S04.E07: A Nice Meal

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Quote

I was talking about office supplies!

Original air date 2023.05.21

[Galileo908]

Gotta admit, got a giant laugh at the reveal of Barry wearing the VR Goggles. And Hank, looking over the blood stained boxes, with a look of "what could possibly be in these boxes?"

Man, I knew the Four Ultimate Badass Killers were gonna get jobbed, but I never expected "offscreen." Hank really has a bad track record with assassins that aren't Barry. Hank couldn't even kill Fuches on his own. Shooting the rocket at Fuches's place, missing completely, then driving off and running off a cliff, right out of a Road Runner cartoon gave me a really big laugh. Thank God he was fine.

Freaking Gene chose a meeting with an agent over rescuing Sally. And it all came crashing down on him. I knew the second Moss found out about the $250,000, it was only a matter of time before it bit Gene in the ass.

How the hell is it all gonna end?! It's looking like Hank vs Barry. But what about Fuches? And Gene? (EDIT: Rewatching, Barry is gonna go after Fuches after he gets to Hank. I can see it)

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by Galileo908

[Michichick]

The humor was back and I appreciated it. So intrigued to see how they wrap this up next week.

[juno]

I am guessing that instead of using Sally to kill Barry, Hank is going to force Barry into an alliance to take on Fuches. It is his only play.

Gene isn't guilty of killing Janice, but he has made some really questionable moves. Moves that will put a target on him. Shooting his son and running away is first on the list.

Hank seems to have inherited a Wickian ability to avoid getting shot.

[shapeshifter]

Yes. Humor is back, and violence is off screen . 👏

Can somebody remind/explain about the $250,000 Barry gave to Gene???

Did John know his mother wore a wig? 

[sistermagpie]

41 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

Gotta admit, got a giant laugh at the reveal of Barry wearing the VR Goggles. And Hank, looking over the blood stained boxes, with a look of "what could possibly be in these boxes?"

And why am I still opening them?!

3 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Can somebody remind/explain about the $250,000 Barry gave to Gene???

I can't remember exactly, but I remember him giving it to him in a bag. At the time I knew what was going on!

3 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Did John know his mother wore a wig? 

Yes, remember he asked his friend if his mother also wore hair on top of her hair.

[Starchild]

I was expecting Hank and his driver to get away in the car, and pass the limo carrying Fuches' new family, destroyed by the stray rocket.

[thuganomics85]

While the original Chechen gang will always be my favorites here, "The Raven's Flock" might be a close second.  Them debating the best way to have Fuches new family not be effected by all of the violence and noises; and it somehow leading into a discussion involving the Fast & the Furious franchise of all things; was gold on almost every level.  And then Fuches in general is just a ball and a half as "The Raven."  Stephen Root is the gift that keeps on giving!

Did not predict that the $250,000 Barry gave Gene would not only come back into play, but it has now led to Jim Moss and the DA thinking that Gene had actually had Barry kill Janice for him.  That is/was obviously not the case and I'm curious to see if it will actually stick, but it certainly is a case of how Gene's arrogance and questionable choices have now come back to haunt him.  Whoops!

NoHo really does struggle with picking would-be assassins to do his bidding, but he at least makes up for it by finding ways to save his own life when gets caught in the middle of a sticky situation.  But now he has Sally and John!  I do wonder if he is going to use them to make Barry turn himself in to Fuches or if he's actually going to try and form a temporary alliance of some kind so that Barry can take out Fuches himself?

One more week until this crazy journey ends!

[raeb23]

56 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

How the hell is it all gonna end?!

I'm guessing Hank will force Barry to kill Fuches in exchange for his family's safety. 

This episode was definitely more balanced in tone. I enjoyed it more than the last two.

[Amarsir]

Am I the only one who has no idea what happened to their trailer house last week? I thought we weren't supposed to know because it would get explored this week. But that clearly didn't happen. 

[SHD]

11 minutes ago, Amarsir said:

Am I the only one who has no idea what happened to their trailer house last week? I thought we weren't supposed to know because it would get explored this week. But that clearly didn't happen. 

