Barry – Season 4 Episode 6 “The Wizard” Recap & Review

The Wizard

Barry is following through on his declaration of killing Gene as episode 6 of Barry season 4 begins. Before leaving, he teaches Sally how to use his gun. She seems uninterested but Barry wants her to take no chances. Sally tries to dissuade him from citing God’s word, but “old habits die hard.”

He bids a tearful goodbye to John, who is sad to see his father go. It is a genuine moment of sincerity and contrast, as Sally stands aloof like an outsider to her own family. After eight years in prison, Fuches is now “The Raven.”

All that foreshadowing of him being this ruthless, menacing mob boss has come true. Fuches now wears a white tank top showing his passionate tattoo work. Even when the hood of his convertible is down, his slick hair cannot be displaced. He now commands an army of men, including the two mucks who made fun of him in episode 4 whilst in jail.

Fuches bizarrely persuades a woman working in a café to come along by just “eyeing” her. They go to the offices of Nohobal Corporation, Hank’s giant real estate empire. He is clad in his green suit and the same vibrant smile that hides pain and trauma. Right in the middle of the office lobby rests Cristobal’s bronze statue in his honour.

Fuches still hasn’t forgotten Barry and asks Hank to track him down. He also places Fuches and his gang at his best house. Barry listens to Pastor Pat, who repeats Sally’s words; “there is no greater sin than murder.” Gene meets with Tom, who arranges a meeting with the WB executive.

She explains the studio’s plans for the movie but Gene is a changed man. Eight years on a Kibbutz in Israel have changed his outlook on life. He is no longer the self-involved narcissist seeking attention. Gene vehemently establishes his wish not to consult on the movie. He sees it as an abomination of Janice’s memory and the “glorification of a psychopath.”

Barry is unconvinced by Pat and to justify his actions in his own head, changes the podcast to Pastor Carl. He likes what he hears now; until he buys a gun from the store and Carl professes that unintentional murder is a sin.

Gene meets with the DA, who still has no idea where Barry is. It is there we learn that Leo, Gene’s son, is still alive. What a positive takeaway! Barry has still not stopped and changes his tune to Pastor Angelo (voiced by the unmistakable Bill Burr), who is a former murderer (not reformed) turned pastor. Barry sits with this moral satisfaction outside Leo’s house and sees Gene go in. This is the first Leo has seen of Gene in over eight years. He welcomes him in but looks hesitant.

Barry takes out his gun and is ready to take revenge on Gene, only to turn away when he sees Gordon, Leo’s now grown-up son, walking in. Gene hugs Gordon, who is unsure of what to do, and gives Leo his new number. Sally is having a tough time taking care of a child. It is a big change of routine for the hollow-hearted waitress who can see no way back from the dark abyss she has fallen into.

When John wn’t have a burnet grilled sandwich, Sally mixes vodka in his juice. He falls asleep quite easily and Sally too hits the bed after unsuccessfully trying to wake him up from the couch. Suddenly, she hears the voice of a man threatening her. She wakes up and inspects the house to find everything in place. She bizarrely does not see a slender man dressed in a black suit right behind her.

The assailant is probably Bevel, the guy whom Sally assaulted in the previous episode. The house suddenly starts shaking as Sally is locked by Bevel in her room. Someone in a pickup truck tries to turn it upside down and punches a hole in the wall.

Sally somehow assembles the gun but by that time, the threat is over. She goes out and finds Jon still sleeping and the entire house in a mess. She calls Barry as John wakes up, asking him to come back soon. Hank shows Fuches and his gang around their new home, also announcing they will be contacted to guard his best real estate sites. Fuches is determined to get Barry, something Hank is apprehensive about.

That night during dinner, Fuches gets drunk and out of control. He inadvertently refers to Cristobal’s murder at Hank’s hands, which completely changes the complexion of his face.

He instantly gets up, cancels the deal, and asks Fuches to vacate the premises by the next morning. Barry has not stopped following Gene. It is late at night and Gene leaves his door open, like he did eight years ago, to trap Barry. He walks straight into another one as Jim Moss takes him, hostage.

The Episode Review

It would be facetious to not say “This was expected.” Jim Moss will not let go of Barry this time, even though Gene might have inadvertently fulfilled his heart’s wish. Episode 6 beckons a question: can people truly change? There is a contradiction of sorts. While it exposes Barry’s hypocrisy as a self-proclaimed man of God, there is Gene on the other end of the spectrum. Although we’re giving him the benefit of the doubt without too much context, Gene seems like a different person.

But Barry is still the same. He wills his way beyond “His” words to do things his own way. He literally changes the pastor’s podcast to hear what he wants and justify his actions to himself. The smug smile of satisfaction on his face when pastor Carl mentions how God commanded his followers to wipe out whole cities is the manifestation of his psychopathy. It also shows how he never got over Gene’s betrayal.

Barry’s human flaws got the better of him, as they do for so many of us. None of the characters are better off than they were eight years ago, except for Gene, perhaps. There is once again skepticism from my side about what Hader has done to Sally. Even though her character arc has evolved in an uncompromising way (and credit to the creators and writers for the bold move), this choice has drained our empathy toward her.

Sally’s emptiness really speaks out to you, even though it is confounding. Her apathy towards her own child reflects her entrapment in a horror show. And for some reason, she still clings on desperately to this living nightmare, so far deep into her shell that there is no coming back.