If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.
Synopsis: After a deadly shootout at the airstrip, Barry must make a difficult decision to evade capture. Pazar blames Fuches for convincing him to declare war on Cristobal Sifuentes, a ruthless yet civilized Bolivian drug lord. Sally fears her performance in the class production of “Macbeth”will be compromised, ruining her chance to impress another top Hollywood agent. (HBO)
Writer: Liz Sarnoff
Director: Alec Berg
Rating: TV-MA
Running Time: 32mins
Airs: Sundays at 10:30pm on HBO Canada (Canada)/HBO (United States)
In the best episode of the series so far, Barry finds his method and the series may have finally found its way.
This episode started with the same sequence that the last episode ended with but from the perspective of the Bolivians. Barry’s SUV and two people inside got shot up before flipping. As this was happening, the Bolivian drug lord, Cristobal Sifuentes (Michael Irby) shows up to adress Pazar’s takeover of his stash house. Sifuentes wasn’t such a bad guy after all though it was because of a self-help book he had been reading. Despite this, it still meant war. Because of Fuches’ bad information, he now had a target on his back from the Chechens.
Barry and Chris escaped the SUV and when Barry was facing death, Chris had to kill someone for the first time which was not easy for him. Hearing the news of what happened, Fuches believed the worst. Moss and Loach overheard the conversation between Pazar and Sifuentes which led Moss to hone in on Barry.
Barry missed the rehearsal with Sally. He also heard the news of what happened with the stashed money. Sally was determined to play Macbeth despite early struggles. Barry struggled with his one line. Cousineau noticed Barry and thought he was on drugs and the fact that he wasn’t made it worse for him. Chris was panicking about what he did and wanted to go to the police. Barry tried to convince him otherwise. Chris looked like he had agreed but Barry killed him anyway just in case though this one was harder than usual for him.
At the Shakespeare showcase, the acting class was what you would expect. Meanwhile, Barry was running late and still broken up over what happened. On the way, he imagined himself performing a perfect scene with Sally. Sally was worried because she wanted to do well in front of a talent agent who she had invited to see her. While Sally was performing her scene as Macbeth, Barry was still haunted after killing Chris and took those emotions on stage and gave a great performance that helped propel Sally to give a great performance of her own. Afterwards, Barry was still freaking out but what seemed to calm him down was Sally’s praise and thanks for his performance which got the attention of the agent.
Overall, this was a great episode and the best implementation of the show’s premise. Up until this point, it felt like the acting and hitman subplots have been at odds with each other but this one found a way to combine them in a satisfying way. However, whether the series can sustain itself in this fashion remains to be seen. Bill Hader was great here at selling Barry’s inner conflict in the final scenes and Henry Winkler continues to delight as Cousineau. It will be interesting to see how long Barry’s guilt will remain with him and what the Chechens have in store for him and Fuches. Either way, there’s only 1 episode left to find out.
Score: 9/10
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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.