S04.E06: the wizard

[juno]

Season 4 Episode 6: the wizard

Aired: May 14, 2023

[juno]

Sometimes when I am watching the 4th season of this show, I need to remind myself that this show started with a guy in the midst of trying to stop a life of crime, began to try to straighten out his life and decided to take acting lessons and become an actor. With a fair amount of light humour and some darkness added.

I don't know what happened to this show? There is no joy, no humour, no fun. It is like watching The Sopranos again.

[Galileo908]

Fuches has a Raven tattoo! And got with the barista.

It was weird to see Hank actually go legit. That's the tragedy of it all. Cristobal would've loved it, but only because he had to die. And of course Fuches ruins his whole deal by bringing that up.

You might think Barry is nuts for going back to LA with just glasses on. But hey, it worked for Clark Kent. And Barry has walked into stores covered in blood and never faced consequences for it. He kept listening to sermon podcasts to find one that told him murder was okay (of course Bill Burr was playing the one that did).

Also, Jesus Christ, Sally. Burning the sandwich was one thing, but spiking John's juice with alcohol was a whole other level of awful.

It had to end THERE?! With Moss?! It was all a trap!

[cpcathy]

Holy crap! 

I recognized Bill Burr right off.

Sally’s drunk walk was spot on, perfect drunk acting.

This episode was the opposite of last week’s.

[oompa]

Wow, mom of the year for Mother's Day.

Glad Gene's son survived.

I agree with other posters, this season is just dark. There is very little humor.

[shapeshifter]

Everyone was taking foolish risks based upon misinformation. 
Well, except maybe Jim Moss.
Very au courant and topical, except maybe:

4 minutes ago, oompa said:

Wow, mom of the year for Mother's Day.

It was probably not planned to have this episode run on Mother’s Day? 
But many would find that darkly amusing.

 

 

1 hour ago, Galileo908 said:

Also, Jesus Christ, Sally. Burning the sandwich was one thing, but spiking John's juice with alcohol was a whole other level of awful.

Given John’s total state of despair and withdrawal, Sally/Emily’s spiking his juice with vodka could be considered medication, although I’m sure Child Protective Services wouldn’t see it that way.

[thuganomics85]

Ha, I definitely recognized Bill Burr as the new preacher that Barry was listening too: one that just happened to share believes that would make it easy for Barry to tell himself that assassinating Gene would be "righteous."  Fun little voice cameo there.

Poor John really has the worst parents ever.  When dad is away, mom is here to.... burn lunch and then spike his drink with vodka so that he would just fall asleep instead.  Mother of the year, Sally totally is!  Not sure what was going with that break-in and stuff.  Was it suppose to be the guy Sally pulled one over on last week?  Someone else entirely?

Fuches coming out of the joint has a harden criminal; complete with tattoos and a little more muscle; was a sigh to behold!  Never knew I would ever use badass to describe Stephen Root, but here you go!  And then there is NoHo and how it looks like he actually did go legit after-all, but it is due to what he did to/allowed happen to Cristobal and the guilt clearly is eating at him.  And now thanks to being openly called all about it, NoHo and Fuches might actually be going to war.  Not sure how this will play out.  NoHo has the resources probably, but I suspect "The Raven" should be someone to worry about.

Gene actually wants to kill the movie deal, because he doesn't want what happened to him and Janice to be used as entertainment or for Barry to be glorified.  Didn't predict that, honestly.  Glad that Leo didn't actually die after-all, but I don't know if this relationship can ever be fixed.

Suspected that Jim Moss would return at the end!  Not sure what to make of Barry being in his clutches/chair now.  Should be good!

[MJ Frog]

I am always inclined to like anything that starts off with a little Black Sabbath. Nice.

[juno]

3 hours ago, MJ Frog said:

I am always inclined to like anything that starts off with a little Black Sabbath. Nice.

The great song "The Wizard" makes it even better.

[katenm]

Stephen Root never fails to amaze me.

[arc]

There's something fantastic about Barry podcast-shopping for a theological justification or excuse for kill Gene.

I did not expect a radically changed Gene to have left behind his narcissism.

