Equal parts true comedy and dark drama,BarrystarsBill Hader(Saturday Night Live,It: Chapter Two,Trainwreck)asformer marine Barry Berkmanas he attempts to find an escape from his occupation as a hitman. Using an acting class as his way to reconnect to people and find redemption, the show frequently provides unexpected twists by playing in both of these vastly different worlds.
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Featuring a revelatory performance byNoHo Hank(Anthony Carrigan), and the mostsubstantial role of the late stagesofHenry Winkler’s career, the show aims for deep introspection by dispensing with traditional character stereotypes. Instead, allowing the entire cast to be presented as deeply flawed and often irredeemable, allowing characters likeSally Reed (Sarah Goldberg)to frequently steal scenes through sheer acting power.
Chapter 1: Make Your Mark
“Make Your Mark” serves as an entry point to understanding the overwhelming depression that Barry is experiencing, which motivates his change of lifestyle and much of the first seasons plot. Finding Barry after completing a hit, viewers are invited to experience the often unseen dreary realities of contract killing. Spare the brief interactions with handler Monroe Fuches (Stephen Root),Barry spends most of his time traveling and entirely isolated, with his only outlet appearing to be his Xbox where he further hones his craft of killing.
When a hit is placed on an acting student due to infidelity, Barry finds himself too close to his target and finds himself enticed by the appeal of inhabiting another person through acting. One of the most polished pilots in recent memory, the episode is absolutely must see TV.
Chapter Four: Commit… to YOU
Using the setting of a party among the acting class to upend any momentum towards Barry’s idyllic daydreams, “Commit… To You” instead replaces them with a starkly defiant Sally (Sarah Goldberg) and increasingly rowdy wrestling Marines.
Spiraling out of control following Sally’s rejection of a new MacBook, Barry’s following self-destruction is his first major hurdle on his journey. Being unfamiliar and out of practice with normal human relationships, the episode highlights Barry’s struggle to adapt to civilian life.
Chapter Six: Listen With Your Ears, React With Your Face
Chechen gang member Vacha(Mark Ivanir)and his obsession with getting revenge for his brother threatens Barry’s carefully crafted new life. While the ‘47-year-old’ Gene professes his love for Detective Moss, imploring her to eliminate his acting class as suspects of Ryan Madison’s murder.
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The episode also serves as a prime example of the shows effective use of dream sequences. Avoiding the typical complex and layered metaphors ofDavid Lynchimpersonations as seen in shows likeThe Sopranos,Barryinstead uses them toblatantly reveal his underlying desires.
Chapter Seven: Loud, Fast, and Keep Going
This episode contains one of the most tense scenes in recent television history, as the botched raid on the Bolivian’s air field has lasting consequences for Barry and old friend Chris(Chris Marquette). Unable to deal with the weight of his actions, Chris presents Barry with an ultimatum causing him to weigh his options in real, heartbreaking time.
The realization of both characters and the reality of the situation as it slowly washes over the scene is masterfully shot byHiro Murai(Atlanta,Station Eleven,Snowfall),as he uses his patented stylish realism to reiterate the stakes that the show is dealing with.
Chapter Five: Do Your Job
With Barry and Sally’s relationship rapidly dissolving, this episode highlights one of the shows greatest strengths, the strange and cathartic world of acting classes.
With the newly separated couple paired together to perform Macbeth at a Shakespeare Showcase, the classes leading up to the show manage to portray some oddly personal moments and discussions which come from dissecting the characters they are interpreting.
Chapter Eight: Know Your Truth
In the season final, the carefully curated reality which Barry has worked to create is instantly upended by small talk and general reminiscing, while on a couples weekend away with Gene and Detective Moss.
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With the investigation of acting student Ryan now wrapped up and Barry’s peaceful existence seemingly underway, the episode manages to undercut every bit of goodwill Barry has built with the audience throughout the season. Instead, revealing the lengths he will go to keep his secrets safe, taking the show in a completely unexpected direction.
The Show Must Go On, Probably?
With the impossible task of picking up where the first season left off, season two begins with Barry’s inability to accept the grief he has caused those around him. Mourning the loss of Detective Moss, Gene’s absence from the class causes the group to process their feelings naturally, while opposed to Barry’s manic guilty energy.
The relationship between NoHo Hank and Cristobal begins to take shape, until a merger with the Burmese mafia and Hank’s nemesis Esther upsets the status quo. Now working a retail job following his split from Fuches, Barry momentarily distances himself from his former profession by repressing his guilt and focussing on his relationship with Sally.
“What?!” provides further context to Barry’s dark past in the marines, his severe mental illness sustained in combat and the atrocities committed himself.
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Also dealing with the appearance of Sally’s abusive ex-boyfriend Sam, controlling his violent urges takes center stage in this episode for Barry. While providing context core to Sally’s character, this episode allows her to reckon with her past and take the defiant stand against abuse that she has been longing for.
ronny/lily
Now blackmailed by FBI agent Loach, Barry and Fuches are tasked with assassinating a Taekwondo champion in his own home. Barry’s ambitions for a non-violent life are highlighted in this bottle episode, while also serving as a stunt showcase for both of the episodes titular characters.
Employed to equally hilarious and brutal means, “ronny/lily” is the most action focused episode so far, as the bumbling pair of criminals find their match in their target’s pre-teen daughter.
berkman ﹥ block
Forced to come to terms with his own actions and ultimately choose sides, Barry is faced with Fuches' plan for mutually assured destruction, by leading Gene to the body of Detective Moss.
With the lives of Barry Berkman and Barry Block now inevitably on a collision course and the culmination of two seasons worth of secrets now threateningly close to being exposed, viewers were left to speculate on how Barry would escape this situation. And if they want him to.
