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I need to talk to people about Barry. I just finished it its my favorite show rn its amazing WHERE ARE THE BARRY FANS

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what y'all know about Barry 💔

This show has been a huge part of my life since like 2019 I love it it'a the best show ever (Barry on HBO Max)

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When I first got into Barry, I had no idea who Bill Hader was. I’m not from the US and I was never into comedy and SNL.

I sympathised with Barry from the get go. He was socially awkward, weird in a painfully relatable way, emotionally stunted but also deeply emotional, guilt-ridden, depressed, and incredibly lonely. As someone on the spectrum, I thought he displayed a lot of autistic traits, too. I identified with many aspects of him, including - oh no! - his anger issues.

I’ve struggled with mental illness and PTSD for years, and I felt sorry for Barry, especially knowing he was manipulated by Fuches, a father figure, an “uncle” who’d known him since he was five. Even when Barry did morally questionable things, my sympathy remained.

I binged the show in a week, and by the start of Season 3, I could tell that Barry’s creators really disliked him. The shift in tone was impossible to ignore. It felt as though they had lost interest in him, moved on to other characters, and wanted nothing but endless punishment for Barry. Sometimes it even seemed that they were making fun of his childish traits and behaviours. As an author myself, I consume media from two perspectives: as a viewer observing a real, lived-in world the characters inhabit, and as someone analysing both that world and the intent of its creators.

At that point, I still didn’t know much about Bill Hader. It took me a while to realise that he played AND wrote AND directed Barry. And as I kept on watching, I could sense his contempt for his own creation. It seemed he wanted viewers to stop sympathising with Barry, perhaps even feel guilty about having done so in the first place. It felt as though he was punishing both Barry for his crimes and me, the viewer, for my sympathies. The plot left no room for any other interpretation: Barry is bad, irredeemable, a murderer deserving only pain.

And I wasn’t buying it.

While I respect the author’s intent, I also make up my own mind about media, and I felt Barry deserved a chance at redemption and healing. The show’s drastic change after Season 2 left me unhappy with the message it was telling. I was still very much emotionally invested in the story, and decided to stick for the whole ride, even though I was certain that things would only turn darker. I knew the ending wouldn’t surprise me, and it didn’t.

Later I found out that my suspicions were correct, and Bill Hader really did dislike Barry. He was uncomfortable with some viewers finding Barry “sexy” while killing, or how they sympathised with him while judging Sally for her bitchy, selfish behaviour. So, the darker tone of Season 3 finally made sense in this context.

What did shock me was the fandom. Oh boy, was I in for a big surprise. Emotionally wrecked and ruined after the finale, I went on the internet looking for people who felt the same… and found almost none. Many viewers hated Barry. I discovered that, according to some, I myself am a psychopath for sympathising with him. I will not go into how being a psychopath kind of implies that you… well, cannot empathise with someone else, but yeah. Lots agreed that Barry was evil and deserved far worse than what he got, and the reason many thought the finale was depressing wasn’t because of his death but because of Gene’s ultimate fate.

I still don’t know how to feel about it all. It sucks when people tell you that if you sympathise with fictional killers you’re: a psycho yourself and need therapy; or one step away from writing letters to serial killers in prison; or even killing someone yourself.

Barry’s double life, his hatred of the job he was manipulated into, his guilt about murders, his fragile mental state, how he barely feels like a human being because of all the stuff he’s done - it all resonates deeply with me. At times, following his story was a bit like looking into a distorted mirror.

It saddens me that there’s very little compassion for Barry and that so many see him as a monster when I see a deeply wounded, severely mentally ill man who honestly wanted to change, wanted something good and happy. I know he did questionable things. I also know he’s extremely childish, trusting, easily malleable, shaped and fucked up by his experiences in the war. He was taught to kill, praised and rewarded for it. Fuches brainwashed and groomed him into becoming a hitman, taking advantage of Barry’s vulnerability, depression, and trauma. Barry’s story is tragic because he wanted something better, yet the world and his creator denied him it.

I feel lonely in my love for Barry. I’ve seen characters who committed far, far worse crimes than Barry get loads of fandom love and affection. As an author, it makes me sad to see a character desperately wishing to escape his situation be trapped by the unwavering cruelty of his creator. Barry did want to change. Bill decided he wouldn’t. I later found out that Bill loves “crime and punishment”, and it all made even more sense. It’s funny, in a depressing sort of way, to read Bill’s interviews where he goes on and on how Barry is this super awful guy, when he himself didn’t let, indeed, ENSURED, that Barry stood no chance and had no way out.

Yes, I am aware of how Bill is all against glorifying violence, and I can totally see what he wanted to do with this show. I just wish it was something different. I feel for Barry, and I honestly wish the story allowed him a glimmer of hope and healing. I believe he deserved better.

Rant over. I’m feeling extra miserable today, and needed to get this off my chest.