Our Verdict
A fantastically funny and thrilling penultimate episode that sets up an explosive finale.
We are now scarily close to the very end of Barry, and we are really not ready to say goodbye to this weird and wonderful story. However, with the latest episode of this epic comedy series, it’s clear that a very natural (and violent) conclusion is ready to unfold.
After a couple of extremely surreal and high-concept episodes of Barry season 4, the narrative comes crashing back to a much firmer reality this week. In Barry season 4 episode 6, the titular hitman was captured by Jim Moss as he attempted to kill Gene Cousineau, while Hank and Fuches butted heads as their new personas clashed.
Like many penultimate episodes, this installment of Barry does suffer a little for being a foundation-laying exercise. However, when the foundations are this strong, this compromise can be forgiven. Warning, spoilers for the episode ahead!
We begin this week with Barry in a rare position of vulnerability and weakness. Naturally, Jim Moss wants his daughter’s murderer to suffer. The psychological torture he is putting Barry through – enough to produce bizarre, Lynchian visions in Barry’s mind – is soon to be replaced by a more physical method of punishment. But, when Barry reveals he gave Gene $250,000 in compensation, Moss has a new target.
Gene, meanwhile, is busy orchestrating a social media protest against Warner Bros in an attempt to stop the studio from making the Barry Berkman movie. When it seems Daniel Day-Lewis, one of the best actors of all time, wants to play Gene in the film, however, the latter begins to warm to the idea of the biopic.
Despite the stakes being raised once more this week, there’s still plenty of room for comedy, and as usual, it’s NoHo Hank and Fuches who deliver on this front. Hank assembles a team of FUBAKs (four ultimate bad-ass killers) to kill Fuches, but that doesn’t quite work out as within an hour, Fuches has posted the heads of the assassins back to Hank.
The calamitous situations these two criminal leaders find themselves in are a constant source of entertainment. Fuches’ gang debates the best way to drown out the noise of their beheadings and decides a Fast and Furious movie would do the trick, while Hank and his assistant attempt to bomb Fuches’ headquarters but only bring one missile for budgetary reasons.
As the episode reaches its conclusion, we get a Tarantino-esque web of interweaving stories, where all the key Barry characters are put on a collision course with one another. Sally and John land in LA hoping to find Gene and Barry, but instead, she finds Hank. Seeing an opportunity to draw Barry out of hiding, Hank takes his family hostage and gives his old pal a call to let him know he’d like to see him again.
With Jim distracted by his new vendetta against Gene, Barry is able to escape his torture chamber, and he does not look too happy to hear from Hank. Meanwhile, Gene is lured into a trap with the promise of a meeting with Mark Wahlberg, but it turns out Jim, the district attorney, and Gene’s son want answers about Cousineau’s involvement in Janice’s murder.
All these different strands of the story are finely poised to explode in the finale next week, and we can’t wait to see how it plays out. Pretty much every one of the main players wants blood, and we have a feeling there will be plenty of that spilled before the show wraps up.
But, until then, here’s how to watch Barry season 4 episode 8 and a guide to that Barry season 4 time jump. If you’ve had enough TV for now, look to the big screen instead with our list of the new movies coming this year and the best movies of all time.