So Sally was hallucinating a flashback to the biker guy who tried to kill her, but what was with the house almost getting knocked over? Was that actually a tornado? Or did someone really ram a truck into the house?

And I had been wondering all episode -- or at least during the Gene parts -- where Jim Moss was. Welp!

[DrSpaceman73]

4 minutes ago, arc said:

There's something fantastic about Barry podcast-shopping for a theological justification or excuse for kill Gene.

I did not expect a radically changed Gene to have left behind his narcissism.

So Sally was hallucinating a flashback to the biker guy who tried to kill her, but what was with the house almost getting knocked over? Was that actually a tornado? Or did someone really ram a truck into the house?

And I had been wondering all episode -- or at least during the Gene parts -- where Jim Moss was. Welp!

I was very confused by the scene with Sally in the house. No idea.  

Hank going legit but can't get over the memory of Cristobal.  

Badass Stephen root.  I'll show you my red stapler!  

[aghst]

What is Hank's business suppose to be?

I don't believe Moss would have waited for Barry all these years.  He guessed that once Cousineau surfaced, Barry would as well and go for Gene, who actually wants to prevent the film, doesn't seem as scared any more.

He could have hired a lawyer to try to stop the film without coming out of hiding.

Somehow I suspect he hasn't had a full epiphany as he claims against a narcissistic life.  He has to revert to old Gene to bring the funny again, right?

Same thing, Hank is all serious now that he's a big success?  He was funnier when he was striving for success or envying the success others had, like he wanted the Ecuadorians' stash house and he was playing wannabe gangster.

Is that what Hader is saying, that life of crime and never being held accountable leads to a drab life, a kind of hell?

He may be more into theology than Barry listening to those podcasts.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I don't know what happened to this show? There is no joy, no humour, no fun. It is like watching The Sopranos again.

Apparently Bill Hader has given interviews and said the show was always this vision, always this way, never meant to be a comedy, etc. I just don't see how that's true. What grabbed me to begin with was the dark humor. Yes, Barry has always been a killer, yes there were some seriously dark moments even back in Season 1. But there was so much funny stuff too. It was a pretty even blend of comedy and drama. Now it's just dark and humorless, I don't know how anyone - especially Hader - can say it's always been this way.

I can see how some would say, by the nature of Barry's characters, that it would have to get more serious as it went on, but that's really a choice. If you start out as this quirky mix of light and dark you can choose to end it that way too.

[carrps]

O.k. Am I the only one wondering if the flashforward was really a dream sequence after all? It wasn't until the final reveal of Jim Moss. Barry was clean shaven and looked as fit as he did earlier (he had a bit of a paunch in the "future"). He was wearing different clothes and had no glasses. Moss surely wouldn't have have shaved Barry and changed all his clothes after blackbagging him and then put him back in the bag? Right???

 

[tennisgurl]

Barry as a dad makes me wonder more about Barry's own dad, it seems like his Father Knows Best act is mostly based on what he thinks on good dad should be based on television and movies, not on what an actually good father is like. I was very confused by Barry's podcast hunt at first, but I guess all he needed was someone who could tell him that murder was totally cool with Jesus. 

Wow Sally, and a happy mothers day to you! She's obviously totally checked out in every aspect of her life, including her son, but giving John alcohol to get him to go to sleep so she doesn't have to deal with him is really taking bad parenting to a new level. Poor John. What the hell was going on with the guy in black and the attack on the house? I kept waiting for it to be revealed that it was all a drink fueled dream or hallucination, the show has gotten so weird that I think half the scenes are going to be fantasy sequences. 

I'm surprised that Gene came back to quash the movie instead of be the star, but I'm not sure that he'll resist that urge for long. So Gene just shot his son and ran away the second he realized that his injuries were nonfatal and hasn't spoken to him since? I'm glad that he's alright but what the fuck? 

Badass Fuches is hilarious, seeing him and Hank go to war should be interesting. Its tragic that Hank ended up going legit, exactly what Cristobal wanted, but Cristobal had to die for it to happen. He is still clearly carrying a mountain of guilt for what happened, even as he's more successful than he could have ever imagined, which I think goes along with the shows theme that a life as a criminal is just going to lead to emptiness. 

