Season One Talk

[7isBlue]

This show gets better every week. I loved the scene of the police interviewing the classmates. “I’m an actor...Have you seen my web series? Well, it’s actually a YouTube video.” The earnestness of the “actors,” the professional jealousy, the deep insecurity and desperation is all so L.A., and very funny. 

[nilyank]

37 minutes ago, 7isBlue said:

This show gets better every week. I loved the scene of the police interviewing the classmates. “I’m an actor...Have you seen my web series? Well, it’s actually a YouTube video.” The earnestness of the “actors,” the professional jealousy, the deep insecurity and desperation is all so L.A., and very funny. 

So far, most of the scenes of the most of the students in the class just show that they are really bad actors.

"How are old are you?"

"45."

[scrb]

I liked Cousineau macking on the female detective.

The greatest assassin in the history of Chechnya is an old, broke down man.

"Gum's at the register Barry"

Then a callback when he's daydreaming of going shopping with Sally and they're getting some lentil soup and gum.

 

"Do you think I'll be a star?"

"Sure.  You mean like a movie star?"

 

Barry hurries up the hit because Sally doesn't want to be alone, then speeds past her home and she calmly tells him that he passed her home.

Then she translates what his victim said to him before he killed him.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Inside the episode:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Inside the episode:

[thuganomics85]

Barry's frustrations over Hank being the world's pickiest clients was hilarious.  Hank is really becoming my favorite character on this show.

Got to give Fuches credit for how he was able to actually worm his way into Goran's good graces.  But I have a feeling Barry will not be happy when he finds out that Fuches promised he would take out a stash house for the Chechen mob.

A good episode for Sally/Sarah Goldberg.

Cousineau hitting on the detective definitely seems like something he would do.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, nilyank said:

"How are old are you?"

"45."

Heh. Classic, very old joke, but then Larry Hankin is a familiar (77-year old) character actor, so it works.

My only criticism is that I sense this is all a lot funnier if you are an actor watching—but that should help with awards.

 I guess hit men can't really turn off their cell phones when they're working, but if Barry wasn't planning on quitting, he would have a different phone for non-hit related calls that he would turn off when he was "working."

Does it matter that he killed the target by strangulation instead of by "bullet"?

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

 Does it matter that he killed the target by strangulation instead of by "bullet"?

Seems like the close physical contact would allow a greater opportunity to leave identifying evidence behind.

[teddysmom]

Hank is just the best.   Confetti because the bullet arrived.  

This is becoming my new favorite show.  I loved when Barry is trying to get Hank to let him shoot the guy and he's standing in his driveway doing everything imaginable to be a target. 

The guy tailing Barry taking pics is part of the Chechens, right?   

I thought at first the birthday party was the Chechen's daughter again, I was like JFC how many parties does this girl have?! 

They stole that bicycle lock idea from Breaking Bad.  At least Fuches was getting a nice meal, not bologna sandwiches with the crust cut off. 

Barry would know how to stage a raid, he'll need assistance, but his time in the military would come in handy, wouldn't it? 

[shapeshifter]

11 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

 

Quote

 Does it matter that he killed the target by strangulation instead of by "bullet"?

Seems like the close physical contact would allow a greater opportunity to leave identifying evidence behind.

Yeah, that crossed my mind too, but I was thinking about how the DHLed bullet was supposed to mess with the target's brother(?) because it would be a predictor of death by bullet and that maybe we would see a humorous bit in which the brother is more confused than terrorized because a bullet is not cause of death.

[arc]

Sally's facial expressions on learning that Liz is the star of the show were fantastic: angry disbelief and jealousy quickly turning into a mask of cheer.

I wonder how many times she's woken up at night with a pitch for a new name for the "Bonnie and the Boston Bombers" show. "A few reshoots, a little ADR, CGI out the name, we can still make this show happen!"

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Hank's confetti text when DHL finally delivered the bullet totally cracked me up.

[Ottis]

I don’t find the actor stuff funny. They are all so desperate and needy, and that turns to self importance when they have success. I would rather they explore who these people are and why they chose to pursue this life.

It felt like this ep took us in one, big circle. Aside from Hank, it was monotonous. 

[BetterButter]

Renewed

[shapeshifter]

Synopsis: https://tv.avclub.com/barry-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-make-the-u-1825091629

[formerlyfreedom]

Barry looks to hit the reset button with Sally, but a scene from “Macbeth” triggers a reaction that pushes them farther apart. Moss moves to interrogate members of Gene’s acting class after a shooting video surfaces. Barry finds himself in a quandary after teaming up with Taylor, a reckless new acquaintance, in a dangerous mission to wipe out a group of Bolivians.