You are not alone! But maybe the fact that Sally “saw” blood coming out of the police officer’s eye (when that clearly wasn’t really happening) shows us that she’s having hallucinations, which the whole house attack might’ve been?

BOX 1: ”It’s a head.”

BOX 2: “It’s another head.”

BOX 3: “Why am I still opening these?!”

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, sistermagpie said:

why am I still opening them?!

Dear Hank,
You are still opening them because this is a joke setup, but instead of the comedic rule of 3, which would mean "why am I still opening these?" is the punchline, we are going with the 4th being the real punchline: "Ah, Isaiah! fսck. Even in death, just an absolute fox."

 

3 minutes ago, SHD said:

Sally “saw” blood coming out of the police officer’s eye (when that clearly wasn’t really happening)

What was that about??

[sjankis630]

I am thinking the trailer incident really didn't happen the way we were shown. It was kind of like that Policeman turning into the guy she killed before.

So next week is the season ender? It ought to be a good one.

I wish Ted Lasso could get as much done in 30 minutes as this show.

I loved the fake out with Mark Wahlberg.

[Cotypubby]

32 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

What was that about??

That was the guy she killed at the end of season 3.

Last episode my immediate thoughts on the house were that Sally was having a drunk hallucination/dream while she was ransacking the place. John reacted to the furniture being overturned so that was real but we never saw the hole in the bedroom from anyone else’s perspective so I still think nothing in the bedroom actually happened. That she is still hallucinating during this episode seems like more evidence of that.

[Michichick]

42 minutes ago, sjankis630 said:

 

So next week is the season ender? It ought to be a good one.

Next week is the series finale.

[Fake Jan Brady]

Mark Wahlberg is afraid of the woods. 🤣

Gene going from "the movie is going to exploit Janice" to "we need to tell her story" at the mention of Daniel Day Lewis and Marky Mark was classic Cousineau.

I'm already tense awaiting the finale.

[shapeshifter]

14 minutes ago, Fake Jan Brady said:

Gene going from "the movie is going to exploit Janice" to "we need to tell her story" at the mention of Daniel Day Lewis and Marky Mark was classic Cousineau.

And the actor pretending to be an agent for  both Daniel Day Lewis and then Marky Mark Wahlberg was a former acting student of Gene’s, who Gene doesn’t seem to recall at all, but who evidently mastered Gene’s acting method:

24 minutes ago, Fake Jan Brady said:

Mark Wahlberg is afraid of the woods. 🤣

I’m really curious to see what Gene’s legacy will be. Right now it looks like “villain.”

[Andre LaPlume]

I’ve had some issues with how they’ve handled the episodes since the time jump but the bottom line is I’m looking forward to next week.   I think they’ve set it up well, hopefully they can stick the landing.  
 

l like the twist with Gene.  He can’t help himself and now he has some real problems 

[arc]

8 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

I knew the second Moss found out about the $250,000, it was only a matter of time before it bit Gene in the ass.

Wait, but what about that little red notebook that mentioned the $250K? Was that Gene's? But did Moss just never read it before?

8 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Can somebody remind/explain about the $250,000 Barry gave to Gene???

Did John know his mother wore a wig? 

The money was given to Barry in 3x04 "all the sauces", for Barry rescuing Cristobal via the app-bomb, and then late in the same episode Barry gave it to Gene to make up for having kidnapped him earlier in the season.

As for the wig, yes, John asked the neighbor kid if his mom also wore "hair over her hair", or whatever it was he said.

[DrSpaceman73]

9 hours ago, juno said:

I am guessing that instead of using Sally to kill Barry, Hank is going to force Barry into an alliance to take on Fuches. It is his only play.

Gene isn't guilty of killing Janice, but he has made some really questionable moves. Moves that will put a target on him. Shooting his son and running away is first on the list.

Hank seems to have inherited a Wickian ability to avoid getting shot.

Yes a Barry fuches showdown makes the most sense. 

