DISCLAIMER: This recap of the Barry season finale “starting now” has spoilers. Proceed at your peril.
Welcome back, hit people-turned-actors! Barry‘s explosive season finale packs an emotional wallop, reminding us why it’s one of the best TV series. The performances in “starting now” are next-level, catapulting the whole presentation into the stratosphere. Additionally, there’s a lot of mirroring (literal and figurative) à la the exercise from Gene’s acting class in this episode. This former acting student is proud.
Barry gets his comeuppance, but I can’t imagine he’ll stay behind bars long since the show was renewed for a fourth season. Meanwhile, Sally delivers a deadly blow and leaves Hollywood in the dust. Gene and Jim get closure for Janice’s murder. Thankfully, my babies NoHo Hank and Cristobal are safe! I was going to riot if anything remotely negative happened to them.
Ready to delve into “starting now”? Let’s get to it.
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We open with Barry (Bill Hader) standing on the beach from last week’s episode in an afterlife of sorts. Among the horde of his victims, Barry spots Gene (Henry Winkler) and Sally (Sarah Goldberg).
Suddenly, Barry wakes in a hospital bed. After breaking out of said hospital bed, he returns to his apartment to find a note from Nick and Jermaine mentioning they left for Tijuana to try out their act. Then, Barry sees Sally sitting in his room with an unexpected request. She asks him to scare Natalie like he threatened to do for Diane from BanShe.
Meanwhile, Gene and Annie (Laura San Giacomo) are having a meeting with Tom (Fred Melamed) and Bob Jacobson (Phil Reeves). Bob explains that he wants Gene’s masterclass series to cover Our Town, which will receive the film treatment and an exclusive theatrical release. However, Gene campaigns for his class to tackle Annie’s original play that she wrote in the 70s.
Jim Moss (Robert Wisdom) calls Gene, urging the latter to visit him. Gene obliges, and we see him sit in an empty garage while Jim interrogates him. It’s reminiscent of Gene’s acting exercises wherein one student “mirrors” what the other does.
Next, Mae Dunn (Sarah Burns) wonders where Albert went. She attempts to question Fuches (Stephen Root) and admits she knows his real identity and his affiliation with the Chechen mob. However, Fuches refuses to talk. We see Fuches stand among a line of inmates to receive his jumpsuit. He tells the officer there that his name is “The Raven,” a.k.a. the formidable alias NoHo Hank crafted for him.
Then, Jim demands Gene say Janice’s name and declare his love for her. But when Jim asks Gene if he loves Barry, Gene reveals he doesn’t. This scene is a stark contrast to Barry ordering Gene to state his love at the beginning of the season.
Later, Shane Taylor (Anthony Molinari), from the biker gang that tried to take out Barry a few episodes ago, silently materializes behind Barry. He knocks Barry unconscious and throws a handful of punches at Sally. While Barry’s still out cold, Shane proceeds to choke Sally. The camera lingers on her as she fights for her life. When it seems like she might lose, Sally stabs Shane in the neck.
Shane wanders into what appears to be a recording booth to examine the damage Sally inflicted. Sally pursues him, armed with a bat, and delivers blow after blow. We watch it happen in silence as Barry wakes, observing the carnage while utterly slack-jawed.
Sally emerges from the booth, falling to her knees. Barry cups her face in his hands and urges the shellshocked Sally to repeat what he says. There’s that mirroring exercise again — art imitates life and vice versa. Goldberg steals the show here. Barry encourages Sally to head home and forget all about the fact that she just murdered someone.
Meanwhile, my sweet baby NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan) sits in a dank, dimly-lit room while chained to a radiator. Yandar (Nick Gracer) calls out to Hank, claiming he’s free of his restraints, and he and Akhmal (Turhan Troy Caylak) plan on rescuing Hank.
Unfortunately, Elena’s guards sick a vicious beast on Yandar and Akhmal, and we hear the sounds of murder intermingled with ferocious roars. It’s utterly terrifying. Suddenly, the creature slams against the wall, the one protecting Hank from the gruesome killings. Hank feverishly tries to remove his handcuffs. This bit kept me on the edge of my seat.