 

[7isBlue]

Dying at the nice guy reading of the “coffee is for closers” speech from Glengarry Glen Ross :D

Sally is annoying again. 

Henry Winkler is cringey and perfect. 

[thuganomics85]

Totally knew that Barry was going to go too far with assuming he and Sally were an actually an item, instead of a fling (for now?)  I can see why in his emotionally stunted mind, doing things like buying her a new Macbook Pro and saying she's "his girl" made sense to him, but that ended very badly.  On another note, he'll likely garner suspicion with the rest of his classmates, over how much money he is spending.

I did feel bad for Sally and her dealing with that scummy talent agent.

Stephen Root did an excellent job with Fuches' scene at the party.  Never knew he could be that menacing.

So, Cousineau acting career has stalled to the point that he's doing calls for glorified extra roles like "guy at the back of the line."  No wonder he is so invested and enjoys wielding so much power in his acting classes.

[scrb]

Aww, the hit man is lovesick.

Cousineau made Barry go off on Fuches but apparently was no more convincing to Fuches than he was in his Glengarry Glen Ross reading.

Cousineau and the detective were a hoot.

Is this what Don Draper is reduced to, little cameos on other shows?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Inside the episode:

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

I did feel bad for Sally and her dealing with that scummy talent agent.

I'm hoping Gene Cousinea's offer to the detective to kick him in the balls (if it's not the best chicken a là king) is foreshadowing for what will happen to Scummy Talent Agent.

Sally needs to learn Kung Fu. It would be good for her military roles too. Heh. But she likely won't.

 

2 hours ago, scrb said:

Is this what Don Draper is reduced to, little cameos on other shows

How meta.

 

 I thought this was the best episode yet.

Barry may fail at everything else, but he gets all the breaks at being a hit man. Now he has his crew to take out the Bolivian cartel. Easy as falling off a log for him. I mean, he's in LA, knows nobody, but these are military buddies who he can trust.

[ajsnaves]

This was my least favorite episode so far.  Too much Actor Barry, not enough Hitman Barry.  Needed just a taste of Chechen I think.  I do love the cops though.  I loved the detective's bewildered amazement at Cousinea knowing Judd Hirsch, and her yelling it across the cubicles to Francine.

[teddysmom]

10 hours ago, 7isBlue said:

Sally is annoying again. 

 Is EVERYONE in show business like that? I'm your friend if you can do something for me?  She just wanted a fuck buddy and someone to run lines with? Because she seemed pretty into Barry until they had sex.  

I LOVE that Barry's old Marine buddies show up.     

Cousineau yelling at him "you don't have any balls!"  made me lol. If only you knew.... hit man, Marine, yeah he has NO balls. 

9 hours ago, scrb said:

Is this what Don Draper is reduced to, little cameos on other shows?

He & Hader go back to SNL days, I think he likes doing little one offs like this,  and he's got a movie out "Beirut" that is getting pretty good reviews 78% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Edited April 16, 2018 by teddysmom

[shapeshifter]

7 minutes ago, teddysmom said:

10 hours ago, 7isBlue said:

Sally is annoying again. 

 Is EVERYONE in show business like that? I'm your friend if you can do something for me?  She just wanted a fuck buddy and someone to run lines with?

Reading these posts revealed to me a parallel between the way Sally treated Barry and the way Sally's not-quite-agent treated her. The difference is that the agent could use his position and power to squelch her career if she didn't have sex with him, whereas Sally seems to have inadvertently used sex to crush Barry's heart (a heart which hasn't yet grown too many sizes since being shrunk by the military).

[teddysmom]

It just kind of threw me because I thought she was into him, she was pushing him to come to parties, etc. "Come over I don't want to be alone". 

Then she jumps out of bed and it's the one night stand nightmare. "Yeah I uh need to go, bye, whatever, you need to leave", after she sets him up on Facebook, which is a REALLY bad idea Barry. DELETE! 

[nilyank]

The first time Sally suggested that they hook up in a previous episode, Barry did not pick up the hint and she felt rejected so she continued to pursue him until they fell into  bed together. Right now the only think she is focused on is her career and whoever would help her with it.

[Ottis]

Are there any more annoying people than aspiring actors? All of their interactions are so needy. 

So Sally can casually bang Barry, be completely blind to how he feels and can blow him off (not in a good way) to go to an interview. But she can’t be honest with him and tell him what happened to her, or respond to his offer of a laptop graciously. 

And then they turned Barry into a twat over Sally. 

At least Fonzi is weirdly amusing. 

[scrb]

Fonzi never had to work for it.

Cousineau was working hard on that detective.

[jennylauren123]

I keep looking at Henry Winkler, thinking, this is the guy I had a crush on when I was 11?!

