Barry Season 2 Ep. 1 Recap: 'The Show Must Go On, Probably?'

Photo: Isabella Vosmikova/HBO

"If we cancel the show then what was the point?"

Barry mumbles this to himself while trying to convince Sally they and the rest of their acting class should proceed with their production of The Front Page. This, despite Gene having a nervous breakdown and leaving rehearsal. If you watched Barry's first season you know the finale ended with Barry murdering Janice Moss, the cop investigating his case who also happened to be Gene's girlfriend, and her death looms large over "The Show Must Go On, Probably?"

Barry has become fully invested in acting, but as the episode deftly reveals, even less invested when it comes to emotions, both his own and others. It's why he can visit a suicidal Gene and ask if he'll be ready to direct the show or call Noho Hank a fucking idiot--glossing over the fact Hank saved him from the wrath of the Chechens by blaming his former boss Goran's death on the Bolivians. That's when he's not pushing Sally away or talking in phony British accents to customers at his day job. While the show's first season took pains to make us feel empathy for Barry's internal struggle, this season Hader and his collaborators don't seem to mind if their protagonist comes off like an asshole.

Those on the receiving end of Barry's selfishness push back, however. Noho Hank displays a darker side for the first time, ordering Barry to take out Burmese gang leader Esther so he can resume his bromance with Bolivian boss Cristobal unbothered, or else he'll tell the Chechens who really killed Goran. And when Barry suggests Gene use the class to explore his pain, Gene challenges him to open the Pandora's box of his time in the military. Barry almost rises to the occasion, because while he tells the truth about what happened--killing two enemy soldiers during his first rotation--but not about his reaction. He did not collapse into despair and self-loathing but instead took pride in his newfound ability, encouraged by his fellow soldiers' cheers. It's the moment he realizes he has a talent for something, a talent that ultimately led him to Fuches and a violent, miserable existence.

Barry's smart enough to know admitting to cracking a smile after killing two men would make him look like a sociopath, so he lies. Gene reverses his plan to cancel the class permanently, and all is well.

Because after all, if the show doesn't go on, then what's the point?

Other Thoughts

• Fuches manages to finesse his way out of a police interrogation after both his latest recruit and a client die when a hit goes wrong. However, trouble could be coming he and Barry's way after the police find his tooth at Goran's garage.

• Brief mask slip aside, Noho Hank is still the nicest criminal you'd ever want to meet, playing volleyball with the Bolivians (his nickname is Bullet) and taking more reading recommendations from Cristobal. The entrance of Esther is bound to shake things up, and it'll be interesting to see how Hank asserts himself now that he's the boss.

• Sally pushes Barry to tear down the emotional wall between them, then leaves him alone to go have drinks with her agent after he opens up about a deeply personal experience. Never change Sally.