Edited May 15, 2023 by tennisgurl
I misunderstood so much about this episode

[carrps]

11 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Then the third time, the one that was just right, had the same guy now talking about how he used to work for the mob and killed a guy with no remorse because he has his faith which makes murder totally cool and not at all a sin, it feels like Barry didn't like what he heard from the podcast so he made up more podcasts in his head to justify what he is going to do to Gene.   

I thought the last one was a hockey player who killed a guy on the ice (a guy who'd hit one of his teammates too hard and injured him).

 

[MJ Frog]

20 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Am I the only one who suspects that Pastor Bill Burr's increasingly murderous podcast was in Barry's imagination? He heard the pastor say that murder was always a sin, then looked annoyed and turned it off. Then the next time he listened the guy was saying how the old testament was full of God approved killing "for the greater good" but that just killing people who cross you is a sin and you will go to hell, and he visibly stiffened and looked at his gun. Then the third time, the one that was just right, had the same guy now talking about how he used to work for the mob and killed a guy with no remorse because he has his faith which makes murder totally cool and not at all a sin, it feels like Barry didn't like what he heard from the podcast so he made up more podcasts in his head to justify what he is going to do to Gene.   

I am pretty sure those were three different podcasts by three different people. He was shopping around until he got one that helped him justify this particular sin. And I love that the final Jesus-is okay-with-murder podcast was Bill Burr.

[Iseut]

51 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

So Gene just shot his son and ran away the second he realized that his injuries were nonfatal and hasn't spoken to him since? I'm glad that he's alright but what the fuck? 

Yeah, that was nuts. Again, it shows Gene's narcissism that he went and took care of his own self for EIGHT YEARS and then decided that he had absolved himself enough to come back and apologize and explain the situation to Leo. Also nuts that Leo rather calmly let him in. The guy is a freaking saint. 

The scenes with Sally were bonkerballs. I hope some of that is explained more...I still trust Hader's overall vision but there are a LOT of questions to be answered and very few episodes left! Spiking John's juice was just so awful; I'm kind of reminded of the Brock-poisoning arc from Breaking Bad when a character went from being a dangerous antihero that was still somehow sympathetic to being completely irredeemable by threatening the life of a child. 

[Pike Ludwell]

If this season so far is all in Barry's head (which is possible but I'm not convinced), here's an idea that supports that. A lot of the things that have happened just seem too good to be true. Getting out of prison in a far fetched way. Sally finally coming around to Barry's side and running away with him. Living on property that looks remarkably like where Barry grew up. Finding a preacher touting the sort of nonsense as that Bill Burr preacher.

Barry would have to be imaging the lives of the other characters too. The idea that an idiot like Hank would become so successful is just preposterous - a too good to be true thing for Hank. Other things too that I'm overlooking.

But I don't think the events around the other characters are the kinds of things Barry would even imagine so I think the time jump was real and it's not just stuff going on in Barry's mind.

Edited May 15, 2023 by Pike Ludwell

[arc]

3 hours ago, aghst said:

What is Hank's business suppose to be?

Sand / concrete / presumably other associated construction materials too? But it started with sand, which is the basis of concrete.

Honestly, I don’t think I buy the enormous success in eight years. Maybe a gang could corner the market on sand in LA, I dunno. But Nohobal looks to be a world leader; that office building was way too opulent for “local business success”. And there are presumably pre-existing world leaders in sand and concrete that Hank would have had to supplant.

[Penman61]

The scene with Sally and her Dark Stranger or whatever...I mean, a good many of us are still not sure that this whole "8 Years Later" flashforward isn't a dream, so to have a dream/hallucination/whatever WITHIN that, then with no confirmation or explanation...it's frustrating. My only hope is that there's a payoff for all this imbrication. At the moment it just makes me annoyed and cranky.

Edited May 15, 2023 by Penman61

[DrSpaceman73]

I think hanks business is just generally multiple generic things not just sand. It just started as sand. Probably now construction, finance, whatever if it's truly a fortune 500 company.  Believable in 8 years?  Not really. 