Edited April 20, 2018 by jennylauren123

[ajsnaves]

7 hours ago, jennylauren123 said:

I keep looking at Henry Winkler, thinking, this is the guy I had a crush on when I was 11?!

You were probably star struck by his friendship with Judd Hirsch.  That's understandable.  Happens all the time.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Henry Winkler is hilariously cringe inducing in this role! Fonzie would never have to offer to let a woman kick him in the balls to get her to stay for dinner.

[JoeyCrown]

Maybe I'm missing something but Barry doesn't seem like a Marine or an Assassin. He seems like a guy who works at Costco.

Also it seems out of character for Sally to suddenly run from Barry after embracing him for three episodes.

[arc]

1 hour ago, JoeyCrown said:

Also it seems out of character for Sally to suddenly run from Barry after embracing him for three episodes.

I bought it. She had a crushing moment at that last audition for a bit role on a show starring her former peon co-star, then a second crushing moment when her half-agent became not-an-agent after she rebuffed him; it's not a good time to deal with all of Barry's weirdness.

Quote

Maybe I'm missing something but Barry doesn't seem like a Marine or an Assassin. He seems like a guy who works at Costco.

As for Barry's affect, he's certainly capable enough, like when he shot the Chechens in the car or strangled Paco. I think he's dealt with his own traumas -- and a theme of this show is that his day job is not good for him; he's not only dealing with old war traumas but also new ones from killing people -- by severely compartmentalizing. So Barry is an emotionally stunted, repressed people-pleaser who's also very good at killing people. There must be some anger in him but it's deeply buried.

All the acting stuff, from the classes to Sally's auditions, have been pretty bleak stuff so far. But still a lot less bleak than the emotional manipulation Fuches puts Barry through.

I really wanted some Noho Hank or Goran in this episode. They're amazingly funny. The new ex-Marine characters are another sort of Barry's past life mixing with and interfering with his new one but they're a lot less funny so far.

[TV Anonymous]

I know that that is the joke, but why does Sally get emotional when her old partner making out in the world? Normal people would leverage that situation for her own benefits. She has a leg up on the new show which is a good stepping stone for an struggling actress. All she needs to do is just passing the audition.

[shapeshifter]

46 minutes ago, TV Anonymous said:

I know that that is the joke, but why does Sally get emotional when her old partner making out in the world? Normal people would leverage that situation for her own benefits. She has a leg up on the new show which is a good stepping stone for an struggling actress. All she needs to do is just passing the audition.

It wasn't entirely clear to me if Sally's "friend" was sincerely doing her a favor, or if the "friend" was sticking it to her by getting her called to audition for the secondary, older Mom roll—which is how Sally took it. 

It was funny in a pathetic way when Sally inserted into her reading of the part (during her practice for the audition) that she had a 14-year-old son who she had given birth to when she was 14—which would make the character she was playing 28 rather than, say, 38.

Sally's neuroses may be more disabling than Barry's PTSD and other psychological issues.

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Barry tries to fly solo at a remote airstrip, but Taylor still wants in. Vacha looks to exact revenge on the man who killed his brother, despite Pazar’s hands-off orders. Moss tries to end her association with Gene, but finds herself drawn to his classroom at a critical juncture. Sally lobbies for a major acting challenge.

[shapeshifter]

Hah, so Fuches is a better actor than anyone in the class. That's the real joke, right?

And Sally would be lucky to have a guy like Barry. He might be somewhere along the psychopathy spectrum, but, dammit, he would be her psychopath.

[scrb]

That acting class can't be the first time Barry has dealt with the moral quandies.

It could mess his effectiveness as a killer for hire.  Taylor saved him this time but Barry has to wonder if he's as far gone as Taylor is.

The Fonz has still got it!

[7isBlue]

“KEEP DOORS CLOSED BECAUSE OF CATS”

That sign at the Bolivian stash house is one of the quirky things that makes this show so fun to watch. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

At this point, I feel like Fuches should swap out Barry for Taylor. Barry clearly wants to leave the job and Taylor is nothing if not enthusiastic about doing the job. I mean, sure, Taylor seems a little off his rocker but at least he isn't reluctant to do the job, unlike Barry. I know that's not going to happen since the show is about Barry and his two worlds colliding, but still.

Fonzie announcing to the entire class that he already had the female police officer's phone number cracked me up. I was surprised when she showed up at his door ready to hook up!

Loved Natalie telling Sally that she sucks because Sally's "critique" during class was clearly all jealousy.

[thuganomics85]

Really loving Stephen Root here.  I'm so use to him playing goofy, but overall likable characters, so seeing him be so menacing and manipulative is a refreshing change of pace.

