Barry's Stephen Root Is Satisfied With The Way The Series Is Ending
This post contains spoilers for "Barry" season 4, up to episode 6.
"Barry" season 4's big time jump has been transformative for a lot of characters, but perhaps none more so than The Raven — or, as he used to be known, Monroe Fuches. Stephen Root's character has been through the wringer, from getting his teeth filed down to fending off a feral child, but his stoicism in the face of relentless prison beatings has now earned him something he's long been lacking: respect.
There are just two episodes left of the series now. According to Bill Hader, he and fellow co-creator Alex Berg made the decision to end with season 4 because "a very clear ending presented itself." Things have already taken an unexpected turn with the time jump, and Root said that he and the show's other actors wanted to be surprised as much as possible during filming.
"We were very careful about trying not to learn what was gonna happen in each episode as we filmed them," the actor told Collider. Inevitably, they ended up knowing the arcs of episodes for much of the season, but when it came to the final scene of the series, "We got that late, as everybody did," said Root. He added cryptically:
"It was satisfying to me, that it's gonna end the way it ends. I was happy with the resolution of the main characters, and there's a nice surprise at the end."
'I see him as non-reformable'
Redemption arcs have become such a staple of TV shows that a character not only failing to redeem themselves, but actually becoming worse, is quite a subversive move. Despite striving to be a "good person," Barry's attempt to break into acting has taken him from carrying out contract hits on high-level criminals to murdering one of his army buddies and, later, his mentor's girlfriend.
Just as Barry's love for Gene Cousineau didn't stop him from killing the love of Gene's life, Fuches' love for Barry doesn't make him a good person (or even a medium person). "He's a guy that really loves Barry, but he's completely self-serving and basically evil," Stephen Root told NPR, laughing, back in 2019. Like Barry, Fuches has also undergone the opposite of a redemption arc. When asked by Uproxx whether the character is even capable of reform, Root replied:
"I see him as non-reformable. I think he's just as damaged as Barry is through different circumstances, and I think he will continue to repeat his actions throughout eternity until he is taken out. So, I don't think he's redeemable. I don't think he thinks he's a bad person. He thinks he's a good person that can help you, but again, that's his world to live in; round and round revenge."
Fuches' transformation into The Raven actually represents a twisted kind of growth. "You see in this season him actually saying to himself, 'I've found myself. I know what I am. I'm a killer. I'm okay with it. I'm fine with it now,'" said Root. "And he hadn't been. I think he had felt guilty about it. By the end of the season, he does not feel guilty about it. He is relaxed and ready to get on with his life."
New episodes of "Barry" premiere Sundays at 10 p.m. on HBO and HBO Max.