Season Two Talk

[shapeshifter]

Ditto your whole post about the episode 2.7 "The Audition," @Nordly Beaumont!

2 hours ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

Please don't kill Gene!

Or Fuches!
  
  

2 hours ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

Sally is such a pill, but I LOVED her monologue! The actress nailed the heck out of it. So many words,

In the about-the-episode video, Hader said Sarah added some of those words herself. 
  
  

2 hours ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

NoHo Hank is "an optometrist by nature" - so random! 

But also symbolic. I guess. Does he help people see?
ETA: Or did NoHo mean to say "optimist"? Maybe both.
  
  

2 hours ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

The accordion player had it coming.

Totally. But I loved it when he played the dirge. Maybe the accordion deflected the bullet enough so he can live to play another day?
  

I loved that Barry just as effortlessly blew off the shit-pie-eating part (because he wanted to save Gene) as he effortlessly got the opportunity to read for a lead in a "feature" because he was tall. When Gene asked him incredulously (and jealously) about his good karma at getting to read for the part ("whose dick did you have to suck in a previous life?"), little did Gene know that Barry's good karma more likely comes from his loyalty to his friends and is about to (maybe?) save Gene's life. 

In the last shot of the last scene with the open car trunk, I'm 90% sure we see Fuches raise his left hand with a gun in it. Is Fuches left handed?

It was kind of telegraphed that Fuches wanted Gene gone by his reactions to Gene describing himself as a father to Barry who had made him what he has become (an actor, not a hitman).
  
  

ETA: I loved that the guy who Barry trained to be a deadly sniper (Mayrbek) saved the busload from being torched, and, like Barry has done for Fuches, even though Mayrbek left NoHo Hank behind, he saved his life too.
I guess we could say this was Mayrbek's "audition" too?

Edited May 13, 2019 by shapeshifter

[tennisgurl]

The accordionist playing the dirge as NoHo and the guys are being led to their supposed deaths was an impressive level of petty. Really, that guy had it coming. And Barry's prized student saved the day!

Holy shit, that ending was so intense! Fuches is a great character, but I really freaking hate him, he is just a standout awful person, in a show full of awful people to varying degrees and types. He is going to murder Gene and set him up for killing Janice, not just to get him and Barry off the hook for her murder, but because he is jealous that Gene replaced him as Barry's new father figure. 

Sally is really such a selfish ass, but her monologue at the pool was just amazing. And while she might be in the "take anything thrown at them" stage of her career, that show they turned her story into really did sound awful. Awful in a way that I totally can see someone green lighting. I especially loved that after Barry listened to her whole rant, his eyes were about to pop out of his skull, and then he just went back to his line!

[thuganomics85]

Yeah, whatever issues I have with Sally, Sarah Goldberg really nailed that monologue.  Also, I did love the the basic riff over how a television producer would take her dark story about spousal abuse, and turn it into some kind of revenge fantasy where battered wives team up and go on killing sprees.  There is no doubt in my mind that would happen in real life.

Glad NoHo manages to survive a close call, but now the Chechens have basically turned on him due to admitting he wasn't a good leader.  He really is too nice, dammit!  Maybe he would have a better life as a simple manager!  Either way, I hope whatever he does next puts him back in Barry's world!

I still can't believe Hapless Gordon from Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story is giving me chills on this show.  Stephen Root has been on fire this season.  But Fuches better not kill Gene, dammit!

I probably could listen to Bill Hader saying  “Hey, Ike! You shit bird! You wanna little pieeeee?” on a loop for hours.  And that facial expression after Sally's speech.  Hader is a national treasure!

[arc]

Aaron Ryan (a mashup of Aaron Spelling, Ryan Murphy, and mmmmmmaybe Aaron Sorkin?) was hilariously awful. (BTW, his first-draft key art looks a lot like Kate Beaton's satirical "Strong Female Characters" comic.)

What's up with the Chechens? They didn't kill Hank, but he's still definitely not the boss anymore, right? TBH after they didn't cut him free from the bus with the rest, I was a little surprised they even rescued him from the bus in the end at all. Of course I don't want Hank to die, but I can't imagine why the Chechens would want to save him.

Also, and this may echo Goran from S1's overly baroque murder methods, but if the Burmese had just like pumped carbon monoxide into the shipping container they coulda killed the whole gang very easily. They coulda still mutilated the corpses afterwards if that was necessary to send a message back to Hank's overseas bosses.

