In a pop culture content-sphere that’s crammed with so-so seasons and seasons that come close to being great but squander their potential, it’s refreshing to see a show like Barry nail a perfect season- or as close to perfect as a season could be- while also progressing the narrative in meaningful ways. The show could have continued to lean on its comedic roots and have Barry evade the consequences of his actions while meandering through life like a lost soul, but this season, all the chickens come home to roost.
Barry (Bill Hader) has fallen into the routine of doing bit work as an actor and accepting hit jobs on the Dark Web and Craigslist. When Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler) confronts him about killing his girlfriend, Moss, Barry teeters on the edge of killing Gene, but decides to revive his career as a way of ‘atoning’ for his crime. Meanwhile, Sally (Sarah Goldberg) is stressed-out (and slightly power-mad) as she launches a TV show based on her experiences of domestic abuse, deliberately ignoring the loveless nature of her relationship with Barry. NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan) tries to find romantic bliss with Cristobal (Michael Irby), but he’s soon pursued by Cristobal’s superior in the Bolivian mob, who also happens to be his father-in-law.
And there’s Fuches (Stephen Root), of course, who comes back from a life of rustic bliss, determined to ruin Barry’s life by revealing his identity to the loved ones of every person he killed over the course of the show.
As great as the story is, Barry really excels because of the precision and care it applies in fusing the surreal nature of this season with the brutal but muted violence that’s become a part of these characters’ lives. Bill Hader and Alec Berg direct most of the episodes this season, never wasting even a single frame, delivering pathos and visceral action while also maintaining tight pacing. Bill Hader also embodies the character of Barry Berkman, as he has done for three seasons running, portraying an almost existential ennui at the heart of the character, trying to do good for the people he cares about, but in deeply misguided ways. Barry is a sympathetic character, but he’s also undeniably toxic, as seen when he screams at Sally on her show’s set in full view of the show’s cast and staff for not giving Gene a role on her show.
Sally also has a tragic, Icarus-like arc in this season where she gets very close to success but crashes and burns, and when she finds out that someone close to her was pursuing success in the wake of Sally’s fall, Sally lashes out in a way that only makes things worse for her, career-wise. Her character’s inflection point comes in the finale, and although it feels like her time on the show might be done, hopefully, she can come back in a meaningful way in a future season.
In fact, almost all of the characters in this season of Barry reach their breaking point. Some manage to rise beyond it, but most, including Barry, are consumed by their downfall.
Barry survives multiple assassination attempts and even a confrontation with Albert, an FBI agent who’s also the very friend Barry saved while deployed in Afghanistan, and it almost seems like he might get away scot-free. But Barry season three commits to the logical evolution that it started with its darker direction, leaving the show at an almost perfect closing point. This is in stark contrast to something like, say, The Boys season three, which almost ruins its excellent run of episodes by delivering a tepid finale that puts the show in a holding pattern until the showrunner, Eric Kripke, decides to end the show somewhere down the line.
It’s almost a shame that Barry is coming back for a fourth season, but hopefully, it will also make bold directions with its story and explore these characters dealing with their new circumstances.
Barry is still funny this season, but it’s almost a miracle that it pulls off the darkness as well as it does.
When the show does the obligatory ‘protagonist is caught in a purgatory-like world while fighting for his life’, it could have easily veered into pretentious territory, but thankfully the sequence doesn’t outstay its welcome and plays its part in making Barry realize how irredeemable he is.
If you haven’t watched Barry yet, then please give it a try. It has not only reinvented Bill Hader as a drama leading man, but it’s also one of those HBO shows that elevate the network above its competition, which is ramping up every day with worthy contenders like Severance from Apple TV+.