First two seasons are amazing and will be loved by Weeds, OITNB, and Shameless fans; it's like those shows meet John Wick. Season three and four strike a tonal shift, though, that I don't think fully works. They're still okay, but as soon as they move Barry away from being a sympathetic manipulated/abused hitman trying to break free (but failing spectacularly) to a more literal "psycho" villain with anger issues, they kinda lost me. This is, unsurprisingly, right when they decide to stop exploring Barry's past, too, as it would almost certainly make him too sympathetic.
It's like by S3 they wanted to be Breaking Bad with more comedic beats, which left them with really only two possible endings if they weren't going to let their more obvious villain off the hook: Barry in prison or Barry dead. On top of this, all the characters are assholes, lol; not just flawed, straight up unlikable. I don't mind it, per se, but do think it would have been far funnier to see a more sympathetic Barry ultimately succeed in breaking free, albeit with a bunch of terrible murders committed in the process.
I don't regret watching the show at all and actually enjoy some things about the ending, but it lost its humor a bit along the way, and I simply would have preferred a different tale. Also, (big spoiler warning) not a fan of the buried gays.
I was really loving this show until the final few episodes. They are a mess - it felt so rushed. Like they weren't prepared for the show to end and it suddenly had to - which I'm not getting, since it was so good. Did they cancel it? Was there no more they could write for the show? I just felt robbed of a real ending - not that. I especially didn't care for the sudden jumps into things where you are trying to figure out "is this a dream" or "is this just extremely confusing", due to the mere fact that at the end of one episode he is leaving for LA to kill someone, and the next episode all of a sudden he's captured? They don't explain how it happened, how he got there, anything, it sure would have been nice to not be in the dark about these things and I felt like from writing standpoint this was really poorly done which was a bummer because the rest of the show I thought was done really well and I like the characters especially and obviously Hank which we all seem to like - his death was good, I'll grant that. I mean the way he died holding the hand of Cristobal's statue - but honestly, i would probably have preferred them not even killing that guy in the first place if they were ending the show, and going through the entire saving him thing - it was so horrifying - only to have him die so quickly, it's just really too quick for the audience imo.
I enjoyed the movie at the end - it was funny. That was the only highlight really
My score for this show is a reluctant seven. It really deserved a less, but I based my per-episode ratings on production values and topics touched upon. Based upon story and writing, I would've given this show a three- or four-star rating. The writing and direction, as in direction of the storylines, was incredibly lazy. This show was a constant stream of the relatives of those killed by Barry coming back to seek revenge against him. It wasn't all that interesting of an idea to begin w/, and it certainly didn't get better as seasons progressed.
I was immediately bored w/ this series, and I never really grew an interest in watching any of it. I found the characters to be really "meh." I thought that the best character was NoHo Hank, but his role in this wasn't very consequential. Then again, no one's role in this was consequential b/c of the way the show was designed. There was no one to root for, and practically everyone on this show was some self-serving individual. In nearly every instance, these characters were incredibly one-dimensional.
And, what was w/ the final season? There were what, three consecutive episodes leading into the finale which Bill Hader didn't appear in? What were they thinking? It recalled a line from a great movie, Quiz Show, where one of the main characters, Charles Van Doren, wasn't called to testify during a congressional investigation, where he was a central figured, and the wife of the main protagonist stated, "Quiz show hearings without Van Doren was like doing Hamlet without Hamlet." How do you have a show focused so completely on one man, and three of the four final episodes don't feature this character? It's mind-boggling how this show received such incredible ratings.
Barry is a show that should be remembered as one of the best dark comedies ever created, perhaps the best. There are sequences in this show and in some cases entire episodes that had me laughing harder than I ever have watching any piece of media out there. Yet the show still manages to provide a devastating, destructive, and often unsettling story through and through. Telling this story while making me laugh uncontrollably along the way is a remarkable achievement and the balance in tone should not be understated. The peak of the series came in season 2 for me, which took what was great about the first season and made it even better. Seasons 3 and 4 couldn't achieve the heights of season 2, but they were great seasons of TV in their own rights. Barry is also a very bold show, and this was best exemplified in the decisions they made in the last season. Things happened that were completely unexpected and while I do think they pushed a bit too far, at the end of the day it all came together in a finale that was true to the show and its strengths, as well as true to Barry as a character. The show also takes moments to comment on real world issues that are pretty sensitive, but it does so in the right way by maintaining its darkly comedic tone in these moments and never shoving it in your face. This is a show that truly stands out and I will miss it dearly.
9.1/10 -- Excellent
This show changes from "best show ever" to "what is this trash" every 100 minutes.
GOOD
+ There are several action scenes that are OUT OF THIS WORLD. Camera, choreography, pacing... you haven't seen anything like this - especially not in a TV show. If you're gonna skip this show, at least watch episode "ronny/lily" (till the end of the supermarket scene) and the motorbike chase in 3x06 (until the shotgun shootout at the car dealer)!
+ Hank
+ Several hilariously funny scenes (especially season 1)
+ Just when you thought you were watching a comedy, the show hits you with gut-wrenching drama or violence.
BAD
- After season 1, the overarching story goes down the drain. Don't try to make sense of what people do in season 2 - it gets a little better in season 3.
- WTF is Fuches' storyline? Or Sally's? Or Barry's? There is no growth, no change, they repeat the same sht over and over and over.
- Everyone other than Hank is terrible and you soon wish they would die in a fire. Yes, even supporting characters like the acting students.
- Barry oscillates between 500 IQ mastermind and stuttering idiot that falls into every amateur trap available (see ending of season 3).
Review by Deluxe3VIP 6BlockedParent2023-06-20T03:35:29Z
"We just got our asses handed to us by a 12-year old...She was like a feral mongoose." This show had me constantly belly laughing. The characters and plot are completely different. The show follows Barry, an ex-marine, and current assassin for hire, as he explores what makes him happy in life. This mostly consists of amateur acting and Sally Reed. Having been used by his handler for years, Barry begins to discover that he wants more for himself. The show goes on so many different twists and turns that it's hard to simply summarize the storyline. Lets just say the rotating cast and characters consist of the Chechnya mob (headlined by one of the funniest characters to ever grace a screen, NoHo Hank), a 12 year old jujitsu master, prison gangs, an acting class, and many many more.
While I think the show was really entertaining all the way through, Barry takes on a slightly different tone in season 3 and an entirely different tone in Season 4. Season 3 experiments with some more surreal and dream like concepts, while keeping the usual dramedy. I found it to be pretty interesting and thought it added a layer of depth to the show. The fourth and final season took on a very serious tone. There was still some comedy, but not nearly at the rate that the other seasons used. I would have liked to see a little more laughs in the fourth season.
The ending of the show gave a lot of characters their just desserts, which focused on their "true" natures. They acted with what was deep in their hearts and each got an ending surrounding that. I wouldn't say the ending is spectacular, but I found it enjoyable and pretty satisfying.
The show itself is definitely worth the watch. If you don't decide to watch this, "Well, you know what Sonny and Cher would say, that's on you babe." Thanks NoHo.
8/10