As shitty as "Payback Ladies" would be, I dunno, I think Sally shoulda taken it. (Not that she was literally offered the part, this was more like a fast track into the final audition stages.) Nearly no one gets to only make art they're proud of. Commercial art is inevitably a compromise somewhere. I dunno, maybe I'm a sellout at heart.

Honestly, I was surprised Lindsay was on the level. Until she showed them the theater she had booked, I thought this might be some elaborate revenge prank on her for blowing off Aaron Ryan.

Fuches is the devil.

Speaking of rapid healing as we were last week, Barry sure was booking it in the forest despite that stab wound near his shoulder blade from ep 2x05. Meanwhile Fuches still has his own bite wound bandaged up.

[Nordly Beaumont]

7 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

But also symbolic. I guess. Does he help people see?
ETA: Or did NoHo mean to say "optimist"? Maybe both.

I can go with either or both! I feel like a nice, polite guy like Hank would know the word "optomist" - but maybe the pressure of thinking he was about to die knocked some his English out of his head.

Killing Janice has set the audience up to believe the show isn't afraid to kill off key characters. I don't think they could kill Fuches though because without Fuches, Barry is free to be an actor and live his own life. No one else threatens Barry's new life like Fuches. 

4 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

not just to get him and Barry off the hook for her murder, but because he is jealous that Gene replaced him as Barry's new father figure. 

,When Gene said that, I was like "oh nooooooo"

[Phishbulb]

11 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I loved that Barry just as effortlessly blew off the shit-pie-eating part (because he wanted to save Gene) as he effortlessly got the opportunity to read for a lead in a "feature" because he was tall.

The way Jay Roach kinda seemed intrigued by how Barry read for the role makes me think they just might consider him for the part, even though he walked out of the audition. It would be funny if Barry stumbled into success without even trying. 

(That was the real Jay Roach, btw- and the real Allison Jones. If you watch any good comedy TV show or film made in the last 10-15 years you'll invariably see Jones' name in the credits as the casting director). 

[Milburn Stone]

11 hours ago, Phishbulb said:

The way Jay Roach kinda seemed intrigued by how Barry read for the role makes me think they just might consider him for the part, even though he walked out of the audition.

Jay Roach totally wants Barry for the part. He'll probably have to argue for him, though.

Come to think of it, knowing he'll have to argue for him is probably half the reason he wants him.

Edited May 14, 2019 by Milburn Stone

[Pete Martell]

Bill and John Mulaney had a conversation about Barry a few days ago. There are some mild spoilers (mostly for what has already aired). A lot of it is just laughing, joking, and talking about SNL.

https://livestream.com/accounts/1249127/events/8676409/videos/191190202?t=1557702174070

Edited May 14, 2019 by Pete Martell

[scrb]

Hilarious that Sally and Gene were both jealous of Barry getting an audition.

Gene was going to go with him to the audition, though it would probably have been a private session charge.

Hank is going to need Barry to put him back in charge of the Chenchen mob.

 

23 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

Jay Roach totally wants Barry for the part.

Because he's 6-2!

[arc]

Gene is a pretty bad coach. Or hell, given the material, maybe his advice to “put a little mustard” on “pie” was bang on.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Fingers crossed that Gene doesn't die! I wasn't sure exactly what Fuches was planning at first, but as soon as Gene said that he was like a father to Barry and that he was so proud of him, I was sure that whatever Fuches may have initially planned was going to turn into Gene dying.

Sally is a self-absorbed pain in the ass, but her monologue was the kind of stream of consciousness truth that you really get outside of a 12 year old girl's diary - some of it is profound, some of it is ridiculous, but it's all true.. When she said that if Barry get that part, she is going to be 100 times more insane, I thought wow, we haven't reached the ceiling on that yet?

And then to bookend Sally's monologue, we got NoHo Hank's when he thought he was going to die on the barbeque bus.

As for whether he really meant optometrist or optimist, I'm fine with either because before that he was talking about how he should be a hotel manager.

