Based on the number of television shows going into production, “Peak TV” is technically on the wane. Judging by the three programs HBO is currently releasing on Sunday nights – “Succession,” “Barry” and “Somebody Somewhere – there has not been a discernible drop in quality. Not yet, anyway. That was even more apparent after tonight’s episode of “Barry” season four, “it takes a psycho,” where director Bill Hader and writer Taofik Kolade pull off a shocking bait and switch that is arguably one of the most heartbreaking moments of the entire series. And at the center of it? Another fantastic turn by Anthony Carrigan.
READ MORE: “Barry’s” Final Season: Henry Winkler revisits the delusion Of Gene Cousineau [Interview]
Please note: Spoilers for episode four of “Barry” season four are discussed in depth from this point on.
First, there is a genuinely shocking scene where Christobal (Michael Irby) appears to drown alongside his employees in a silo full of sand only to have his boyfriend and business partner, NoHo Hank (Carrigan), save him. Christobal is shaken not only by the experience of almost dying but realizing killing their employees was Hank’s intention.
Next, Christobal discovers Hank has blown up their enterprise to once again work for his “brothers” in the Chechen mob. A part of their lives he believed was completely over. Like anyone, he feels betrayed.
Finally, Hank begs Christobal to stay with him and work with the Chechens. He pleads with him not to walk out the door of their Hollywood Hills home. Don’t leave him. Give the new scenario a chance.
And then, in a show full of shocking twists, the truly unexpected occurs.
Carrigan spoke to The Playlist about the final season of “Barry” a few weeks ago and, while it may be tough for viewers, he can see Hank’s line of thinking at that particular moment.
He notes, “I think that Hank’s mistake is that he assumes that by playing the tough guy and by making the tough decision that he’s just going to steamroll right over Cristobal and whatever Cristobal thinks, and that, ‘This is what we have to do.’ Hank is taking charge. And I think that that wasn’t what Cristobal needed to hear. I think there was a nobility in wanting them both to survive, but at the end of the day, it didn’t work. And I think Hank painted himself into a corner by doing so.”
The Emmy nominee discusses more of this episode’s events, where Hanks is headed over this final season, the difficulty of bringing the emotion at a pivotal moment in this episode and much, much more.
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The Playlist: Did showrunners Alec [Berger] or Bill give you any heads-up on Hank’s arc this season?
Anthony Carrigan: I mean, Bill tips his hand a little bit to me in terms of his ideas of where it was going to go. But I was, even on the day of filming as seen episodes before, I was just still taken aback by just how radically it’s shifted from the previous three seasons. But I loved it, and I think it’s a brilliant turn, and I think it really tracks.
Did it feel it was inherent to Hank’s character? Did you think this was something he would do?
I mean, obviously, it can go in any number of directions, but I think it is in keeping with the theme of “Barry,” that each of these characters is trying so desperately to paint themselves in the light that they want to be seen. And I think that that is kind of at the expense of who they really are. And I think Hank’s is this kind of realization that he has been a bit of a fool in the first few seasons, is a really heartbreaking one, but it’s one in which it makes sense that he would make the decision to protect himself, to protect Cristobal, and then to really double down from that point on.
Do you think he really thinks Cristobal will be O.K. with this, or is he just so concerned about the cartel from his country that he’s just like, “I’m hoping for the best and that Cristobal will go with it?”
I think that Hank’s mistake is that he assumes that by playing the tough guy and by making the tough decision that he’s just going to steamroll right over Cristobal and whatever Cristobal thinks, and that, “This is what we have to do.” Hank is taking charge. And I think that that wasn’t what Cristobal needed to hear. I think there was a nobility in wanting them both to survive, but at the end of the day, it didn’t work. And I think Hank painted himself into a corner by doing so.
I want to get back to that in a second but in this episode you have a scene where Hank sits down on the couch and reacts to what has just happened. I may be wrong, but I think it’s the most emotionally raw we’ve ever seen Hank in the series. How tough was that for you to get to as an actor?
It was certainly challenging to go to that place emotionally. Granted the scene itself had lent itself to just such high stakes and the heartbreaking circumstances around that scene. I felt it immediately as soon as I read it. And then it was just a matter of drumming up that emotion to the point where I could deliver it.
As someone who’s watched too much media for my job and in my life, even I was surprised by how it comes together. I assumed when Cristobal walked out the door he would be in trouble down the road or in the next episode or whatever, but I didn’t think it was going to play out like that. You’re reading the script for the first time, what was your reaction?
I mean, I was so shocked, but I was so impressed that in one scene he almost dies and is saved by Hank, and in the next scene he’s basically threatened that he can’t leave because he knows too much. And a decision is made for Hank to keep himself safe, right?
Yeah.
And I was so impressed that all of that could track actually, because that is a huge task to have one scene and then the other, and to have it make absolute sense. But somehow the show did it, and I’m so astounded that it could.
I don’t want to give anything away for the rest of the episodes, but considering what Hank has gone through, do you think he can ever find true happiness? Do you think he’ll ever be satisfied? Does what happened with Cristobal sort of tell him that maybe being just a crime syndicate boss is what he should really care about?
Well, I think, honestly, to take it back even further, I mean, at the end of season three, when Hank is chained to that radiator and the effect that that has on him emotionally and psychologically has set something in motion that is…I don’t know. I don’t know if one is able to then take a different course of action. I think from that point on, Hank has kind of the same disease that Barry has, and you see that toxicity play out.
Even though it’s called “Barry,” it’s apparent in the first half of this season that Bill and Alec are giving an even bigger spotlight to the other characters and their storylines. What has that meant to you as an actor in this business that you’ve gotten to spread your wings in this way?
It means everything to me. I mean, I’m just so grateful to be surrounded in this job with the most gracious of people, not just Bill and Alec, but the rest of the actors as well. I mean, everyone is lifting each other up. Everyone is wanting each other to succeed. And I think that creates, for the most, I don’t know, the most beautiful storytelling, right?
“Barry” airs Sunday nights at 10 PM ET/7 PM PT on HBO