If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.
Synopsis: A frustrated Barry misses an acting class to honor an obligation. Detectives Moss and Loach try to piece together a murder puzzle. Gene presses Barry to take more risks. Sally is thrown for a loop during an audition, and turns to Barry for comfort. The Chechens rejoice when a legendary assassin arrives. (HBO)
Writer: Duffy Boudreau
Director: Bill Hader
Rating: TV-MA
Running Time: 30mins
Airs: Sundays at 10:30pm on HBO Canada (Canada)/HBO (United States)
The novelty is starting to wear off as the show seems to have settled into what it will probably be as Barry found himself struggling with his double life.
The episode starts off with Barry in position to kill a mark for Pazer and Hank while reading Cousineau’s book. Hank wanted him to wait until he sent a bullet as a message to the rival Bolivians. Barry got frustrated an left to go to acting class. Meanwhile, Sally got called about an audition for a TV show. She practiced her lines in class while Barry struggled with his imagination. To help, Cousineau sent him some David Mamet to read.
Meanwhile, the Chechens got news that a legendary Chechen assassin was arriving. This assassin was an elderly man who claimed to be 45 years old. His job was to kill Barry and Fuches once Barry finishes his assignment. Fuches tried to talk him out of killing them but the assassin had become disillusioned with his life of death and killed himself. Fuches took it upon himself to counsel Pazar about what to do next.
Detective Moss (Paula Newsome) and detective Loach (John Pirruccello) were getting closer to solving the case, first by finding a connection to Pazar and that the shooter may have come from the acting class or a nearby gym. When interviewing the students in the acting class, including Barry, they got nothing useful. Afterwards, Barry drove Sally to her audition and helped her with her lines.
Once she entered her audition, Sally noticed that her former rival was already cast as the lead while she auditioned for a mother. She screwed up her audition. When she got out, Barry got a text telling him to go back to the hit which conflicted with the fact that Sally needed him. While waiting to perform the hit, he also had to console an upset Sally. Loosing his chance, Barry entered his house and then chased his mark before strangling him.
Barry then went to Sally’s house and finally got the inspiration he was looking for. After they had intercourse, Barry learns that the man he strangled was saying in Spanish that he didn’t have to do it.
Overall, this was a good episode that saw Barry struggle with his double life, affecting him as a hitman and an aspiring actor. The best parts of the episode, however, had nothing to do with Barry as Cousineau had some great lines (Henry Winkler is the MVP thus far) and the scene between Fuches and the assassin was fun as well. The situational comedy from the first episode seems to have disappeared so it will be interesting to see if the premise will improve in that regard.
Score: 7.5/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.