Weird seeing Karen David (Jasmine from Once Upon a Time/Isabella from Galavant) as the wife of Barry's former squad mate, so I wonder if there will be more to this relationship since it feels like kind of a waste of her talents.

Of course, Shakespeare would cause the acting class to become even more overdramatic and childish.

I understood where Sally was coming from last week, but this time, I did think she was being a bit too harsh this go around.  Interesting watching her attempts to backtalk Barry and his outburst, blowback on her.  Certainly didn't help that she had trashed Natalie earlier.

NoHo is really becoming one of my favorite characters this year.

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

At this point, I feel like Fuches should swap out Barry for Taylor.

I wondered if that was part of the reason Barry didn't kill him.

[BusyOctober]

I hate Sally.  I didn't like her before their hook up, and I really don't like her post hook up.  She's petty and an egomaniac, so I guess she's insightful enough to be going after a career where she can use those traits to her benefit.  I'd rather see Barry & any other student actor pair up...I don't know their names, but dark haired Lady Macbeth (Janet from "The Good Place") or the girl with the nose ring. I'd even root for the detective & Barry.  Anyone BUT Sally.

Stephen Root has been one of my favorite character/ tertiary actors for many years.  Jimmy James is one of the best characters ever, and of course as Milton from Office Space.  He is great a Fuchs.  Loved the cell phone alibi scheme.  Henry Winkler is doing great too.

[teddysmom]

Quote

 

KEEP DOORS CLOSED BECAUSE OF CATS”

That sign at the Bolivian stash house is one of the quirky things that makes this show so fun to watch.

 

I didn't even see that! Rewatch! 

I hate Sally too.  Have any of those nitwits in the acting class even read MacBeth? Or just the scene they have to do?  Even tho Sally was being a bitch the woman playing Lady MacBeth was awful.  She was showing about as much guilt as I do when I don't let my dog have food off my plate.  

Taylor and Hank are the best.  I was really afraid for a minute that Barry had killed Taylor. 

[nilyank]

6 minutes ago, teddysmom said:

I hate Sally too.  Have any of those nitwits in the acting class even read MacBeth? Or just the scene they have to do?  Even tho Sally was being a bitch the woman playing Lady MacBeth was awful.  She was showing about as much guilt as I do when I don't let my dog have food off my plate.  

I think the entire class have displayed little to no true acting abilities. Sally is perhaps the best of the bunch, but they are all awful.

[teddysmom]

4 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

NoHo is really becoming one of my favorite characters this year.

His  little emogee of himself is hilarious.  Unfortunately he really is an idiot. 

I'll say this for the Chechens, they are very family oriented.  

[MrWhyt]

5 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Weird seeing Karen David (Jasmine from Once Upon a Time/Isabella from Galavant) as the wife of Barry's former squad mate, so I wonder if there will be more to this relationship since it feels like kind of a waste of her talents.

Thats where she was!. I saw her name in the credits and thought "did i blink and miss her?"

[Blakeston]

4 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

I hate Sally.  I didn't like her before their hook up, and I really don't like her post hook up.  She's petty and an egomaniac, so I guess she's insightful enough to be going after a career where she can use those traits to her benefit.  I'd rather see Barry & any other student actor pair up...I don't know their names, but dark haired Lady Macbeth (Janet from "The Good Place") or the girl with the nose ring. I'd even root for the detective & Barry.  Anyone BUT Sally.

I have to wonder if the idea is that Barry and Sally are drawn to each other because they both have some psychopathic tendencies.

Sally has been sympathetic at times, because she's been in some really shitty situations (like what the agent did to her last week). But has she ever shown actual empathy? 

Our introduction to her was when she flipped out at Barry just for walking by when she was reading lines - and then she blamed him for her being a hot mess. She's repeatedly been nasty to Natalie. And she clearly feels entitled to be a celebrity, despite having little talent.

[cpcathy]

Fully agree on the Sally hate. Are we supposed to like her, feel pity for her. Because I don't. I want Janet--er, Natalie--to get all the good roles.

Otherwise, what a great episode, Hader is slaying for me, the Best Actor Emmy race is going to be a tight one.

[MrWhyt]

On 4/22/2018 at 12:14 PM, shapeshifter said:

It wasn't entirely clear to me if Sally's "friend" was sincerely doing her a favor, or if the "friend" was sticking it to her by getting her called to audition for the secondary, older Mom roll—which is how Sally took it. 

It was funny in a pathetic way when Sally inserted into her reading of the part (during her practice for the audition) that she had a 14-year-old son who she had given birth to when she was 14—which would make the character she was playing 28 rather than, say, 38.

Sally's neuroses may be more disabling than Barry's PTSD and other psychological issues.

I totally read it as the friend sticking it to Sally, just turning the knife a little.