{"id":3376,"date":"2016-03-07T03:17:08","date_gmt":"2016-03-06T21:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3376"},"modified":"2016-03-07T03:17:08","modified_gmt":"2016-03-06T21:47:08","slug":"barry-hbo-bill-hader-alec-berg-crime-comedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3376","title":{"rendered":"Why You Should Be Binge-Watching Barry, the Profound Emmy-Winning Crime-Comedy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I<\/span><\/p><\/div>

n the first episode of HBO\u2019s excellent <\/span>Barry<\/span><\/i>, its lead Barry Berkman (an underrated but very funny Bill Hader) nonchalantly blurts out how \u201cburnt out\u201d he feels at his job. Regular admission \u2013 every <\/span>overworked employee<\/span><\/a> experiences the monotony \u2013 except Barry isn\u2019t a victim of a nine-to-five job. He\u2019s a hitman; death is his business. It\u2019s a hilarious moment because the revelation comes right after Barry coolly bumps someone off. <\/span>\n\nIt\u2019s a rebellious route for a crime-comedy to take, considering the decades of romanticisation of the world of <\/span>crime<\/span><\/a> we\u2019ve experienced on screen. Take <\/span>Breaking Bad<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Dexter <\/span><\/i>\u2013 shows where the leads live a double life: It\u2019s the criminal alter-egos of our heroes that awaken their soul, pump some much-needed adrenaline into their lives. TV crime is traditionally coloured by adventurous yet cut-throat, thrilling yet ruthless undertones. It\u2019s precisely the kind of world-building <\/span>Barry<\/span><\/i> consciously eschews. If <\/span>Breaking Bad\u2019s<\/span><\/i> Walter White, a chemistry teacher turned meth lord, felt \u201cmost alive\u201d while committing a crime, then Barry is the opposite \u2013 exhausted at the unfulfilling task of ending lives. Small wonder it snatched the <\/span>Emmy<\/span><\/a> for Lead and Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.<\/span>\n\nBarry<\/span><\/i> isn\u2019t refreshing because of how casually it reverses all the crime-thriller tropes but because of how cleverly it employs them. The show\u2019s best laughs arise from the fact that many of its protagonists view the business of killing as just another job. A Chechen mob-boss Goran and his second-in-command, NoHo, who sends <\/span>emoji-laden<\/span><\/a> kill requests on text, end up as its funniest characters. There\u2019s an amusing gag where Barry is asked to hold off killing a target because NoHo has sent a lone bullet to the rival gang via DHL \u2013 a sinister warning \u2013 but it hasn\u2019t yet been delivered. <\/span>\n\nIn another, members of the rival gang relaxing on the sofa, are caught unawares by Barry and are immediately gunned down after a hilarious staring contest. Any other show would probably bloat the moment to a 10-minute intense and gory shooting scene, making you believe that gangsters are perpetually on alert-mode. But <\/span>Barry <\/span><\/i>refuses to paint them as invincible or as people who are never separated from their weapons, showing them the way they really are \u2013 regular people with regular needs, aspirations, fears, and lunacies, who also happen to be in the business of death. <\/span>\n\n

But what makes Barry<\/em> really stand out, is how it infuses depth and moments of warmth to its premise.<\/p><\/blockquote> \n\nBarry stumbles upon a Los Angeles acting class while following his target and ends up taking it. The premise and its execution is so darkly comic that it might as well have been a <\/span>Saturday Night Live<\/span><\/i> sketch (Bill Hader, who also created the show and plays the lead role, is a famous alum). And like <\/span>SNL<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Barry<\/span><\/i> is rounded off with an impeccable cast \u2013 from Gene, the smooth-talking acting teacher (Emmy-winning Henry Winkler); Sally, the self-absorbed aspiring actress (Sarah Goldberg) to the dysfunctionally <\/span>paternal<\/span><\/a> Fuches (Stephen Root); and NoHo Hank (Anthony Harrigan), the hilarious deputy to Goran. <\/span>\n\nBut what makes <\/span>Barry <\/span><\/i>really stand out, is how it infuses depth and moments of warmth to its premise. Barry\u2019s sudden fascination with the acting class isn\u2019t random \u2013 it uses it as a device to allow its lead protagonist, also a former marine, who has spent his whole life being on autopilot, to be more in tune with his <\/span>emotions<\/span><\/a>. There\u2019s a beautiful sequence where Gene rebukes Barry for awfully acting out a scene, accusing him of being deferential to everyone but himself. He pushes him to stand up for himself before asking Barry to do the scene once again, and in the next moment, it cuts to Barry using that advice and actually expressing his needs. <\/span>\n\nIt\u2019s also why most of Barry\u2019s \u201cacting\u201d unfolds in his daily life (although, it\u2019s a treat to see Hader play a role that requires him to act badly). And the best evidence comes midway through the show\u2019s fifth episode. Barry faces an atypical dilemma when his handler Fuches orders him to kill someone: For the first time, Barry doesn\u2019t just hear his handler\u2019s orders but actually dissects them. <\/span>\n\nIn that moment, Barry feels empathy for his target \u2013 an emotion that he discovered at his acting class \u2013 which he is only now getting to tap into and express. It\u2019s an explosive scene, elevated by Hader\u2019s expressive face that revels in his duality so much so that it\u2019s impossible to tell whether he\u2019s overwhelmed by remorse or relieved by his own <\/span>humanity<\/span><\/a>. Watching the scene, I was torn between being sympathetic to Barry and being repulsed by his dehumanisation. <\/span>\n\nThis scene neatly encapsulates everything <\/span>Barry <\/span><\/i>stands for \u2013<\/span> revelling in cultivating empathy for its flawed protagonists and then in the next moment, making you wrestle with that realisation. Yet through it all, there is no judgement \u2013 neither of the characters nor of the audience who side with them. And this is the reason <\/span>Barry <\/span><\/i>is possibly the finest comedy you haven\u2019t heard of on a streaming platform. Come for the laughs, stay for the warmth. <\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bill Hader\u2019s Barry isn\u2019t refreshing because of how casually it reverses all the crime-thriller tropes but because of how cleverly it employs them. The show\u2019s best laughs arise from the fact that many of its protagonists view the business of killing as just another job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":3377,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop-culture"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy You Should Be Binge-Watching Barry, the Profound Emmy-Winning Crime-Comedy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bill Hader\u2019s Barry isn\u2019t refreshing because of how casually it reverses all the crime-thriller tropes but because of how cleverly it employs them. 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