 

Sally: I just I feel like I need to say something, Barry.
Barry: Okay. 
Sally: This piece that I'm doing for class. It's exactly what I should be doing.
Barry: Yeah, no, and it's great. What you're doing is-
Sally: I'm terrified, okay? Because my piece is real. It's not a character. It's me. Raw, unapologetic truth with a capital T. I mean, all caps, actually. I'm thinking like a writer now. I mean, this was stuff that I couldn't even talk about without lying. And here I am, about to strip naked in front of a bunch of strangers and share something that I am massively ashamed of. Not literally. I don't believe in nudity unless it drives the story forward. I'm afraid that they're going to judge me, and I'm afraid that Sam's going to find out and do something crazy. But I have to do this. It's my story to tell. But then, I mean, so many other women have the same story. What, am I a spokesperson for them now? Could I be the face of a movement? I mean, what if I get it wrong? I mean, I resent the fact that Nick can get up there and talk about his "stomach condition," and it's not like he has to be the poster boy for bulimia. But I get up there, and whatever I say, it's like, what are we saying about women? I mean, this is just my story! "But what if you get it wrong, Sally? I don't know. You can't get it wrong, Sally. But you can't not tell it either, Sally, because it's who you are. Which makes this thing that my agents sent me on today so fucking insulting. Payback Ladies? It's just another shit male idea of what strong women are. Oh, oh, oh, grab a gun and some stilettos and get a goddamn blowout. And look how strong you are now, Sally! It's bullshit! Which, by the way, so is this. It's quite possibly the worst thing I've ever read. But you want to know the worst part? You want to know what's really driving me fucking crazy? I am so jealous that you're reading for this. I have never had a director's session for a feature, which is the same thing as a movie, P.S. And I have been doing this for way longer, and I think you'd agree that I am way better. I made you! And I'm actually represented by Gersh. Well, at least I was. I don't even know if they'd rep me anymore after what I said in there today, but still at least I held my ground, because I am an artist, okay, an artist, and this is not fucking art. But then, I mean, to be honest, of course I'm so happy for you. I mean, of course I want you to get this part, and I want to be the one to help you learn your lines and fix your inflections. But I need you to know that if you do get it, it's going to make me like a hundred times more insane.

NoHo Hank: All right, this is it. Yeah, this is it. I've killed us all. Okay, um, hey, guys? Since we're all about to die in a moment, I have to be honest about something, okay? I have been deceiving you guys. And before we die, I have to come clean. I know you look at me and you see hard-as-nails criminal, stone-cold killer, ice man. But, uh, this is lie. In fact, I have been lying about who I am my entire life. Real talk? I should not be manager of crime syndicate. I should be manager of hotel, chain of hotels, instead of being this conning man, playing the role of the ruthless gangster. I mean, that is not who I am, because I'm nice. I'm polite. I'm optometrist by nature, you know? But because I did not have courage to stand up and be my true self, nice guy, and instead chose pants-on-fire existence, we are all on the barbecue bus. So, guys, I am really sorry for, uh, convincing you I was ruthless leader. I will regret it for the rest of my life. Probably two more minutes. So, in closing, hopefully there is afterlife, and I can host you all in heaven and make you delicious appetizers. Wouldn't that be something, guys? Guys? Guys!

NoHo Hank: Guys, wait, hold phone. Is this about what I said on bus? Because I was delegating. Okay? To empower you. That's what a good leader does. And, uh, like a good leader, I'm gonna get us some Ubers. Once I get to a place with enough bars. Guys, it's hard to, uh, type and walk.

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

So, in closing, hopefully there is afterlife, and I can host you all in heaven and make you delicious appetizers.

If NoHo Hank survives to the end of the series (in at least several more years) rather than dying in the last episode's last scene, maybe we will see him as a cook in prison making artistic appetizers out of smuggled-in caviar.

[Nordly Beaumont]

4 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I should be manager of hotel, chain of hotels,

He'd be great at it! 

[Milburn Stone]

5 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Fingers crossed that Gene doesn't die! I wasn't sure exactly what Fuches was planning at first, but as soon as Gene said that he was like a father to Barry and that he was so proud of him, I was sure that whatever Fuches may have initially planned was going to turn into Gene dying.

Yes. Fuches felt real jealousy in that moment. He wants to be Barry's father.

Who knew? Until now, we thought Fuches relationship with Barry was purely "user/usee," with no investment for Fuches other than desire for his own self-preservation. It's still all about Fuches and not what's right for Barry, but with an emotional dimension we never suspected.

[shapeshifter]

36 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

It's still all about Fuches and not what's right for Barry,

--just as it is with Gene.

Spoiler

I am a tiny bit worried for the life of Fuches since in last night's interview on Late Night, Hader and Colbert did not mention Stephen Root.

