of Moss finding a Chechen wore off pretty quickly, and we were just left with a pretty hollow gunfight that never did anything to keep me hooked. This show has an interesting problem which is preventing it from scoring higher. Everything surrounding Barry is fantastic, but whenever the story shifts away to Gene, Moss or Sally, I find myself getting pretty uninterested. The show has done so well with Barry that any time he's offscreen, I find myself just waiting for him to come back. That's not to say that the scenes without him are bad. They aren't. They are well-made scenes with characters who I understand and enjoy watching. But I just can't seem to get invested in them. The Unknown: What will come of Sally playing the role of MacBeth? Will she get the results she desires? The cops will presumably be watching over the acting class now. What will they discover? Will they be back on Barry's tail soon? Who survived in the car at the end? Are Barry and Chris alive? How are they going to get out of the situation that Taylor threw them into? Best Moment: The ending sequence was a perfect escalation of tension, but I have to give it to the acting class scene once again. These scenes provide such brilliant insight into Barry, and he always walks out having grown a little bit as a character. I love the way that the show is handling the character of Barry, and I hope that we continue to get more of this stuff in the final two episodes of the season. Character of the Episode: Barry, thought Taylor really did make me laugh a few times. Conclusion: This was another great episode. The character development and writing was really impressive, and I continue to enjoy myself while watching this show. I can argue that the style of the show makes emotional investment in anything other than Barry quite difficult, but when the execution of the show is this good, I find it hard to be bothered too much by that. Score: 69
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Summary: Barry tries to fix things with Sally who wants to be on a break instead. Unfortunately for Sally, she gets put with Barry for a scene in MacBeth. Moss visits the acting class for interviews but doesn't get any more leads. She ends up going to Gene's and they seemingly have sex. Meanwhile, Barry freaks out at acting class after a speech from MacBeth makes him face the possibility that he is an irredeemable killer. Barry and Taylor raid the Bolivians successfully and Taylor saves Barry's life. Fuches wants Barry to kill Taylor after the job but Barry can't bring himself to do it.
The Good: A pattern of this show is that Barry is always given a fantastic moral conflict in every episode. It's always nice to see a TV show where the main character is the best part of the show, seeing that we spend so much time with the main character. Bill Hader put in one hell of a performance in this episode. Here Barry is faced with the problem of Taylor. Fuches wants him to kill Taylor, but Barry isn't sure if it's the right thing to do. It's wonderful to see Barry contemplate what to do with Taylor throughout the episode, and his ultimate decision made perfect sense and even put a smile on my face. Barry has much more to deal with in this episode though. We get to see the fallout of his conversation with Sally in the previous episode, and things advance logically as they grow further apart. Barry's fantasies are made even more sad since it's clear that these dreams aren't something that Sally shares. Also, we get to see Barry deal with the fact that he's a killer in a fresh new way, as a speech from Lady MacBeth forces him to look at his own future in a new way. Barry is horrified by how everyone dismisses MacBeth as a killer for what he did, and he tries to defend MacBeth, obviously in an attempt to fight the the fact that he can change and become a better person despite the horrors he has committed. It's a powerful scene, and easily one of the best of the entire series. There were lots of other things I really enjoyed. The climactic raid scene was a nice mix of intense and hilarious. Taylor got to grow a little more as a character in those scenes, which I appreciated. I really like how this show is portraying Sally. She is a total bitch, and I actually like that. It makes sense that not everyone is going to be a likeable person, and unluckily for Barry, he's dreaming about a girl who I think will be disliked by a vast majority of viewers, similar to Skyler from "Breaking Bad". But Barry isn't a particularly social or emotional person, so you can't really blame him for being in love with her. Lastly, I really enjoyed Fuches' stash of cell phones, and his system with Barry for dealing with police involvement is excellent. The Bad: Nothing I would put down as bad. The Unknown: How will Fuches react to Taylor joining the crew? Best Moment: Barry attempting to justify his own actions by defending MacBeth's actions was really powerful stuff. Character of the Episode: Barry. Conclusion: This was really good stuff. The comedy was still present and enjoyable, but it was toned down and used sparingly so that the dramatic scenes were able to fully connect with me. This was the best episode of the series so far. Score: 68 Summary: Barry leaves Sally's and is given a new job from Fuches to raid the Bolivians. Barry isn't happy with the assignment but he takes it. After a speech from Gene in acting class, Barry goes back to Fuches and throws the papers back in his face. Barry goes to a party with Sally and meets with an old marine friend Chris who brings two other friends who cause chaos. Fuches follows Barry to the party and ensures that he takes on the job anyways. Later, Barry sees Sally talking to another man and misinterprets that he needs to step in to save her. Annoyed by this, Sally leaves a confused Barry. Barry leaves the party later and is approached by one of the marines who wants to join in on his raid of the Bolivian compound. Meanwhile, Gene goes on a date with Moss.
