Barry Season 3 premieres on HBO on April 24 and will be available to stream on HBO Max. The below contains full spoilers for Barry Seasons 1 and 2, but not Season 3.
It has been nearly three long years since the second season of HBO’s Emmy Award-winning dark comedy ended with reluctant hitman Barry Berkman (Bill Hader) going on a murderous rampage. Vengeance against Fuches (Stephen Root) fuelled this bloodbath that saw the assassin take out the majority of the Chechen and Burmese gangs. His target escaped with the knowledge that he had turned Barry’s world upside down, and the consequences of Barry’s expanding body count are a predominant theme of the long-awaited third season. It might take a few beats to recalibrate to the tone of this world, but co-creators Hader and Alec Berg have a firm grasp on the horrifying and hilarious antics of the contract killer-turned-thespian. It seems impossible that Barry could go deeper and darker, and yet the first six episodes of this brilliant return manage this tall task.
Barry has been trying to extract himself from the killing game since the very first episode, but he is now resigned to this career fate after committing the monastery massacre. The season premiere, “Forgiving Jeff,” finds Barry in a full spiral; things have gotten so desperate he is taking jobs from the dark web’s Craigslist-for-killers style marketplace. Hader simultaneously nails Barry’s fury at the people hiring him and desperation at what his life has become.
There is also the small matter that acting mentor Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler) knows his student killed the love of his life, Detective Janice Moss (Paula Newsome). The huge Season 2 cliffhanger is addressed early on and the “You can’t bury your past” tagline doesn’t only apply to Janice. Regardless of how reluctant he was to pull the trigger, there is a landscape filled with bereaved figures like Gene who have been left in the dark about the perpetrator. As the third season progresses, it becomes clear how much pain has been caused by the hitman and the ripple effect leads to several tense encounters that are equal parts surreal and violent.
No doubt, this series is at its best when it walks the very thin line between farce and horror, and there are some moments in the first few episodes that challenge how much empathy we can extend toward the eponymous figure. Hader’s ability to flip between a Barry shaking with rage to behaving as if everything is super chill is just one of the reasons why he won two consecutive Emmys for playing the part. With the extreme likelihood he is nominated this year, it is going to be an interesting race to see this character possibly up against last year’s winner, former SNL co-star Jason Sudeikis, of Apple TV+ darling Ted Lasso. At a glance, Barry and Ted Lasso are nothing alike, and yet they are both a pressure cooker of repressed emotions waiting to explode. Barry found an outlet in acting, but his old life has a habit of pulling him back into the violent fold.
Of course, Barry’s inability to register how profoundly messed up some of his actions are remains an obstacle, and his relationship with Sally (Sarah Goldberg) presents a risk of repeating the toxic elements of her past dating experiences. Sally’s still unable to see the red flags flashing right in front of her even as she finds success in her professional life.
Sally’s performance in the acting showcase in the Season 2 finale has led to her dream job; creating, directing, producing, and starring in her dramedy series on the fictitious BanShe streaming network. The series is called Joplin — no, it is not a Janis Joplin biopic as I initially mistook it for upon seeing the name — and this opportunity shows Sally’s capacity to thrive in a showrunner role. There are also executives to deal with (including the fantastic Elizabeth Perkins in a guest-starring role) and jokes about algorithms, ratings, and studio notes might be a little “inside baseball” but are very funny — and no doubt at least partially based on Hader’s own industry experiences.
In the Hader-directed premiere — the first of five episodes he’s directing this season — there is a sequence on the Joplin soundstage that shows Sally’s confidence growing as a showrunner. Imposter syndrome is never too far away and there is a push-pull between this lack of confidence and “Girlboss” platitudes. Goldberg is excellent at conveying the highs and lows of Sally’s ambition and the new multi-hyphenate role. Elsie Fisher joins the cast as talented teen actress Katie Harris, and she could easily be the source of Sally’s insecurities, playing her on-screen daughter Chloe. Thankfully, Katie avoids the petty rivalry trap and Fisher’s role is far more revelatory.
The supporting cast is integral in balancing the tone, particularly when Barry veers down a bleak path — Barry meaning both the series and the character. Without going into certain plot specifics that can’t be mentioned here, Fuches, Mr. Cousineau, and NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan) add to the emotional moments and farcical situations that Barry ends up in. Each is impacted directly by their relationship with Barry, but none of them simply exist as a foil for the protagonist. It would be easy to relegate these characters to two-dimensional obstacles or comedic relief, but thankfully, each gets to experience their own challenges and triumphs beyond Barry Berkman. Similarly, several great guest stars (who, again, must remain nameless here) add to the authenticity of this Los Angeles setting.
The comedy of errors baked into the Barry foundation is what makes some of the heavier choices more bearable, and each man is faced with how much the hitman has impacted their life – or, in the case of Fuches, the role he has played in creating Barry. Carrigan continues to steal every scene he’s in as the happy-go-lucky Chechen crime boss without veering into cartoonish theatrics. He also (reluctantly) becomes Barry’s go-to person for advice and sounding off, which is as funny as it sounds.
As with the previous seasons, attention should be paid to the action going on in the background, as some of the best gags are visual. It is all in the details, from the conversations with an app customer service agent to Barry loudly dictating an eyebrow-raising voice note in the middle of a clothing store. The fifth outing, written by Emily Heller, is the funniest of the six episodes made available to critics while simultaneously featuring the most heartbreaking scene so far — or at least one of the most heartbreaking — stemming from Barry’s ability to get out of any dangerous scenario. It is impressive that Berg and Hader have found new ways to paint these characters into seemingly inescapable corners that will have you wondering how Barry will make it to the end of the season alive.
Whether Barry had the capacity to change was a major theme last season, which has been replaced with the concept of absolution this year. “Forgiveness is something that has to be earned,” Hank says before hilariously misquoting The Shawshank Redemption. Barry’s actions are informed by his belief that Mr. Cousineau saved his life when his soul was lost, but is there salvation for someone that has stained so many people’s lives? This is one question Hader and Berg are asking in a season that has been more than worth the three-year wait.
from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/KxZv7jn
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