Barry Season 1 Ep. 3 Recap: Chapter Three: 'Make The Unsafe Choice'

Photo: HBO

Oh those Chechens and their wacky ideas. Just as Barry's all set to kill their informant Paco, Noho Hank calls and tells him to hold off until a bullet they mailed to the Bolivians arrives, allowing them to savor the theater of them receiving it just as Paco takes a dirt nap courtesy of Barry's sniper rifle. Apparently Goran's been workshopping the idea for years. It's good when an idea comes together.

Well almost. "Make The Unsafe Choice," continues the divergent paths set by the previous two episodes, opening up Barry's emotional life while further entrenching him in the violent world he's desperate to leave behind.

This week finds him stumbling through another acting exercise, this one involving the students creating their own private space for the audience to share in. Others, like Nick and Sally dive in headfirst, but Barry just can't get out his own head, his body jerking in discomfort as Gene prods him to connect to a feeling, any feeling, before opening the floor to the other students, who make cringey parallels between lentil soup and Barry's relationship with his mother.

Fortunately, Detective Moss and Detective Loach crash this riveting discussion because they have questions related to Ryan's murder. It's here Barry gives his best performance, acting perfectly benign and calm compared to his classmates' less Zen responses (I seriously feared for Nick's bladder after gulping down all that water).

The immediate stakes are much higher for Fuches, still tied up in the Chechens' garage. Goran and Noho Hank are gagging because Stovka--a hitman so good at killing he once flicked a cigarette and took out a bird--is coming to town. Basically Stovka's your favorite assassin's assassin. The plan is to have Stovka snuff out any loose ends, then kill Fuches and Barry.

What's hyped up as an unfeeling murder machine turns out to be a broken old man who sits stoned face while the Chechens take fan-boy selfies with him. Once they leave, Fuches tries to sell the shit out L.A. and all its carnal delights, but Stovka's not here for any of it. Living a life surrounded by death has left him empty, so he decides to takes his own. Though the two never meet, Stovka's fate is the hitman of Christmas future Barry's desperately trying to avoid. But watching they way Fuches cozes up to Goran to sell him on Barry's expertise, that's going to easier said than done.

Sally got more screen time this week, as we and Barry follow her to an audition for the role of the mom of a millennial in the TV adapation of We Bought A Zoo. Running lines outside the room with Barry, it looks like Sally may land the part; but once she gets in the room things go all the way left. There to greet her is an old castmate from a doomed TV show titled Bonnie and The Boston Bombers. It turns out that not only is Liv (who's roughly the same age as Sally) playing the millennial lead role, she also pushed the producers to see Sally read for for the mom role despite their objections. The whole thing can't help but feel like a set up to her, and she bombs. Sally can be more than a little-more like a lot--self involved, but it's hard not to feel sorry for her as she tears up and flubs her lines.

Crushed, she wants to hang out with Barry, but he's got a mark to kill now that the Bolivians have received their mystery bullet. As he stakes out Paco's house, Sally calls, still distraught and asking if he can come over.

"I don't wanna be alone," she says.

"Be over in half an hour," he replies before heading to Paco's home on foot to finish the job. Unlike the series premiere, where Barry's kills were quick and relatively clean, choking the life out of Paco is slow and messy, highlighting the brutality and ugliness inherent in his profession. It's particularly jarring when set aside the tenderness of him laying in bed with Sally, as he imagines the two of them coupled up and perusing the soup aisle at the grocery store. But his reality creeps in as he repeats what Paco said to him in his final moments, which Sally translates as "You don't have to do this."

Barry's creating a private space, but what will he fill it with?

--Other Thoughts"

• At this point, Sally and Barry's burgeoning romance is extremely one-sided emotionally. That's partly because of Sally's ego, but also because Barry's so closed off and content to simply not spend his time killing she doesn't have to consider his feelings. As Barry opens up more, it'll interesting to see how that relationship evolves.
• Even though they provide plently of comic relief, Detective Moss and crew are very competent, zeroing in on what lead to Ryan's demise fairly quickly. 
• Someone please tell me why Nick was exploring his private space (his childhood bedroom) like it was some old-ass Victorian house? Dust on the toy box? Child bye. 
• Who else hopes HBO prints up Gene's book and sells it on Amazon? 
• The Chechens' text (epecially the one with the kitty that said 'hang in there') took me all the way out.

--Those One Liners 'Tho:

• "Gum is at the register Barry." No need to be that much of a stickler Gene. This shit is imaginary.
• "Surrender to the soup Barry."
• "What the fuck are you supposed to be?" (Detective Moss on Gene's weird/pathetic attempt to hit on her)
• "Unleash the cat!"