That poor kid for so many reasons.  Literally can't survive 24 hours with just his mom and not his dad around.  Barry is not the perfect dad but he's present and trying. Sally.....she's tuned way out.  It's terribly sad.  

[Kenz]

I really despise Sally, but I have admiration for the actress who plays her. She has been through the mill, and she is such a miserable character now. I hope for her mental health, the actress gets some more uplifting parts in the future on happier shows.

[carrps]

She's on a new show (on AMC) that starts when Lucky Hank is over. Called Sisters. She finds a sister (half sister?) in Ireland that she never knew about. All I know is what I've seen in ads for it, but it looks like a much happier character.

 

[shapeshifter]

On 5/15/2023 at 11:32 AM, iMonrey said:

Now it's just dark and humorless

There was this comedy punch line when NoHo Hank first greets the arrival of Fuches after 8 years:

• [NOHO] Wow! So good to see you… [PAUSE] What the fսck happened to you?
• [FUCHES]I found myself.
• [NOHO] In a tattoo parlor?

 

As for the literal moral of the story:  
 Barry seeking and finding forgiveness for being an assassin is something he’s been doing since his first kill as a soldier in Afghanistan…   
…permission Fuches always supplied after Afghanistan   
…until Barry reinvented himself as an actor   
…and Barry started giving himself permission to kill anyone who threatened his new identity(s)   

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by shapeshifter

[arc]

6 hours ago, carrps said:

O.k. Am I the only one wondering if the flashforward was really a dream sequence after all? It wasn't until the final reveal of Jim Moss. Barry was clean shaven and looked as fit as he did earlier (he had a bit of a paunch in the "future"). He was wearing different clothes and had no glasses. Moss surely wouldn't have have shaved Barry and changed all his clothes after blackbagging him and then put him back in the bag? Right???

Hmmmmm. It's possible, because we know Jim Moss has near-superhuman powers of mind manipulation -- see what he did to the Vanity Fair reporter a few episodes ago. But then again, those same powers argue he might have shaved and redressed Barry. For what it's worth, the post-escape Barry who showed up at Sally's apartment had several days' worth of beard growth. The Barry nabbed at Gene's house had about one day of beard growth.

By the way, the Barry arrested in Jim Moss' house at the end of s3 was wearing the same dark grey T-shirt, but he had a couple days' worth of beard growth too. He had a button down shirt on top then. This is also more or less the same outfit he had when he got poisoned with beignets at Chris' widow's house.

In short: evidence inconclusive! Sorry.

[Cosmocrush]

7 hours ago, Pike Ludwell said:

If this season so far is all in Barry's head (which is possible but I'm not convinced), here's an idea that supports that. A lot of the things that have happened just seem too good to be true. Getting out of prison in a far fetched way. Sally finally coming around to Barry's side and running away with him. Living on property that looks remarkably like where Barry grew up. Finding a preacher touting the sort of nonsense as that Bill Burr preacher.

Barry would have to be imaging the lives of the other characters too. The idea that an idiot like Hank would become so successful is just preposterous - a too good to be true thing for Hank. Other things too that I'm overlooking.

But I don't think the events around the other characters are the kinds of things Barry would even imagine so I think the time jump was real and it's not just stuff going on in Barry's mind.

Interesting.  I’m not sure I agree but this is an interesting theory.

[heatherchandler]

On 5/14/2023 at 9:31 PM, juno said:

 

I don't know what happened to this show? There is no joy, no humour, no fun. It is like watching The Sopranos again.

And Bill Hader is no David Chase.  Sopranos’ last season was way different, kinda slow, but David Chase earned that artistic freedom.  Bill needs to cool it with the weird, EXTREMELY slow moving, nothing really happening crap.

This show had like 2 jokes, and the rest was just strange. NoHo is trying to be serious, I liked him silly and funny.  Was that a dream of Sally’s that someone ran into her house?  The person was saying the same stuff to her that the guy was yelling when she killed him.

I like shows that dog instead of dad but I can’t even figure out what is happening half the time.

Did a bit of Emmy success go to Bill’s head?   He thinks anything he puts out is gold?  Let’s get back to the show we fell in love with.

