While watching promotional interviews for It Chapter 2, Bill Hader would discuss his TV show, Barry. I knew the show was airing, but I don’t have a way to watch HBO. Recently, Hulu has acquired a few popular HBO shows without purchasing the HBO add-on. This included Barry. Bill Hader and Henry Winkler won Emmys for this series, so it must be good, right? I concur that this show is worth watching.

Barry Berkman (played by Bill Hader) is sent to LA by his assassin mentor Monroe Fuches (played by Stephen Root). While completing his assassination, he discovers an indie theater where he decides to start taking acting lessons. Barry is living a double life by murdering people and acting in Gene Cousineau’s (played by Henry Winkler) classes. This is an odd concept for a show, but it works.

Bill Hader becomes Barry. Barry is shown to be struggling with his career of taking lives and wanting to be someone else. Acting has become his escape. Let’s be clear, Barry isn’t a good person. In the first season, especially, there’s a scene where Barry kills someone in a car. It’s shocking because I didn’t think Barry would go there, but he does. He’s balancing a fine line between doing his job and getting caught.

As a side note, Bill Hader is a great actor in darker roles. Another good example of this, besides Barry, is the movie The Skeleton Twins. It stars Hader and Kristin Wiig. It’s an emotional and depressing movie, but it illustrates how Bill Hader can act in darker material.

Barry cannot be described as a dark comedy without the appearance of NoHo Hank (played by Anthony Carrigan). NoHo Hank’s witty one-liners are hilarious, even if they’re about killing or torture. Bill Hader has talked about filming behind the scenes with Anthony Carrigan, and it sounds like there are shenanigans to be had.

Barry was a quick watch. Each season has eight episodes, with only two seasons. The third season was supposed to be out next year, I believe? However, with COVID-19, this will probably be delayed. Barry was an entertaining show, to say the least. Both seasons of Barry can be found on Hulu without the purchase of the HBO add-on.