was making a joke about it only mattering that he's 6'2" for swim instructors
― i got bag sauce in my bag (Sufjan Grafton), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 22:52 (four years ago) link
but also, i didn't think he was much over 6 ft while watching. so thank you for confirming.
― i got bag sauce in my bag (Sufjan Grafton), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 22:54 (four years ago) link
next week’s the finale already
― maura, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 00:41 (four years ago) link
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
― Simon H., Wednesday, 15 May 2019 00:43 (four years ago) link
SPOILERS
man that finale was brutal and I have no idea how to feel about it.
― but I can't let Trae do it I got Huerter on my mind (Spottie), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 06:37 (four years ago) link
back into the darkness he goes
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 06:38 (four years ago) link
We've got HBO for a couple of months and I'm catching up on things -- hooooly shit that "ronny/lily" episode.
― I am curious (george) (slight return) (WmC), Tuesday, 18 June 2019 19:13 (four years ago) link
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.
― zama roma ding dong (Eric H.), Tuesday, 18 June 2019 19:46 (four years ago) link
haha
― change display name (Jordan), Tuesday, 18 June 2019 19:57 (four years ago) link
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
― Fuck Trump, cops, and the CBP (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 2 July 2019 16:55 (four years ago) link
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.
― epistantophus, Wednesday, 1 January 2020 23:58 (four years ago) link
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.
― epistantophus, Thursday, 2 January 2020 00:32 (four years ago) link
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!
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Friday, 31 January 2020 14:26 (four years ago) link
Is this back next week?
― kinder, Saturday, 16 April 2022 21:10 (two years ago) link
Yephttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx6AS0zzfGM
― DJI, Saturday, 16 April 2022 22:40 (two years ago) link
Back Sunday!
Assume this is on weekly? (which would give me a chance to rewatch season 2)
― groovypanda, Friday, 22 April 2022 14:10 (one year ago) link
oh my god lol this show has become so deeply unpleasant
― Stevie D(eux), Tuesday, 24 May 2022 01:47 (one year ago) link
just realized that outside of the acting stuff this is basically live action tv show version of gta 5
― 龜, Tuesday, 24 May 2022 02:23 (one year ago) link
The “you have too many dogs” scene a few weeks ago still pops into my head randomly and makes me laugh.
― Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Tuesday, 24 May 2022 12:43 (one year ago) link
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.
― made entirely of styrofoam (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Tuesday, 24 May 2022 15:06 (one year ago) link
It's interesting to see the turn of completely burning any of Barry's bridges and bringing back the guy he saved to investigate but, yeah, it has become pretty unpleasant. While I understand the narrative need for it, the mom accidentally shooting her son in the stomach, thus saving Barry, felt like unnecessary punishment for those characters after everything else. I did lol very hard at the FaceTime from the parking garage scene.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 24 May 2022 15:12 (one year ago) link
Barry has gone from awful but still likable or endearing to just like… really, really unlikable. There’s no complexity anymore or like tension between the two halves. Like he’s just capital-B Bad. It makes for a much less compelling show IMO, there’s very little fun, and what funny moments there are feel like try-hard attempts at levity
― Stevie D(eux), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 02:31 (one year ago) link
Also I can’t tell if I’m being overly uptight but as much as I love the Hank-Cristobal pairing there’s something about the way it’s supposed to be funny that feels ever so slightly off to me
― Stevie D(eux), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 02:34 (one year ago) link
Disappointing to hear. I've gotten behind and only seen two eps. If he's going full on Scarface I'm a lot less interested
― Gymnopédie Pablo (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 15:05 (one year ago) link
i'm not sure about villainous but it definitely seems like, especially in that scene with Sally about gaslighting the network exec, they have made him seem way more psychopathic and detached from reality. I get that that change in tone was a diagenic response to Hank and Cristobal's encouragement to be more honest, but even so it seemed like a different Barry being honest than the one we got to know in the first couple seasons, who was often on teh verge of tears when he "had" to kill someone. If they keep this up they will have lost a lot of anything new or unique that this show had to add to the very well-trod prestige TV antihero canon. But I think they can still pull back, will keep watching to see where it goes.
― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Wednesday, 25 May 2022 15:13 (one year ago) link
― Stevie D(eux), Tuesday, May 24, 2022 10:34 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
I'm not sure it's supposed to be funny on its own. I think any humor that comes from their scenes that appears to be pointed at them is more about the increased discrepancy/juxtaposition between them and their line of work.
― Evan, Wednesday, 25 May 2022 15:25 (one year ago) link
I've also not interpreted Barry as "capital-B Bad"... my understanding is that he essentially has snapped and crossed another threshold of disillusionment and depression. Note the way he thought he was "fixing" things along the way this entire season. Just has no moral compass but isn't aware of it.
― Evan, Wednesday, 25 May 2022 15:30 (one year ago) link
It's a weird show. They definitely seem to be doing a gritty "if you thought being a hitman was at all quirky or Cusack-esque, it's not, it's really fucked up" thing.
Instead of the Coen Bros world where you have either hapless civilians going down dark paths or cold-hearted killers who aren't bothered about redemption or living normal lives, you've just got Barry going further down the rabbit hole. I guess I'm curious to see where they go with it, assuming he lives to see another season.
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 15:35 (one year ago) link
someone is going to get hit on-stage
― Gymnopédie Pablo (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 15:37 (one year ago) link
i think it was someone here's theory upthread that the daughter from sally's show is going to figure out his deal and he's going to kill her. that felt otm though not sure now that the show's canceled, she wasn't in the most recent ep at all i don't think.
fuchs sending all these innocent civilian types after barry is certainly setting him up for some actions that may give his feeble moral compass a little jolt
― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Wednesday, 25 May 2022 15:48 (one year ago) link
Oh, didn't know it was canceled. Probably for the best though, it doesn't seem like the sort of show that should run much longer.
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 15:55 (one year ago) link
Oh wait...you mean the show within the show, lol
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 15:56 (one year ago) link
Yeah in fact Barry got renewed for a 4th season
― Evan, Wednesday, 25 May 2022 16:03 (one year ago) link
― Evan, Wednesday, May 25, 2022 10:25 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
I think this is exactly it, though, like I guess I'm just kind of tired seeing queerness framed as this soft, flowery thing that is even something to be juxtaposed with hardness. Though otoh they have definitely throw in some really sweet not-funny scenes that really humanize them as a couple, so that's nice too.
― Stevie D(eux), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 19:26 (one year ago) link
I'm enjoying this season so far and I thought the second episode in particular was very well-directed -- Hader is a major talent behind the camera. I really don't care if Barry is "likable" or redeemable -- he's a creation of the U.S. military and others who exploited his instability.
― Chris L, Thursday, 26 May 2022 13:01 (one year ago) link
xpost
Hear you on that for sure, though because the character Hank is such a deliberate opposite of the crime boss/management character trope, I guess they figured this development leans into that as well (opposite of trope). I wonder if they thought about your takeaway in the writer's room or not.
― Evan, Thursday, 26 May 2022 14:49 (one year ago) link
This show is so rad.
― Chris L, Monday, 30 May 2022 13:32 (one year ago) link
This episode felt like it took place in its own weird micro-universe to me, vague Repo Man vibes for some reason
"Handoff!"
― made entirely of styrofoam (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Tuesday, 31 May 2022 09:38 (one year ago) link
...the dirtbike scenes in this felt especially GTA 5 like...
feels like this was a good watch through seasons 1 and 2 as a bill hader character study, but when they pulled back the curtain on barry with his whole i can gaslight the banshe executive into offing herself, that's where it feels like it lost the plot for me - now it just feels like hitman silicon valley, not saying that's a bad thing, but def a different direction
― 龜, Tuesday, 31 May 2022 13:03 (one year ago) link
I thought the GTA vibe was intentional, given Barry's gaming throughout the show.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 31 May 2022 13:58 (one year ago) link
Also the machine gun the guy tried to handoff was one of the heavier weapons in GTA5
― made entirely of styrofoam (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Tuesday, 31 May 2022 14:13 (one year ago) link
Fuchs going from shot-and-left-for-dead to perfectly fine in the course of a couple of scenes threw this whole show into a level of SoCal Magic Realism that unsettled everything else for me. It would honestly be a relief at the end of the season for Pam Ewing to wake up and realize it was all a dream. xp maybe the video game stuff means it is a dream!
