Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for the Barry series finale.There's a lot of mayhem in the series finale of Bill Hader's Barry, but most of it comes with a chaotic calmness enveloping the massacre that unfolds. As the journey of the conflicting characters nears an end, the chaos of the world takes over, leaving less in the hands of those fighting to seek control. Barry's series finale does not resort to answering all the questions surrounding its characters, but it provides an opportunity to see why answers were not warranted for its characters who refused to accept the reality even when confronted with it in its ugliest form. In hindsight, Barry's finale episode is everything the show has been preparing the audiences for — an inevitable tragedy.
Season 3 of Barry picks up with its titular character Barry Berkman (Hader) facing heartbreak within its initial moments as he realizes that he's been played by the one man he respected and loved the most, his acting teacher Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler). As he looks forward to a long time in prison for the murder of Detective Janice Moss (Paula Newsome) after being tricked by Jim Moss (Robert Wisdom) and Cousineau, he realizes all his former allies turning their back on him. Away from Los Angeles, Sally (Sarah Goldberg) refuses even to connect with her former lover while Fuches (Stephen Root), who's in the same prison as Barry, tries to cut a deal with the FBI for his own freedom in return for providing more evidence on Barry. However, when Barry confesses to Fuches about being cheated by Gene, his old mentor goes through a change of heart, and he goes back on his promise to the FBI.
While Barry and Fuches reunite behind bars, Cristobal (Michael Irby) and NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan) are shown to have found peace amidst the sandy dunes of Santa Fe. Hank's trauma from the events of Season 3 continues to haunt him, although it doesn't stop him or Cristobal from coming up with another business idea — to import sand illegally through their contacts and monopolize the market in an attempt to find legitimacy. On the other hand, Sally refuses to emerge from the shadow cast by Barry's actions and her own, having killed a guy last season. Back in Los Angeles, Gene capitalizes on the popularity coming his way after having been credited for the capture of the "cop killer" Barry Berkman. Despite resistance from Jim, Gene agrees to give an exclusive insight to Vanity Fair journalist Lon O'Neil (Patrick Fischler). On meeting the journalist, Gene provides a heroic version of the story, one that portrays him the hero as he always wished to be.
Cristobal and Hank's Crime Utopia Was Never Meant To Be
In Santa Fe, Cristobal and Hank put together their plan on bringing their "crime utopia" to fruition. They call upon old allies for a meeting and pitch to them their ground-breaking and enterprising idea. To Cristobal's surprise, Hank pushes forth his plan to break Barry out of prison whereas, at the prison, Fuches tries to cut a deal with a top lawyer for the sake of Barry. Unbeknownst to Fuches, Barry had already approached the FBI with a deal. In return for his and Sally's freedom in some distant land, he offers details about his involvement with the cartel. However, Barry's choice again leaves his two allies — Fuches and Hank — bitter. On receiving the news about Barry's handshake with the FBI, Hank realizes that he will have to kill his dear friend and assigns a hit on Barry inside the prison. But it's not just Fuches and Hank who receive the shock of their lives upon hearing about Barry's latest alliance. Cousineau realizes that his and his family's life can be under Barry's threat once again, especially after Barry comes to know about Gene's interaction with the Vanity Fair journalist
To shut Gene up, Barry resorts to his old Chechen pal, Hank, who does not greet him with the greatest warmth. Later, Hank's hit on Barry goes awry as the assassins mess up the job, facilitating Barry's escape from prison. Fuches does not meet such a kind fate as he tries to save Barry after coming to know about Hank's plans, only to be booted down by the prison officers who were busy cleaning up the scene of the massacre left behind by Barry. Lucky for Fuches, his beaten-up demeanor does end up getting him some kind of respect from his fellow inmates.
In Santa Fe, meanwhile, treachery reveals itself as Hank sabotages his new allies by sending them to their death inside a sand silo. Cristobal, unaware of Hank's plans, misses a near-death experience as he's also sucked to the bottom of the sand, along with others. Thanks to Hank, Cristobal's death is minutely delayed. Hank's compulsions are revealed, however, when the Chechen mobster Andrei comes into the picture. Hank's moves were enforced by the Chechen elders who had tasked Andrei with handing over the command of Los Angeles to Hank and his partner Cristobal. However, in the biggest heartbreak of the season, Cristobal's journey comes to an end as he decides to walk away from Hank for the brutality he'd shown through his choice of backstabbing their allies. Of course, aware of this potentiality, the Chechens were prepared to handle such a contingency, considering Cristobal knew too much about the cartel's functioning.
