What I’m Watching: Barry

Barry: Season 1, Episode 4 “Chapter Four: Commit to YOU” (B+)

Barry’s worlds are colliding in a way that he doesn’t seem to realize is very bad. His daydreams about the future are rather simplistic and remarkably specific, with Sally thanking him for the laptop he bought her and Jon Hamm complimenting him on his grilling and asking to use his toilet. Things didn’t pan out quite as well in reality, of course, as her response to the very expensive gift was one of shock and confusion, since it amounted to several months of rent for her. Inviting his Marine buddies to Natalie’s party was a poor idea, and their rowdy behavior was the least of his problems after he got drunk and then confronted eager actor Zach Burrows in an aggressively possessive way that really got Sally angry. They’re not nearly close enough for this kind of thing to happen, and Barry doesn’t yet understand how to pretend to be normal. I enjoyed his very passive take on “Glengarry Glen Ross” and how he managed to make the tirade not mean, and Cousineau performed an effective analysis of his deferential nature. I love that it propelled him to confront an unfazed Fuches. Sally’s would-be agent is a rather despicable guy, making her uncomfortable with a supposed joke about sleeping with her instead of signing her, and then failing to consider her a client when she went on the audition. Cousineau’s magic seemed like it might be working on Detective Moss, but it turns out she was just focused and now has a good lead on identifying Barry’s face from the video footage.