Posts about Barry (RSS, JSON)

9AM — I started watching Barry after the final episode aired; and I would have stopped watching after season 2 if the following ones hadn’t been available. There’s a tedious slump in season 2, leading up to the darker turn that follows. It has the annoying elements of Dexter; Barry keeps murdering and always gets away with it. At some point there’s a faint hint of guilt but due to unforeseen circumstances he has to murder another human. And another.

But thanks to the wonderful world of streaming, I binged through the show and made it to the end. I’m glad I did. Barry is fun and dark. It’s a world where almost no one has a moral compass, and everyone acts in their own benefit.

Besides the absurd plot—serial killer wants to be an actor to find himself—it’s the hints of a workplace comedy that did it for me. Early on, when Barry opens up to Fuches that he wants to pursue a different line of work, and Fuches, the “manager,” shows little interest in Barry’s interests or feelings and wants him to keep going to keep the business going—that perfectly sums up the relationship between many managers and their subordinates. Or in season 4, when Fuches and his crew try to calm Fuches’ visibly distraught partner and her daughter after beheading a couple of men; and it doesn’t occur to them that turning the TV louder or not doing the beheading in front of the women won’t solve the actual problem: that they shouldn’t murder anyone in the first place. Like a discussion at work, when one executive wants to do something questionable and everyone scrambles to put a positive spin on it.