[Baltimore Betty]

As perplexing it is for the hallucinations and Hank's ability to not catch a bullet anywhere on his body when many guns were aiming for him I am enjoying this show so, so, so much.  Hank opening the boxes was hilarious but I was waiting for him to say "What's in the box," ala Brad Pitt in Seven.

Sally and the policeman confused me a lot. Did she have issues with hallucinations prior to her deciding to leave with Barry and have a kid or is this from the stress of their current situation...I wonder if the show she made of story of her childhood was factual or hallucinations? 

The kid is an odd sort, his personality is so flat, I worry he will never shake off the effed up childhood he is living.

Gene is screwed. I did get a laugh about him not wanting to make the movie to finding out their would be star power behind it then it was game on, Gene is easily swayed by stardom and he should be very proud of the fake agent's acting since he was a former student and very convincing.

Moss leaving Barry's feet untied and the knife on the desk makes me think it was not an accident, Moss likes the game of cat and mouse. Leaving Barry's cell phone on and accessible, Freud would have a field day with all of that stuff. There are no accidents, right?

I will miss this show so, so, so much.

  

[shapeshifter]

11 minutes ago, Baltimore Betty said:

Sally and the policeman confused me a lot. Did she have issues with hallucinations prior to her deciding to leave with Barry and have a kid or is this from the stress of their current situation...I wonder if the show she made of story of her childhood was factual or hallucinations? 

Maybe Sally’s hallucinating due to alcohol withdrawal? 
 

12 minutes ago, Baltimore Betty said:

Gene is screwed.

For the moment Gene is screwed, but we might get another twist.

[SHD]

13 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Maybe Sally’s hallucinating due to alcohol withdrawal? 

She wasn’t withdrawing when the house attack happened (or didn’t). I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s having psychotic breaks.

[Cotypubby]

2 hours ago, arc said:

Wait, but what about that little red notebook that mentioned the $250K? Was that Gene's? But did Moss just never read it before?

That was Len the Vanity Fair reporter’s notebook. Those are his notes from Gene’s one man show where he told him everything that happened. So Gene himself actually revealed that Barry gave him $250,000.

Moss had read it, since he remembered the $250,000, but it was just written as “Barry gives C $250,000.” All the other references to Cousineau spelled out his name so he must have thought C was a third party until Barry confirmed it was Cousineau.

Edited May 22, 2023 by Cotypubby

[DrSpaceman73]

Did hank pull his own fast and furious car exchange to mix up fuches men and escspe?

[Dev F]

There was a time when I thought Barry might be on track to be one of the best-of-all-time dramedies, but at this point it's more like a series of best-of-all-time scenes held together by chewing gum and plot convenience. It's still capable of delivering killer setpieces like Hank's rocket attack or Sally's home invasion hallucination last week, and it's an endless font of brilliantly bonkers ideas like Hank opening four consecutive boxes with heads in them or Mark Wahlberg allegedly being afraid of the woods. But in between them now is just the most half-assed collection of plot kludges and artless vamping.

The same tiresome storytelling that the show used with Fuches earlier in the season is now being used with Cousineau—you think he's going to zig but then he zags, and then he changes his mind and zigs, but then on second thought decides to zag again—and in both cases Bill Hader has admitted that he'd originally planned more zigging and zagging but cut it back in rewrites or reshoots! And was all the buildup of Jim Moss as this fearsome interrogator who can take people apart mentally really just leading to him torturing Barry with VR for five minutes and then leaving him in an easily escapable situation as a setup for the final showdown with Hank and Fuches? Such a disappointment.

Edited May 22, 2023 by Dev F

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, Baltimore Betty said:

Gene is screwed. I did get a laugh about him not wanting to make the movie to finding out their would be star power behind it then it was game on, Gene is easily swayed by stardom and he should be very proud of the fake agent's acting since he was a former student and very convincing. 

My favorite part about that is that there recently were pictures (within the past week) of Daniel Day Lewis out and about and the headlines have been "A rarely seen DDL is UNRECOGNIZABLE as he walks with his wife." He's really not.  He still looks like DDL except his hair is a little longer and fully gray.  And after last night, my thought is that he could totally do Gene.

