Barry has been running since 2018, never missing a beat. Anyone who has seen this dark crime dramedy would probably agree that it’s consistently remained one of the best shows on television for the past five years. With a short eight episodes per season, the series has never overstayed its welcome – which is why we’re not the only ones who are sad that the just-aired season 4 is the series finale.
Warning: spoilers ahead.
What’s It All About?
If you haven’t been keeping up for the last few years, you’re really missing out. Barry centers around the titular protagonist (played by Bill Hader), an ex-marine-turned-hitman who’s just over it. At the beginning of the series, Barry is attempting to turn over a new leaf. He joins an acting class taught by the acclaimed teacher Gene Cousineau (played pitch-perfect by Henry Winkler) and a new dream blossoms – Barry wants to be an actor.
Unsurprisingly, Barry’s new life and his old life cause a lot of friction with one another as he’s constantly caught between the two worlds. The new friends and girlfriend (Sally Reed, played by Sarah Goldberg) that Barry has acquired through Cousineau’s acting class know nothing of his other life. He often has to go to extreme measures to protect his new friends, as well as to cover up some of the unsavory acts he commits, sometimes even on their behalf.
At the end of season 3, not only has Mr. Cousineau figured out that Barry killed his girlfriend, but Sally is aware of his double life, and everything is crashing down on Barry. As the finale draws to an end, Barry is cuffed and taken away by a SWAT team, and we are left to wonder, what does the future hold for our hitman?
Does Season 4 Maintain the Quality?
For those who haven’t watched it yet, we’ll make this quick – Barry is still the show you’ve loved for the past three seasons, and you should definitely watch season 4.
For the first half of season 4, Barry is in prison. There are a lot of philosophical musings about forgiveness and a heartfelt plea with Sally, who seems she’ll never forgive Barry. We’ll admit, we simply enjoy seeing more of these characters, and we’ll enjoy this show even if they’re just going about their daily routines. However, we did begin to wonder if this series would end with Barry in prison after eight episodes of him just whining about his mistakes.
Fortunately, we were given relief at the end of episode 3 when Barry breaks out of prison. In episode 4, Barry asks Sally to run away with him, and to our surprise, she agrees. In episode 5, we jump 10 years into the future when Barry and Sally have managed to escape authorities and even raise a son. It feels a bit like an ultra-Christian Little House on The Prairie, which initially is a very jarring shift. We kept waiting for Barry to wake up from a dream, but he never did.
Ultimately, over the next three episodes, the series reaches an ending with a number of moments that lead the viewer to ask questions like, can one truly atone for their sins? and what is forgiveness? In typical Barry fashion, the answers the series offers are not particularly encouraging.
We’re not sure that Barry’s finale quite sticks the landing, but it sure was one hell of a ride.
