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Barry Deep Dive #1: From Hitman to Hollywood - Breaking Down Bill Hader's Masterpiece with Jo and Amelie
10 Plays1 day ago
Join Jo and special guest Amelie as they launch their comprehensive deep-dive series into HBO's 'Barry'. In this pilot episode, they explore Bill Hader's transformation from SNL comedian to the complex character of Barry Berkman, a hitman seeking redemption in LA's theater scene. From uncinematic reality to authentic PTSD portrayal, discover why this dark comedy resonates so deeply with viewers. First in a 32-episode analysis series covering all seasons of Barry.
Key Topics: • Bill Hader's evolution from SNL to dramatic acting • The show's unique approach to "uncinematic reality" • Character analysis and authentic portrayal of post-military life • Why audiences returned after the pandemic pause • Preview of upcoming episode-by-episode analysis
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Transcript
Amelie's Special Return
00:00:00
Jo
face tiger face oh wait that's my lemon tiger face hey everyone oh we're back oh my god so today we got amelie back on the streaming demons and we got a whole new special coming at you right now live streaming click subscribe start the musics or stop it's like i'm starting a lawnmower like oh oh no no no the ninja turtles
00:00:23
Amelie
Always.
The Mystery of 'GoNinja'
00:00:25
Jo
ninja turtles Yo, I found out what GoNinja meant. It blew my mind.
00:00:32
Amelie
Ready?
00:00:34
Jo
It's bad. Yeah, it's bad. I'll tell you. Hold on. Blah, blah, blah, blah,
Deep Dives with Emily
00:00:38
Jo
blah. Theme song. Okay. Hey, welcome to Streaming Demons special episodes. We are doing more deep dives now.
00:00:45
Jo
Yay. And this is going be our first one. And Emily, all way from somewhere, not in Canada, I promise.
00:00:51
Amelie
Yeah.
00:00:52
Jo
Say hello the... Oh, we can even see. Hello, people.
00:00:54
Amelie
Hello! Hello everyone!
00:00:56
Jo
Hello.
00:00:57
Amelie
How are you? How are you doing?
00:01:00
Jo
We're going to do the entire episode like this just because we can.
00:01:04
Amelie
Well, would be cool, right?
00:01:06
Jo
Maybe super cool.
00:01:06
Amelie
Ha ha ha!
00:01:08
Jo
Yeah, I can.
00:01:08
Amelie
Yeah!
00:01:09
Jo
As we blow everyone's fucking eardrums out. Now, I appreciate you having you here. Wait, huh? I appreciate you being here. There That's what i want want to say. It's always
Bill Hader's Versatility
00:01:19
Jo
nice to you. yeah.
00:01:20
Amelie
Yes, and it's a pleasure to always be able to participate.
00:01:20
Jo
It is nice to see you.
00:01:24
Amelie
It's fun.
00:01:25
Jo
It should be. It's damn right. But I have to say, we were trying to find the greatest way of doing this episode. And I looked at his horror work.
00:01:38
Jo
He does characters are a horror. And he has like one or two horror-ish movies. But really, couldn't find anything beyond Barry. Did you look him up a bit?
00:01:51
Amelie
Look, I know that actor and writer because of SNL. And ah what i i really like about about Actor is he did everything.
00:02:01
Amelie
He did stand-up comedy. He was an actor. He was a writer. And also with Barry, he was actual actor. He did IT, IT, the overall movie with the clown.
00:02:15
Jo
Oh, yes. He played the
00:02:17
Amelie
Yeah.
00:02:18
Jo
If anyone doesn't know, we're talking about Bill Hader today.
00:02:21
Amelie
Yes.
00:02:21
Jo
ah it's in the show notes we're talking about so I thought that'd be obvious but if you're not reading notes we're talking about Bill Hader
00:02:26
Amelie
So the little anecdote about Bill Hader and Eats, one of the kids who play in Stranger Things had an interview one day and the journalist said, hey, who do you see as an actor to play you, the adult version of you?
00:02:35
Jo
right
00:02:42
Amelie
And like, oh, yeah, I really like Bill Hader. And Bill Hader was like, oh, cool guy, cool. And six months later, he received a call and like, hi. Would you like to play the adult version of that dude in Eats?
00:02:55
Amelie
And he was like, fuck, that kid has so much influence on things.
00:02:57
Jo
Yeah,
00:03:02
Amelie
Okay, cool, I will do it, you know. yeah, yeah.
00:03:06
Jo
I bet. It's a really weird world that way. It's like, hey, I really like this guy. And do you think that was a setup? Like they already knew they wanted Bill Hader and they're just like, okay, kid, you got to save this fucking name right here, Bill Hader.
00:03:17
Amelie
No, no, no, no, no. I don't think so. I think the new generation really like Bilader because of Stéphane, the character, and he's a funny guy.
00:03:28
Amelie
And yeah, so no, I think I like to believe it was not set up and the dude really like that actor, you know.
