It’s the last stand of Barry Berkman, aka Barry Block, assassin turned actor. For four seasons we’ve been gripped by creator and star Bill Hader’s acclaimed dramedy. But there’ll be no more. The fourth and final season of Barry is out in Australia, now streaming on BINGE and Foxtel Now.
For the uninitiated, Barry (Bill Hader) is a traumatised former Marine working as a hitman for his self-aggrandising handler, Monroe Fuches (the great Stephen Root), until a job takes him to the acting class run by self-aggrandising (there’s a pattern here) Gene Cousineau (Henry Winker, superb). Feeling a hint of human connection, Barry joins the class, even finding romance with fellow student Sally Reed (Sarah Goldberg). But homicide is a habit, it seems, and Barry is soon struggling to keep his artistic and, uh, assassin-istic pursuits separate.
This final season sees Barry final imprisoned for his many crimes. And the supporting cast deal with the sudden knowledge that their amiable friend is an unhinged murderer (well, except for cheerful Chechen mafia member Noho Hank, played by Anthony Carrigan—he knew all along).
While Barry has always been very—albeit blackly—funny, it’s never shied away from deep drama, and season 4 cants even further in that direction, as all involved face the consequences of their actions. Indeed, it’s a much tougher watch than what has gone before, as Hader dispassionately dissects the “hitman with a heart” trope.
Barry is a true auteur piece, with Saturday Night Live alumnus Hader exerting almost total creative control and delivering a genuine masterpiece of television. It’s a unique vision of alienation and ambition that switches from howlingly funny to heartbreakingly bleak at whiplash speed. If you’ve heard someone muse that Bill Hader is going to win an Oscar one day, check this one out—this is why.