[iMonrey]

Quote

Moss leaving Barry's feet untied and the knife on the desk makes me think it was not an accident, Moss likes the game of cat and mouse.

Agreed, that seemed a little too easy. But why would Moss want Barry to escape?

[luna1122again]

29 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

My favorite part about that is that there recently were pictures (within the past week) of Daniel Day Lewis out and about and the headlines have been "A rarely seen DDL is UNRECOGNIZABLE as he walks with his wife." He's really not.  He still looks like DDL except his hair is a little longer and fully gray.  And after last night, my thought is that he could totally do Gene.

I said this exact thing to my husband as we were watching last nite, that DDL actually does look a lot like Gene right now. Funny. The timing of those photos was impeccable. 

I'm wondering how many other celebs' names they bandied about in the writers' room before they came up with Mark Wahlberg. THAT's who got Gene all fame-hungry and excited? I'd love to know the thought process behind that choice. 

I am still not clear on what are hallucinations (for both Sally and Barry) and what's reality, which had made the past two episodes really unsettling. But last night's was also hilarious. 

[Baltimore Betty]

54 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Agreed, that seemed a little too easy. But why would Moss want Barry to escape?

I think Moss did leave the knife unintentionally but subconsciously for any number of reasons and I am sure we will learn why. If Moss really wanted Barry dead he could have just killed him and disposed of his body and been done with it but nope, he was keeping him around.

[tennisgurl]

Oh yeah, there's Gene, I knew that his whole "its all about protecting Janice" zen thing would fall apart as soon as someone dangled fame in front of him. We all know that Gene had nothing to do with Janice's death and that he shot his son on accident, but you can see how all of his shady selfish actions are all coming back to haunt him. I wondered if that money would ever come back into play again, everything is coming together. 

Gene should be proud that his former student stayed in character for so long. 

I'm still not sure what's actually happening and what's a hallucination, like with that cop with the bleeding eyes. Has Sally just totally cracked and left reality behind? I continue to feel so badly for John, I really want him to make it out of all this alright with a lot of therapy in his near future. 

Like everyone else, I thought that Hank and the boxes was a comedic highlight, I feel like the show really got back to its dark dramedy roots in this episode after so many bleakly sad episodes. "Why am I still opening boxes?" 

[carrps]

Not much to add to the above. Except that Sally and John were not at the airport. They were well outside but overlooking the north runway. They were in this little grassy area across from the (my!) In-n-Out on Sepulveda where Lincoln splits off. It's about five minutes from where I live. I could easily have driven by when they were doing that scene, but sadly I wasn't.

And, yes, this is a great set up for the finale.

I'm not disappointed. I've always felt that Barry was an absurdist take on this type of show, and I've enjoyed the ride.

 

[PurpleTentacle]

So why did Jim Moss just let Barry walk out of there? Even if he thinks that Cousineau is the mastermind behind the scenes, Barry is still a killer who killed countless people, including his daughter. This is very, very contrived writing.

[Jaundiced Eye]

I was taken aback by Moss's collection of torture implements. I always thought he could make people crack because he was some kind of mind Jedi. Does he employ torture in the course of his interrogations, or was that going to be an exception for Barry only?

[PurpleTentacle]

5 hours ago, Dev F said:

And was all the buildup of Jim Moss as this fearsome interrogator who can take people apart mentally really just leading to him torturing Barry with VR for five minutes and then leaving him in an easily escapable situation as a setup for the final showdown with Hank and Fuches? Such a disappointment.

Those were just sensory deprevation glasses and drugs. VR glasses are quite a bit bigger. Why not just a blindfold to make it clearer? I don't know.

 

 

[Dev F]

51 minutes ago, PurpleTentacle said:

Those were just sensory deprevation glasses and drugs. VR glasses are quite a bit bigger. Why not just a blindfold to make it clearer? I don't know.

Ah, I think I just assumed that they were VR goggles that were eight years more advanced, but that does make sense, considering Barry is seeing things Moss has no prior knowledge of and thus couldn't have programmed into a VR setting.

