Barry Review: A non-redemption narrative that leaves its audience in quiet discomfort

Barry is a one-of-a-kind show that stands out from the rest.

Spoilers for HBO’s Barry (Seasons 1-4) ahead.

A Crime Drama that defies convention and had an unlucky TV spot

Something innovative happens when you force a dramatic show to submit to shorter episode run times. Typically audiences accept shorter formats with a 22-24 minute runtime in their comedies and sitcoms, but what do you do with a drama that is sometimes a dark comedy, but mostly a story about one man’s journey, Barry (SNL’s Bill Hader) to change who he is while simultaneously, attempting to minimize the collateral damage around him. How do you categorize a show like this or better yet, anoint this as plum, memorable prestige TV when it’s directly following a lauded, iconic show like Succession in the HBO Sunday TV lineup whose meteoric popularity beckons Sopranos HBO days.

But, seriously folks, don’t discount this giant of a show or refuse to give it, its proper due.

The Good Guy Doing Bad Things Narrative

Could Barry have existed or been sold as a pilot by Alec Berg and Bill Hader (the show’s creators) in 2017 if Walter White (Breaking Bad) or Saul Goodman never happened? Probably not. The ethically challenged male protagonist that we all somehow develop a level of empathy and understanding for because of trauma, circumstance, and just lived experience, is a common cinematic theme in our American film lore and we embrace it.

But really, it’s more this:

Then again, Hader, per his interview here, actually pitched Barry as, “Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven character finds his humanity in hanging out with the folks from Waiting from Guffman” and that tracks too.

Besides, asking if Barry would have happened without predecessors like Saul and Walter is a but like asking if Lewis Capaldi would have been known beyond Scotland without the likes of Ed Sheeran or Taylor Swift’s debut era would have ever well, debuted, without strong female singer-songwriter forbearers, like Alanis Morissette or The Chicks. In every generation, there’s the one that goes before the others and this in no way diminishes the creativity and quality of the output of those that come after. Barry, as a whole, is testament to this.

The making of a hitman

The premise of the show Barry is a former discharged Marine who is now a hitman (played by Bill Hader) gets a job in LA, falls in love with acting and tries to quit his day job to commit himself fully to his new passion. Of course, the number of obstacles that get in his way are both comical and tragic. This is Bill Hader after all. The talent that brought us all the SNL sketch characters that we will remember to this day, including Stefon, the weird club promoter, not to mention, his impressions of Julian Assange, Keith Morrison of Dateline, and Fred Armisen.

For fans of rabbit holes and esoteric connections, in this SNL video from 9 years ago with guest star Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy), Hader hones his Barry craft performing as a discharged military man who torched a village.

In Barry, Hader is equal parts man on the edge of a nervous breakdown and calm and composed military man, seeking a way out of his criminal life, but without the soft skill tools and supportive people around him to enable that change. It’s clear he’s suffering from PTSD, and we see glimpses of his military past play out in a Season 2/Ep1 where Barry has a breakthrough moment with his acting instructor, Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler, in a very non Fonzie, non Arrested Development role) and recounts how he killed his first victim, while he was serving in Afghanistan. It’s a tense and heartfelt emotional scene. Barry, who previously had shown zero acting ability, is applauded for his efforts by his teacher and classmates. In another scene, we see Albert, his military friend, shot and Barry reacting to this loss by going ballistic and starting to shoot up the village.

Father figure(s)

Not surprisingly, Barry, who is still reeling from the pain of his past, actively seeks out platonic love and support, and will go to great lengths to secure this. Barry turns to his acting instructor, Gene Cousineau, to love him as a father would love his son, mistaking the mentor/teacher relationship for a familial blood bond. In a particularly cringey scene, Barry has a heart-to-heart with Gene at his home in which Gene plays the part of of loving and concerned “dad” only to tell Barry at the end of his time, when he’s ready for Barry to leave that many of his students do private acting lessons and how much these sessions cost. All of Barry’s misguided attempts to earn Gene’s respect and his love are for naught. Unfortunately, Gene is so entirely self-obsessed and starved for fame, he can’t see Barry beyond his use as a prop or vehicle to deliver that stardom and Barry is Gene’s salvation for a while. He jumpstarts Gene’s Hollywood career but slowly that house of cards falls. It’s not unlike the dynamic between Barry and Fuches, Barry’s father’s ex-military buddy, only Fuches uses Barry to kill people, earning him a living by exploiting Barry’s talents as a gun-for-hire/killing machine. Both Gene and Fuches see Barry as someone they can use, though I’d argue Fuches loves Barry and even in being betrayed by him in Season 4, he finds a way to forgive him and live and let live.

