What’s your favorite moment from Barry so far?
With the third season of the HBO show about to hit, A.V. Club staffers single out their go-to scenes
TV Features Barry
Clockwise from top left: Jordin Althaus/HBO, Aaron Epstein/HBO, Aaron Epstein/HBO, Peter Iovino/HBO Graphic: Rebecca Fassola
Over the past few days at The A.V. Club, we’ve been celebrating Barry Week to toast the fast-approaching third season of one of the best shows on TV. Be sure to check out our interviews with co-creator-star Bill Hader and Henry Winkler, as well as a breakdown of where the story stands after season two. We’ll have plenty more to come, including our recap of the premiere on April 24. But in the meantime, there’s a very pressing question at hand for the AVC staff: What’s your favorite moment from Barry so far?
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I love Barry’s cheerful interpretation of the Glengarry speech.
“Barry shot me too, in same spot, wow he’s so good”
Basically anything with Anthony Carrigan.
If you go from watching him in Barry to him in Gotham, you can get whiplash from how different his two characters are.
Not seen Gotham yet. It’s a victim of the “there’s just too much TV” situation.
The tree climb is my favorite too. “ronny/lilly” is an amazing episode
One of my favorites is the flashback scene in which we see Barry’s first kill while out on tour, how little it affected him, and the delight he took in the praise from the other soldiers. It told us a lot about the character without saying very much of that out loud, which is always my favorite style of writing.
The final moments of Season 1, Episode 10 where Barry has just climbed into bed after killing Janice (offscreen). Hader staring up into the camera and delivering the line “Starting….now.” was just basically chilling.
I love that line, too. It’s the whole show in a nutshell: Barry trying to change and live the life he thinks he wants, while being continually pulled back in by the people around him and his own nature. The show is so, so smart.
Oh man, so many best moments. The rooftop scene between Hader and Carrigan is hilarious, but for me the best part of that scene isn’t the vomiting. It’s “If we suck balls, you are king of suck balls mountain.” I don’t know why that line cracks me up so much, but it does. It’s just perfect.
The best part is that line was improv: he was supposed to say “my guys are shit.” So when he said suck balls, the other actor had to say “suck balls mountain” instead of “shit mountain.”
Anything from the “performative grief” bit.
“¡Ay, dios mío!”That, or “LEEEROOOY JEEENKIIINNNSSS!” From what my infantry Marine friend’s told me of his tours, combat is essentially just a bunch of darkly humorous pop cultural references punctuated by gunfire, so that seems accurate.
I was already into the show by this point but this scene was the point where I realized just how good it could and would be.
“I told my wife I was going to the gym.”“WHY DID YOU JUST SAY THAT???”
“Don’t fuck with me. It’s not polite.”
One of my favorite lines is when Cosineau is trying to woo Janice in the restaurant:“If that Chicken á la King isn’t the best piece of poultry you’ve ever had in your mouth, you can kick me right in the genitals.”I laughed so hard at the way Henry Winkler said that.
No mention of Fuches? His best scene was in the 2nd season premier: after his attempt to replace Barry has failed so badly that he ends up in a police station, Fuches gives this big speech to the cops about how they’re not gonna get his DNA. But, halfway through it he gives the Coke can he’s been drinking from to a cop and just keeps on talking unaware that he’s done exactly what he was saying wasn’t gonna happen.
The “King of Suckballs Mountain” line.