In his appearance after vanishing from the prison, Barry emerges from the shadow at Sally's house. While Gene anticipates Barry's arrival at his cottage at Big Bear Lake (the same place where Janice was killed by Barry), Barry resorts to seeking Sally in hopes of finally redeeming himself. To his amusement, Barry happens to achieve success as Sally, who finally seemed to have given up on her Hollywood dream, agrees to flee with the one who has provided the safety she had always yearned for. But Barry chooses to opt for tragedy even amidst a flurry of hope. Triggered by the fear enveloping him at the sight of a shadow on his front porch, Gene lets his gun loose before fleeing the scene as fast as he can. Unfortunately for Gene, it's his son Leo who becomes the victim of his fear.
Barry and Sally Start a New Life
Barry and Sally's departure from LA is followed up by a life together far away from the chaos and crowd that marked their lives. Eight years later, Sally and Barry are parents to an 8-year-old boy named John. A stark contrast between the parenting style of Sally and Barry become obvious during this time. As Barry untiringly keeps up with his attempts at redeeming himself by being a good parent to John through his lessons on history and Catholicism, Sally's detachment from her child becomes apparent. Signs of Sally's traumatic past continue to define her existence even years later. Barry's insecurities reveal themselves as well when the couple hears a noise outside their isolated home. While Sally and John spend the night in the bathtub, Barry stands guard outside their home until the first ray of sunshine hits his face, ensuring nothing and nobody touches his family. But even after having left his life in LA behind, Barry is forced to confront his past once again as he and Sally come to know that Gene has decided to approach Warner Bros., since the studio plans to make a movie about his former apprentice. Barry's sabbatical from violence is cut short as he decides to get done with Gene for good to avoid getting the spotlight on him once again. Barry's decision to return to LA is enforced by the protectiveness of his family.
A lot has changed in LA too since Barry's last time in the City of Angels. Freshly out of prison, Fuches has embraced himself as the Raven. His manipulative skills have helped him grow his clout as a dreaded gangster powerful enough to exchange terms with Hank. In return for a beautiful house and Barry's death, Fuches offers his muscle to Hank to help him defend his properties. But the association does not last very long as Fuches lets his tongue loose, under the influence of alcohol, blaming Hank for the death of Cristobal. It seems apparent that Hank still feels the burden of Cristobal's loss. Being humiliated by the allegation, Cristobal orders Fuches to get out of his house. To Cristobal's utter dismay, he finds out that Fuches does not take orders from anyone anymore.
Unaware that Gene has been actually trying to stop the production studio from making a movie that romanticizes Barry and demonizes Janice, Barry arrives at Gene's house to finish the job and return to his peaceful life. But a surprise awaits Barry as he's trapped by Jim Moss, who might have a final opportunity at avenging his daughter's death. In a fit of panic, a blindfolded Barry confesses to Jim about his $250,000 payment to Gene. The payment was made back in time in an attempt by Barry to keep Gene shut about his involvement in Janice's death. However, this revelation does not go well with Jim, making him approach the District Attorney with this new-found information. In Jim's absence, Barry quickly frees himself from the captivity of Jim's basement.
Gene's Greed for Fame Brings About His Downfall
The situation starts getting bad for Gene on the movie front as well. On hearing from an agent that Daniel-Day Lewis may be interested in playing him in the upcoming movie, Gene quickly changes his stance on the possibility of a movie on Barry Berkman. The discovery that Mark Wahlberg may be interested in playing Barry compels Gene to vouch for the goodness of Barry's soul, not knowing that the agent in front of him was an actor hired by Jim Ross and the DA. Under the guise of a meeting with Mark Wahlberg, the agent leads Gene to a room marked by the presence of the DA, Jim, and his son Leo (Andrew Leeds), who happened to survive his bullet wounds. The group confronts Gene for accepting the money from Barry, being involved with Barry and Fuches (who's a Chechen assassin in the eyes of the police), and potentially shooting his own son to save the Chechen money given by Barry. With plenty of evidence indicating Gene's involvement with the Chechens, Jim and the DA suspect that Gene killed Janice as she had found out about Gene's illegal actions. Gene's suspected involvement gives enough reason for Jim Moss to reopen the investigation of Janice's murder.
