Previously on Barry, taking out the Bolivian leader goes south as a rogue Taylor charges into the situation, Sally manages to gain a bigger role in the Macbeth showcase, Janice ended her relationship with Gene and the police come ever closer to figuring out what happened to Ryan.
The episode opens with Barry and co's arrival at the Bolivian's plane from their point of view, starting with them landing the plane and Taylor's very noisy arrival to the scene. It's obvious that they've been spotted a mile off, and the Bolivians are understandably confused, but it's clear that the SUV is not a welcome party. They take shots at the car, as we already know, but with the front riders incapacitated, the car flips off the road and lands on it's side (definitely doesn't seem like a good outcome for Chris as he is probably now trapped). As one of the mercenaries inspects the SUV to make sure everyone inside has been taken out, he notices a bloody handprint on the trunk, followed by more handprints leading out into the desert. Looks like somebody managed to get away.
Cristobal, the Bolivian leader, gets the right idea that Goran is behind the failed hit on him due to the fact that the 'soldiers' in the front of the car appear to be American. He calls up Goran and explains that they don't need to fight, and wouldn't it just be simpler for everyone if they worked together to be the kings of LA crime. Somehow I don't think that's a genuine offer, but Hank and Pazar seem to fall for it. As they agree with work with Cristobal, he turns round and declares war; Pazar ordered the death of many of his men, and now he has to do the same in retaliation.
This is really not good news for me.Following the handprints and tracks, one of the Bolivians comes across both Barry and Chris, who surprisingly survived and escaped with Barry. Chris however seems hesitant to take out the Bolivian, even with their lives at risk. Barry keeps shouting at Chris to kill him, and it's honestly surprising that the Bolivian doesn't kill the both of them then and there. Finally, Barry gets through to Chris who shoots him in the stomach in the nick of time.
We cut to Hank, who gets a call from Fuches asking if he's heard from Barry. Fuches seems to be genuinely worried, and when he confirms that Barry may have not done the job alone, Hank adds 2 and 2 and gets 5, and informs Fuches that Barry died during the job. Neither of them can really believe it, and Fuches seems to be pretty cut up about it.
It turns out that the LAPD had Cristobal's phone bugged (or possibly Goran's), and have a recording of his call with Goran, which really wasn't subtle in the slightest. The call is actually longer than what we saw, and the two and hilariously involves advice on self-help books. Janice however clicks onto the fact that someone ex-military was involved in the hit, and the only suspect that she currently has matching that description is Barry. She's of course right on the money (not that she knows that yet), and takes down Barry's photo, presumably to go to the threatre class and question/arrest him.
Barry arrives at his theatre class where Sally quickly catches him up to date with everything that's happened since he was last there. Everything is closing in on him, but he seems more irritated by losing his part in the Macbeth scene than by everything else going on. Around him, Natalie and Sasha discuss the money that was found and seem to believe that it wasn't Ryan's. With things not adding up, it really won't be long before Janice pieces everything together. Barry also has to deal with Chris calling him freaked out about what went down earlier that day and concentrating on delivering his one line. It's all too much for him, and Gene has to pull him aside and give him a bit of advice. If Barry can't get it together, then maybe acting just isn't for him. Considering the entire premise is about Barry finding something in acting, this really isn't going to be a good thing for him.
The LAPD discover the air strip where the failed hit went down and the identities of the two bodies left there. Detective Loach is convinced that Taylor is the guy they've been looking for all along and that he was working with Ryan, but Janice isn't so easy to convince. That is, until she sees Gene's book with Ryan's name inside on Taylor's coffee table in his apartment. Suddenly, there is a connection between the two, but as we know, it's the wrong one.
As Fuches and Hank mourn Barry, Hank makes it clear that he will pay for his poor advice with the Bolivians with his life. Fuches, thinking he no longer has Barry's protection, is visibly scared. At the same time, Barry and Chris meet up to talk things out. This being the first time Chris has killed someone, he's clearly going through something. As Chris suggests that they go to the police due to his guilty conscience, Barry very calmly tells him that the people he works for will harm his family if he does that. The conversation turns however, and Chris says he won't go to the police and that he'll keep quiet, but he told his wife that he was going to meet Barry, so Barry won't be able to 'do anything stupid'. They meet in a semi-public place, but it's obvious that Barry can't trust Chris and he's just another liability. With Chris adamant that he'll be quiet, he goes to set off, but as he does Barry pulls a gun on him, shoots him, and stages it as a suicide. With all the bodies piling up around Barry I just can't see how he'll manage to get out of this without being arrested.
And tonight is the night of the theatre's Shakespeare showcase. Barry hasn't shown up by the time it starts, and the whole affair is uncomfortable to watch when you see how bad some of the acting is. Maybe not Barry bad, but it's not far off. As Sally is reciting her monologue, Barry is finally there in costume, and he surprisingly nails his line. It's progress and hopefully the rest of the audience was rooting for him as much as I was. Unfortunately though, it was all a dream, which is not one of the best tropes out there to employ. As Barry actually arrives at the theatre, he's fully unprepared for his scene, consumed by thoughts of killing Chris. Sally asks him to at least give him something to work with so she can impress the talent agent in the front row of the crowd and get signed, but he is completely out of it. The agent doesn't seem that interested in Sally though, and maybe Gene was right that the part of Macbeth was too much for her. The scenes of Barry losing it backstage intercut with Chris' wife finding out about his death was really strong editing, even if they were only possible scenarios as to what could happen. It leaves Barry physically beat, and he delivers his sole line in tears. It affects Sally so much as well, that her mediocre performance is suddenly transformed into something nuanced and emotional, and the whole atmosphere of the scene and the room changes.
Backstage, Barry is still very much in grief and turmoil over what he did, and even when Gene tries to congratulate him on his performance, he can't escape the place that he's in. He's angry and distraught and worn, and Chris must have been a true friend for him to be this cut up about having to kill him.
The episode ends with Sally talking to the talent agent and being asked to give him a call. She's over the moon about it, and thanks Barry for being such a generous and real actor. He asks her if she means it, and she tells him that she does, and that whatever he did to get into the place he was tonight, he has to keep doing it. With Barry finally being validated in the one thing he's wanted this entire season, will he really be willing to kill more people to tap into his buried talent?