He told a story on some podcast, I think, or maybe someone else said about him.. that he refuses to sign any autographs because he can’t stand that people get them and sell them.  Oh sorry big huge star!  Don’t let your fans get in your way.  Kind of a jerk move.  And even if the people are just selling them, who cares?  So someone makes $5 off your signature?  It dilutes the exclusivity of someone else having it?  Good lord.

 

On 5/15/2023 at 12:23 PM, Iseut said:

 

The scenes with Sally were bonkerballs. I hope some of that is explained more...I still trust Hader's overall vision but there are a LOT of questions to be answered and very few episodes left! 

Do you?  I don’t think I do after the last 2 episodes.  

Edited May 16, 2023 by heatherchandler

[sistermagpie]

11 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

Ha He told a story on some podcast, I think, or maybe someone else said about him.. that he refuses to sign any autographs because he can’t stand that people get them and sell them.  Oh sorry big huge star!  Don’t let your fans get in your way.  Kind of a jerk move.  And even if the people are just selling them, who cares?  D S I someone makes $5 off your signature?  It dilutes the exclusivity of someone else having it?  Good lord.

I kept thinking about this and while I can't say for sure what his motivations were, I figured is feeling was that autographs are a little nice thing somebody would give to a fan, but if the person's selling it you're just working for somebody so why do that?

[TVbitch]

I actually like it if a show is not totally passive viewing, and you have to be engaged and and think about what is going on. However, this season is starting to enter "Momento" territory, where I feel like I will not understand anything until the end, when hopefully it will all make sense. That works for a movie like Momento or Sixth Sense, but for a whole season of a show that already established itself as something else, it is a lot to ask. Especially when the long set up is not as entertaining as the preceding three seasons. I guess if the end is brilliant, it will be worth it. But if it's not... what a let down.  

[Milburn Stone]

The scariest thing in the episode was to learn there are that many different fundamentalist Christian podcasts. (But of course there are.) 

The episode was definitely dark, but not in the way of last week's. There was humor. Gene; Fuches; Hank; the podcasts; Fuches' crew oohing and ahhing over the house; the Warner Bros. exec; the very last shot with Moss; et. al...I enjoyed this week's episode instead of feeling trapped and desperate like I did last week.

Edited May 17, 2023 by Milburn Stone

[Irlandesa]

On 5/16/2023 at 1:58 AM, heatherchandler said:

He told a story on some podcast, I think, or maybe someone else said about him.. that he refuses to sign any autographs because he can’t stand that people get them and sell them.  Oh sorry big huge star!  Don’t let your fans get in your way.  Kind of a jerk move.  And even if the people are just selling them, who cares?  So someone makes $5 off your signature?  It dilutes the exclusivity of someone else having it?  Good lord.

He told the story, and it wasn't just because people sell them.  He stopped doing it after he realized professional autograph seekers would bring their kids at any time of day or night and use the kids to get the autograph that the parent later sells.  They basically exploit their kids because they know many stars are more likely to sign autographs for kids than they will for adults when given the choice.

[heatherchandler]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

They basically exploit their kids because they know many stars are more likely to sign autographs for kids than they will for adults when given the choice.

I don’t know, something bugs me about a celebrity refusing to sign autographs for any reason.  It comes off as jerky to me.  And are there throngs of kids moving along the hordes of paparazzi?   I see some here and there when I watch tmz but he’s not Britney.

I have always liked Bill but I just wonder if he’s believing his own hype?

Edited May 18, 2023 by heatherchandler

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

I don’t know, something bugs me about a celebrity refusing to sign autographs for any reason.  It comes off as jerky to me.  And are there throngs of kids moving along the hordes of paparazzi?   I see some here and there when I watch tmz but he’s not Britney.

I have always liked Bill but I just wonder if he’s believing his own hype?