The Good: While not quite as good as the first few episodes, this was a sound continuation of the story with some new problems for Barry to deal with. Barry gets some really good development here. We finally see him step up to Fuches after a rousing speech from Gene in what was both a very funny scene and also a logical continuation of the story. Barry doubles down on his acting life and refuses to deal with Fuches anymore. To cement his new life, he buys Sally a laptop as a present. But Barry is still socially inept, and he ends up ruining his new life. Fuches appears at the party and forces Barry back into his job. Then, Barry invites his old friend Chris, who brings some friends that end up ruining the party. Finally, Barry misinterprets his relationship with Sally as more intimate than what she wants, and as a result he loses her. Despite wanting to double down on his new life, Barry just can't fit in, and now he has a big reason to return to his life as a hitman. It should be interesting to see what choice Barry makes next, and how it impacts his life. The comedy delivered once more with several funny moments. Barry's daydream featuring Jon Hamm was terrific. Gene's desperate interactions with Moss to get a date were quite clever. All of Barry's interactions with Fuches in this episode were very well done and they all made me laugh. I especially liked the show poking fun at how Barry didn't notice Fuches following him, which was a nitpick I was going to make. Being so self-aware lets me know that I'm watching a very well written comedy series. The Bad: Again, the side stories simply don't work as well as everything surrounding Barry. There are side plots with both Gene and Sally in this episode and they don't quite connect with me in the same way that Barry's struggles do. Perhaps it's because the characters of Gene and Sally aren't fully formed yet, and I still don't have a good reason to care about them. Regardless of what it is, the scenes with Gene and Sally were the least interesting parts of the episode for sure despite still having some solid laughs. This episode doesn't feel as important as the others. The party setting isn't very interesting, and there isn't enough plot movement in this episode for it to be as good as what came before. The comedy also isn't quite as memorable in this episode. The Unknown: Are Chris and the marines going to join Barry's operation? Is Barry going to go through with the raid? Will there be any consequences to it? The cops have discovered Barry's figure, right as Moss gets in contact with Gene. Will Gene be the one who realizes that Barry is a murderer? Best Moment: Probably the Barry and Sally fight. I feel sorry for Barry who simply doesn't understand what he's done wrong, as he sees his new life falling apart all around him. Character of the Episode: Barry again. What can I say, he's easily the best part of the show so far. Conclusion: This was more solid storytelling with some well-placed humour to keep things fun. I don't think this was quite as strong as the previous episodes, but I still had fun watching it. Score: 60 Summary: Barry prepares to kill Paco, but Hank calls him, telling him to wait until a bullet is sent to Bolivia for dramatic effect. Barry is frustrated by this. Sally goes to an audition but runs into an old friend who is more successful. Sally breaks down and messes up the audition, so she goes to Barry for comfort. Barry wants to comfort her but he gets the ok to kill Paco so he goes to do that first. Barry strangles Paco so he can go to Sally's quickly. They have sex. Meanwhile, the Chechens bring in their own hitman Stovka to kill Barry and Fuches after everything. Stovka is depressed and after talking with Fuches he kills himself. Goran is distraught and bonds with Fuches, who offers to get Barry into his service to replace Stovka.