As Hank frees himself, a guard barges in, brandishing his gun. Hank knocks him out, steals the man’s gun and opens fire on the other room before the beast gets him. Carrigan delivers an emotionally-charged performance.
Hank heads upstairs and observes while Elena (Krizia Bajos) essentially performs conversion therapy on Cristobal (Michael Irby). Hank shoots her and her boy toy in the head, saving his beloved. He and Cristobal embrace, and I’m emotional again.
Next, Barry returns to the same desolate place where he shot those two men in “forgiving jeff.” He heaves Shane into a burial pit. Albert (James Hiroyuki Liao) calls out to Barry. Barry, shocked to see Albert after all these years and falls to his knees while Albert demands to know how much Fuches paid him to kill their friend Chris. There are loads of confrontations in this episode. Barry, speechless, lets out a gut-wrenching sob. Albert trains his weapon on Barry.
However, he refrains from pulling the trigger, citing that Barry saved his life in Afghanistan. Albert knows Barry’s not evil, but the killing must stop. “Starting now,” he says. This scene packs such a punch, and both Liao and Hader churn out piss-and-vinegar performances. I love the callback to Barry’s phrase, “starting now,” from when he decides to stop killing people and focus on acting.
Albert walks away, leaving Barry crouched on the ground with his head between his hands. It’s a powerful shot.
Later, Barry talks to Sally on the phone, urging her to stay put until he picks her up. They’re leaving LA. Before he hangs up, Barry tells Sally he loves her. Sally responds with, “Oh, do you?” which sounds like “I love you too.” Honestly, if I didn’t have my subtitles on, I wouldn’t have caught that. Sally boards a plane bound for Joplin.
Jim calls Barry and asks him to pop over for a visit so they can chat about Janice. Barry claims he’s too busy, so he hangs up and phones Gene. Gene claims Jim is unhinged, and he knows everything. We see a gun next to Gene. He tells Barry he needs to take care of the situation.
Barry speeds to Jim’s house through the uncharacteristically empty streets of Los Angeles. Even residential neighborhoods are usually hopping. He confronts Gene, realizing that the latter plans to kill Jim. Barry orders Gene to leave.
Then, Barry wanders into Jim’s home. He approaches Jim from behind while the older man pours himself a drink. As Barry raises his weapon, we suddenly hear a flurry of angry voices demanding Barry drop his gun. The officers swarm into view. As they arrest Barry and cart him away, we see Gene in the hallway. Gene and Jim orchestrated the whole thing.
In the episode’s final shot, Mae Dunn embraces Jim while Gene talks to some cops. After they leave, we see Gene and Jim acknowledge each other, while inside Jim’s living room stands a framed picture of Janice. The two men who loved her most. Gene departs, leaving Jim and the photo of Janice in the shot. Brilliant.
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Goldberg delivers her show-best work this season, taking Sally to some dark places. But her performance in “starting now” is visceral and fiery, brimming with the darkness that starts to take hold of Sally in episode seven. Hader never fails on the performance front, but, like Goldberg, his work is a tour de force this season. I’m starting Sarah Goldberg and Bill Hader’s Emmy campaigns right now.
I can always tell when Hader directs because of the incredible shots infused with symbolism; this episode is no exception. What a wholly satisfying, poignant finale that ties loose ends while leaving enough threads for exploration in Season 4.
Perhaps the best part about Season 3 is the character trajectories, from Barry’s rapid descent into darkness and the sins of his past catching up with him to Sally’s equally rapid rise and fall from grace. Then, there’s Gene’s slow ascent on the ladder of success. It’s intriguing. I could write an essay on it (and I just might).
Barry‘s third season is a swirling, turbulent firestorm of dark humor, grisly murder, profound character beats and meaty performances. I need Season 4 now.
Do you think Sally will spend much time in Joplin next season after erupting her career? Will Fuches and Barry remain imprisoned? Will we continue to get more adorable scenes featuring Hank and Cristobal in domestic bliss? Only time will tell.
Barry Seasons 1-3 are now streaming on HBO Max.
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Does Sally say “Oh, you do?”? I’ve watched that scene 5 times now and I still hear (and see) “I love you too.”
Wondering if that was just a mistake in the subtitles
It very well could have been a mistake in the subtitles. I thought I heard “I love you too” as well. It might be time for a rewatch!