00:03:28
Jo
Oh, yeah.
00:03:29
Jo
Oh, yeah. Corpsing.
00:03:38
Jo
Yeah, I actually forgot about Stefan because it's ah basically the SNL character is all about making himself laugh, I think.
00:03:47
Amelie
Yeah, yeah, because when you watch Stefan, that's his name, Stefan, he's homosexual and he's very ta-ta-ta and he talks about the biggest part in New York and he's always putting his hand like this because Bill Adder don't stop to laugh but by putting his hand like that, it makes the character way better.
00:03:52
Jo
Yeah.
00:04:03
Jo
Yes.
00:04:11
Jo
Because it's more realistic and being someone who has spent more than his fair shy of time in New York, we all know someone like that. Like, holy shit. wait know that guy.
00:04:20
Amelie
Yeah, and apparently that guy exists.
00:04:23
Amelie
And he was a barista in front SNL.
00:04:23
Jo
Probably.
00:04:24
Jo
Yeah.
00:04:26
Amelie
So they would go to him and get coffee.
00:04:27
Jo
Oh, God.
00:04:28
Amelie
And he would speak like this. Did you know there is a party? And na-na-na-na. So they created that character. Bill had a volunteer to play it. But he was not really sure to be a good actor.
00:04:40
Amelie
And he started to play a season like this, not trying to laugh. And he became a real character, like a real actor.
00:04:46
Jo
Yeah.
00:04:47
Amelie
I'm I can I say reading gag inside it said it did you see the last specialist a be no the SNF or be rather when you pay all this character and there's a special movie created on the owner
00:04:49
Jo
Yeah. Recurring.
00:05:03
Jo
Was it the 50th anniversary? Was it the big one? I don't I didn't see this one.
00:05:07
Amelie
I don't know I don't know I fully just as a special SNF or be rather because he was quitting SNL after a long period of time
00:05:08
Jo
I can look it up, though.
00:05:14
Jo
Right.
00:05:16
Amelie
And at the end, he leaves, but the TV host, I don't know his name, the TV host who played for many years in SNL, the in Report News guy, ran after him in New York via a taxi and said, stop, stop, come back.
00:05:18
Jo
that's
00:05:33
Amelie
I love you, Stéphane. And you get married with him in New York in a church. And you see all the characters playing with ah Bill Hader through SNL coming.
00:05:43
Jo
That's amazing.
00:05:44
Jo
And I looked that up. Thanks. And this brings us into the depth and breadth of his character work because he really is a great character actor and he does voices amazingly well.
00:05:53
Amelie
Mm-hmm.
00:05:54
Jo
He does cartoons and he is he's one of the few pure. I think he does a Tauntaun imitation, if I remember correctly, from Star Wars.
00:06:02
Amelie
Yeah.
00:06:05
Amelie
Yes, yes.
00:06:05
Jo
like the dying one.
00:06:06
Amelie
Mm-hmm.
00:06:07
Jo
And i was like, he had me right there. And today we're talking about his work kind of in the horror genre because it's dark. Barry, the TV show Barry that came out like i think in 2018.
00:06:21
Jo
It is dark, dark. And it's funny in points.
00:06:24
Amelie
Correct.
00:06:26
Jo
But if know we won't spoil the series yet, but we are going to talk about every episode. One of our Shreem and Neiman episodes on Barry is going to be be one Barry episode. We'll spoil the shit out it then.
00:06:37
Jo
But overall, what made you
The Unique World of Barry
00:06:40
Jo
watch Barry? How did you find out about the TV show Barry?
00:06:43
Amelie
Excellent question. So as you know, I'm a huge fan of Bill Hader as an SNL character and I got really curious.
00:06:45
Jo
Thank you.
00:06:50
Jo
so.
00:06:52
Amelie
Because I learned English, I found out a lot of actors have a lot more depth when they were interviewed in America.
00:06:59
Jo
Yeah.
00:07:00
Amelie
Because in French, you come, Joe, it would be, hey, what's your favorite cheese? Do you speak French? Do you know any words? So, have you been to friends in holiday and that's all of the the questions we're going to ask you'll say so you're playing a monster and it's very special did you like it can you tell me more about that it's going to be three questions about friends five questions about your movie and of the story bing ba da boom bye and when they sell an actor in france there is a back story look at him he's really hot look at him da da da
00:07:35
Amelie
And when I watch TV from America via YouTube or UK, I realize that person is, for example, a country singer or that person works for kids who have disability or that person is from the Jewish community or patati patata.
00:07:51
Jo
Right.
00:07:52
Amelie
Or, for example, I find out recently Tom Selec is a Republican. I was like, oh, like, it's really interesting to see
00:07:57
Jo
Makes sense. Magnum PI.
00:08:00
Amelie
Yeah, yeah, yeah, because for us, it's the moustache guy, really hot, really fun, you know, really goofy.
