Ight boys, now for the second show I finished up this week. Gonna start with the series itself and then how I feel about the finale.

Barry is freaking great guys. Like actually great. I think the biggest credit I can give it is its addictiveness. I'm not sure if I've ever binged a show as hard as this. While I think the whole show holds up, I do personally prefer the first two seasons to the second two. I just enjoyed it more when it was focused on the acting class, and it's also when the comedy shinned the most. Of course, as the series gets darker as it goes on, a lot of the comedy begins to go away, and in the case of the last season, it's barely even there. But at the same time, it all makes sense. Each character ends up in a far darker place than they were at the beginning, and given the show's entire subject matter, things were always gonna go south. Even though I knew what I was getting into, I was still surprised by just how depressing it got. I've always liked Bill Hader, but seeing how this guy managed to write, direct, and lead an entire show of this quality is truly impressive, and deserves a lot of recognition.

The main cast of characters are all excellent. Barry Berkman is easily one of my favorite tv protagonists in recent memory. Similar to all the other big anti-hero/villain protagonists, despite how clearly far gone he is, I still sympathize with him, but at the same time resent basically every choice he makes. However, I'd also say the supporting characters really steal the show. It's easy to call Fuches the villain, and although he's arguably the most evil character, it's also more complicated than that. It does bring into question just how much of Barry's actions are his own fault or was it all because of Fuches bringing him into the game in the very beginning? Really interesting stuff. I also really liked Sally Reed. I think it's interesting how her character takes a dark turn even before getting involved in Barry's criminal life. It feels like the classic story of someone trying to make it big in Hollywood, but ultimately destroying themselves because of it. It also goes without saying that out of all the actors, Sarah Goldberg is probably the most deserving of an award. Now NoHo Hank was honestly a surprise to me. He started off as just comic relief, which was admittedly necessary to the humor of the show. I wasn't initially expecting him to have a role past season one but he actually grew to be one of the main supporting characters. It's honestly a testament to how tragic this show gets when even the comic relief ends up having a tragic story of their own. To me, he demonstrates how nobody in the game is a good person at their core. Sure he's introduced as a charming guy, but by the end of the series, he's just as corrupt as the rest of them. But I think my favorite character by far has to be Gene Cousineau. In general, the best dynamic of the series is between Barry and Gene. A lesser show probably wouldn't have done much with this character, but everything with his story past the ending of season one makes for some of the best the series has to offer. Gene truly was the catalyst for keeping Barry going in life, giving him a true purpose with the acting class. Which in turn (without spoiling it), makes the ending even more fitting.

Now for the ending itself. Alright so...I know it's gonna seem really strange that I'm going from a long praise for this series to something a bit more negative. And to be fair, it had to take me a day to gather my thoughts because, to be honest, I'm slightly conflicted about the final season. I know I said that the ending was fitting, but what I mostly mean is the actual series of events that happen. Each character gets an ending that makes sense, which was still something I had to take time to get around to. But I think my main gripe is just how quick everything was. Now don't get me wrong, I love the structure of the show. I wish more shows would have shorter seasons like this. Each season is eight episodes with thirty minutes in length. It's what made it so easy to watch in the first place. However, I think for the final season, it may have needed a bit more time to wrap everything up. There was a lot of ground to cover, and by the time the final episode rolled around, it felt like it took the shortest path to end things as quickly as possible. Some people are even saying it should've been two seasons, but I would've been fine with either a couple more episodes or longer runtimes. Like come on, the first ten minutes of the last episode could've been an entire episode in of itself. But again, as far as how everything concludes, I think it all makes sense given everything the show had been building towards. Still, it's only the second best MAX series finale from Sunday night.

Overall, just a banger show. As messed up as it gets, it oddly makes for a fun watch. It's far easier to get through compared to other shows, so it definitely has my recommendation. Adios Barry and "wow" indeed.