Though Barry will conclude this coming Sunday, showrunner and leading man Bill Hader revealed that legendary comic Larry David of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm fame urged him to end HBO's dark comedy in its third season.
Hader revealed an interaction with David in which the latter asked if the finale of HBO's Barry season 3 was the show's ending. When Hader confirmed it wasn't, David questioned the choice because he thought the Barry season 3 finale was a fitting conclusion for the show given its tone.
Hader revealed the full exchange in an interview with Conan O'Brien. “I saw Larry, and he goes, ‘I watched Barry — that’s it, right?'” Hader said while doing an impression of David. “And I said, ‘No, we have a whole new season.’ And he went, ‘Why?'” Hader then revealed why he opted to continue the show. “I go, ‘Well, I think there’s more story to tell.’ And he’s like, ‘But it’s done!'” Hader and the others also discussed whether David felt that way because his show Seinfeld ended with the four main characters, Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer, in prison.
Season 3 ended with the titular character, Barry Berkman, getting caught for trying to murder Jim Moss in what was exposed as a sting operation. This was after Barry had committed too many crimes to count after vowing that he was done in the criminal underworld as an assassin, which included killing his friend Chris after Chris admitted he was going to the police, killing Janice Moss when she was onto him, massacring a monastery in an attempt to kill his former handler Fuches, and killing various other people in season 3. Some of those people were trying to kill him, but Barry's demons had finally caught up with him.
Though Barry getting caught was what fans had been waiting for since the beginning, there was more story to tell with NoHo Hank's fallen drug empire and the PTSD Sarah Goldberg's Sally Reed suffered as a result of killing a biker who had tried to kill her, especially since it came right after she lost pretty much her entire career in Hollywood. The show went to a dark place in Barry season 3, but it was clear some loose ends needed to be tied up. And luckily, it's led to a worthy follow-up in Barry season 4, which has also taken unexpected twists and turns along the way.
And now it comes to this. Barry will have to resort back to the man he resented when the show first started to protect the people he holds most dear. Fuches is anticipating a reunion with his former criminal buddy. NoHo Hank is pulling out all the stops to ensure his safety. Gene Cousineau may face legal trouble based on endless misunderstandings. Seeing it all come together should make for one epic Barry series finale.
The Barry series finale will air on HBO at 9 pm ET and stream on HBO Max.
Source: Team Coco/YouTube