― WmC, Tuesday, 31 May 2022 14:14 (one year ago) link
bill hader aka king of the algorithm pic.twitter.com/lZjOUDQ1Jy— Shae 🇵🇸 | BARRY S3 (@escapinglocals) May 23, 2022
― Chris L, Tuesday, 31 May 2022 22:12 (one year ago) link
The GTA vibe was enormous throughout the chase.
-The NPC mailman unable to react-The casual change of vehicles and continuation, leaving a huge mess behind as if it wouldn't be instantly traceable to the vehicle owner in reality-The curiously, overly long shots following Barry on the bike onto the highway as if in 3rd person perspective (AKA as if playing the game)-The traffic not reacting to gunfire at/from the bikes weaving through-The over the top firepower from a conveniently placed goon in said traffic that even MORE unbelievably does not react to the heavy gunfire even after (during the attempted handoff gag)-The instantly hostile car dealer NPC that fetches his gun-The biker girl that gets knocked over by the initial shotgun but has more HP so gets up again-The NPCs at the dealership that scream and run a short distance away (not far enough away from someone still shooting wildly) and aren't panicking -The same NPCs calmly strolling back into the building after the biker is shot dead on the roof just like how actual NPCs simply switch back to idle animations/pathing as if nothing happened.
― Evan, Wednesday, 1 June 2022 15:38 (one year ago) link
<3 james hiroyuki liao in this
― 龜, Tuesday, 7 June 2022 03:00 (one year ago) link
This show has really captured how Stephen Root can go from total buffoon to Satanic figure in the blink of an eye.
― Chris L, Tuesday, 7 June 2022 14:21 (one year ago) link
one thing i like about this season is how various people have a chance to bring barry to legal justice, but are far too wrapped up in their own violent vengeful fantasies, so he skirts away
― in places all over the world, real stuff be happening (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 8 June 2022 03:45 (one year ago) link
Haha, Evan very much otm about that chase scene
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, 10 June 2022 15:21 (one year ago) link
Very impressive finale. I read an interview that said that Cristobal died, which I didn't realize when I watched that scene (and may not be accurate?).
I'll say something possibly daffy: I think the extreme ramped-up emotions and increased brutality of this season feels more resonant with the times. A lot has changed in the 2 years since this show was away and that's plenty of time for characters in these situations to dig deeper into instability. I'm glad a show like this and one like Atlanta (whose latest season I largely need to catch up on) can become what it wants to without worrying about the classification of remaining a comedy.
― Chris L, Monday, 13 June 2022 14:36 (one year ago) link
I don't think Cristobal died, but his brain was fried by his wife's electroshock conversion therapy.
This show is next to impossible to classify, and as the characters sort of spun out away from each other this season it was increasingly hard to find the through-thread of the show (although as I type that I realize that with the exception of the Hank/Cristobal plot, they all passed back into Barry's orbit here at the end). Reflecting on this finale, I would say that the main character of the show is the theme of solving problems with violence, brutality, and betrayal. And of course how doing so is a vicious cycle.
I have been dipping into some of the press that Hader has been doing this season and around the finale, and I love that he is really unsympathetic to Barry - it's a nice contrast to the Walter Whites of the world who are more at risk of getting valorized by fans.
Everybody goes, “How do you write and direct yourself?” I’m like, “He doesn’t speak.” [Laughs.] I don’t think the whole of seven I say a word. You don’t want to hear Barry talk for that long. He’s a dummy.
― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Monday, 13 June 2022 14:53 (one year ago) link