As much as I respect the creators of Barry, and many others (more reviews to come), for ending the series on their own terms, it still sucks that it’s ending!
Four seasons just doesn’t seem like enough! And they’re shorter seasons to boot! Oh, well. I suppose I’d rather be given a complete story rather than wondering what happens after the network gives it the axe. It feels like both a blessing and a curse that the fourth and final season of Barry came so quickly after the third season. I think we can attribute that to the pandemic and Bill and co having the scripts for the final two seasons in the bag before they even started shooting anything. Let me tell you what though, this final season took a dark turn. If there was anything you liked about these characters before, and I know it was probably sparse, then prepare to be completely let down by all of them.
I suppose if you think about it, that was probably Hader’s point all along. What can be redeeming about an assassin who decides he wants to start acting? What’s there to like about Fuchs, the guy who made him this way and took advantage of him? What’s to like about Gene, the self-absorbed, asshole acting coach? What about Sally, the fame obsessed mean girl? Or Hank, while a goof, still a criminal? Yeah, I think we’ve all been pretty well fooled over the course of this series and Hader made sure to bring the true point home in these last eight episodes. Goal achieved. With that being said, I found this to be my least favorite season. That’s not to say it didn’t have a strong ending or great scenes, it’s just not the season I connected with the most.
Prison for Barry isn’t as bad for him as you might suspect. In fact, everyone is either scared of him or thinks he’s a nice guy. All of that changes when he learns two things: that Sally trusts him (how?) and that Gene has essentially greenlit a tell-all about Barry with lots of his own color added. That makes Barry kind of lose his shit, and of course he manages to escape with the unwitting help of Noho Hank whose sent some men to kill him. This is a spoiler in saying that once Barry does escape, we get a crazy time jump! Like eight years into the future time jump! Barry and Sally are living in the middle of nowhere with new identities and a son. A son!
Of course, you can’t keep your past buried and Barry has to pay for his crimes. It was really interesting seeing him become this unhinged person again. I will not spoil how it ultimately ends, but I can’t imagine it should come as any huge surprise. I think everyone ends up where they’re meant to in the end and that’s all a good finale can really ask for.