The Good: All of my praise from previous episodes holds up here. This is more of the same and it is a lot of fun. I still adore the black comedy, and there are creative jokes in every episode. Like before, the show finds a way to make really dark and disturbing scenes funny, and I thought that this was done with better effectiveness here than in the previous episode. The highlights were Barry getting busted trying to stealthily kill Paco and Stovka shooting himself after a hilariously depressing speech while Fuches talks about the wonders of LA. Barry's given a good conflict throughout the episode. He's not allowed to kill Paco for the most absurdly hilarious (yet believable) reason, so he grapples with waiting outside of Paco's house for the moment he is allowed to kill him and spending some more time with Sally at acting class. There are a lot of good moments for Barry in the episode, and he's put on the spot to make a crucial decision a couple of times, and those scenes worked really well. I also appreciate that there was some added humour in Barry just switching between phone calls from Hank and Sally without either one noticing. I like that Sally got some added depth in this episode. We don't really know much about her, but now we get some insight into her past and we get more characterization as Sally nicely plays up her bitchy side in this episode. Of course Barry doesn't see this as a problem since Sally is the closest to love he has ever been, so he simply enjoys his time with her and even dreams of going to the grocery store with her in what was another really funny scene. The Bad: Some of the stories aren't quite working. The cops storyline remains pretty dull and I'm still not hooked on it. I also didn't enjoy the scenes between Fuches and Goran as much as everything else in the episode. I don't think I'm invested enough in Fuches and the Chechens to justify spending so much time with them instead of Barry. Most TV shows like to spend maximal time with the main character before introducing side plots. This way we can get invested in the story through the eyes of the main character in the long run, that way when the focus shifts from the main character, it's still interesting. "The Walking Dead" and "Better Call Saul" are great examples of this. "Barry" is trying to both develop the main character and the story at the same time, and that's resulting in a little bit of roughness in these early episodes. Compared to the previous episode, I don't think this episode had quite as much of an impact. The emotion and comedy wasn't as strong as the previous episode, though I do think that this one was executed a bit better. The Unknown: Who is the guy following Barry? The Chechens don't acknowledge him, so is he not one of them? Best Moment: There were lots of good moments. I'll go with the funniest scene this time, which was Stovka shooting himself. Black comedy at its absolute best. Character of the Episode: Barry. Conclusion: This was more wonderful black comedy. While there are some small flaws in storytelling that prevent this from being great, it's still very funny, very entertaining television. Score: 64 Summary: The acting class mourns Ryan's death. Barry is invited to a memorial and decides to act out a scene with sally. Fuches meets with Barry who tells him to get out of town. However, the Chechens break in and capture both of them. Barry is sent to kill an informant and Fuches is being kept hostage. Barry goes to the memorial instead and has a strong reaction to Ryan's dad mourning his son's death. Sally cheers him up so he ends up walking her home. Sally makes strong advances to have sex, but Barry obliviously denies them. A Chechen takes a picture of Sally. The police investigate Ryan's murder and discover a camera inside of the Chechens' car.
The Good: The comedy is what stood out most to me. While the first episode was more focused on the dramatic elements of the show, this episode doubled down on the dark humour. There were a number of great jokes here, all of which took full advantage of the dark tone of the series to create some of the best black comedy I have seen. I especially loved how the episode turned pretty dar and horrifying scenes into something lighthearted. Fuches getting his tooth filed is a very uncomfortable scene, yet there is a moment where Goran gets told to keep things quiet so he doesn't disturb his daughter's sleepover. It's a clever joke that made me laugh. The best joke of the episode is certainly when Barry is on the phone talking while Fuches is getting beaten by invading Chechens. The trope subversion of Fuches breaking a bottle to use as a weapon, only to get cut by the glass was hilarious. The continuation of the Chechen storyline was pretty well done. It made sense that the Chechens would attack Barry for what he did, and I like that the attack was both swift and aggressive. A mob wouldn't waste time, and I like that their attack on Barry and Fuches happened practically immediately. Barry was put on the spot when he was forced to choose between Fuches life and his decision to quit killing. It seems like Barry won't be able to simply drop his hitman career the way he wants to. The stuff between Barry and Sally was pretty solid. It's evident that they both like each other and their interactions have been fairly organic so far. Barry is socially uncomfortable and depressed, and in Sally he sees an escape from his miserable world. But I don't think he's looking for any kind of relationship. Sally on the other hand clearly just wants to have sex with him, and it's hard to gauge how much she actually values him with what little information we have of her so far. I'm interested to learn more. I'm also interested to see how she gets involved with the Chechens now that they are watching her. There was one standout moment in this episode. That's the part where Barry sees Ryan's father