And here's the hilarious bit Hader and Colbert did last night:
https://youtu.be/7Cxgt8yFP9k

Edited May 14, 2019 by shapeshifter

[DrSpaceman]

I don't want Gene to die

Agree with others that Sally the character may challenge Cam on Modern Family as the most self absorbed petty assface on TV, but that monologue the actress did describing her "Feelings" was like.......wow, that took some effort. 

Initially I thought she made the right call on not accepting that TV show pitch, but then thinking about it myself, she probably should have put more thought into it.  TV and acting I am sure is like anything else.  To be successful, there is going to be some scut work and shitty roles you suffer through to get name recognition and the opportunity for more stuff.  Most don't just jump from unknown actress to doing Oscar winning dramas as the lead.  Patrick Stewart even famously had some horribly bad roles early in his career.  It doesn't mean you can't do better stuff later.  You think Tom Hanks when he did Bossom Buddies was thinking, "This is sure to start me on the path to the top of my profession!" 

And Hank again stealing the show.  I would watch him in a spin off. 

7 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Sally is a self-absorbed pain in the ass, but her monologue was the kind of stream of consciousness truth that you really get outside of a 12 year old girl's diary - some of it is profound, some of it is ridiculous, but it's all true.. When she said that if Barry get that part, she is going to be 100 times more insane, I thought wow, we haven't reached the ceiling on that yet?

That is exactly what she is like.  A 12 year old girl in a woman's body trying to make it as a "serious" actress in Hollywood. 

Which just will never happen.  Not as long as she has her current worldview and attitude

[Blakeston]

I'm really not buying that Sally would turn down a lead role on a major TV series.

I get what the writers are going for - that she's delusionally cast herself, in her own mind, as the face of #MeToo, and she delusionally thinks that her scene with Barry is so good that she'll become a star on her own terms.

But we're talking about a narcissist whose only real concern has been becoming famous, and has been tortured by the thought that she might not make it. I really don't buy that she'd throw away an enormous opportunity that could easily make her a star. It would have been much more in-character for her to sell out her principles for a shot at fame.

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, Blakeston said:

I'm really not buying that Sally would turn down a lead role on a major TV series.

I get what the writers are going for - that she's delusionally cast herself, in her own mind, as the face of #MeToo, and she delusionally thinks that her scene with Barry is so good that she'll become a star on her own terms.

But we're talking about a narcissist whose only real concern has been becoming famous, and has been tortured by the thought that she might not make it. I really don't buy that she'd throw away an enormous opportunity that could easily make her a star. It would have been much more in-character for her to sell out her principles for a shot at fame.

That^ all makes sense, but so does Sally consistently shooting herself in the foot, figuratively.

[Ottis]

On 5/13/2019 at 9:45 AM, Phishbulb said:

The way Jay Roach kinda seemed intrigued by how Barry read for the role makes me think they just might consider him for the part, even though he walked out of the audition. It would be funny if Barry stumbled into success without even trying. 

17 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

Come to think of it, knowing he'll have to argue for him is probably half the reason he wants him.

Agree on both. Maybe he's so intrigued by Barry not giving a shit that he just can't leave it alone. Could mean an even bigger role, which I would enjoy because it would annoy Sally.

14 hours ago, arc said:

Gene is a pretty bad coach. Or hell, given the material, maybe his advice to “put a little mustard” on “pie” was bang on.

I've actually been impressed at Gene's knowledge, I thought he was a complete dunderhead. But I have no connection with The Biz so all this coaching is new to me.

4 hours ago, Blakeston said:

I'm really not buying that Sally would turn down a lead role on a major TV series.

I was stuck on this, too. We needed to see that something, her relationship with Barry, maybe, had changed Sally. But I haven't seen that. Barry is a prop in her Sally-focused world. Maybe it was her interaction with grown up Sam that did it, but if so, that was subtle. I *can* see Sally casting herself as the face of #MeToo, for the attention, but again we haven't seen any groundwork on that beyond her Sam story. I hope his name is Sam, I've forgotten.

That was quite the convoluted evil plot to kill Hank and the gang. Leave them in a hot container, transport them on a school bus to what I assume is an isolated location, and THEN burn the bus? It was missing only the Bond villain explanation.

Edited May 14, 2019 by Ottis

[Nordly Beaumont]

7 hours ago, Blakeston said:

I'm really not buying that Sally would turn down a lead role on a major TV series.