Edited May 22, 2023 by Dev F

[sistermagpie]

7 hours ago, Baltimore Betty said:

Moss leaving Barry's feet untied and the knife on the desk makes me think it was not an accident, Moss likes the game of cat and mouse. Leaving Barry's cell phone on and accessible, Freud would have a field day with all of that stuff. There are no accidents, right?  

I figured he really did lose interest in him once he decided he was just a hired killer for Gene.

[Dev F]

55 minutes ago, sistermagpie said:

I figured he really did lose interest in him once he decided he was just a hired killer for Gene.

In that case, though, he represents a crucial witness against Gene, so it seems like he should at least make sure he'll be around to testify instead of running away for another eight years.

In fact, if he was done with Barry, why wouldn't he just turn him over to the police instead of just leaving him halfheartedly restrained in his own garage?

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, Jaundiced Eye said:

I was taken aback by Moss's collection of torture implements. I always thought he could make people crack because he was some kind of mind Jedi. Does he employ torture in the course of his interrogations, or was that going to be an exception for Barry only?

I decided Moss was only using the torture implements for the sound effects to scare the victims who were familiar with them.

 

 

3 hours ago, Dev F said:

if he was done with Barry, why wouldn't he just turn him over to the police instead of just leaving him halfheartedly restrained in his own garage?

I've been thinking that Moss decided that Barry already paid enough of a price for being the puppet of Gene.
Of course, we know Barry was the puppet of Fuches, not Gene.

[sistermagpie]

3 hours ago, Dev F said:

In that case, though, he represents a crucial witness against Gene, so it seems like he should at least make sure he'll be around to testify instead of running away for another eight years.

In fact, if he was done with Barry, why wouldn't he just turn him over to the police instead of just leaving him halfheartedly restrained in his own garage?

Good point. I hadn't really thought it through. Watching it the first time I was a bit confused tbh!

[Dev F]

50 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I've been thinking that Moss decided that Barry already paid enough of a price for being the puppet of Gene.

Though if that's the case, why wouldn't he just let him go?

It's weird, because I feel like you could come up with a plausible justification for every other possible way Moss could've dealt with Barry, whether it's turning him over to the police, letting him go, holding him more securely, or even straight-up killing him. The only option that I have trouble justifying is the one the show landed on: just kinda half-assedly hanging onto him, so he might still be there when Moss gets back but he might have managed to escape. What could Moss's state of mind have possibly been if he didn't have a strong preference for one of those two antithetical outcomes?

[sistermagpie]

36 minutes ago, Dev F said:

Though if that's the case, why wouldn't he just let him go?

It's weird, because I feel like you could come up with a plausible justification for every other possible way Moss could've dealt with Barry, whether it's turning him over to the police, letting him go, holding him more securely, or even straight-up killing him. The only option that I have trouble justifying is the one the show landed on: just kinda half-assedly hanging onto him, so he might still be there when Moss gets back but he might have managed to escape. What could Moss's state of mind have possibly been if he didn't have a strong preference for one of those two antithetical outcomes?

It seems like everything he does and his performance really just says he loses interest and doesn't care what happens to Barry! Which...is surprising. But presumably it must have taken some time to set up that actor and the movie deal...was he setting that up already, or did he do it after he learned about the money? Seems like it must have been afterwards, because that's when Gene became a bad guy who needed testing. Before that he'd been against the movie.

Edited May 23, 2023 by sistermagpie

[aghst]

18 hours ago, Andre LaPlume said:

I’ve had some issues with how they’ve handled the episodes since the time jump but the bottom line is I’m looking forward to next week.   I think they’ve set it up well, hopefully they can stick the landing.  
 

l like the twist with Gene.  He can’t help himself and now he has some real problems 

I think all of the arcs or plots after the time jump seem rushed, not really developed.

Hank went legit eventually after killing Cristobal but now he hires hit men again?  But he wants revenge on Barry again for some reason.  Still doesn't feel like the same character from previous seasons.

Gene gets too wrapped up in the casting of the movie, didn't think the project should be done but now that there are big stars attached, he's drawn in and it turned out to be some sting.

