When Barry premiered on HBO back in 2018, it was promoted as a dark comedy. The name Bill Hader was pretty familiar to us due to his hilarious performance on SNLs. His spot-on impressions and various roles were iconic in most cases. So when he was in charge of a show where he also acted, obviously came off as goofy. And the premise? Hitman trying to get on with acting. This oozes out the workplace mishappenings comedy prose, which is basically silly and fun. And it was like that for a moment or so in the beginning but not for long. Barry often divided and mixed itself between dark but outright hilarious comedy and heavy drama in its episodes. Some episodes in the first two seasons were a good balance between comedy and drama with some being absolutely bizarre (insert Rony/Lily). But this season went full-on rogue with its stuff diving into the serious dark psychological drama leaving the comedy routine for the past and we are here for it.
Barry season 3 starts right after the shocking end of season 2. the massacre of the entire Chechen goons while Barry was in search of Fuches and Cousineau having the new knowledge of who killed her beloved Moss. With Noho Hank and Fuches on the run and Barry all disoriented, this season laid the groundwork for a perfect run and they had it so graciously. From the first moment, the looks on Barry were surely horrific. He was looking awful, out of jobs, and looking for forgiveness all over. But we all sure knew how he did not deserve forgiveness after all his heinous crimes. While he was looking for forgiveness naturally more chaos was drawn to him as Mr. Cousineau confronts him. The Chechen Mafia and Noho Hank, the Police investigation, Barry and Cousineau, and Barry and Sally all came to an epic conclusion.
In one episode, Barry was chased by a motorcycle gang. Partly instigated by Fuches. That episode named 710N was just a signature Bill Hader episode just like Rony/Lily. The silly-looking chase and funny look from Barry where someone attempting to murder him was just a big cocktail of bizarro and comedy created perfectly. It's not that Barry lacks comedy this season but the amount of time for comedy has been significantly lowered to almost zero. By the last episode, there was nothing to laugh about. As Bill Hader said, Fun times with Barry are over. And about the last episode, It was as gruesome as it can be. Just a completely bleak and shocking chain of events throughout the episode leading up to one of the biggest twists of the series. The finale had so many tense moments that I was saying WTF, OMG in nearly every 5 seconds. The story progression and direction Bill Hader and Alec Berg gave this season is something extraordinary.
This season would not be this much of successful if it not were for the actors. Good God, what have they done! Previously there were portrayals of rage from Barry, emotion from Sally, depression from Mr, Cousineau, and goofiness from Noho Hank. This time they brought out the best of them, Noho Hank having the traumatic experience of fear and terror, Sally outbursting again and again with a different person, Barry having the realization of everything is over after being confronted was a pure class A acting. Especially Sarah Goldberg who is the acting champion of this season. She seriously outdid everyone including herself within a scene of 5 minutes while showing all kinds of emotion flowing through her face. And I for one will not forget the tearing down the scene of Bill Hader for quite a long time. Sensational performances!
When I rewatched season two, I didn't think season three could top that, But I was wrong. Season three has been a ride of thrill, anxiety, and tension-filled episodes with some morbid humor. I mean Rony/Lily is still the most favorite episode of mine as it was one of the most bizarre and hilarious episodes I've ever seen but the panic and horror I experienced with the season 3's finale, I don't think many shows running today can match its quality on any level. It was sheer perfection from nearly every corner. And although it felt like a series finale, I'll be happy to see where the story goes now.