Barry – Season 4 Episode 7 “A Nice Meal” Recap & Review

A Nice Meal

A heavily sedated Barry confesses to Jim that he gave Gene $250,000. Barry is confused and profusely apologizes to everyone he sees in his hallucinatory reality – as he should… but it gets Jim thinking.

Gene proudly discusses with Tom about how big studios are “whoring themselves out” to get a bite at Barry’s story. Gene also reiterates that he wants nothing to do with them. Hank has meanwhile arranged a team of FUBKs – The Four Ultimate Badass Killers – to kill Fuches. Expectations are high as they are supposed to be elite, precise, and dangerous.

All of their heads are delivered by Fuches in four delivery package boxes. Hank decides to do it himself and plans an attack.

Gene receives a call from Matt Iserson, an agent professing to be representing the great Daniel Day-Lewis. He is a living legend but has been retired since 2017. Gene hears his name and scampers to meet Iserson.

His hypocrisy couldn’t get ahead of his desire to be played by the greatest actor of our times on screen. Sally calls Gene at the same moment and he’s shocked to hear from her but is caught in a quandary when she asks him to pick up John and her from the airport.

Gene asks Sally to come to his house and he agrees to be there soon. Fuches’ men clean up the bloody mess and given the changes in his life, he and his men gently confront the woman and her daughter, whom Fuches brought home from the coffee shop. They are stunned at the gravity of the violence.

Fuches’ gang has a disenchanting discussion about how to prevent something like this. They come to a final decision to take them out for “a nice meal.” As they leave, Hank positions a rocket launcher toward the house but the rocket misses, with the curve taking it away from the intended target.

Hank’s associates only bought one rocket and Fuches’ gang gets a whiff of Hank. They start shooting relentlessly and come at him from all sides like ants on honey.

Their ruthlessness and relentlessness are remarkable, showing what a proficient gang Fuches now commands. They kill Hank’s driver and Hank manages to escape by falling downhill. Iserson explains to Gene that Matt Wahlberg also wants to join the cast and play Barry, but he doesn’t want to play a villain. Gene is instantly on his feet and makes a case for Barry, who saw Gene as a “father figure” and someone “who would do anything to please him.”

He calls Barry “a sympathetic soul”, which convinces Iserson to arrange a meeting with Wahlberg. Barry manages to escape as Jim isn’t home.

In trying to open the door with a knife, Barry gets a deep cut. The wound makes him lose blood profusely and he passes out in the kitchen. Hank decides to give Fuches what he wants – Bary. He instructs Val to kidnap Gene, who will know where Barry is. But Gene isn’t home and Sally and John are. Sally gets an epiphany to turn herself in and give John to the State.

She sees an officer nearby and walks up to him. But she sees blood coming out of the police officer’s eye, indicating she might be risking his life by taking it further. The officer leaves and Hank’s men arrive at the scene and kidnap them. To Gene’s surprise, Jim had set a trap for him. Leo, Gene’s son, and the DA are present in the room with the police. Iserson is not a real person and he is actually Brad.

Jim has caught on to the $250,000 cash mystery. The cabin where Gene shot Leo was bought with that money, and this belonged to a Chechen gangster (that Barry stole).

The DA thinks Gene shot Leo because he found out the cabin was bought with Chechen drug money – Leo thinks it too. Jim sees Gene changing his stance about Barry – to Iserson – as confirmation of Gene role-playing to fool them all. They accuse Gene of manipulating Barry to kill Janice because she killed a Chechen gangster on the premises of his acting classes.

Gene was also found with Janice’s body with a Chechen gangster, The Raven. Unfortunately for Gene, that, is now a reality. How the walls of fates have collapsed on its desperate disciple. Hank calls Barry with Sally’s phone and gets them to shout out to him but Barry is asked to report to the address.

The Episode Review

Barry is a comedy again and “Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis wants to come out of retirement to play you” is one of the best lines on television this year. Day-Lewis has three Oscars and he probably won’t come out of retirement but never say never, I guess (this delightful tribute to DDL by Hader on SNL is underrated).

Barry has got its flavour back, taking us down memory lane to seasons 1 & 2. Episode 7 is exactly why we fell in love with this brilliant, quirky, remarkable gold mine.

Hader and Berg play hard with nostalgia to reel you in. NoHo Hank snapped out of his slump, Gene became his old narcissistic self, and Barry needs to save Sally once again. People never change and Barry has proved that twice in two episodes now.

The penultimate episode has also ensured Barry ends fittingly, the way it was supposed to. It had so much plot development and zany twists that would take at least half a season to materialize. If the high-stakes finale can match the energy of episode 7, Barry would end spectacularly. Seeing this episode – the best one ins season 4 – makes you want the show to continue for another season.