No One Can Have It All on Barry

Barry just delivered one of the most devastating breakups in TV history. At the start of Season 3, it looked like Hank (Anthony Carrigan) and Crístobal (Michael Irby) were going to go the distance. Seeing the two together in Santa Fe made it seem possible that maybe, just maybe, someone on the series would have a happy ending. But as with most characters on Barry, ambition got the best of them both. Despite how desperately they wanted to have it all — the loving relationship, the control over a crime operation, the safety and security of knowing no one is out to get them — in the end it proved to be impossible.

Death is an inevitability on Barry — it’s a show about a hitman, after all. But even in a series filled to the brim with brutal and shocking murders, Crístobal’s death is something different. For one, it’s one of the most emotional losses, emphasized by Carrigan’s excellent performance as Hank begging Crístobal to stay and not walk out the door to his demise. But it also highlights a painful truth: These characters can’t just reset their lives and start fresh without making huge sacrifices. And halfway through the final season, it’s clear that happy endings will remain elusive.

The final scene between Hank and Cristobal in Season 4, Episode 4, “it takes a psycho,” mirrors one in Season 3, Episode 2, “limonada.” In the latter, Crístobal is the one who calls things off, trying to save Hank from the wrath of his father-in-law, Bolivian crime boss Fernando (Miguel Sandoval). It’s clear that Hank is heartbroken as he watches Cristobal walk out of his life, potentially forever, but his lingering stare also has a tinge of hope, not to mention humor.

Framing the moment as a funny one makes the breakup seem much less final, but in turn makes the Season 4 scene all that much more shattering. There’s no lingering stare as Crístobal walks out the door, no hope for a later reconciliation, because this time Hank knows exactly what’s about to happen.

While Hank is ultimately forced to give up his relationship for his career, Sally (Sarah Goldberg) is forced to give up her career for, well, it’s hard to say exactly what. Hank at least has the promise of power on the other end of his deal. But Sally, who just last season had both success and a (sort of) loving partner for the briefest moment, is leaving behind her life in Los Angeles for something completely unknown. Even that, though, is better than the constant rejection she’s facing. She gets a chance to show off her acting chops for a major director only to realize she’ll never be what the industry is looking for. She’s done trying.

Barry (Bill Hader) seems to be the only one who is still holding out hope for some semblance of a nice life. And in the episode’s final scenes, it seems that he’s almost got it. From the very first time Barry met Sally, he’s envisioned their life together, their children and their home, and a jump ahead in time shows that he has at least part of what he always wanted. But it doesn’t exactly look like the wholesome, happy family that would provide him redemption from his years as a killer — a fridge full of booze and a single donut doesn’t quite align with that vision.

Beaten, bloody, and still in his prison clothes, Barry appears the happiest he’s been so far this season when Sally agrees to go away with him. It’s proof of how easily he can delude himself into finding satisfaction. He’s so good at it that even as everyone else around him resigns to a life of despair, he might actually believe he’s on his way to happily ever after.

Barry airs on HBO Sundays at 10:00 PM ET. Join the discussion about the show in our forums.

Brianna Wellen is a TV Reporter at Primetimer who became obsessed with television when her parents let her stay up late to watch E.R.