I get what the writers are going for - that she's delusionally cast herself, in her own mind, as the face of #MeToo, and she delusionally thinks that her scene with Barry is so good that she'll become a star on her own terms.

I look at it this way, if this tv show came to her before she started writing her scene, she would have jumped at it and convinced herself it was empowering. But she's been earlobes deep thinking about her abusive marriage and the shame she feels about staying "for the apology" - her agent saw her scene and sent her up for this part. Like she was making fun of it, or at least making light of it. She was offended and hurt. Her agent didn't mean it that way, but because of Sally being so deep in thinking about her abuse, the plot offended her enough to say no.

So they're going to have 400 people watching them do their scenes? Like, those really bad short little scenes?

Edited May 14, 2019 by Nordly Beaumont

[aemom]

On 5/13/2019 at 4:56 AM, thuganomics85 said:

Yeah, whatever issues I have with Sally, Sarah Goldberg really nailed that monologue.  Also, I did love the the basic riff over how a television producer would take her dark story about spousal abuse, and turn it into some kind of revenge fantasy where battered wives team up and go on killing sprees.  There is no doubt in my mind that would happen in real life.

There is no doubt in my kind that people would watch it.

On 5/13/2019 at 10:51 PM, Milburn Stone said:

Jay Roach totally wants Barry for the part. He'll probably have to argue for him, though.

Come to think of it, knowing he'll have to argue for him is probably half the reason he wants him.

I totally agree that Barry will get the part.

Fuches is a loon for trying to kill Cousineau. Assuming that Barry is able to stop him in time, I think that Barry is going to have to kill Fuches. He's just way too much of a loose cannon at this point.

[cpcathy]

The predicament of the show is that it’s not The Sopranos, meaning Sopranos could whack nearly any character they wanted. I don’t see them getting rid of Fuches, Gene, Barry (duh), or NoHo Hank. They are all integral to the show, Fuches being last on the list. I’m sure the show will find a way out of the predicament but if we get many more seasons, someone’s going to have to go eventually, or they are going to have to focus on the acting class and Barry’s acting jobs. 

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, aemom said:

Fuches is a loon for trying to kill Cousineau. Assuming that Barry is able to stop him in time, I think that Barry is going to have to kill Fuches. He's just way too much of a loose cannon at this point.

24 minutes ago, cpcathy said:

The predicament of the show is that it’s not The Sopranos, meaning Sopranos could whack nearly any character they wanted. I don’t see them getting rid of Fuches, Gene, Barry (duh), or NoHo Hank. They are all integral to the show, Fuches being last on the list. . . .

I'd include Sally on that list of indispensables. 
If they do whack Fuches, he could live on in Barry's mind.

[sjankis630]

Wow a dark episode and yet still funny.

Gene working with Barry:

Alright Barry let’s go over the script.
“Scene 1, loss”
“Scene two, you shit in a pie.”
“So relief?”
Lol

And Noho Hank on the bus.

“We are all on the barbecue bus.”

[Lady Iris]

I know I love a show when it ends and my first reaction is, "NOOOO". I love this show and it was a double whammy since learning next week is the season finale. I'm so bummed. I think I may be more bummed about Barry ending for the season than GoT ending altogether.

I've always had a thing for Bill Hader and he is just so damn good in this, I can't even. Henry Winkler as Gene is absolute perfection. Hank? Gawd I love him awful too. Milton "Swingline Stapler" Stephen Root as Fuches is so stinkin' awesome at being evil. Who knew??? I want more. Its over too soon.

Ok, nutty fangirl rant over.

Was that really Janice in the trunk? I'd think they'd have staggered back facing a decomposed corpse like that. I really cant wait to see how this plays out.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

41 minutes ago, Lady Iris said:

Was that really Janice in the trunk? I'd think they'd have staggered back facing a decomposed corpse like that. I really cant wait to see how this plays out.

The smell alone should have knocked Gene back a few feet!

[TVbitch]

Just caught up with this series. Can't say that is has the same magic as the season one, but it's still entertaining and the acting is great.

I had some laughs at the feral girl episode, but like others, I thought it was a dream sequence or something. I was kind of put off when it all turned out to be real. I mean, of course, this show is already absurd and often campy, but it kind of stayed within certain defined boundaries of that. That is why last season still felt so real and pulled on my emotions quite a bit. The feral girl thing breached those boundaries and kind of pushed it to another level that made me see the whole thing as more of a cartoon that even the actors are winking at.  

