‘Barry’ season 4 review: Bill Hader continues to take advantage of show success during farewell season

CNN
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“Barry” took the opportunity from the start, which is certainly true for where the fourth and final season took place. third fruit, with the actor turned assassin captured. That paves the way for an even darker season, bringing out the concert side of the show while leaning slightly towards blurring the lines with fancy flights.

Thanks to “Heir,” “Barry” won’t be the most famous goodbye on HBO this spring, but the Emmy-nominated series isn’t chocked either. In fact, to be fair, while these episodes don’t quite match up with what came before, even a less-lethal “Barry” is still very, very good.

Bill Hader’s Author Turn as director-producer-star remains one of the most unpredictable series on TV and the new season has strong appeal “Better call Saul” vibe with it, triggered by fallout from the seemingly inevitable fact that Hader’s Barry can’t maintain his double life forever.

The consequences of his arrest flare up on both sides of that equation, from his acting teacher Gene Cousineau (do Henry Winklerstill a towering blend of ego and need) and girlfriend Sally (Sarah Goldberg) to the gallery of petty criminals in his orbit, including Fuches (Stephen Root) and NoHo Hank ( Anthony Carrigan), who found love in the course of his travels, while somehow turning “Barry” into a four-syllable name.

“Barry” has always struggled with the discomfort of having a murderous protagonist, and the question of empathy for its eponymous character becomes especially acute in these episodes with the character at in prison. When Barry asked, “Are you mad at me?” with an almost childish innocence, it’s easy to forget, at least for a moment, some of the terrible things he’s done, even if revenge-minded Jim Moss (Robert Wisdom) can’t .

Hader (who directs every episode) also excels with dark comedic visual jokes, enhanced in the new season with a few hysterical cameos by real Hollywood characters, among them directed by Guillermo del Toro, are made even more amusing by how random they are.

That said, the show’s surreal digression and circling the fantasy becomes more of a distraction, in a way that feels a bit too precious at times. Salvation, consistently, is the strength of the cast, even as prison creates obstacles to their interactions.

HBO has made most but not all of the seasons available, and this series effectively keeps the audience’s attention and guesses where it will all end and how (or whether) the themes differ. of how it will connect with each other.

The possibility of a happy ending for everyone in the land of “Barry” never seems to be on the cards, but Hader and co-creator Alec Berg seem determined to get out on their own terms. , good (most) and sometimes most annoying can be. That’s why it’s hard to get angry with a show that takes such unpredictable creative risks, even with a season that isn’t quite as cold-blooded as it once was.

“Barry” begins its fourth and final season on April 14 at 10 p.m. ET on HBO, which, like CNN, is a unit of Warner Bros.