You’ll be sorry if you don’t watch ‘Barry’

Ok. So, the HBO show Barry, now streaming on Showmax, is not everyone’s cup of tea. Instead, it’s probably closer to the Red Bull of dark comedy.

Drip-fed across four seasons of half an hour episodes, it’s a show that will have you addicted from minute one, and in between the many layers of the story, some hard home truths are spun, too.

Barry can be your best friend; the lover people dream of. He can also be the kind neighbour who, when his rifle has you in its crosshairs, is an enemy you’d probably still thank for your last supper. It’s a complex yet simple and ridiculously funny show.

More merits than demerits for ‘Barry’

Beyond that, you can yawn about the merits of the show, but that may detract from its brilliance. There are so many moments that listing them could become too much of a pundit’s laud for viewers. But here goes, and we’ll start from the end through to the beginning. This review’s last sentence will be: If you don’t watch Barry, all four seasons of it, you will be poorer for ignoring it.

Barry Berkman, played by Bill Hader, is a disillusioned hitman from Ohio. He travels to Los Angeles for an assignment and finds himself drawn to the world of acting. This is mostly because he stumbles upon it and then falls in love with it. Adding to that the troubled heroine of the story anchors his emotions and it’s a narrative winner.

Barry’s journey

Barry Block is his adopted stage name. His from hitman to aspiring actor is as much about self-discovery as it is about survival. In the beginning, Barry’s existence is defined by the morality, or his lack of it — he kills for cash.

Then, he’s toe-dipping in an acting class led by the eccentric and somewhat failed actor and tutor Gene Cousineau. The latter played to the dammit by Henry Winkler, who also introduces Barry to a new way of life, one that offers a measure of hope and redemption.

It’s a theme that just does not get tired throughout all four seasons and Block, nee Berkman’s adventures. Barry’s continuous drawing back into the killing fold, his Achilles heel. Or would it rather be that falling in love, with a woman, with acting, and with a different kind of life becomes the sword of Damocles over what he thought was his identity.

Mr nice guy killer

Barry served in the military and was discharged after an incident where his troublesome rage saw him kill a villager and not the terrorist he was supposed to. His sort of uncle, Monroe Fuches, is sleazily played by Stephen Root. He’s Barry’s handler who rescues him and then uses him.

The pair get mixed up with the Chechen mafia and here the sports really start. The unbelievably camp gangsters NoHo Hank and Goran Pazar are played by Anthony Carrigan and Glenn Fleshler; they make torture hilarious and killing sprees and smuggling grotesquely funny. Add to that, in the first and second seasons, a Bolivian cartel head that specialises in motivational speaking. There’s a Burmese gang lord that’s tougher than nails, and it all folds into a recipe of dark proportions.

The show is eye candy from top to bottom. The visual language matches situationally and the brilliance of Hader aka Barry Block aka Barry Berkman shines through in every frame. Hader’s experience in physical and dramatic comedy, from several stints on Saturday Night Live, has stood him in seriously good stead.

Dark comedy, light moments

The show also explores themes of duality and counts amongst many of the aspects of various characters that viewers can identify with from the get-go. The comedy, while very dark, is not Addams Family in its shade. Instead, it is rooted in a strong narrative and never feels out of place or forced. Barry never shies away from his profession, despite wanting to escape it desperately. This juxtaposition of his double life that’s sweeping his own feet from under him also delivers moments of intense drama outside of the comedic and at times, laugh out loud moments of the show.

In-between all of this, there’s also a thick layer of satire about Hollywood. It’s a cup half full of self-obsession and the emptiness that it often brings to many aspiring starlets, the thousands who flock to the City of Angels. This, after all, is where they seek redemption, recognition and resuscitation into a life less ordinary.

There is just so much to say about this show, about each season that shares a narrative seamlessly. Every episode builds on the previous, and viewers never get lost in the storyline. It draws you in and doesn’t let go. That’s how engaging the direction and editing is.

If you don’t watch Barry, you’ll be sorry. 

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