Barry Season 4 Episode 3 Review: Another Suitably Tense Episode
Bill Hader is many things, especially a cinephile. When you watch "Barry," it's obvious that his influences lie in the films of the Coen Brothers, among others, but he's done videos for the Criterion Channel and spoken at length about the films and filmmakers he loves before. The third episode of the final season of "Barry," titled "you're charming," wastes little time at all — there's no cold open before the title card, and within a minute of the episode beginning, I think we can safely say we've learned a filmmaker Bill Hader must like an awful lot.
That, of course, would be Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro, who appears here as, simply, Toro. If you were paying attention during last week's two-part premiere, you know that NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan) contacted someone named Toro to see if Barry Berkman (Hader, of course) could be broken out of prison. Now, we know that Hank wants Barry dead for talking to the FBI, and Toro — who greets Hank and Cristobal (Michael Irby) at their burgeoning if not terribly legal sand operation — is more than happy to turn a breakout into a mob-style hit courtesy of two unexpected killers. "So ... the guys who are going to kill Barry have a podcast?" Cristobal asks, confused before learning that they indeed do have a podcast all about tech gadgetry that doesn't work, or is at least ridiculous. "Podcast is voice. You're thinking about TikTok," Toro corrects Cristobal, who worries that the podcasting killers will be recognized during the hit.
Though he's not involved with the hit, you have to assume that Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler) would be onboard as soon as he's informed by the DA that Barry's cut a deal with the Feds. "Sir, if he goes free, he is going to come and kill me," Gene states plainly. The DA dismisses his concerns at first, suggesting that the FBI would only be willing to go along with Barry if he was ex-military, which ... he is. "Oh," the DA (Charles Parnell) says. "... do you own a gun, Mr. Cousineau?" Oh, Gene. (I laughed out loud when the DA said that the gun Rip Torn gifted Gene likely had real bullets in it, because ... well, it's Rip Torn.) The DA does warn Gene, wisely, to keep his mouth shut outside of that office, something we know Gene is incapable of doing, considering how he told a magazine reporter (Patrick Fischler) all about his story with Barry. When he tests the waters with his agent Tom (Fred Melamed) to see how bad, exactly, it is that he told said reporter, Tom literally crashes his car out of anger, in another solidly choreographed shot in which we see the car's slow accident occur at a distance in a patient long take.
A crime utopia
The FBI, meanwhile, is learning more about Hank and Cristobal from Barry, both the fact of their romantic union ("That must be nice," says one of the agents bitterly) and that they were attempting to build "a crime utopia" back when Barry trained their men. Soon, though, Barry has a visitor: Lon Oneil, the magazine reporter who spoke with Gene last week. "It's only fair that you get a chance to respond to the accusations Gene Cousineau is making against you," Lon says before explaining in much briefer fashion what Gene told him last week. (And remember: as florid as Gene's storytelling was, it does basically describe ... what Barry did.) Barry is bothered both at the notion of his deal with the FBI going south, and that Gene is "telling my life story," shouting through the prison glass at Lon that Gene should "shut [his] f**king mouth!" Yikes. Soon after, though, Lon does his due diligence as a journalist and approaches Jim Moss (Robert Wisdom), asking for his take on Gene's story. Jim's only response is to invite Lon to have a chat in his garage, and considering what Jim did with Gene in that garage last season ... double yikes.
When speaking to the FBI, Barry learned that he definitely could bring along Sally (Sarah Goldberg), clearly still quite chuffed that she told him he makes her feel safe last week. (He, again, does not seem to realize how much she hates that this is true.) Of course, there is the trifling matter that he hasn't asked her about giving up her entire life yet. And the fact that Sally is trying to follow Gene's most recent advice, and teach an acting class of her own. Though she tries to give a rousing opening speech (and has slightly changed up her wardrobe to include a leather jacket and glasses), she senses awkwardness among the attendees and cuts to it: "How many of you are here because I'm the entitled c*** girl?" Though a handful of students do indeed remember her viral video, Sally is pleased to see them initially side with her, implying that everyone's gotten angry before. She's relieved and points out that the genuine nature of that moment is the point of the class: "As actors, we have to be the ugliest version of ourselves." (... Do you, though? That seems debatable.)
Speaking of the ugliest version of themselves, Monroe Fuches (Stephen Root) is back to being a sad-sack in prison, with his attempt to build up a gang having failed miserably when Barry sold him out and now that the other failed recruits are mocking him as "Big Bird" and "Baby Shoes" instead of "The Raven." When he calls Hank to vent, he learns the broad strokes about the impending hit on Barry and is promised that if he plays stupid for now, he'll get what's coming to him soon enough. As soon as the call ends, Hank is shocked to see Batir (JB Blanc), who informs him that the operation is "a direct affront to your homeland." Batir warns him that he has to join the new contingent of Chechens to run Los Angeles or his new group will be wiped out.
