The first two seasons of this show were extraordinary. Hader and Berg told a story of how complicated life can become and walked the thin line of how we as humans do bad things, yet justify them in our own heads, no matter how terrible they might be. It was a superb psychological study, and they did it all with comedy, which is an amazing achievement. Then came season 3.
First off, did we learn nothing from the Jim and Pam relationship on the Office? You cannot allow main characters to fulfill their desires for each other and continue on with their story. The story ends there. You've ruined the tension which made the relationship so dynamic. In the same way, bringing Noho Hank and Christobal together as lovers ruined one of the best dynamics in Barry. In fact, even letting on that they are gay was a huge letdown. The tension of not knowing was hilarious and energized every scene they were in. This disappointment is evidenced in Michael Irby's (Christobal) performance, which went from outstanding and the perfect adversary/partner to Soho Hank, to confused and directionless. Of course it did, he had nothing to contrast against. It's like pushing a moving car. It's no longer interesting.
In season 3 Barry simply goes off the rails. The police suddenly become Keystone cop idiots, lowly main characters are advanced to stupefying achievements without respect to reality, people are put into new situations without explanation. It all feels like a bad dream, which was how I was anticipating the season to resolve. As cliché as that may be, it would have at least explained why everything had become so weird. Even the cinematography feels different. Where the first two seasons felt like gritty film noir, a hallmark of HBO productions, season 3 felt off, like a Mentos commercial. Bad Canadian TV made Christmas movie feeling.
And then there is the change of focus from the star of the show to very uninteresting, whiney, untalented minor characters. Why? It feels like it was written by a 12 year old fantasizing about what being a cop or a mobster or a TV star must be like. Contrast the scene in the Season 1 pilot where Barry confronts the car full of Chechen assassins - hilarious, yet riveting, gritty, realistic - with the motorcycle gang hit in Season 3, ep. 6, where things suddenly turn into an episode of The A-Team. Ho... wha... Why?
Hader is superb throughout, which no doubt has amazed everybody familiar with him (who knew a comedian could be THIS good?!), but clearly the 3 year break, and whatever changed during that time, ruined the focus of the show. Pity, it had the makings of one of the best TV series ever. No exaggeration. Whoever you were listening to, or, more likely, not listening to in the first two seasons, go back to that.
First off, did we learn nothing from the Jim and Pam relationship on the Office? You cannot allow main characters to fulfill their desires for each other and continue on with their story. The story ends there. You've ruined the tension which made the relationship so dynamic. In the same way, bringing Noho Hank and Christobal together as lovers ruined one of the best dynamics in Barry. In fact, even letting on that they are gay was a huge letdown. The tension of not knowing was hilarious and energized every scene they were in. This disappointment is evidenced in Michael Irby's (Christobal) performance, which went from outstanding and the perfect adversary/partner to Soho Hank, to confused and directionless. Of course it did, he had nothing to contrast against. It's like pushing a moving car. It's no longer interesting.
In season 3 Barry simply goes off the rails. The police suddenly become Keystone cop idiots, lowly main characters are advanced to stupefying achievements without respect to reality, people are put into new situations without explanation. It all feels like a bad dream, which was how I was anticipating the season to resolve. As cliché as that may be, it would have at least explained why everything had become so weird. Even the cinematography feels different. Where the first two seasons felt like gritty film noir, a hallmark of HBO productions, season 3 felt off, like a Mentos commercial. Bad Canadian TV made Christmas movie feeling.
And then there is the change of focus from the star of the show to very uninteresting, whiney, untalented minor characters. Why? It feels like it was written by a 12 year old fantasizing about what being a cop or a mobster or a TV star must be like. Contrast the scene in the Season 1 pilot where Barry confronts the car full of Chechen assassins - hilarious, yet riveting, gritty, realistic - with the motorcycle gang hit in Season 3, ep. 6, where things suddenly turn into an episode of The A-Team. Ho... wha... Why?
Hader is superb throughout, which no doubt has amazed everybody familiar with him (who knew a comedian could be THIS good?!), but clearly the 3 year break, and whatever changed during that time, ruined the focus of the show. Pity, it had the makings of one of the best TV series ever. No exaggeration. Whoever you were listening to, or, more likely, not listening to in the first two seasons, go back to that.