Bill Hader in HBO's Barry

This was nice mini-movie, definitely felt like a Coen Bros/Rube Goldberg device to let Barry get away with murder. That little girl!

I hadn't realised there was a second series, mainly because the end of the first was a perfectly satisfactory conclusion, so this is a nice surprise to have to catch up on. (See also Hank Azaria's 'Brockmire'.)

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/28/arts/television/barry-bill-hader-season-2-episode-5.html

There will be some people who will dig this, and there will be some people who are like: “What’s going on with the acting class? I don’t care about any of this.” You can’t please everybody.

(brockmire is also having a very good third season; the linda lavin episode was aces)

watched it again just now. so great.


(so excited to catch up on brockmire!)

That just blew the monumentally hyped TV show that airs before it out of the water.

totally. that was wild.

Have to wonder if they staggered the season starts just to do that!

i loved this so much...i don't even think it was that much of a tonal shift in the series that people like alan sepinwall keep saying it was. it was just a brilliant and hilarious little short film

Also loved the wordless shots of Stephen Root in malevolent devil mode.

when he yelled "what are you??"--that was the hardest i've laughed at anything on tv this year.

Please bring back feral mongoose girl for more - so entertaining. The little 'eep' on the last hedgerow leap had me laughing so hard.

The whole since in the house with Ronny felt very Tarantino to me

Kill Bill vibes for sure

I’m caught up except for the most recent ep which isn’t out yet here and just came here to say I’m new to this idea of there being a person called bill hader who is actually dexter Michael Shannon. And apparently this is normal, everyone is just letting that go by

honestly hoping the little girl never recurs, Pine Barrens-style

lmao just read the interview and got to Hader explicitly referencing it!

Nice clickbait:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xZFQjeZwaw

I love this character.

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/PinkPoshBlueshark-size_restricted.gif

the lightswitch with him from fawning sycophant to psychopath is always so clean

the scene with winkler breaking down "swim instructors" is probably the best highlight of the show since the glengarry scene.

i strongly agree

"You say the title of the movie...they can't possibly cut that!"

i enjoyed season 1, but season 2 of this has been another level. hard to know if there's a jam band solo effect, though, where it's made better by the long slog of the preceding game of thrones.

I don't watch GoT, and Barry has been figuratively killing it these season (I was going to say literally too, but has he actually killed anyone this season? No, right?).

Y’know I hadn’t noticed but I guess you’re right! Set a lotta people down that road tho

Yeah there have been some dei ex machina to swoop in and do the deed.

He's a good person now.

Is he 6’2”?

google sez more like 6'0.5"

was making a joke about it only mattering that he's 6'2" for swim instructors

but also, i didn't think he was much over 6 ft while watching. so thank you for confirming.

next week’s the finale already

good season, not sure it's appreciably better than the first on the whole just yet; still feel it's a bit too self-satisfied for my liking

SPOILERS

man that finale was brutal and I have no idea how to feel about it.

back into the darkness he goes

We've got HBO for a couple of months and I'm catching up on things -- hooooly shit that "ronny/lily" episode.

Barry has been figuratively killing it these season (I was going to say literally too, but has he actually killed anyone this season? No, right?).

Just caught up with the finale and LOL at this comment.

haha

I understand that, but "as much middle ground as possible" turns out to be too much: as a hitman he's pulling John Wick moves, and as an actor he's like an alien who came to earth having never seen movies, or TV, or very much human behavior before.

― JRN, Friday, April 13, 2018 3:59 AM bookmarkflaglink

Lol if you've never attended amateur theatre auditions, they come far, far worse than Barry circa S1.

Just finished S1. A bit aggrieved by the finale but i will continue

From that article linked above about the infamous S2E5:

“We might have jumped the shark,” Hader said

...sez the guy whose co-star is Henry Winkler.

Also there is a great little piece of understated physical comedy in S1 when Fuches goes to sit backwards on a chair to give Barry some coaching and he can’t because the chair has arms so he has to turn it around.

Forgive the thread spam, but I wanted to note that this show's 2019 season is nominated in the 2019 ILX TV poll:

ILX's Best Television of 2019 Poll / VOTING AND CAMPAIGNING THREAD / Voting Ends January 31

If you like this show and you'd like to see it have a good showing in the poll (running in February) all you need to do is submit a ballot including it and your other favorites (4 minimum, 25 maximum, organized by your favorite to least favorite) to forksclovetofu at gmail by end of day today. It'll take five minutes; get to it!

Is this back next week?

Yep

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx6AS0zzfGM

Back Sunday!

Assume this is on weekly? (which would give me a chance to rewatch season 2)

oh my god lol this show has become so deeply unpleasant

just realized that outside of the acting stuff this is basically live action tv show version of gta 5

The “you have too many dogs” scene a few weeks ago still pops into my head randomly and makes me laugh.

Last night when Barry was explaining to Sally what he could do about the network exec who had cancelled her show had one of the most uncomfortable mixtures of horror and laughter I've ever experienced.

yeah didn't love this ep, felt a little too all over the place. i appreciate them getting away from the nonstop bleak by bringing back some of the humor that used to be a more significant ingredient, but tonally this one just felt all over the map

Oh, right. Yeah the jokes were mostly Hank-based as usual and felt a little rote, but I'm looking forward to the finale. Lol @ Daniel Day Lewis + Mark Wahlberg though.

I do love seeing Stephen Root in his gang boss incarnation, and the phone call bit between him & Hank.

barry finale beat succession at its own game.

Fucking hell, bleak

Oh man.

I found this very unsatisfying but I can’t really say why.

I found it unsatisfying yet also much of it was inevitable and was very “Barry.”

Appreciated this take, which made me appreciate how the redemption of Barry could only be fake redemption. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/28/arts/television/barry-finale.html

I wasn't feeling this season much apart from a few Hank scenes. The writers were certainly trying some new ideas but most of it left me cold