Source: TV Guide / Fuches (Stephen Root) and Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler)

Sally Reid as the main female character in Barry’s orbit

As an actor playing an actor in a show (very meta), Sarah Goldberg nails the role of Sally Reed, Barry’s sometimes girlfriend, not-really soulmate, and traumatized, go-getter Midwestern gal from Barry’s acting class. As I watched all 4 seasons of the show, I couldn’t quite put my finger on the longevity of her timespan on this show, or if the show’s writers even knew from episode to episode, or more so made up her trajectory as they went along, but I’m happy that Sally was a constant. It was a solid decision because ultimately Sally is the linchpin of the series - representing Barry’s hopes and dreams, and his chance at a “normal” life.

The victim of abuse from her high school boyfriend, Sally has suffered her fair share of trauma and then some. When she tells a half truth in her acting class regarding a the details in which she came to leave her abusive ex, she is filled with shame and yet refuses to go with the real turn of events in the final performance. She tells herself and others this story because the truth (that she crept out of their apartment in the middle of the night after holding her ex, post him hitting her) is too painful. Perhaps the most tender scene of the show between her and Barry is when she confides in him about this, and he tells her, that her leaving this abusive situation with her ex, is what defines her. She didn’t stick around. It’s a rare moment of beauty in a show filled with a lot of darkness.

Sally’s also a difficult character to watch on screen. She wears her flaws, but like any good actor, is able to conceal her identity, that is until she can’t anymore. During the series, Sally goes on to achieve a measure of fame - she gets her own show and it meets critical acclaim, only to lose the show as a #MeToo streaming service’s algorithm predicts it won’t have a big enough audience, and is effectively cancelled when she calls her former acting partner and assistant a “cunt” in a very angry elevator rant, which was recorded by the former assistant and went viral. There’s a recklessness to Sally’s abandonment of any rules books that we often take for granted in our attitudes of male characters doing similar things onscreen. We accept in Barry and Saul and Walter, the deepening depths of depravity (Barry shooting up an entire monastery when he’s really going after 1 person) and still find them redeemable. For Sally, it’s just harder to get there. She’s a “self-obsessed” actress. She’s a “negligent” mom. She’s not “loyal” to Barry. She doesn’t say, “I love you” to her son when he tells her so.

Source: Vulture / Sally Reed (Sarah Goldberg) and Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler) in Season 1 of Barry

NoHo Hank is tops

Of all of Barry’s legendary characters, NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan), a Chechen crime boss, stands out as the funnyman in an otherwise bleak mobster and judicial ecosystem. He’s flashy, fun, irreverent, somewhat of a psychopath and capable of love, as we see in his romance with Bolivian mob head, Cristobal, whom he has killed. Mostly he’s a survivor, until he isn’t anymore and he’s also Barry’s guardian angel, but Barry, being Barry doesn’t really appreciate this and is loyal to the other men in his life only - his surrogate fathers, instead.

Source: Screenrant / Hank solicits Barry to train his Chechen army in shooting

And now for Most Watch-worthy scenes:

In which I pretty much confirm Season 2 was the high for this show.

Barry meets his match in Lily:

Barry enters into a philosophical situation with the wrong guy, Hank and it’s hilarious:

NoHo Hank tries to kill Barry:

And one from Season 3 in which TV ad exec and Sally’s agent basically utter sounds in lieu of actual words and have a full on conversation like this about Sally’s preferences for her next job:

What do you think? (Done in a way that you’d LOL if you happen to listen to the Smartless podcast)

• I purposely didn’t go into the series finale for those who haven’t yet seen it. But if you’ve watched it and really had time to ponder over it, what are some of your thoughts regarding the series finale? Do you think it was an optimistic ending given that Barry was made a hero? Did Barry Berkman get the best end he could have hoped for and did he deserve that catharsis given all that he did to people throughout the course of 4 seasons? - A Jason Bateman “baiting” type question

• Who was your favorite Barry character? or What was the most memorable scene? - A Sean Hayes “what color is your parachute” type question

• Stephen Root, who plays Monroe Fuches is just great. He’s so versatile. Like, everything he’s in, he just nails. He’s such a class act and comedic talent. NewsRadio, Office Space…Like what was that experience like? Just watching him play next to Bill Hader? Were you wowed every time you saw him? - A Will Arnett “I have an excellent memory and ability for name recall” type question.