Barry: bestest place on earth

April 17, 2023 7:34 AM - Season 4, Episode 2

Barry gets an unexpected visitor. Hank and Cristobal attempt to restart their operations. Gene tells his story. Sally deals with the aftermath of having dated Barry.
posted by ellieBOA (7 comments total)

NoHo Hank needs his own series.
posted by essexjan at 1:13 PM on April 17, 2023 [13 favorites]

I haven’t listened to it but I guess in a recent podcast, Bill Hader said he wrote episodes where Hank and Cristobal make friends with other couples, chill out in Santa Fe and go to art museums, and the other writers were like, dude what are you doing? So the NoHo Hank spin-off already exists!
posted by kat518 at 9:02 PM on April 17, 2023 [7 favorites]

I felt like season 3 asked whether Barry is a shitty person or a person who does shitty things. Now I feel like we’re setting up season 4 to ask that of all of the major characters.

At the end of episode 1, I thought maybe Fuches wasn’t trash. Now I’m not sure - he seems hurt but he knows what Hank will want to do. I’ve never been sure about Hank - he can go from silly to deadly serious in a second. Cousineau has no self awareness. I thought he might push back when the Vanity Fair writer summed up his story but he agreed with the description.

Part of me feels for Sally in that I don’t know how you come back from the video Natalie made but when she said “but I’m the victim” - girl, no, the people your boyfriend murdered are the victims.

I felt like Lindsay and Cristobal played similar roles in that they both said to Sally and Hank, you are not getting it. Barry needs someone to say that to him - your next step is not reading for waitress #2 or riding off into the witness protection program with Sally.

The Dave and Buster’s was hilarious. I love Cristobal’s motivational speaking. On the rewatch, I noticed that people in the audience when Cristobal was on stage were holding the big plush prizes they’d won - amazing. Interesting contrast with Fuches being like, listen up, everyone, I’m the Raven.
posted by kat518 at 7:36 AM on April 18, 2023 [6 favorites]

Cousineau's incredibly melodramatic Deep Throating had me cracking up. God, whose idea was it to give Henry Winkler this good of a fucking role? The thing that strikes me about every interview I've seen with Bill Hader is that he almost aggressively deflects to give credit to everyone he works with; Barry as a show works similarly, fading Barry himself into the background while giving the rest of the cast insane opportunities to shine. What a terrific way to work.

Dave and Buster's is maybe the most Barry-esque place in America, come to think of it.
posted by Tom Hanks Cannot Be Trusted at 8:20 AM on April 18, 2023 [11 favorites]

NoHo Hank needs his own series.

That'll be this show's Better Call Saul.
posted by Paul Slade at 2:26 PM on April 18, 2023 [6 favorites]

Bill Hader was on Jimmy Kimmel last week and he talked about choosing Dave and Buster’s for that sequence. It’s also as funny as all Bill Hader interviews are!
posted by ellieBOA at 3:53 AM on April 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

How Henry Winkler Learned To Embrace His Inner Jerk On Barry [Inverse]
posted by ellieBOA at 6:41 AM on April 21, 2023 [2 favorites]