Barry Season 4 Episode 5 Review: It's A Miserable Life
Well, everyone, it's been 8 years. Not for all of us, as we watch week to week the latest horrifying exploits of hitman/actor Barry Berkman (Bill Hader) in the HBO show "Barry." But for Barry and Sally Reed (Sarah Goldberg), it's been 8 years since the events of last week's episode, in which Barry had escaped from prison and hid in Sally's apartment, to find that she was surprisingly willing to join him in Witness Protection for having named names to the FBI. Last week's installment ended with the shock that a long enough period of time had elapsed so that Barry and Sally not only had new identities in the middle of the country, but also had a son named John (Zachary Golinger). "tricky legacies", marking the start of the back half of the show's final season, is not remotely as eventful as last week's episode, which not only featured the aforementioned time jump but also the death of Cristobal (Michael Irby) and Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler) inadvertently shooting his son while holed up at Big Bear.
In fact, one reason why "tricky legacies" is less eventful is that it's pretty much just Hader and Goldberg appearing this week. We start in the middle of the same open field where John got into a scrape last week with another boy, Travis, who was gobsmacked that he'd never heard of "Call of Duty." Though Barry certainly has, and has plenty of real-life background with the military and using weaponry, he tells Travis' father that "we don't play video games." But he encourages John to tell the other boy that "I hope we can be together next time in harmony." Which ... uh ... sure! (Travis and his dad seem about as bemused by this comment as any of us may be.) Later, Barry notes to John that "your dad used to get mad ... a lot," which may well be the understatement of the century. The point is that — at least in this specific interaction — Barry remained calm though he noted that both Travis and his dad weren't terribly polite. "You messed up, but you took responsibility for it — it's the right way to live," says Barry, and ... we all know that Barry is pretty terrible at following his own advice, don't we, folks?
Inside their double-wide house, Sally is getting herself ready, down to putting on a brown-haired wig over her blonde locks. (Anyone who may have noticed a wrap around her head last week now has a reason for that accouterment.) One consistent aspect of this season, if not the series as a whole, is how badly Barry is at reading what's going on inside Sally's head. On one hand, of course, she did say that being with Barry made her feel safe, and she did willingly go with Barry to the middle of nowhere. So you can kind of see why Barry would assume that Sally must be pleased with her lot in life. But it's evident (if it wasn't from the very brief glimpse we got of her last week in their new digs) that the exact opposite is true, even from how she doesn't acknowledge Barry or John as they watch a YouTube video about Abraham Lincoln, choosing to head to work. In these parts, of course, she's not known as Sally, and she's not an actress — her new name is Emily, and she's a waitress at Lynette's Country Diner. From a conversation with a fellow waitress, Gina (Emily Spivey), we learn that Barry's new name is Clark. Oh, and that one of the cooks at the diner, a man named Bevel (Spenser Granese), likes to ... uh ... pleasure himself to the thought of Emily. Fun! (Not really.) (We also see a brief glimpse of Sally taking a few extra dollars out of the cash register before leaving her shift.)
Just Desserts
Upon leaving, we see that Sally is able to ease the pain of her circumstances by barely engaging with Barry in conversation (understandable, as he's acting like his playing the aforementioned YouTube video is equivalent to him teaching John about Lincoln) and drinking vodka straight from the bottle (... yikes). Later, after John hears an argument from his parents — and it is here that I will emphasize how badly I feel for this kid, and honestly, would not be disappointed if at some point before the season is over, we learn this is all some overheated fantasy in Barry's head, as opposed to the kid being real — we see Barry watching another YouTube video, this time "exposing" Honest Abe. Sally, meanwhile, is watching an old friend of theirs — Natalie (D'Arcy Carden), on her sitcom "Just Desserts," teased in the previous season. Though said show seems pretty dumb, you get the sense even from this brief moment that Sally's not just jealous of seeing Natalie's sitcom because it exists, but because it's popular. (It would have to be, if it's 8 years in the future.)
Later, we see Barry, Sally, and John watching a filmed church service (the kind that litters the airwaves on Sunday mornings), as the preacher emphasizes that "God acts on behalf of those who wait for Him." (That feels like a telling remark.) As Barry and John walk through the fields later, we get a glimpse of some self-awareness on Barry's part — when John notes that his mother "cries a lot," Barry agrees swiftly and notes that her type of crying can be "loud and scary." (I wonder why!) John, meanwhile, can't help but look longingly at the groups of other people in the field, as we get this wordless clarification of what must be an immensely lonely life for the boy. (Again — through all of this, my heart aches for this kid.) At the very least, John is able to make a brief connection with Travis, as we see them playing catch later in the day. Travis compliments him on his ability to play, though the connection probably can't go much farther — we only hear John ask Travis if his mom "wears hair on top of her own hair" like his mom, but the answer is probably no.
