Madeline
Barry is the hilarious show about an assassin. The two words, hilarious and assassin do not typically go together. But in the case of this show, the unlikely mixture of humor and drama makes for a great dark comedy show. The characters are funny, none are funnier than the Chetchnyan gangsters, and the situations they put themselves in are even more hilarious. No other show I know of makes light of chopping someone up into tiny bits as funny as this show.
Premise of Barry
Barry is an assassin. He was a sniper in the Marines and when he got out of the service, he found himself moving his sniper skills into a way to use it for domestic purposes. When getting close to a mark he finds himself taking acting classes. When he goes to take the mark out, he is beat to the punch by Chetchnyan gang members. Barry and his partner, Fuches, are brought into this gang drama.
While in the acting class, he meets a girl he becomes interested in. This girl keeps him coming back to the class for more. When the cops investigated the death, they also investigate the class. This brings the people in the acting class, the Chetchnyan mob, and paid assassins into one hilarious drama in an unlikely ensemble. The humor does on for days with such an off the wall plot line.
The Cast
Bill Hader leads the cast as the show’s namesake, Barry. He is the anchor that keeps the show and brings all the characters together, regardless of being part of the acting class or part of the mob. He plays a serious character who is put into bad situations with a touch of humor. He throws out funny lines as a character who does not realize he is funny.
Henry Winkler plays the teacher of the acting class. His humor comes in long before he shows his face on the show. He is the author of the book that teaches how to act. Once he is on screen he pushes the entire class into humor by his acting exercises. He plays a guy who has no idea what Barry is up to and yet pushes him into uncomfortable situations where him being an assassin is a problem.
The Chetchnyan mobster, Hank is played by Anthony Carrigan, an actor I was not familiar before this show. But if anyone carries the award for humor in this show, it is him. His character is the top of the food chain in the mob, and yet he is the funniest character. He is polite, has weird habits, and ensures Barry that he is an evil person. He is the most unlikely character to be in his position, but he does such a great job turning it into a humorous plot line.
Final Thoughts
Barry is the perfect mix of humor and drama. There is an obvious theme about killing for war versus killing as an assassin domestically. The seriousness of this show questions that. But the touch of humor is what makes this show unique and worth the watch.
