Barry ‘Block’ Berkman is back by popular demand. We knew of his return for a second season as soon as the first episodes of season one premiered, but now he’s officially back, with a brand new trailer to show for it.
HBO released Barry’s season two first look, roughly a month before the new season is scheduled to premiere on March 31st, and it’s everything fans could’ve asked for. If co-creators Bill Hader and Alec Berg promised a “much darker” season two, they’ve certainly delivered it in the two and a half minutes of footage we’ve been able to see thus far.
It’s darker, yes, I’ll give them that. If Barry’s facial expressions and overall scruffy look are anything to judge by, it seems our favorite hitman-turned-actor is going to go through a hell of a lot in the upcoming episodes. But his torment is as nervously heart-wrenching as exhilaratingly exciting, because if Barry’s angst means something it is that we’re going to get to see Emmy award-winner –and boy does it feel good to see that in writing– Bill Hader most likely delivering, once again, the performance of a lifetime.
The clues scattered about in the two minute long trailer are scarce, but good enough to deduce a couple of plot-related questions that undoubtedly need answering during the upcoming episodes. Whatever happened to poor Detective Moss? It looks like she’s gone missing and a new police squad is in charge of searching for her –will they eventually figure out her disappearance is Barry’s fault? And what are we to expect from Barry and Sally’s still blossoming romantic relationship? A few scene snippets seem to suggest they’re still thriving in their somewhat new situation, but a few others imply nothing but bumpy and curvy roads lie ahead for them.
But perhaps one of the most exciting things Barry‘s season two trailer has to offer is Emmy award winner –and, again, does it feel good to be able to write these three consecutive words– Henry Winkler. It seems Moss’s disappearance has left Gene Cousineau with much more than a simple broken heart, and it is in this loneliness and solitude that he’ll find Barry, who seems to still be struggling not only with his acting talent –or lack thereof– but also with the inherent darkness within him, that still seems to haunt every scene he is in — both on and off the acting class’ stage.
Most of the trailer seems to focus on the growing dynamic between Cousineau and Barry, which was, by far, the strongest pillar the show relied on in its first –and so far only– season, so watching that strange friendship develop over the course of another run is exhilarating.
“Am I a bad person, Mr. Cousineau?”, Barry asks Winkler’s character.
“I think you are deeply human,” he replies. “And I pray people can change their nature. If they can’t, you and I are in deep trouble.”
And just like that, we have a theme and an arc for season 2.
The trailer also features our favorite violent Chechen, Noho Hank, who will apparently hunt Barry down to a sports shop he is now employed at, and Fuches, who also seems to track Barry down to his new, mundane and –dare we say it– normal job. However these two fit in the picture of this season’s arc, we’ll have to wait to find out.
For now, one thing is sure: Barry‘s season two is –and pardon the cliché that’s about to follow– bigger, better, darker, and funnier. The actors seem much more comfortable in their characters, ready to catapult them in different, more interesting, and, by extension, more complex directions that are sure to keep us at the edge of our seats.
Whether Barry will finally put down the gun and put on a show, is a whole other ordeal.
But you be the judge:
Barry season two premieres March 31st on HBO.