Barry

The best comedy on not just HBO but all of television (at least while “Atlanta” isn’t on the air). The first three episodes of “Barry” are flat-out brilliant, balancing the show’s dry wit and humor with its increasingly dark edge that sometimes makes it feel more like “Breaking Bad” than a traditional laugher.

While the new episodes maintain the show’s satiric view of self-interested Hollywood types, a poignant theme emerges which represents an evolution for the series. As an introspective Barry takes inventory of his past misdeeds, the show’s storylines cohere around the reflexive lies people tell themselves, and the myriad factors which comprise the masks they present to the world.

Everything about the series is so carefully crafted, though, that even its smallest moments are pure joy (most especially when it riffs on cut-rate movies and TV series in the roles Sally and others get). But there is never a danger of superficiality, even when a recurring theme is how Barry is able to achieve this duel life largely because the people around him are so self-absorbed.

The darkness and light play perfectly off each other, creating yet another fascinating and hilarious season, and one determined to be true to its own twisted identity.

Mostly, the show deftly juggles a variety of tones, managing to be funny, quirky and intense all at once, while again showcasing Henry Winkler in his brilliant, Emmy-winning role as the acting teacher who keeps pressing Barry to tap into his dark side.

Barry, like the series that shares his name, is still in a dark place this season. While the wannabe actor might not want to hear this, that’s a place that suits him, and Barry, just perfectly.

Barry gets better this season--a whole lot better.

The unique excellence of the second season, at least in the three episodes released to critics, is how adroitly Hader and co-creator Alec Berg find ways to raise the stakes for Barry while keeping the show’s tone darkly amused.

Season 2 remains tricky TV, juggling out-loud laughs with raw human embarrassment and an expanding universe of SoCal skulduggery. [29 Mar 2019, p.45]

Through its first three episodes of the season, Barry has simply become a half-hour drama, albeit one with occasional snarky jabs at the entertainment industry and a Chechen mobster with alopecia, but a drama nonetheless. I miss the punchlines, while finding plenty to admire in the show's not-totally-new incarnation.

In the new season, Barry’s morose self-introspection (and self-pity) becomes hard to stomach, but at least the rest of the show’s characters gain histories in satisfying new ways.

Individual moments are still often strong, even if the pieces don’t fit together as neatly as before.