Warning: This review contains spoilers for season 3, episode 6 ofBarry.
With its latest episode, “710N,”Barry’s third season is heading into its endgame. After a couple of slower-paced episodes with less action and fewer explosive payoffs than fans expect,Barryis back on track with one of the most intense installments in the season so far. Directed by Bill Hader and written by Duffy Boudreau, this episode has everythingBarryfans could ask for: rapid-paced storytelling, stunning plot points that significantly raise the stakes, one of the funniest (and most thrilling) action set-pieces in the show’s history, and a jaw-dropping cliffhanger ending.
The supporting characters get less attention in “710N” as the episode focuses on Fuches’ attempts to bring Barry down with an army of people he’s wronged. Gene is still on the way to redemption. After being offered a masterclass streaming series, he refuses to do it unless Annie can direct. WhenBarry stumbled in his bid for absolution, he doubled down, but Gene is sticking with it, even waiving his entire fee to show how serious he is about earning forgiveness. This episode doesn’t have much for Sally or Hank to do. Sally considers taking a writing job at the streaming service that cancelled her show, while Hank misses Cristobal and feels betrayed that he never told him he’s married.
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Sally and Hank might just show up to discuss how they feel at this point in their arcs, but those scenes are tied together with a fun running gag involving a beignet maestro named Mitch. The beignets sell themselves; the life-coaching is free. Not only is Mitch’s recurring appearance as a therapeutic beignet salesman a great bit; it gives the characters a chance to talk about their feelings in a way that doesn’t feel forced.
Barry’s Chickens Have Come Home To Roost
Following the build-up in the last few episodes, Barry’s chickens have finally come home to roost. Everybody Barry has wronged, going all the way back to season 1, has been contacted by Fuches – and, like him, they want vengeance. This is a genius storyline forBarryto explore, and the show is pulling it off beautifully.Fuches assembling a vengeful armyfrom all the mourning relatives of Barry’s victims has both ratcheted up the tension and visualized Barry’s mounting guilt over a lifetime of killing.
“710N” gets more gags out of Barry’s increasing inhumanity, and Hader continues to nail the deadpan delivery of the hitman-turned-actor’s obliviously sociopathic rants. He dictates a ridiculous text to Sally in front of a crowd of awestruck customers while he’s shopping for clothes. He hopes to win her back with this text, but of course, he just makes things worse. Brazenly speaking out loud, he apologizes for being a “quote, ‘violent a**hole,’ end quote” and lists a few of the terrible things he did, like “threatening to break into your boss’ house,” in parentheses followed by “etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.” There’s a hysterical juxtaposition with an incredulous Sally reading the text aloud to her agent to hammer home how out-of-touch Barry has gotten (especially with nods toBack to the Futureand the Jonas Brothers peppered in there).
The Dirt Bike Chase Steals The Show
The climactic sequence in “710N” – a dirt bike chase on the titular highway – is one of the best action set-pieces in the show’s history. It exhibits the series’ tricky tonal blend ofedge-of-your-seat tension and laugh-out-loud comedy. The chase escalates hilariously. Barry is on his way to a dinner party, idly singing to himself, when he’s suddenly accosted by a gang of gun-toting bikers. Before long, there’s a biker in his windshield, he’s tearing down the interstate, and a machine gunner is firing at him from the sunroof of an SUV. This sequence is flawlessly executed with a minimalist shooting style. There are no flashy camera movements or omniscient angles; just a camera tracking the bikes, making the audience feel like they’re going along for the ride. The bike chase provides plenty ofthe show’s signature visceral thrills, but there are also some slapstick laughs with bikers coming off their bikes.
After the chase, whenBarry seems to be out of the woods, the episode floors viewers with a shocking cliffhanger ending. Barry goes to a dinner party thrown by Sharon, the widow of a fellow Marine that Barry killed in season 1 for threatening to go to the cops. He’s looking forward to catching up with his old military buddies, but the dinner party turns out to be a sinister trap that pays off the beignet gag with a morbid twist. As Barry finds Fuches’ phony P.I. business card on an empty dinner table, he realizes the beignets have been poisoned. He foams at the mouth and loses consciousness as Sharon coldly stares him down and says, “Die, motherf*****!” Surely Barry isn’t dead, especially witha fourth season already in the works, but the stakes have certainly been raised. Every week, the best show on TV just keeps getting better.
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