Barry Season 2 Ep. 4 Recap: 'What?!"

Photo: HBO

During its first season, Barry deftly straddled the line between comedy and drama, mining laughs and pathos out of its protagonist's struggle to break out of a world ruled by violence through an acting class. So far, the series' second season, while retaining some comedic charms, has leaned decidedly more dramatic. Now with "What?!" it seems Hader and his team have chosen to go full tilt into the drama.

Save for an early appearance by Noho Hank, who cannot take the tension at the stash house--Cristobal has opted to get Esther's favorite flavor of ice cream--it's a pretty serious half hour.

The return of Sam leads to a personal reckoning for Sally. During class, when Barry asks why she'd agree to have dinner with a man who almost choked her to death, Sally breaks down and confesses to lying about how her marriage ended. Her reasoning is sad but understandable. It's easier to write--and for an audience to digest--a domestic violence story that ends on the Lifetime-friendly note of the wife telling off her abusive husband then walking out; explaining why you stayed and endured years of abuse is a messier, more complicated one to tell. Barry, eager to rewrite his own history, encourages her to embrace the lie. He's simply Barry Block, the actor, and she's Sally, the wife who found the strength to stand up to her former husband.

Of course, it's not that simple. Sam quickly drops his nice guy act after Barry spots him spying on Sally practicing her lines, dismissing her as dramatic and spitting to Barry "I fucked her first" before driving off. Sam invites Sally to come to his hotel and draws out her sympathy, explaining he has a family now and his father is sick. All seems to go well until Sally says she's still going through with the play. Sam unleashes his inner asshole, punching the wall and berating her, displaying a glimpse of the abuse she lived under. Things nearly take a very tragic turn when Barry, who followed Sally to the hotel, almost shoots her, but luckily stops and hides, both keeping another victim off his list, and allowing Sally to keep her sense of agency after asserting herself.

Barry reaches out to Fuches to talk about almost killing his girlfriend, but Fuches, who's still working with Detective Loach, instructs him not to call him anymore. It's a generous gesture, but for Barry, unaware LAPD is closing in, it only means his sole outlet for talking about the ugliest parts of himself is closed off. So he goes to Gene, and after some prodding, reveals what actually happened after fellow soldier Albert got shot in Korengal. That being he mistook an innocent man as the shooter, charged into his home and killed him in front of his wife and child. Afterward, he was sent to a German hospital and was discharged instead of charged with murder thanks to some connections. After wisely advising him to never tell that story to another living soul, Gene provides reassurance, commiserating about his own cruel and selfish behavior as a father to his son Leo, and accepts Barry. Perhaps in the first season, Gene would've been less empathetic, but the loss of Janice seems to have made him more sensitive. Though I doubt he'd have the same reaction if Barry told the truth about Janice.

Elated, Barry tracks down Fuches at the hotel and blurts out everything, including murdering Janice. Aw shit. Detective Loach emerges from the back room and tells Barry to sit down. He has his admission on tape, and jail time seems imminent. However, there's just one thing wants and it'll all be over--for Barry to kill the man with whom his ex-wife was having an affair.

What?!