Last week’s Season 3premiere ofBarryset the stage for what looks like the most intense and unpredictable season yet. Barry’s emotionally checked out. He’s fulfilling strangers’ hit requests on the dark web and can’t even muster up the energy to smile while he eats a donut. Meanwhile, NoHo Hank is living his best life with his new boyfriend Cristobal (yes, really) and shoos away Barry who comes crawling back to him for work. Under Hank’s orders, Fuches is in Chechnya and seems to have a weird plan up his sleeve.
Sally’s running and starring in her own television show that’s based on her past abusive relationship. The power and workload have gone to her head, and she’s dumping a lot of the menial work onto her new assistant, her former acting class buddy Natalie. And what about Cousineau? He planned revenge on Barry for killing Detective Moss, but after their meeting, Barry took him at gunpoint to the middle of nowhere. Before pulling the trigger, Barry had a last-minute idea as to how he could earn forgiveness, which was revealed in this week’s episode. So pour a glass of limonada and say you’re going to the Redlands. It’s time for Episode 2!
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Episode 2 starts off with Barry anxiously awaiting his fast-food order. He makes a beeline to his trunk, and excitedly hands Cousineau the food (and exact change of course). Cousineau begs to ride up front, but Barry insists that in order for everything to run smoothly, the trunk is the answer. Back on theJoplinset, Sally finds herself in her own predicament. She’s struggling to write authentic dialogue for an upcoming fight scene, and time is running out. Her shaky thought process is interrupted by Barry, who storms onto the set unannounced.
What unfolds is the scene that is sure to tip Hader closer to another Emmy. With a smile on his face and a pep in his step, he tells Sally that in order for Cousineau to get over the murder of Moss, she must cast him in her show, because, like him, Cousineau needs a purpose. Sally was one step ahead of him, however, and tried to get him cast a while back. Apparently, Cousineau wasn’t the easiest to work with (are we really that surprised?) and the show refused to hire him. This, however, will not fly for Barry, who identifies a lot with Cousineau’s need for a second chance.
Though Barry says he’s talking about Cousineau, it’s pretty clear he’s talking about himself. He balks at the idea that Cousineau is a “shitshow” and proceeds to explain how Cousineau’s in a lot of pain. Sally’s callous, business-like response triggers Barry to have a meltdown. He yells at Sally in front of her employees and tells her that he has to give Cousineau a second chance in order for Barry himself to “f*cking live.” The entire scream session is frightening for everyone, specifically Sally’s on-screen daughter Katie (played byElsie Fisher), who witnesses the entire thing. The lines between Sally’s personal and professional lives are starting to blur, as Barry is suddenly turning into her next abuser.
At home, Cristobal calls up Hank and the two plan a romantic afternoon together. Cristobal’s afternoon plans are quickly derailed, however, once he gets a surprise visit from a Bolivian man named Fernando and his heavily-armed entourage. Turns out Fernando is Cristobal’s father-in-law, and wants him to return to Bolivia to be with Elena and their three kids. Cristobal has a wife! And family! Fernando sees that the Chechens have hindered him from establishing a “foothold” in Los Angeles, but never fear! He’s going to eliminate them all and then Cristobal can return home. Yay?
Barry tells a panicked Cousineau that since Plan A didn’t work, it’s time for Plan B. What that planisexactly is still up for debate. The episode takes a hilarious turn once Barry decides that the answer lies with real-life casting director extraordinaireAllison Jones, who reprises her role from an earlier season as herself. (You’ve likely seen her name appear in dozens of credits of your favorite projects, includingFreaks and Geeks,The Office, andThe Good Place.) She tells Barry that they all really liked him when he auditioned forSwim Instructors, but then he sort of…disappeared, and so they decided to castJosh GadandAdam Devineinstead. Barry says he actually wants her to give a part to his acting teacher, not him. But upon hearing the name Gene Cousineau, she immediately shuts Barry down. On the bright side, shedoesthink she has a role for Barry on the hit showLaws of Humanity. So, there’s that.
Sally tries to focus at work, but can’t help but be reminded of what happened earlier with Barry. The scene she’s shooting with Katie is about the importance of not falling into the “waiting for an apology from your abusive partner” trap that she fell into with her ex, Sam. It all eerily mirrors Sally’s relationship with Barry, though we’ll soon learn that in this case, the apology from her abuser is nowhere to be found, anyway. Katie wants to report Barry, but no one else on set wants to deal with the consequences that come with speaking up.
Cousineau is still under Barry’s thumb and reluctantly helps him with his audition. He tells Barry that Barry’s “one of the good guys” who just did a horrible thing. Cousineau isn’t ready to give up on him yet, and tells him that he taught him to be both a good actoranda good human being. So would killing Cousineau really be the smartest and fairest move? A broken Barry shakily says, “I love you Mr. Cousineau,” to which a caught-off-guard Cousineau replies, “I appreciate that, Barry.”
Cristobal is relieved when Fernando’s raid of Hank’s heroin den is a bust. He and Hank secretly text each other updates about the tense situation. To distract his men, Hank takes them on a bus tour of Los Angeles. (“Jurassic Park!”) On theJoplinset, Sally tries to order a spaghetti dinner from the “kids’ menu” to bring home to Barry. That simplistic meal, in addition to the donut and new video game controller she bought for him, will hopefully calm him down. (Perhaps this sort of attentive behavior worked on Sam.) Meanwhile, she’s dealing with the fact that the studio bumped up her release date in order to get ahead of another show with a similar premise.
Barry runs to his audition and leaves Cousineau in his trunk. He does well, but still isn’t satisfied. Not until Cousineau books a part. The people running the audition decline his bold request to cast Cousineau as an extra because unsurprisingly, they also have a choppy past with him. (“When Allison didn’t cast him onFamily Tieshe called her a donkey witch.”) Barry refuses to give up and spills his heart out to the team. He explains that everyone deserves a second chance, just like Cousineau gave him when he was a lost soul fresh out of the Marines. This wins them over, and they decide to give them both a part.
Cristobal breaks the news (and Hank’s heart) when he explains that Fernando is the head of their crime family. In order for Hank to live, Hank must run. A tearful Hank asks Cristobal, “Wait, like, are you breaking up with me?” and then watches as the man he loves drives away. An elated Barry calls Sally to tell her the good news about his audition, but Sally is more concerned with tricking him into apologizing. She thinks that apologizing for being stressed at work would set him up nicely to say sorry back to her, but his focus remains on himself. How much more of this behavior will Sally put up with? And wait a second, where did Cousineau go?
Cousineau escapes the trunk during Barry’s audition and ends up in a backyard that’s infested with dogs of all shapes and sizes. After being attacked, he asks a disturbed onlooker to call him an “internet taxi” and hopes to make a run for it. Barry and another car collide, and Cousineau flees the scene. He makes it back home safely, but it appears he’s much too late. Barry sits on Cousineau’s couch next to his grandson, which forces Cousineau to pretend as if nothing has happened between them. A temperamental Barry tells him that he’s going to enjoy his second chance, or else the people he loves will disappear (Cousineau’s son and grandson). Knowing Barry’s more than capable of murder, Cousineau nervously agrees to the plan. A painful close-up of a teary-eyed Barry fills the screen as he asks, “Do you love me? Can you say it?” to which Cousineau chillingly responds, “I love you, Barry.”
Is Barry at his rock bottom? Will Cousineau be stuffed back in the trunk? And where oh where is Fuches?