He might be a jerk. I don't know him.  But I've never felt celebs owe fans an autograph or photo unless they're at a fan event.  Plus, autograph-seeking is different these days.  I grew up when getting an autograph was either a bit of luck or going to an event where a publicist advertised where the celebrity would be.  And while that autograph might be valuable in the future, you couldn't flip it for money on eBay within 24 hours.  A person asking for them was actually a fan. These days, it's a business. Professional seekers can use the internet  to semi-stalk where a celeb might be living their lives.  I have heard about rude autograph seekers and celebs coming out of a club at 2 a.m. to find a kid (at the behest of their parent) sending them in to get an autograph. I don't fault him for feeling uncomfortable with that. I could be wrong but I think most fans these days would prefer a selfie now that cell fans are standard in a way they never

But I wouldn't be surprised if he does sign autographs.  By going public that he doesn't, he makes himself less of a target of those professional signature seekers.

As for this season, I actually really liked the first four episodes.  I haven't liked these past two but the only difference for me is that he made a bold choice (the time jump) which I don't think worked compared to his bold choices in the past that did.

[MJ Frog]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

These days, it's a business. Professional seekers can use the internet  to semi-stalk where a celeb might be living their lives. 

Exactly this. It grosses me out. And these people are often demanding and entitled, little different from the paparazzi except that they expect the celebrity to do something for them. I have no problem with Bill bowing out from that aspect of fandom, and I am sure he's quite nice to his fans otherwise.

[Ottis]

Barry is feeling a lot like Hader is gleefully tearing it all down, knowing viewers will be demanding a clear narrative. I did laugh more this week than last week, mostly at the absurdity of various characters acting certain ways and expecting the way they acted to result in a good outcome. All of these people have a bizarre understanding of actions and consequences.

Still, I'll root for some sort of enjoyable ending.

[Dev F]

12 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

As for this season, I actually really liked the first four episodes.  I haven't liked these past two but the only difference for me is that he made a bold choice (the time jump) which I don't think worked compared to his bold choices in the past that did.

I know a lot of people had this reaction, but I, strangely enough, feel exactly the opposite. The first four episodes of this season were by far my least favorite run of episodes in the entire series. To me they just felt so drawn out and repetitive (how many different times can Fuches flip-flop on whether he loves or hates Barry?) and full of lazy contrivances (why is Barry in full-on prison if he hasn't even been convicted of anything yet?). There were a few elements I really liked in the early going—Sally’s final Hollywood adventures were as sharply satirical as ever, and while Hank and Cristobal's relationship has sometimes seemed too cute by half, its demise felt appropriately dark and tragic—but overall I thought the time jump helped kick the series out a pretty bad rut. I've found the last couple episodes much more substantial and inventive.

[aghst]

Andy Greenwald said what's happening to John is child abuse in real time.

Hmm, gaslighting sure but child abuse?

Well kids have been sheltered during their upbringing, with lies about various aspects of the world.  Many individuals break free from that kind of programming.  In fact, in some ways, the more sheltered, the more they swing the other way, rejecting religion for example.

Well at least some.

[arc]

54 minutes ago, aghst said:

Hmm, gaslighting sure but child abuse?

Not providing a blanket for him and slipping him some vodka sure feels like child abuse. He's not being actively traumatized -- wait, I almost forgot about the baseball consequences playlist -- but while Barry and Sally care about keeping John alive, they don't care about trying to provide him with a rewarding and full life. It's really upsetting how little they care about him.

[sistermagpie]

13 hours ago, arc said:

Not providing a blanket for him and slipping him some vodka sure feels like child abuse. He's not being actively traumatized -- wait, I almost forgot about the baseball consequences playlist -- but while Barry and Sally care about keeping John alive, they don't care about trying to provide him with a rewarding and full life. It's really upsetting how little they care about him.

That's an interesting question, though. I think Barry does seem to love John and John seems to feel loved by him. But that doesn't make the life he's giving him any better!

[aghst]

Barry has a misguided idea of what's good parenting, what's good for John.

I don't think he's deliberately trying to deprive the kid or treat him badly.  It's just that his ideas of how to raise his kid may deny him of things, like maybe the kid would have loved baseball or have become good at it.

But it's more important to him that he keeps John close and sheltered, for his own good as he believes it as well as Barry's own good.

