Barry: you're charming (4x03)

You know you've got something special when the sight of a man dangling dead from a bunch of cords out of the ceiling can make you... laugh? This show is fucking weird.

Cons:

I feel like the part of this show I've always had the hardest part connecting with is the part that's actually about acting and the world of Hollywood. There were a lot of things I liked about Sally's scenes as a teacher. I liked that she repeated Cousineau's tactics and seemingly got a genuine reaction out of an aspiring actor, only to be told by everyone else that her behavior was abusive and unnecessary. It was a good way to subvert expectations. But at the same time, the woman she screamed at ends up sticking around, claiming Sally's method actually worked. That felt a little cheap to me. Almost a validation of the thing the scene seemed to be trying to repudiate. The whole concept of getting to some deeper, truer place in the name of acting is sort of... farcical, right? What is the show trying to do with Sally's character, with the fact that she's here, back where she started, in some sort of position of authority but ultimately with nothing to show for all her hard work? Maybe I just need to keep watching to understand more.

Pros:

The stuff with the reporter, O'Neil, was so bizarre and hilarious. I loved Gene realizing what a fucking idiot he'd been, and trying to walk it back. The scene with Gene inside O'Neil's house, talking to his wife, was one of my favorites, just the utter absurdity of him having gotten away with something so brazen as breaking this woman's window and coming inside to smash up her husband's stuff. And later, we see that after some time with Moss, O'Neil is reduced to near catatonia, mysteriously speaking only in German, a language he apparently didn't speak before. That's just the kind of absurdity that makes this show so funny and great.

The psychology of Barry as a character feels sort of... out of my grasp, but in the best way. I love how he seems baffled and hurt that Cousineau would dare tell anyone the truth that he threatened his family. "I apologized for that", as if that's really going to be enough. In his head, somehow, he thinks it will be. It's so strange and kind of heartbreaking. When he's speaking to the Feds, and to Witness Protection, he repeats that Sally will be coming along with him. He has the totally delusional belief that Sally will want to leave behind her whole life and be with him, just because she said she felt safe with him.

The highlight of this episode was probably the Barry and Hank phone call. God, it was like witnessing a horrible, tragic breakup. Because Hank is right, Barry is only thinking for himself. He's actively spilling all the beans about Hank, Christobal, all of their criminal activity, then calling him up and telling him to do as he's told, and put a hit out on Cousineau. Hank has finally had enough, and on the one hand it's hard not to be sort of... proud of him for standing up for himself, but on the other hand it's so tough to see someone who actually had affection for Barry turn his back on him so decisively.

The assassination attempt is one of the most comedic, bizarre, memorable scenes this show has ever done. Barry's dead-pan certainty that the man in the back of the room has a weapon and is here to kill him, the man shooting his own hand off by mistake, the sniper taking out all the agents in the room but missing Barry entirely, Barry getting the gun, the man collapsing through the ceiling, dead, hanging from wires... Barry's bemused little expression, looking at his would-be assassins, made me laugh out loud.

So now... Barry is on the loose, maybe? Hank's plan to kill him went terribly wrong, Fuches is still inside not knowing what's happening, Gene's life is probably in very serious danger, and what will Sally do if Barry turns up wanting to run off with her? This show is so bizarre, and I still really have no idea how it's all going to turn out.

9.5/10