Chapter One: Make Your Mark

I had heard about this series (it kicked up a lot of award attention) so I'm finally giving it a watch. The Entertainment industry has a bad habit of self-congratulating itself for productions that mirror themselves back to themselves (I mean BIRD MAN? Are you kidding me? What an exercise in self-consuming, self-justifying, self-indulgent hubris!), so I was a little cynical that the piece could live up to its hype. But, this has a unique premise which is always a good beginning for me. It has its own internal logic. Its comedy springs from dramatic comedy which is dependent on its own reflections on reality and those who I dwell it rather than on jokes, one-liners, gags or hyperbole - another plus for me. I think I'm going to like this. I give this first episode an optomistic 8 (great) out of 10. {Dramatic Comedic Criminal Behaviour}

In a directorial way, this pilot is quite a success. The framing is good, the acting is great, the sometimes contrasting lighting adds weight to the story and the score blends with the plot and fits the tone.

As for that plot, I must see further episodes to fully develop my thoughts on this one. Nevertheless, the plot of this episode is well-delivered; the decision to dump the viewer into the story with no context whatsoever creates an intrigue, and the decision to have the protagonist explain the context of his life current with a monologue occurs naturally.

Hopefully, this show delivers on its potential.

I don't know if I ever picked Bill Hader as an actor-assassin, but here we are. "Barry" is a show where he plays exactly that: trying to find purpose in his life through acting while secretly working as an assassin killing people. Sounds like a fun time. Along with Alec Berg, who has worked on multiple hit shows throughout the years, Hader was announced as a co-writer and creator of the show, which began its run back in 2018. It has gained a lot of acclaim and if the pilot is anything to speak from, this is going to be a truly innovatively awesome show.

At first, I thought I was in for a slow-moving show about this guy working contracts and killing people. However, it quickly turns up the volume after an incredible opening scene and shows the audience that this is a show filled with drama and intense scenes. The show does a great job of taking Barry's main job as an assassin and pairing the intense nature of it with the acting class that he takes, and it almost seems like Barry is more frightened by standing on stage as a mere scene partner than putting a bullet through a guy's brain. Not only is that brilliant storytelling, but it's a great way of getting us into the mindset of this character, which is a very twisted one. I didn't expect Bill Hader to make an impact like that out-of-the-gate, but he actually gives a great performance that captures that feeling of desire that his character is walking around with inside. It's being believable displayed to the audience without trying to forcible make the guy sympathetic. He's clearly not a great guy, but we still can't help but feel for him. The episode kinda seems like it could have easily been a one-off due to its sense of finality at the end, but that just says to me that they know how to make the show without the need for setting up a lot of stuff. At least not yet. Also, can we just accept that Henry Winkler is a national treasure? Because that's just a fact.

"Chapter One: Hit Your Mark" definitely hit the mark and shot the show off to a great start. Even though it felt like a good deal of finality was given, I can't wait to see what the writers have come up with for the next episode, which is currently queue'd up and ready to go.

So I finally descided to give this show a chance and so far i am glad I did! It immidiatly captures your attention with its unique approach that feels fresh in an abondale of TV shows where it sometimes feel you are just watching the same thing! So far this show does not feel like that!

The story is nothing huge, but the characters makes up for it as well as how well it manages to blend dark humor, light moments, drama and great acting! All this could feel overwhelming.. but It doesn't! It knows what It is and it works!

Bill Hader is already great as Barry! You connect with him as a man struggling with pursuing his own interests or others!

Excited for more!

At the very beginning, we are given directly to understand what the protagonist of the series represents for us. He's deadly, he's a lost soul, but he's also a person who has bills to pay. Meet - this is BARRY.

The series is a dark tragicomedy about the life of a hired killer, who has the opportunity to prove to himself that he is capable of not only killing "bad" people, but also of giving out his acting skills filled with life ... abstraction. But we all perfectly understand that, based on how much our hero would not like to try himself in another area, his past full of violence is unlikely to release such a person so easily.

The pilot episode may not showcase the full power of this concept, but it certainly manages to convey the message that Barry has the potential to become something big. And the creators definitely feel that they picked up a lot of interesting things in the future.