A bad boy
By this point in the series, we do not need further confirmation that Barry Berkman is an awful human being (even if he thinks he's not, which is partly what makes him so awful). But when Barry realizes that John had played catch with Travis, and might well be interested in playing baseball beyond that, he does something ... pretty awful! To wit, he shows John a couple of YouTube videos of Little Leaguers either breaking their neck or being killed while playing the game. It's no shock that, in the middle of the night, John tearfully tells Sally "I don't want to get killed by a baseball!" He gets her to lie with him in bed — only because Barry sleeps like a rock and doesn't wake up at all — though we can see from how she barely pats his arm that Sally isn't feeling terribly maternal. (You can only imagine how much love she has in her heart for her son, considering that she looks at him and probably just sees Barry all over again, but still ... poor kid.)
After a night of carousing, Sally (dressed up as Emily the waitress) sees Bevel watching her, and chooses to have a drink with him, learning about his past. "How'd it make you feel?" Sally/Emily asks, before asking if he's a "bad boy." Soon, it seems like that Sally's willing to have some kind of tryst with this doof ... except not really. When she meets him in the bathroom, they start making out but her hands stop caressing his face and start encircling his throat, squeezing tight. It's only when he barely is able to grab her hair and yank off the wig he didn't know she wore that she lets go, slapping him instead. "I won't tell anyone," he says weakly.
Back home, Barry points out a strange object in the field to John, encouraging his son to get it. What is it? It's Barry's military plaque, with his picture from the Marines, some weapons, and a medal. "Some people call me a Marine, others call me a hero. But I don't like to put labels on things," says Barry, and, uh, sure, dude. That evening, the episode's title is given voice, as Barry tells John about the details he's learned — again, via YouTube, and again, not a great educational source, as the show clearly realizes — about Abraham Lincoln, St. Augusta, and Gandhi that are basically nonsense but he gobbles up as proof of their "tricky legacies". Considering how Barry wants badly to be a hero but innately cannot forget his past, it's logical that he'd want to latch onto anything that mucks up a single-dimensional view of life.
Talk to me
After John goes to sleep, Barry and Sally return to their routine of watching different videos on their respective laptops ... until there's a knock at the door. A persistent knock at the door. Barry quickly, methodically gets a gun from a hidden spot in the wall, tells Sally to get John and "get in the bathtub", and opens the door. Who's there? Gene? Fuches? NoHo Hank? ...no one. (Though we do hear some footsteps seeming to run away as Barry stands outside in the pitch-black.) While Sally and John sleep all night in the tub, Barry stands watch until day breaks.
And then, we cut to Hollywood once more, as a female executive (Annie Chang) walks past a backlot boasting an ad for "MegaGirls 4" starring Kristen (Ellyn James) and a film called "Larry Chowder: The Magical Boy." She's there because a strange man walked up to their offices at Warner Bros.: Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler), looking much more raggedy and long-haired than we last saw him. "I'd like to talk to the man who runs Warner Bros.," Gene says, referring to some mysterious event that's come up recently. She's skeptical, because Gene's been presumed dead for 8 years. "You're going to want to talk to me," he says enigmatically.
We cut back to the middle of nowhere, as Sally (as Emily) and Gina listen to the man (Adrian Sparks) who runs their diner talks about how angry he is to have learned that Bevel was stealing money from them, as opposed to embracing "clean living." (Sally's a sneaky one.) That evening, Sally watches a behind-the-scenes featurette about "Just Desserts," as the series that "defined a generation" is approaching its finale. Meanwhile, Barry is telling a version of the story of his run-in with locals in Afghanistan who attacked his old friend Albert, and it is ... uh ... a very flattering version of that story. We know what happened, but Barry presents himself as noble, protective, and heroic. Tricky legacies indeed.
Time for a callback
And speaking of tricky legacies, the episode concludes as we learn — in a manner of speaking — what Gene was being so cryptic about. As Sally hears Natalie cry crocodile tears about "Just Desserts" having been so popular as to be quoted by the president, she sees an email notification of news alerts regarding ... Barry Berkman. See, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Gene Cousineau has not just resurfaced, but may consult on a biopic about Barry. When Sally shouts Barry's name and alerts him, Barry says something that's almost a callback to a few episodes ago. Remember when Hank said he'd have to kill Barry, and the episode ended? Well, this time around, it's Barry saying "I'm going to have to kill Cousineau."
"tricky legacies" is, itself, a tricky episode. It tracks reasonably enough that Sally is immensely depressed with her lot in life — not that living with her parents for even the first episode of the season was a great experience, but it would have to be a little less terrible than this. Barry seems content enough just hanging out at his house with his son, trying as precisely as possible to mold his son in his very specific image, not just by dictating what activities John can and can't do but by creating a version of himself that's as courageous and charmed as possible.
What does seem clear is this: where "Barry" used to be an effective blend of comedy and darkness, as we now approach the final stretch of the series, the comedy is just about gone entirely. (Is it a little funny to see a bearded, long-haired Henry Winkler? I ... guess.) That doesn't automatically mean the show isn't effective in what it is now, but while this show still sports the length of a comedy, it has essentially become a "Breaking Bad"-esque nightmare. The final season of that AMC classic was both utterly remarkable and often unpleasant, and this episode borders on both of those qualities. It is, if nothing else, quickly becoming like some truly great films that are also the opposite of rewatchable. "tricky legacies" is a fine episode of television, but it seems likely that we're only going to get grimmer before the series wraps up ... whee?