It is a good thing the show title did not refer to any of the main players in this show because none of them are anywhere close to being charming right now, if ever. They are all spiraling downward as each season gets heavier and darker. They also keep after it by one-upping each other along the way. Gene thinks he can stick it to Barry good and gain some fame along the way; Fuches feeling the betrayal, thinks he can tip off Hank to end the whole mess without implicating himself and Hank thinks he can actually make all that happen and still be true top dog one day. Then there is poor Sally. She thinks she can just rise above it all and be the better person for it. And delusional Barry thinks he was a man of good intentions all along, a good friend all along and he can prove it. Well, no, no, no, again no, and no!
We last saw Barry striking a deal with the Feds in exchange for witness protection with Sally at his side. Fuches tips off Hank and the ball gets rolling to take out our title character. All of this sounds grim, but it is all played out in a grand farcical fashion. Just as farcical is Mr. C and his agent Tom’s ploy to destroy the Vanity Fair piece because it was just a bad move. It’s funny that this duo are now the criminals and Barry is, until the episode’s end, the cooperative one. It is all so witty.
What is also witty is Sally Reed’s arc. The writers could have easily floundered with this character but kept her in the mix. Interestingly, I find the circumstances surrounding Sally an interesting angle. We learned in the last episode that Barry sort of excited her. Tangoing with him led to a thrilling time in her life for her. Is Barry overplaying his chance with her still? We also see from her another incident of violence. This show does indeed examine violence as it plays out its quirky twists & turns between the aggressive & the silly. What happens?
Sally takes up Gene’s advice from the previous episode. When all else fails – teach.” She takes up the mantle of teaching Mr. C.’s method as a way of staying in the business somehow. She pushes, insults, and barks at the students who just call her out for abusive behavior for what it is. One student does appreciate it, after she is berated that she’s the charming one who needs to strip that phony façade, or something like that, to reveal her true self. We’ve seen the cutthroat, mouthy & bitchy Sally Reed before; this is really her it seems. Anyway, that scene, plus, the breaking & entering antics of Gene & Tom are top farce here.
Add to that the final farcical and violent scene of the episode when Barry thwarts Hank’s hit on him and you’ve got a solid episode. He halts his assassins and escapes the prison by the time it is said and done. And if that wasn’t enough, we have cameos from filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and comic actor Fred Armisen, right?
Great stuff. You’ve got to be watching BARRY.