grieving for his son and starts feeling guilty and ashamed for what he did and what happened. It's clear that Barry hasn't ever been exposed to somebody who has grieved somebody they have lost, and the realization that Barry has been doing that to so many people is quite a shock for him. The Bad: The problem with black comedy is that it can completely destroy drama by making everything feel too lighthearted and jokey. The material in this episode could easily fit into a dark and serious drama, yet it doesn't really have an impact because there is a joke every 20-30 seconds that makes us laugh. This variation in tone is a problem that all black comedies suffer from, and it still persists here. In particular, I was taken out of the direness of Barry and Fuches' situation when the jokes kept getting thrown at us. I was enjoying myself laughing, but I wasn't feeling the high stakes of the moment as much as I should have. Some of the comedy felt way over the top. A lot of the scenes with the cops weren't very good, and I found the crying cop gag to be particularly unfunny and insulting to the audience. There were a few other jokes scattered throughout the episode that also didn't land for me. The Unknown: Is Barry on the camera? Will he be identified once the cops get it unlocked? Are the Chechens making an attempt to recover the camera? Has Barry really never dealt with grief and guilt until now? That seems strange for somebody who has killed so many people. Are the Chechens going after Sally next? What do they plan to do with her? What are their plans for Fuches? What do they want from Barry in the long run? Best Moment: Barry's reaction to Ryan's dad. Character of the Episode: Barry. Conclusion: Black comedies are really hard to judge. On one hand, this was really funny, so as a comedy it was very successful. But score this as a drama and it doesn't hold up nearly as well. In the end I'll settle with a middling score to show how this episode made me laugh more than most modern sitcoms, but it didn't quite live up to expectations on the drama front. Score: 64 Summary: Barry is a hitman who is struggling to find any enjoyment in his life. He takes a job from the Chechens, a mob in LA and goes to murder a man named Ryan Madison. Barry follows him to an acting class where he somehow gets roped into the class and even meets a girl he really likes. The Chechens are upset and Barry's handler Monroe tells him to murder Ryan or the Chechens will kill him. Barry wants to keep acting but is told not to. He goes to the teacher, Gene to quit and gives an impassioned monologue but Gene mistakes it for acting and tells him he is talented. Barry decides to continue acting but goes to kill Ryan anyways. However, the Chechens get there first and kill Ryan. Barry kills them when they try to kill him.
The Good: I really like the premise of this show. It's absurdly ridiculous which is perfect for a black comedy, yet it maintains an emotional core which makes it ideal for a drama. I've never seen anything like the story of a hitman who wants to become an actor instead to find some sort of happiness. The show has uniqueness on its side, and that makes me excited to see more. The comedy aspects of the show have been a blast so far. I laughed out loud a couple times at some very well done jokes. I also really like the acting class setting as it allows for some clever recreations of famous movie scenes. I got a good laugh at Barry's dry delivery of dialogue while enacting a scene from "True Romance" with Ryan. The character of Barry works really well. Bill Hader is a terrific actor, and he conveys Barry's depression very effectively. We can see that being a hitman isn't the thing for Barry and that he desperately needs to go into this acting class. But it looks like making such a change is going to be tough. After this one episode we already have two established threats in the Chechens and Monroe, both of whom will not be content to simply let Barry go on to his new life. The standout scene of the episode was Barry's speech to Gene. That scene is a tough one to do correctly and requires the rest of the episode to be executed perfectly. Buying into the stoic and quiet Barry to release some emotion would be difficult. But Bill Hader's acting, strong writing, and perfect direction made it easy to follow Barry's progress as he builds towards this speech which promptly reveals a lot of details about Barry's history while simultaneously allowing him to vent his frustrations that have pooled inside of him. I was pretty happy with the 30 minute length. I was initially worried that it would feel either too short for a drama, too long for a comedy, or both, but it actually ended up being the perfect length. The episode was paced very well and it ended at a point that made me feel satisfied with what I had seen, while also making me eager to watch more. The Bad: A couple nitpicks here and there. The Chechens looked completely inept in that final scene as the one guy utterly failed at loading the gun. Did the four of them seriously only bring one gun that they couldn't even use effectively? I thought that Barry instantly falling in love with Sally was a bit too cheesy for my liking. The Unknown: Is there more to Barry's backstory than what we learned from his speech? How will the Chechens respond to Barry killing a car full of their men? Best Moment: Barry's speech was a fine piece of acting that provided the emotional core for the episode. Character of the Episode: Barry. Conclusion: This was a strong premier episode that was executed perfectly. While it doesn't do anything too spectacular, the episode hooks me on an interesting premise with a very good lead character. Let's see what the show can do now that it has laid a solid foundation to build off of. Score: 67 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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