CNN
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“Barry” took risks from the start, which is certainly true for the fourth and final season, which picks up where the third one stoppedwhere the actor-killer-turned-copycat was arrested. This paves the way for an even darker season that emphasizes the ensemble aspect of the show but leans too heavily on blurring lines with flights of fancy.
Thanks to “Continuity”, “Barry” won't be HBO's biggest farewell this spring, but neither is the Emmy-nominated series or chopped liver. In fact, it's fair to say that while these episodes don't quite measure up to what came before, even the less deadly “Barry” is still very, very good.
Bill Hader's signature twist as the director-producer-star remains one of the most unpredictable series on television, and the new season has a strong “Better Call Saul” an atmosphere in it brought on by the consequences of the seemingly inevitable fact that Hadera's Barry couldn't live his double life forever.
The fallout from his arrest plays out on both sides of the equation, starting with his acting teacher Gene Cousineau (played by Henry Winklerstill a remarkable mixture of ego and need) and girlfriend Sally (Sarah Goldberg) to the rogue's gallery of petty criminals in his orbit, including Fuches (Stephen Root) and NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan), who improbably found love in the course of his travels, somehow turning “Barry” into a four-syllable name.
“Barry” has always struggled with the discomfort of having a main character who kills people, and the issue of empathizing with his namesake becomes especially acute in the episodes when the character is in prison. When Barry asks, “Are you mad at me?” with an almost childlike naivety, it's easy to forget, at least for a moment, some of the terrible things he's done, even if the vengeful Jim Moss (Robert Wisdom) can't.
Hader (who directed every episode) also excels at darkly comic visual gags, which in the new season are complemented by several hysterical cameos from real-life Hollywood figures, including director Guillermo del Toro, that are made even funnier by how random they seem.
However, the series' surreal digressions and detours into fantasy become increasingly distracting, and at times it feels too precious. The saving grace is always the strength of the actors, even if prison creates barriers to their interaction.
HBO has made most, but not all, of the season available, and the series is effective at keeping viewers on the edge of their seats, wondering how it will all end and how (or if) its various threads will connect.
The possibility of a happy ending for everyone in “Barry” land never seemed to be on the table, but Hader and co-writer Alec Berg seem determined to go out on their own terms, no matter how good (mostly) and occasionally frustrating it may be. That's why it's hard to be mad at a show that takes such creative risks, even if the season isn't quite the cold-blooded killer it was.
“Barry” begins its fourth and final season April 14 at 10 pm ET on HBO, which, like CNN, is a division of Warner Bros. Discovery.
