In the inaugural season of Barry, Bill Hader shows his mettle as an actor, stepping out of the typical comedy schtick that he is known for. Barry is so, so much more than a simple comedy show. The stars; Hader, Henry Winkler, Sarah Goldberg, Anthony Carrigan and Stephen Root put together a complete performance, weaving in two distinct plot lines with Hader’s double life as an aspiring actor/ hitman.
The show begins with a harsh visual showcasing just who Hader’s character, Barry Berkman, really is as he is walking away from a man lying in a hotel room bed with a bullet hole in his head. Barry returns to his hole-in-the-wall apartment in Cleveland, where he is met by his family friend/ hitman partner Fuches, who looks over Barry due to the respect he had for his father, only to set him down a path as his private contract killer. Fuches sets Barry up with a hit contracted by the Los Angeles Chechen Mob; the partner of the boss’s unfaithful wife. It is when he arrives in Los Angeles, following his target, where he gets swept up in the world of the LA theater, taking his target’s place in Henry Winkler’s Gene Cousineau’s acting class after the mob kills him. Barry tries to leave his old life as a contract killer, stay in Los Angeles, and be a part of Cousineau’s tight knit group of actors. There he finds a sense of belonging, yet his demons in the Chechen mob and Fuches arrival in LA make this impossible.
Bill Hader is simply one of the funniest men on television, starring on SNL for years along with having completely scene stealing moments in many comedy films. Hader’s performance is just as brilliantly funny as it is profoundly deep, his deadpan sense of humor plays so well with an actor who is in way over his head on stage. As a killer, Barry is confident and sure of himself with every move he makes, yet on the stage he is hilariously constantly confused, drawing the ire of Winkler’s Cousineau, an acting perfectionist. In dealing with professional killers, torturers and evil men, Barry never blinks, yet constantly puts his tail between his legs when dealing with Cousineau and Sally, his acting partner who he falls head over heels for, played by Sarah Goldberg.
Hader, whom the show revolves around and is in nearly every scene, has members in each part of his double life that steal the scene as his costars. Winkler’s Cousineau is perfect, an over the top LA acting teacher that takes himself way too seriously. Every time he begins his class, everybody stands and gives him a rousing applause, despite never having really accomplished much as an actor. Winkler’s overly confident Cousineau completely punks hardened murderer Barry time and time again, having no idea just who his new student is.
The other standout on the show is Anthony Carrigan’s NoHo Hank, the Chechen Mob boss’s right-hand man. Carrigan, himself having alopecia, is completely hairless yet covered in menacing gang tattoos, though he acts nothing like he looks. Hank is the first person Barry meets in LA, and he is over the top polite, offering Barry a drink and a “submarine sandwich”, which he offers to everybody he meets. When they believe Barry to be dead, NoHo Hank and Fuches have long phone conversations reminiscing Barry, though he only barely knows him and was an active member in trying to have him killed multiple times. Carrigan is fantastic in the show, and figures to play a larger role in season 2 now that Chechen mob boss Goran is dead.
Barry has some very funny people in it’s cast, yet each member dives deep into their role to give their comedy performances a dramatic feel. The most profound moment in the show is when Barry is forced to murder his close friend and former marine, Chris. Barry likes to think he is a good guy who just kills bad people yet is forced to continually modify his standards, becoming more and more restless and riddled with anxiety as the show goes on. Barry is just as dramatic as it is funny, telling the story of a man desperately trying to find his purpose in life before it is too late, and the supremely funny and talented cast does an amazing job bringing it to life.
