What I’m Watching: Barry

Barry: Season 1, Episode 5 “Chapter Five: Do Your Job” (B+)

It’s proving to be very enjoyable to watch Barry’s transition away from cold-blooded hitman to the kind of person who cares about other people and doesn’t want to so readily end someone else’s lives. He stepped in right away to shoot the target and win a prize when he was doing something nice for a kid, but he wasn’t into Fuches’ cutthroat order to take Taylor out after he helped with the raid. Taylor was truly gung-ho and excited about being part of this job, and he performed spectacularly when he went in guns blazing and Barry sort of just hung out outside waiting for it to be over. I think he’ll prove to be an asset even if he’s a little bit too hyper sometimes. Barry and Fuches have a good system set up for if he ever gets questioned about his whereabouts during a hit, and, though he feigned annoyance, I think Fuches had fun blowing a hair dryer into the phone and putting on an accent to cove for him. Barry is still daydreaming about a life with Sally when that’s not at all what she wants, and her “toxic masculinity” diagnosis really got to him. Bringing up his military service and the kills he made during it took the acting class in an unexpected direction, and though Sally isn’t buying it, everyone else seems to be very sympathetic to the newest member of the class. For unknown reasons, Detective Moss can’t resist Cousineau’s charms, and that’s going to get her into trouble very soon, especially as she fails to get any further with the unenhanced photo she hoped was going to lead to an identification of her prime suspect.