Oh, Gene
As much as Jim, Barry, and Gene all are against each other for obvious reasons, they do seem uniquely (if separately) united in wanting to stop Lon Oneil. Gene, for one, is joined again by Tom at Lon's house to try and get any recording of Gene's one-man show out of his hands. In the span of another long take, we see Gene and Tom desperately break into the house, as Gene tries to sweet-talk Lon's wife and Tom destroys Lon's desktop computer by throwing it into a pool. And as that happens, Gene learns from Lon's wife that her husband was interviewing Jim Moss, which ... well, Gene knows that's not going to end well. When he goes over to visit Jim, Gene is informed that he has to be "isolated" because he can't be trusted. Oh, and that Lon "ain't gonna be talking to anyone for a long time." We quickly learn that's ... not exactly true: over at Lon's house, his wife and his editor are horrified and confused to see Lon having returned home looking mussed up, dirty, and only speaking German, a language he has never spoken before.
Sally, meanwhile, is struggling to get through to her class. When one particular student, the willowy blonde Kristen (Ellyn Jameson), admits that she half-assed the preparation for an acting exercise, Sally pulls a Gene. More specifically, Sally does to Kristen what Gene did to her in the first season, cutting her down to size through some intense verbal abuse before making the student turn the resulting emotion into what fuels her performance. While it does seem to work for Kristen, the rest of the students are horrified, deeming Sally's behavior "abusive" and stating it clearly: "Just because it happened to you does not mean you need to do it to us." And it's hard to argue, even if Kristen's second performance is more effective in the moment. After a break, Kristen informs Sally that everyone else left because "they think you're a monster." But it turns out that Kristen liked Sally's approach, and needs her help with an upcoming role in a big movie. So the approach wasn't a total failure!
Back in prison, Barry makes a call to Hank, asking our favorite Chechen to wipe out Gene for talking to the press because of the damaging information he might have. And, y'know, Barry Berkman has done some ballsy things during this series, but this call might take the cake. Though NoHo Hank is far from a clean and innocent individual, it's hard not to feel a little visceral thrill as he calmly asks Barry why he's lying, and why he's talking to the FBI. When Barry turns from politely cajoling to angrily threatening, Hank delivers another calm little line: "The day you get out of prison is my f***ing birthday, Barry." Let's just say the call does not end well.
That's us
For all the pain he's brought on Barry, Fuches does seem to have something of a heart. While watching "Rain Man" on TV, he compares the characters played by Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman to himself and Barry. (Presumably, that would make Barry the equivalent of Raymond Babbitt, which is ... an interesting comparison!) So even though he could play stupid, he decides to help Barry if possible, telling a guard that Barry's life is in danger. But the guards don't seem to care, dragging Fuches away while Barry meets with the FBI, including Agent James Curtis (Dan Bakkedahl). Though Agent Curtis tries to walk Barry through the process of what will happen in Witness Protection, while promising him that Sally can join him soon, Barry is struck by an unexpected twist: one of the people in the room is there to kill him.
Of course, it helps to add a brief bit of humor that said person is played by Hader's old "SNL" castmate Fred Armisen. Armisen is clearly playing one of the podcasting killers, who's doing a bad job of giving himself away as a bulge-eyed, sweaty dude who keeps looking at the ceiling where his partner must be lying in wait. "That guy's here to kill me," Barry says, blithely pointing at the podcaster. But if we have learned anything about Barry Berkman over the last few seasons, it is that he always figures out a way to escape certain death. This time, it's because the weapon that Armisen's character has at the ready backfires on him, ripping off one of his fingers in the process. Armisen's partner in crime does shoot at and kill all the actual FBI agents, but Barry quickly grabs one of their guns, takes the other shooter down, and vanishes. That leaves the prison warden (played briefly by character actor Richard Riehle) to stride in and ask the pressing question: "Where the hell is Berkman?"
"you're charming" is another suitably tense episode, and one that once again makes clear that while few of the characters on this show are truly good people, Barry Berkman has quickly become the worst of them. His centerpiece call with Hank is no doubt going to fuel his lust for revenge — we don't know for sure that's how Barry is feeling, but that would seem like a logical conclusion considering that an Oscar-winning filmmaker just tried to have him offed on Hank's behalf. (Is Guillermo del Toro playing himself here? Who knows. Let's hope so.) Admittedly, a character whose behavior — at least this week — approaches similar levels of awfulness is one whose behavior seems a little out of scope. That would be Jim Moss, who apparently managed to torture a man out of speaking his native tongue, which seems a wee bit too deranged. (Yes, it's true that Lon cannot tell his wife or editor who did this to him, but his wife knew he was going to visit Jim Moss, information she could easily share with an editor of a very big magazine.) It's especially deranged because Lon does not seem like a lazy portrait of sloppy journalism. Maybe we'll see Lon again (though I will only say I highly doubt it for now). Even still, that was a bit of a misstep. For now, though, "you're charming" does a good job of leaving us hanging: there's a lot of fireworks we're liable to see in one week as two old friends become likely eternal foes.