Barry- Season 4 (2023) * * * 1/2

 

All episodes directed by:  Bill Hader

Starring:  Bill Hader, Stephen Root, Sarah Goldberg, Henry Winkler, Anthony Carrigan, Zachary Golinger, Michael Irby

After Barry Berkman is finally imprisoned for his crimes at the finale of season three of Barry, it seemed a fourth season would be unnecessary, but how wrong I was.  Barry was nudging itself away from the comedy portion of dark comedy last season and in season four, it is immersed in darkness and loving it.  Barry Berkman says fewer words than ever, but we witness a man not at peace no matter where he is.  He escapes from prison, settles down with his on-again, off-again love interest Sally Reed (Goldberg), moves to middle America where he builds a house seemingly in the center of endless miles of farmland, and raises a son he adores.  Barry turns to God and listens to sermons on the radio, but this is more the mark of a man desperate for redemption than a true believer.  Sally wears a brunette wig and works as a waitress, but she can only fake happiness for so long despite being an actor by trade.   Their son John (Golinger) doesn't know his parents' history.  When Barry tells John his story, he tells him he was a soldier and leaves the hired assassin part out.   

While Barry is hiding out as a fugitive, his former friends NoHo Hank (Carrigan) and Monroe Fuches (Root) are going through transitions of their own.  NoHo Hank starts the season retired from the criminal life and living with his lover Cristobal (Irby).  Cristobal can't resist the urge to try and run a legit business, while NoHo Hank wants to involve other criminals in the enterprise.  This results in Hank ordering the death of his beloved in order to save himself from doom in a critical moment.   Years later, Hank is running a legitimate business with a statue of Cristobal adorning the lobby, but this doesn't stop Hank from being haunted by his actions.

Fuches spends years in prison, assembling an army to go after Barry once he is released.  Fuches was overjoyed that he and Barry reconnected in prison, but now that Barry has escaped and left Fuches behind, Fuches is pissed at him yet again.   No matter how many hired guns Fuches has or how many tattoos now reside on his body, we sense that his anger is embedded in rejection.  He loves Barry like a son, or a brother, and he can barely conceal his hurt.   When the chips are down, will Fuches be able to pull the trigger?  And will he be able to trust Hank?  

Then there is Gene Cousineau (Winkler), who has been on the run for years after accidentally shooting his son while hiding from Barry.   Gene could have just stayed in seclusion because no one was looking for him anyway, but once he hears about a movie being made about Barry's life, Gene emerges from seclusion to protest the movie's production.   Being the egomaniac Gene is, all it takes is an agent telling him Daniel Day-Lewis wants to come out of retirement to play him in the movie for Gene to change his tune.   Gene's fate is determined by plenty of bad luck, bad timing, and a lack of patience at the worst possible time, which also flips Barry's fate as well.  

The fourth and final season of Barry provides dimensions for the characters the previous season did not.  It is tough in the way it follows its logic to its conclusion, while at the same time criticizing the media and Hollywood for being so easily led away from the truth.   Barry ends on a darker note, but only for some, while others find the light that was evading them all their lives, or at least since they met Barry.