[atlantaloves]

Lady Iris....I totally agree with you. I love those guys so much, this is the best comedy on television. I think Hader is a doll...those broad shoulders! Yeah, I said it. 

[Lady Iris]

4 minutes ago, atlantaloves said:

Lady Iris....I totally agree with you. I love those guys so much, this is the best comedy on television. I think Hader is a doll...those broad shoulders! Yeah, I said it. 

He's 6' 2". *nods nods*

[cpcathy]

Bill is the guest on this week's Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend podcast, and they basically spend an hour laughing at each other's jokes. You all know how much of a giggle machine Bill is.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S2.E7 inside the episode

[ElectricBoogaloo]

SEASON FINALE!

S2.E8: berkman > block

Quote

Barry is out for vengeance. Noho Hank faces the looming threat of being sent home. Sally makes a split-second decision on the night of the acting class big performance. Fuches turns to an unexpected source for help.

Written by Alec Berg & Bill Hader; directed by Bill Hader.

Promo:

[Nordly Beaumont]

Man, I don't even know what to say about that! Really not liking Barry right now. I mean, I know he snapped and I know his victims weren't exactly innocent, but that was a lot of killing. Fuches was right "Not so altruistic now!" Barry could have owned up to killing Janice and saved Gene. He knows the police are inept enough that they could have missed the Chechen pin, or misinterpreted it. But Barry only wants to save Barry.

I wish they would have written Sally's improvised scene a little better (and longer) to make it seem more realistic that everyone would be so impressed.

So what was the deal with the bullet on Esther's body? It couldn't be the bullet that killed her.

Good episode but not as good as last week's. I still wish we had more episodes this year! I do love this show! 

[Dancingjaneway]

That was a great finale. At first I was like "oh shit" because Fuches told Gene Barry did it but then I remembered that Gene knows him as Barry Block not by his actual name. I was really hoping Fuches would get killed because I really hate him. I'm still so upset that Janice is gone. I loved her so much and I loved her with Gene. Speaking of Gene Henry Winkler was freaking brilliant tonight. He nailed that absolute sadness & broken feeling when you lose someone. I'm not a fan of the new detectives there is just something about them that irks me. Sally continues to be an absolute piece of shit. I wish she had bombed during her little skit. I would have loved to see Sally die last season but I know that won't happen because she is Barry's world. She is the person who will end up taking him down(not literally as in turning him in or killing him) in the end because she is his vice. So glad to see NoHo survive. He is just so damn funny. I can't wait to see what next season brings. Bill Hader is simply amazing. 

[thuganomics85]

Damn, Barry just went full John Wick there at the end, except he failed to kill Fuches and just murdered everyone else.  Granted, they were all criminals who knew the score, but that was dark!  Despite his best efforts, Barry really can not get away from his dark, violent tendencies.  Brutal, but realistic, I think.  And Bill Hader is just crushing it as always.

So, in the end, Sally falls back to exaggerating and even lying about her story, and while she seems regretful about that, it looks like it impressed the audience.  I guess her story next season is going to be about her dealing and debating over if she is willing to sellout what she likely considers to be "an artist", in order to gain fame.

It was kind of dark, but I'm guessing that the bullet Barry used on Ester was one that NoHo gave him, so the head Chechen guy was smiling because he thought NoHo killed her instead.  On one hand, I'm glad he's still alive, but if this puts him deeper into the gang, I worry that the poor guy can't handle it!  Let the man just deal with finding the right table to put heroin on (which he did a spectacular job with!)

Gene knows the truth!  Oh, boy!

Saw that Bill Hader directed this one as well.  The man continues to impress!

I'm not sure which season I preferred, but the fact that both of them feel like they have the same quality is damn impressive and a win in my book.  It is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows.  Can't wait till next season!  I hope Bill Hader gets another nomination (s), and while I will be fine with Henry Winkler again too, I really do hope Anthony Carrigan and Stephen Root get some recognition, because the former really has become a scene-stealer and the latter has excelled at making my skin crawl in the best way possible!

[shapeshifter]

S2E8 "berkman > block"

15 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

It is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows.

Is mine.
For all the reasons included in your post, @thuganomics85, plus, I really appreciate the shorter format. Both the shorter (but not too short) episodes, and the shorter seasons. No fluff or filler.

  
  

There were a lot of layers of meaning to Barry killing his protégé. Barry was killing the surrogate of himself.
  
  
  

15 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Gene knows the truth!  Oh, boy!

