Plot: Desperate to leave his violent past behind in favor of his newfound passion, Barry (Hader) is attempting to untangle himself from the world of contract killing and fully immerse himself in acting. But getting out is messy. While Barry has eliminated many of the external factors that pushed him towards violence, he soon discovers they weren’t the only forces at play. What is it about his own psyche that led him to become a killer in the first place? Season three finds Barry and the other characters trying to make the right choice.
Review: The first season of Barry was an unexpected surprise. After his run on Saturday Night Live, seeing Bill Hader as writer, director, and star of a series deeply rooted in drama as much as humor seemed to cement his transition from funny guy to multi-hyphenate. With a brilliant ensemble around him, Barry became a critical success and a fan favorite. I praised the first season but wondered how the concept could be supported for a subsequent season. Boy was I pleasantly surprised to find the sophomore run to be every bit as good as the first. Three years later, we are finally getting the third chapter of Barry’s tale and it continues to be a darkly hilarious showcase for Hader, Henry Winkler, Anthony Carrigan, Stephen Root, and Sarah Goldberg with the consequences of the first two seasons coming to a head. Barry doesn’t miss a beat with a season that mines this premise for even more brilliant character work and unexpected bursts of dramatic and comedic violence.
Having seen six of the eight episodes that comprise the third season, Barry picks up the plot of the second season including the fallout of the massacre of the Chechens and the Bolivians, Fuches revealing to Gene that Barry murdered Janice, and Sally’s new projects resulting from her profound performance reflecting on her past abusive relationship. To get into much detail about what happens in these episodes will spoil quite a few twists that are in store, but I can tell you that the focus this season is placed predominantly on the relationship between Barry and Gene. Both Bill Hader and Henry Winkler have been critically lauded for their performances on this show and they will absolutely be garnering more after this season airs. Winkler, whose performance as the narcissistic acting teacher began as smugly hilarious, shifts into a much more nuanced place that reveals some of the dramatic weight he is capable of as an actor. With his roles on Happy Days to Arrested Development, Parks and Recreation and The Waterboy, I never anticipated just how good Winkler could be and Barry brings out his best.
Bill Hader once again is fantastic as Barry. Like in season two, Barry starts out seemingly distanced from the acting path that was his focus in the first season. There are multiple hitman jobs and moments of violence that punctuate these episodes, but there is an emotional shift in him as well. Hader has long been a broadly comic actor, but this season his explosive moments of rage are more frequent than in preceding seasons and it serves as Barry’s weak spot. This allows for conflict to arise between Barry and the three people that are closest to him: Gene, Sally, and Fuches. While Sally is enjoying success for the first time in her career, the events that feature in the first episodes of this season will have lasting ramifications for her relationship with Barry. Fuches, for his part, also returns with a vengeance as he refuses to let Barry go. Both Sarah Goldberg and Stephen Root are great with both of their characters more developed than ever before.
There is also a larger role for Anthony Carrigan as the soft-hearted Chechen gangster NoHo Hank. Despite Barry’s actions at the end of the second season, Hank remains fond of the hitman even if he doesn’t want his remaining soldiers to know about it. Carrigan’s role is significant this season as are multiple new characters and celebrity cameos that I won’t reveal here. In the trailer, you can see the addition of Elsie Fisher, Fred Melamed, Elizabeth Perkins, and a fleeting glimpse of Mark-Paul Gosselaar, but those are just a few of the new faces populating this season. Since this is a series about acting, there remains a focus on the craft and a new look at the production side of television shows that factors into the narrative in multiple ways. But, with the new directions for all the characters seemingly headed in different directions, Hader and the writing team manage to keep everyone connected and heading towards a shared finale.
As in prior seasons, Bill Hader takes a major role behind the camera as well, directing the first two episodes and co-writing with partner Alec Berg. Berg helms two episodes as well and both he and Hader have really found a formula for success with this show. Even though the episodes clock in close to the half-hour mark, they have so much going on that the time flies by while still maintaining the quality of any hour-long drama out there. In the first four episodes alone, I found myself bracing for violence, reminiscing about moments from Breaking Bad, impressed by Bill Hader’s range, blown away by Henry Winkler’s range, as well as laughing as hard as I have at any point in the prior two seasons of this show.
Barry is an easy show to appreciate as a comedy but even more when you consider all of the elements that make it so good. There are lighter moments of humor as well as pitch-black sequences that should not be funny but end up making you laugh harder than anything else. This season incorporates even more industry humor thanks to cameos from recognizable actors, casting directors, filmmakers, and more. But, Barry also defies categorization this season in the best ways possible. Bill Hader and Henry Winkler do their best work on this series so far and potentially in their careers. Even though we have waited three years for more episodes of Barry, it is absolutely worth it. While there are only eight episodes before we have to wait for more, these are the best chapters of this series yet.
Barry‘s third season premieres on April 24th on HBO.