DISCLAIMER: This recap of Barry Season 4 Episode 5, “tricky legacies,” contains spoilers. Proceed at your peril.
Welcome back, hit people-turned-actors! We’re officially in the second half of the season, and things have changed significantly since last week, with “tricky legacies” marking a new chapter in Barry’s and Sally’s life undercover. Bill Hader directs the outing from his script, and, in true Bill fashion, it’s a doozy.
I love how, initially, the episode almost feels like Barry’s daydreams. Of course, Sally’s misery certainly grounds it in reality. Barry’s supposed heel turn now that he has a kid doesn’t feel like genuine character development so much as Barry trying to live life as he’s “supposed” to. He heavily relies on “role models” like Abe Lincoln (until he learns they weren’t so morally righteous) to serve as his moral center. Barry becomes a believer in God and tries to adopt that “white picket fence,” “American dream” attitude because he thinks that’s the epitome of happiness. What’s also interesting is how Barry puts a spin on the truth, i.e., the incident with Albert in Korengal, and how, in real life, he wasn’t painted as the hero. But that’s what his son believes.
This outing, “tricky legacies,” is about Barry’s and Sally’s legacies and how they serve as examples for John. Sally pines for what she’ll never have, while Barry buries the truest parts of himself to become the stereotypical family man.
Ready to delve into “tricky legacies”? Let’s get to it.
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We open with Barry (Hader), who goes by Clark, walking with his son John (Zachary Golinger) across a vast field toward a man and his son. The fathers want their boys to mend fences following a falling out. The other kid thinks it’s peculiar that John’s never heard of Call of Duty, but Barry explains they don’t play video games in their household. John steps up and is the bigger person, which makes Papa Barry proud. Barry compliments John for taking the high road. Our titular former hitman claims he used to be prone to anger, but now he’s a changed man. Sure, Jan.

Meanwhile, Sally (Sarah Goldberg), who lives under the alias Emily, puts on makeup. Sally puts on a brunette wig. She works at the local country diner. It appears she’s the breadwinner in the family, as it would be difficult for Barry to go out in public since he’s a wanted criminal. At work, her coworker Gina (Emily Spivey) asks for a Xanax, so they head inside the bathroom for a “xany” and a smoke break. We learn Sally’s other coworker has a thing for her. Later, said coworker, Bevel (Spenser Granese), stands behind her and flirts with her.
Next, Sally chats with Barry on the phone while pumping gas. He homeschools their son and has been on an Abe Lincoln kick. He rattles off facts about our 16th president. Sally takes the phone away from her ear and chugs a bottle of vodka. She’s not in the best headspace. That evening, John attempts to cut through an ostensibly somewhat frozen chicken pot pie. Barry continues his Abe Lincoln lesson and equates his qualities to the latter, claiming he, too, knows a thing or two about compromise, pragmatism and optimism. Sally concurs and believes it’s cool that Lincoln’s on the penny. You can buy socks with pennies. John looks bored stiff. I love this show.
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Later, John wakes and overhears his parents bickering quietly. I can’t make out what they’re saying. We see Barry and Sally sitting in the living room. Our eponymous criminal watches a video about the “sh*tty things” Abe Lincoln did while Sally checks out Natalie’s (D’Arcy Carden) TV show. I bet that grinds Sally’s gears, seeing Natalie have the career she should’ve had. The following morning, the family of three watches a sermon online. Barry and John take a walk outside their house, admiring God’s creation. John watches while his friend plays baseball.
Then, John and said friend toss a baseball back and forth. John’s buddy gives him a glove and invites him over to learn how to swing a bat. We see Barry and John go through a rather large delivery order. They alone keep Amazon in business, or the equivalent in the Barry-verse. John asks if his dad purchased a new comforter because his room is cold. Barry responds with the story about how Jesus fed 5,000 people after flat-out telling John “no.” Basically, son, be grateful for what you have. I love it when the show’s dark wit pokes through.
Barry finds John’s baseball glove concealed behind a plastic tote. So, what does he do? He forces John to watch YouTube videos featuring gruesome baseball injuries and one shocking death. That night, John wanders into his parents’ room, crying, and reveals he doesn’t want to die while playing baseball. He asks Sally if she’ll sleep with him. We see John snuggle up against his mother, but Sally’s heart is only half in it. It’s abundantly clear she never wanted a kid — at least not with Barry.
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Next, Sally hangs out with the coworker who carries a torch for her. Bevel’s a tatted-up bad boy. Their chat culminates in a heavy makeout session in the bathroom. However, Sally crosses a line into too-rough territory. She snakes her hands around his throat and chokes him while crouching to pleasure him. Bevel asks her to stop while he gasps for air. Finally, he reaches for her hair to push her away and inadvertently removes her wig. She threatens him by grabbing his face. Bevel gets the picture, vowing not to tell anyone. He departs in a hurry.

At the house, Barry and John find a glass case containing photos and emblems from Barry’s service in Iraq. John asks Barry about serving as a Marine. Of course, he doesn’t know his father’s real name. During dinner, Barry backtracks re: his love of Lincoln. As it turns out, honest Abe was pretty sh*tty. So was Gandhi, for that matter. Sally looks utterly disinterested. After putting John to bed, Barry and Sally hear a series of knocks on their door. Barry grabs the gun he has concealed in the wall and orders Sally to stay in the bathtub with their son. Barry heads outside. We hear footsteps, but we don’t see anyone. Meanwhile, Sally holds John close in said bathtub. Barry stays out all night.
Later, in LA, we see a Warner Bros. employee (Annie Chang) walking through the studio lot. There’s a billboard for Mega Girls 4, which tells me Kristen became a lucrative staple for the entertainment juggernaut. The Warner Bros. worker sees none other than Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler) sitting in the lobby. He looks disheveled, with a long beard and unkempt hair. Everyone thought he was dead after he disappeared eight years ago. Ah, so eight years have passed — at least — since Barry and Sally left LA to go undercover. Gene probably vanished after shooting Leo.
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Gene believes the top dog at Warner Bros. should have a chat with him. He knows what they’re planning, so they’ll need his input. The WB employee orders a security guard to keep Gene in the lobby. Meanwhile, we learn from the country diner owner (Adrian Sparks) that Bevel no longer works there. She planted a lie to get him fired even though she almost choked him to death. At home, Barry tells John the story about Albert getting shot. Suddenly, Sally calls out for Barry … by his real name, not “Clark.” We see she’s watching an interview with Natalie when she receives a notification.

Sally pulls up a Hollywood Reporter piece regarding Gene’s involvement in a Barry Berkman biopic from Warner Bros. Barry realizes he has to kill Gene. So, there’s that. More murder!
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“Tricky legacies” delivers on the acting front, as per usual. Hader and Goldberg are sensational, as Barry gives us a glimpse at their mundane lives undercover. While this is heaven for Barry — having a child and being with the woman he loves — it’s hell for Sally. Clearly, her choking Bevel is her way of feeling something. The outing plants narrative hints that threaten to shatter Barry’s picturesque life, such as the knocks on the door and the big cliffhanger: Gene resurfacing to consult on a Barry biopic. Even Barry unearthing his military past should be a moment of reckoning for him. However, Barry refuses to let his history color his present.
Will John ever discover his parents are liars? Will Barry kill Gene? Where’s NoHo Hank in all this? Only time (and more episodes) will tell. That said, I don’t want this brilliantly brutal, darkly funny and deeply profound series to end.
Barry streams new episodes every Sunday at 10 pm on HBO and HBO Max.
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