No shit (as NoHo would say). 
That is how to do a cliffhanger.

Plus, will Sally ever be sucked into Barry's vortex?
She seems to be a survivor, but her life is barely of value, on every level.
And yet, she alone is unharmed by the shadow that Barry seems to cast upon those in his life.
    
  
  

How did the calling card bullet wind up on Esther?
  
   

I guess Fuches was going to kill Gene and make it look like a suicide, but then he didn't. I guess he figured Barry would kill him if he did that, but now Barry wants to kill him anyway. 

Edited May 20, 2019 by shapeshifter

[arc]

Yeah, Barry couldn't have actually killed Esther with the calling card bullet or it would have deformed on impact. This one was pristine. Not even any blood. But Barry wasn't in any state of mind to plant it. But I don't think Hank did it either because he was cowering behind the altar pretty much the whole time.

What a phenomenal piece of writing to tie up all the gang stuff and have real consequences for Barry while still leaving all the major characters (Barry, Fuches, Gene, Sally, Hank) available. I do think Esther was underwritten and I'm still sad most of the gang members died. Esp Mayrbek. In a way, Mayrbek's death was a bit like how Chris died last season: Barry didn't do the right thing and he ended up killing a relatively innocent guy because of it. I know, Mayrbek joined the gang, presumably of his own free will, but he was fairly harmless before Barry trained the gang.

I think Cristobal escaped. And wrecking the monastery leaves the stash house available for next season.

This episode was so tense I didn't even register the very dark joke in Sasha's piece until I read it in the AV Club review: her dumb "I saw a horse in urban London" moment was her story because she had really repressed that her uncle burned down her childhood home with her mom still in it. "But that…that is not relevant to this story, is it?" Yiiiiiiiiikes.

What a helluva season cliffhanger.

[Lady Iris]

Friggin Sally. Good thing Barry wasn't in the mood to particularly care what she did.

Hank popping his head up at the end was just so darn cute.

Feel like this season just started and now its over.

[shapeshifter]

6 hours ago, Lady Iris said:

Friggin Sally

And yet — if I understood it and remember correctly — Sally slapping Barry caused him to spring into action, planting the Chechan symbol in the car trunk, which freed Gene. <--remembered wrong.

Just rewatched. 
Sally slapping Barry didn't do much.
Right after that NoHo Hank texts Barry that it's all good because Fuches is there, and THAT sets Barry into a killing rage that mirrors the war flashback when he wrongly killed the innocents because his buddy was killed.

Edited May 20, 2019 by shapeshifter

[Lady Iris]

True. Just occurred to me that Janice's body is still missing too. What did Barry do with her?

[Arcey]

I couldn't tell what was actually in the trunk. It looked like clothing, maybe with someone facing the inside of the trunk. It seemed to be Janice, but that's not possible, since she would be a skeleton by now. But maybe her clothing?

Maybe I don't have the correct time line. To me it seems like Janice was killed about a year before, but now that I think of it, maybe months is more like it. Anyone have a better idea of how much time has passed?

[arc]

Wait, what? I assumed Barry put the Chechen marker in the trunk when he found Gene. Gene was so catatonic beside the car that he might not have registered that Barry was there. He very likely didn’t move away, so that’s where the police apprehended him. So the police have the car and the body.

Sally slapping Barry backstage in the fancy theater briefly woke him out of his inner turmoil, but he didn’t have time to go back to the car and plant evidence after Gene was taken in. He sank back into fear and impotent rage until Hank inadvertently told him where Fuches was.

[atlantaloves]

Now that Gene knows, he's gonna charge Barry triple for those private acting sessions let me tell ya!   

[tennisgurl]

I would totally watch just a whole bottle episode of the ridiculous monologues that Barry's acting buddies come up with. 

That took a really dark turn really fast! Granted they were criminals, but he just full on slaughtered a room full of people, many of whom Barry knew and trained and who liked and trusted him. Killing a room full of any people like that, criminals or not, is a seriously dark place to go, especially for Barry who has previously tried to cut off that darker part of himself. He even killed his protege, who it looked like put his gun down for a second before Barry gunned him down in cold blood. And despite all of that, he still didnt manage to actually kill the one asshole he was trying to kill!

So will Gene know its actually Barry who is the killer, or did he get thrown off by Barry's real name vs his stage name? I mean, he has to at least make the connection a bit, right? And Barry using his real name on the phone is certainly going to have consequences. 