Why would Gene have Janice killed and then Barry gives Gene $250k?  Unless Moss thinks Gene originally paid Barry that money and Barry is returning it for some reason?

Fuches/Raven is another turn that I don't find convincing.  

I don't mind the time jump itself, it's the arcs afterwards that aren't that interesting and now they're going to wrap everything up next week?

 

 

[Dev F]

3 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

It seems like everything he does and his performance really just says he loses interest and doesn't care what happens to Barry! Which...is surprising.

Yeah, in particular, the knife Barry uses to free himself is the torture implement Moss was moving to use on his captive until Barry started crying about giving Gene the money, at which point he carelessly tosses it aside exactly where Barry grabs it. But it's not like Barry is otherwise in the same position he was at that earlier moment—Moss has taken off his goggles, unhooked the IV drip, and moved it to the other side of the room. In other words, he seems to have a) carelessly tossed aside the means by which Barry will eventually escape, and then b) deliberately taken the time put Barry into a less secure position, without which he would've been blind and delirious and completely unable to take advantage of a). It's so elaborately incoherent it's almost impressive!

Quote

But presumably it must have taken some time to set up that actor and the movie deal...was he setting that up already, or did he do it after he learned about the money? Seems like it must have been afterwards, because that's when Gene became a bad guy who needed testing. Before that he'd been against the movie.

Yeah, that was definitely all set up after Barry spilled the beans about the money. Which renders the scenario even more incoherent, because it's not like Moss decided Gene was a bad guy and impulsively ran off to confront him; his response to Barry's revelation was to set up an intricate sting operation that involved laying out his suspicions to both the DA and Gene's son, getting them both on board with the scheme, auditioning an actor to play the agent and walking him through the part, and waiting for Gene to take the bait. All of that would've taken careful thought and planning—probably starting with calling several people on the phone without even leaving his house!—and would not at all have benefited from Jim rushing off to do it extra fast and letting Barry slip away.

Edited May 23, 2023 by Dev F

[MJ Frog]

51 minutes ago, Dev F said:

It's so elaborately incoherent it's almost impressive!

It's like the back half of the season has been one long fever dream. I loved the humor in this episode, but there were so many things that were so nonsensical that I was constantly getting bumped out of the story. And I am doubtful that any of it will make any more sense after the season finale. Man, why is it so hard for good shows to stick the landing?

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, aghst said:

Why would Gene have Janice killed and then Barry gives Gene $250k?  Unless Moss thinks Gene originally paid Barry that money and Barry is returning it for some reason?

Thanks to those who have tried to answer my upthread question about the $250k, but, sadly, my brain is habituated to turning large sums of money into meaningless placeholders, and I'm not up for rewatching unless, maybe, someone can point to an exact time stamp in an episode. 

So I'm just going to quote this:

16 hours ago, Dev F said:

it's an endless fount of brilliantly bonkers ideas like Hank opening four consecutive boxes with heads in them or Mark Wahlberg allegedly being afraid of the woods.
But in between them now is just the most half-assed collection of plot kludges and artless vamping.

because I love a nice turn of phrase.

 

 

[Johnny Dollar]

I’d watch a “Raven’s Flock” spin-off.

Is every character hallucinating? Or am I hallucinating?

This may be one of the funniest episodes since S1.

For someone who didn’t really do anything illegal (other than shooting his son), Gene sure has a knack for getting into trouble. 

[hatchetgirl]

6 hours ago, Johnny Dollar said:

Is every character hallucinating? Or am I hallucinating?

Right?  That abrupt change to the prairie onward has me thinking the whole thing is one bit hallucination.  

I loved the boxes.  I missed the fun Hank!

The F&F discussion was killing me!  

[Amarsir]

It will all turn out to be a hallucination. Not by Barry, but by Fuches!

[heatherchandler]

On 5/22/2023 at 1:59 PM, PurpleTentacle said:

So why did Jim Moss just let Barry walk out of there? Even if he thinks that Cousineau is the mastermind behind the scenes, Barry is still a killer who killed countless people, including his daughter. This is very, very contrived writing.

Why did he pass out in the kitchen?