Unaware of the developing situation, Barry is struck by lightning when he receives a call from his old friend, Hank. In an attempt to lure him for Fuches' benefit, Hank informs Barry about Sally and John's captivity. In a moment of weakness, Sally ends up revealing the truth about her and Barry's murderous past to John. The mother and son do not get enough time to embrace the emotional weight of the revelation as they are taken away by Hank's men for a meeting with Fuches.
With Barry on the way to save his family, Hank and Fuches meet once again to cut a deal on peaceful terms. The peace does not last long as Fuches again happens to tease Hank's involvement in the death of Cristobal, which eventually resulted in Hank's rise. On seeing Hank's refusal to accept responsibility, Fuches offers a new deal. He demands Hank take ownership of Cristobal's death in return for vanishing from his territory, forcing Hank to end the negotiation and Fuches starting a bloodbath with him shooting Hank first. In the ensuing gunfight, all but Fuches and John survive. Hank breathes his last lying at the foot of Cristobal's gold statue. As Barry arrives at his destination finally, he finds John safe. In what seems to be a moment of forgiveness between Barry and Fuches, they silently bid farewell to each other.
Redemption Means Different Things for Barry and Sally
Later, Barry feels redeemed having been saved from the effort of meting out violence once more. For Sally, redemption seems far-fetched as she realizes that Gene's being targeted for Barry's action. In an attempt to truly give Barry an opportunity of redeeming herself, Sally requests him to turn himself in. In quite obvious fashion, Barry resists the request, only to find out that Sally and John have gone missing. Not even exploring the possibility that Sally and John may have left due to Barry's refusal to acknowledge his errors, Barry heads to Gene's house to find his family. Nonetheless, self-realization hits Barry as he comes across Gene's agent Tom (Fred Melamed), who gives Barry an insight into the situation faced by Gene. Having lost the support of his son and the world, Gene must carry the weight of Barry's mistakes. Realizing that Gene has nothing to do with Sally and John's disappearance, Barry understands that it's time for him to face his demons. He agrees to turn himself in, but just as he spits the words, a bullet comes right at him with his name on it. When Barry looks up, his last sight is that of Gene standing with a gun pointed at him. Amused at the situation he finds himself in, Barry expresses his amusement through two words - "Oh, wow" - before being put to death by Gene, who emotionlessly sits beside his dead former student.
Before lowering the curtains, Barry offers another leap in time and an insight into the life of those who survived. Sally has managed to relive her passion for acting through a directorial stint at a local high school. Away from the presence of his father, John (Jaeden Martell) at least sticks to the lessons passed on to him, refusing to indulge in alcohol during a sleepover at his friend's house. However, Sally and John have clearly not been able to keep Barry in the past. Sally continues to struggle to place her trust in another man after suffering through a string of traumatic relationships. John has also apparently kept himself from the reality of his father's life for ten years up until one day, he and his friend decide to catch up on the Barry Berkman biopic.
Barry Gets a Shot at Redemption in the Series Finale
Without creating much noise, Barry hits a screeching halt while putting an end to the tiring journey of its characters quite unceremoniously, proving that nothing but a miserable death awaited the characters who had been beyond redemption from the beginning, including its titular protagonist. However, in some form, Barry redeems himself, at least in front of his son John, who watches his father's biopic, titled "The Mask Collector." Clearly far away from reality, the movie depicts Barry Berkman (Jim Cummings) as a victim of the devious schemes of Gene (Michael Cumpsty), the former's acting teacher, who manipulated Barry using his traumatic history in the Marines, ultimately killing him when Barry no longer wished to continue his association with his criminal mentor.
Barry's wish of giving a peaceful life to his son is fulfilled in some capacity as John, after watching the movie, seems to believe that his father was truly the hero of the story even though Sally told John about Barry's murderous reality when he was younger. Possibly, despite knowing the reality of his father, John prefers the peace that ignoring the truth extends — an approach often adopted by his father. Maybe, in the world of Barry, reality doesn't matter; only perceptions do. And maybe, it's Bill Hader's way of critiquing the show biz through a show set in the heart of the make-believe world of Hollywood, for the most part.
All episodes of Barry are now available to stream on Max.