Fuches truly is a cockroach, he just always manages to weasel his way out of everything. Not a super comedy heavy episode, but one part that had me dying was when the gangsters were all trying to figure out if Fuches was talking to them, or was talking to someone on a bluetooth phone! The struggle is real!

So Sally ends up lying about her abusive marriage, and everyone loves her fake "badass girl power hero" moment, the way they might not have loved the messy, sad truth. As much as Sally wants to be an "artist", I think she will get sucked up in the accolades and success and milk it for all its worth in the end. Or at least, maybe she should just use it to get her foot in the door. I mean, Tom Hanks started with Bosom Buddies, not Saving Private Ryan. 

Bill Hader really just amazes me even more every week, the way he can switch from hilarious to tragic to scary is just incredible to witness. Dude should be freaking swimming in Emmys. 

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, arc said:

Wait, what? I assumed Barry put the Chechen marker in the trunk when he found Gene. Gene was so catatonic beside the car that he might not have registered that Barry was there. He very likely didn’t move away, so that’s where the police apprehended him. So the police have the car and the body.

Sally slapping Barry backstage in the fancy theater briefly woke him out of his inner turmoil, but he didn’t have time to go back to the car and plant evidence after Gene was taken in. He sank back into fear and impotent rage until Hank inadvertently told him where Fuches was.

7 hours ago, Lady Iris said:

True. Just occurred to me that Janice's body is still missing too. What did Barry do with her?

I was wrong about that. Corrected above.

3 hours ago, Arcey said:

I couldn't tell what was actually in the trunk. It looked like clothing, maybe with someone facing the inside of the trunk. It seemed to be Janice, but that's not possible, since she would be a skeleton by now. But maybe her clothing?

And, last week, I saw it as a real person's legs in pants in the trunk.
This week, I don't think the cops would be so convinced of her murder by Gene or later the Chechens if there was no body.

  
  

  
  

3 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Fuches truly is a cockroach,

I just rewatched after reading your entire spot-on post, @tennisgurl, and this^ ("Fuches truly is a cockroach") rang so true; Fuches actually fuckin' (or is that "Fuchin'," heh?) scurries like a cockroach.
ETA: I guess Sally is a kind of cockroach too.
But, wow, Stephen Root manages to convince us that this incapable slimeball really could hypnotize several gangs of killers to do his bidding. Satan incarnate? 
When Fuches says to the gangs, "actually pulling the trigger, ending a life, well, that takes someone with no soul," for half a minute I thought he hesitated to kill Gene because he (Fuches) had a soul, but, no, he doesn't kill because he doesn't want to be responsible, but he's fine orchestrating killing.

And, BTW, would Barry have gone on that killing rampage without Fuches having orchestrated his life for these years since he came back with his dishonorable discharge from killing the innocent? IDK. He did it in Afghanistan. But a real friend would've at least steered Barry towards therapy rather than being a professional assassin.
  
  
  

3 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

So Sally ends up lying about her abusive marriage, and everyone loves her fake "badass girl power hero" moment, the way they might not have loved the messy, sad truth.

Why does Sally think being an artist means telling the truth? That's more like being a historian. I mean, if I paint a portrait of someone, I don't hesitate to take off a few pounds or years -- being an artist is creating something more than a photograph or unedited documentary. Hader and Berg are having Sally call truth-telling "art," but do they really think that? Or is it just supposed to be Sally being wrong about being an artist?

Edited May 20, 2019 by shapeshifter

[arc]

Oh yeah, I assumed the Block/Berkman thing will keep Gene from knowing the full truth right away, but I had forgotten he gave BOTH names to Leo on the phone.

I hope Barry doesn’t kill Leo next season.

[drinkduff]

Gene knew Barry Block was a stage name and that his last name was Berkman. He said it to Fuches at the cabin when Fuches asked about the poster with Block on it. 

[arc]

Oh, in that case the Barry-Gene relationship has to be irreparably damaged.

To be scrupulously fair, that’s not on Fuches. It’s ultimately because Barry murdered Janice.

[cpcathy]

Anthony Carrigan deserves Best Supporting Actor at the Emmys this year. He is hysterical. I thought HW is only okay, but then, he's never been a favorite of mine.

[Ottis]

Yeah not buying Fuchs as being able to pull that off. I expected Cristobal and his team to shoot him during his little monologue. 

All the drama with the actors is too much for me. Barry needs to move on.