Barry - Chapter Three: Make The Unsafe Choice - Review + POLL

Previously on Barry, following his hesitation in killing Ryan and his taking out of the Chechen Mob's assassin, Barry was in deep trouble which saw Fuches kidnapped and assaulted. In order to save Fuches, he agreed to do one job for the Chechens; taking out a mysterious target by the name of Paco. Elsewhere, Barry further assimilated himself in the theatre group, but is coming to realise how hard it might be to lead a double life.

This week's episode opens on a monologue from Gene, as we see Barry reading his book whilst scoping out his newest mark. He gets a call from Hank however, who tells him to sit on taking out Paco for the moment as he's sent a bullet to the Bolivians (via DHL of course) to send the message that they are willing to take out Paco who is their informant. I can quickly see Hank becoming a fan favourite character as he's utterly bizarre and the line delivery by Anthony Carrigan is totally on point. As Barry angrily follows orders and holds off on killing Paco until later that day, Hank gets news that a replacement is being sent for the hitman that Barry took out in the first episode. Fuches enquires what that means for Barry and himself as the Chechens celebrate, and it looks like it won't be a good outcome for them at all.

We cut again to Barry who has another clear shot on Paco, but it's a shot he's still not allowed to take. Paco's life is ripe for the taking but Barry, being very dutiful but also very bitter, is a sitting duck waiting for the go-ahead from Hank. Whilst he's doing so, he gets a reminder on his phone for that day's acting class. Of course Barry abandons Paco in order to go to the acting class.

Back in the Chechen's garage, we finally get a look at who's going to usurp Barry's current position and make both him and Fuches completely dispensable to the Chechens....and it's an old man. Boy, those Chechens are really bringing the humour in this episode. They swap to Russian to discuss the details of his mission, but Fuches clearly gets the message when the imitation of him being shot is right in his face. I would say it wasn't looking good for him and Barry, but this supposed wonder of a hitman for the Chechens seems more interested in just having a rest. He's weary and jaded like Barry, but in a completely different way.

As Detectives Moss and Loach make progress on the case of Ryan's murder, they seem to be incredibly perceptive and honestly pretty damn good at their jobs. They narrow down that the person who killed the Chechens after Ryan's murder must have been a friend of Ryan's from the gym or the acting class, which of course is absolutely spot on. I'm worried about how quickly Barry is going to get caught if they can narrow down further any possible suspects or if he starts to act suspicious. I'm sure it won't be long before their paths cross.

In this week's acting class, Gene asks everyone to 'find their space' and Barry's space just happens to be a grocery store, where he appears to be the most awkward customer I've ever seen. His scene however is interrupted by the arrival of the detectives, who have a sit down with all of the students and Gene. Barry is totally cool under pressure, and doesn't seem to give anything away that could link him to Ryan's murder, but the same can't be said for a clearly nervous Eric. As Barry comes out of the informal interrogation, he gets a text from Hank saying the bullet is almost with the Bolivians, with added cat memes. At this point i'm not even surprised at how eccentric he is and it's totally great.

Following Fuches accidentally talking the new hitman into committing suicide, he also manages to talk his way inside the Chechens' house and secure a deal of higher freedom for himself and further jobs for Barry to do for the Chechens.

Elsewhere in this episode, we see Sally at a birthday party where she's clearly taken the job just for the money. During it she gets a call from an agent with an audition for a part on a network TV show. She takes the audition as the birthday girl stumbles from dizziness. She later asks Barry to drive her to the audition, where she finds out the part she thought she was auditioning for has already been cast by one of her old cast mates and she was actually brought in to read for the lesser part, which leaves her feeling overwhelmed.

After Barry finally gets the text from Paco about the bullet being delivered, we see him in darkness waiting for an opportune moment to shoot Paco, but of course now it has passed. He first gets a call from Hank asking him if the job is done yet, to which Barry placates him slightly by saying it might take time. Hank reminds him of the ticking clock on the hit and Barry settles in to try and get the perfect shot. Then, Sally calls still upset over the day's audition. Insisting on Barry coming over, his face softens and he relents, saying he'll be over in half an hour. In order to get the job done quicker, he sneaks into Paco's house which is a huge risk that doesn't pay off at all, as Paco spots Barry after he steps on a creaky floorboard. He manages to get the job done, albeit messily and with a high chance of being caught by anyone at the party directly next door. It's another close calls for Barry, and I'm not sure how many he can have before he's just straight up caught out.

He drives over to Sally's (who's still on the phone) where they share one of the most awkward first kisses in recent televised history. Barry probably hasn't been shown physical affection much though. Their physical encounter, it seems, allows him to open his mind, and we have a vision of Barry and Sally grocery shopping together, just like how he was trying to describe in his earlier scene in acting class. Even though he's opening his mind to acting even more, he can't seem to shake visions of what he did to Paco, and repeats Paco's last words. Sarah asks him why he said that, and translates it for him; "You don't have to do this." The episode closes with Barry agreeing.

'Chapter Three: Make The Unsafe Choice' showed that the Chechens won't be easy to shake, and definitely ramped up the dark comedic elements of the show. Do you think Fuches is on Barry's side? How long do you expect Barry to keep up both acting and assassinating? Let me know in the comments.