[BC4ME]

On 5/15/2023 at 12:45 PM, MJ Frog said:

I am pretty sure those were three different podcasts by three different people. He was shopping around until he got one that helped him justify this particular sin. And I love that the final Jesus-is okay-with-murder podcast was Bill Burr.

And how fitting that the message of the podcast Barry got to say told him murder was ok came from Bill Burr.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Fuches slowly strutting out covered in prison tats. I was surprised he didn't have a teardrop on his face. But how did he have a beer gut with such muscular shoulders and arms?

Gene was looking like Howard Hughes during the dark days of his decline.

Of course Barry was okay with cherry-picking the Old Testment when he wanted to feel okay about killing Gene.

Bill Burr as a podcast evangelist was hilarious!

I was sure Sally was accidentally going to shoot John. Lucky for her she was to drunk to reassemble the gun properly.

Looked like Gene's son got the hell outta Dodge. Or was that part of Moss' plan to nab Barry?

Quote

I don't think he's deliberately trying to deprive the kid or treat him badly.

I don't think it matters whether Barry's doing it willfully or not, John is being emotionally abused. Perhaps physically abused too since he's not being fed properly and he may have suffered alcohol poisoning thanks to his drunk of a mother.

Quote

And how fitting that the message of the podcast Barry got to say told him murder was ok came from Bill Burr.

A Very Special Edition of Monday Morning Podcast, lol.

Edited May 21, 2023 by Joimiaroxeu

[MJ Frog]

So, I rewatched the scene where Sally is attacked(?) and I cannot make head or tail of it. The attacker (who seems to want to be stealthy but also announces his presence beforehand) closes the bedroom door on Sally, seeming to trap her in there while he's in the living room. And only then do we hear sounds of a struggle and the attacker screaming that she got him in the eye with something metallic. While she's still in the bedroom.

What in the world happened there? I sincerely doubt any of this is going to be cleared up within the series. Bill has some explaining to do, and it's never a good sign when you have to explain your story to the audience.

[Baltimore Betty]

6 hours ago, MJ Frog said:

attacker screaming that she got him in the eye with something metallic. While she's still in the bedroom.

Aha! That is why she imagined the policeman's eye was bleeding!

Yes, that house wrecking hallucination was insane, the guy in the black body stocking to the truck knocking the house off it's foundation, I believe it was all in her head and it was a message to get out of there ASAP. 

On 5/21/2023 at 2:32 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Gene was looking like Howard Hughes during the dark days of his decline.

OMG, yes.

[arc]

9 hours ago, MJ Frog said:

So, I rewatched the scene where Sally is attacked(?) and I cannot make head or tail of it. The attacker (who seems to want to be stealthy but also announces his presence beforehand) closes the bedroom door on Sally, seeming to trap her in there while he's in the living room. And only then do we hear sounds of a struggle and the attacker screaming that she got him in the eye with something metallic. While she's still in the bedroom.

What in the world happened there? I sincerely doubt any of this is going to be cleared up within the series. Bill has some explaining to do, and it's never a good sign when you have to explain your story to the audience.

It’s probably a hallucination. There was no guy, which is why John woke up later instead of being murdered in his sleep. The screaming was her memory of stabbing that last Taylor sibling from the season 3 finale.

[mrc12671]

Quote

But how did he have a beer gut with such muscular shoulders and arms?

I say this to myself every time I catch a glance in the mirror.

[MJ Frog]

11 hours ago, arc said:

It’s probably a hallucination. There was no guy, which is why John woke up later instead of being murdered in his sleep. The screaming was her memory of stabbing that last Taylor sibling from the season 3 finale.

Well I'll be darned. Just rewatched the season three finale and that's exactly what it was. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

14 hours ago, Baltimore Betty said:

Aha! That is why she imagined the policeman's eye was bleeding!

Yes, that house wrecking hallucination was insane, the guy in the black body stocking to the truck knocking the house off it's foundation, I believe it was all in her head and it was a message to get out of there ASAP. 

Yep, now it all makes more sense to me. Jesus it's been hard to tell what's real and what isn't this season. Although I did understand the cop thing was a call back, but now I remember from where and why she walked away.

[Tachi Rocinante]

This show is trying too hard to be too many different things, and failing at all of them.