Barry is just getting started. HBO has revealed that the dark comedy/drama is entering production on its fourth and final season. The series concluded its third season in June with “starting now”, an emotional rollercoaster that saw Barry outdone by Mr. Cousineau (Henry Winkler) and the late Detective Moss’s father (Robert Wisdom). The finale ended with Barry (Bill Hader) being carted away to prison after finally being caught for his crimes. Last week, at the Primetime Emmy Awards, Henry Winkler also revealed that the series’ fourth season will be its last.
Work on the fourth season has now been confirmed to be underway. HBO tweeted out an image of series co-creator Bill Hader and Winkler on stage as the former directs the latter. The photo was captioned, “The show must go on. Season 4 of #Barry is now in production. And I’m just getting started. #HBO50”.
Details about the plot of the season remain scarce, and the image itself did not reveal much about where the series is going after the dark third season. It appears to be a behind-the-scenes shot, and since Hader is a frequent director on the series, it can be assumed that he is guiding Winkler (who appears to be in costume) on a scene.
Winkler stated during the Emmy Awards (where Barry was tragically snubbed for its third season, despite a spectacular outing that proved Hader is a great director) that co-creators Alan Ball and Hader did not wish to “stretch” the series out. The decision is probably for the best - now that Barry’s been caught, this season will surely explore how the other characters will handle it. To have the show continue on much longer after such a revelation when much of the show’s drama and humor was about Barry trying to avoid being caught, would risk turning the show into a farce.
Now, the drama will probably derive from Barry’s sense of betrayal towards Mr. Cousineau, with whom he developed an unhealthy connection that threatened to drive him over the edge last season. It’s also possible that Barry could find a way to get out of the legal trouble he’s found himself in - Fuches (Stephen Root), his longtime associate, appeared to embrace the constructed identity of “the Raven” last season, an Albanian assassin whom the police credited much of Barry’s killings to. There’s also the matter of Barry’s friend, Special Agent Albert Nguyen (James Hiroyuki Liao), who could have arrested Barry last season, but told him instead that the time had come for Barry to change “starting now”. The lingering question of the show also hangs in the air - "Can Barry Berkman be forgiven?"
Barry season 4 will likely air sometime next year on HBO.
Source: HBO|Twitter