00:08:04
Jo
The mustache
00:08:06
Amelie
And you find out he's for gun and he's really Republican and e and e he works for this different station. He's very grounded, very intellectual.
00:08:17
Amelie
And I was like, oh, that's interesting. Like, there is more than, yeah, yeah.
00:08:20
Jo
Very shy to allegedly.
00:08:22
Amelie
And very personal, like he's not People magazine and
00:08:24
Jo
Yeah.
00:08:26
Amelie
has a very grounded life and stuff. And it's really interesting to listen to interviews. And that guy, Bilader, when he has interviews, he's very laid back, but he knows his shit.
00:08:37
Amelie
What I mean by that is he spent his life behind the camera and in backstage.
00:08:42
Jo
Right.
00:08:43
Amelie
Like he was creating movies, he was a writer, he was an intern.
00:08:45
Jo
Was a writer, which takes a lot.
00:08:47
Amelie
Yeah, and he walks.
00:08:48
Jo
Go.
00:08:48
Amelie
Like he makes movies, series, he makes actors and stuff like that. That's why he'd always imitate Schwarzenegger. because he saw what Schwarzenegger was doing with the other actress.
00:08:59
Amelie
And he was the first one to to to talk about it, right?
00:09:03
Amelie
Even if it was funny. And that guy, right, film, direct, cut the movie. He saw the backstage. Like for him, Hollywood is work. It's not just, oh, look at me, I'm Brad Pitt, I'm very beautiful, and I've got the hubs.
00:09:03
Jo
Right.
00:09:17
Amelie
Please, watch my movie. No, he is a writer. He is an actor, but he's going to act like in theater.
00:09:24
Amelie
Like, seriously,
00:09:24
Jo
You know, just for the record, we're going to have to a Brad Pitt movie thing because every time you're like, Brad Pitt is just good looking.
00:09:31
Jo
He's not a good actor. I'm like, oh, fuck, man. I don't know. I think Brad Pitt pretty good actor, too. You know? But he's also good looking. But I think Brad Pitt can act as well.
00:09:42
Jo
But I get it. Bill Hatter is the comic and the... and more of the cerebral genius because he's a writer as well as the comic as well as the comedic actor as well as being able to do live sketch so you have this and with barry you have something that it's very different from what most people would think bill hatter would be doing and it's a bit of
00:09:54
Amelie
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:10:10
Jo
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, where it's the reverse of it. Instead of Robert Downey Jr.'s character, who is more of a thief being maybe misunderstood as an actor.
00:10:14
Amelie
Mm-hmm.
00:10:24
Jo
Like, oh, I'm actually, you know, um the addition saves Robert Downey Jr.'s character's life versus Hader is just trying to kill someone.
00:10:32
Amelie
yeah yes
00:10:32
Jo
Like, that's why he ends up in the acting class with Henry Winkler, which we all grew up with Fonzie. That's how he ends up there. It's kind of like the fish out of water scenario. Like, oh, I'm going to kill this guy. I'm like, oh, now i'm like, I got caught and now I have to pretend to be an actor.
00:10:49
Amelie
and it's really interesting because when you see him entering the drama school you can clearly see intrigued
00:10:49
Jo
You know?
00:10:56
Jo
Yeah.
00:10:56
Amelie
However, when it's time to kill a guy, yeah, sure, I can kill the guy. or Give me a name, the address.
00:11:01
Jo
Very nonchalant.
00:11:04
Amelie
Within two days, I can do that. And he receives a gun in a UPS thing.
00:11:10
Jo
Yeah. Curior thing.
00:11:12
Jo
Yeah.
00:11:12
Amelie
It's easy.
00:11:13
Amelie
Easy peasy lemon squeezy. I can do it. You're sure you're going to do it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. No problem. I can do it. Do you want me to stab him in the nuts?
00:11:21
Jo
Yeah. Right.
00:11:21
Amelie
And they look at him like...
00:11:23
Amelie
Why? Why? Just shoot. We could shoot. Shoot is enough. You know what I mean? Like he does that. Like I would say to you, yeah, I can deliver a flower. Do you want a knot with that? Do you want to add a package of chocolate?
00:11:34
Amelie
You know what I mean?
00:11:35
Amelie
He's very professional about that. In every scene when he's about to kill somebody, he's like, hey, I need this. I need that. he He does it. He does it like just delivering flowers.
00:11:45
Amelie
But when it's acting, he's so clumsy, so shy. He doesn't know how to express himself.
00:11:51
Jo
No.
00:11:52
Amelie
And that's super interesting.
00:11:54
Jo
Yeah. And we are, i mean, least I know I am. I think I'm partway through season one. think I got the episode. I'm done with episode four and season one rewatching it. Right.
00:12:04
Amelie
Mm-hmm.
00:12:04
Jo
Cause this show came out in, said 18 and then it's only four seasons. It's tight.
00:12:09
Amelie
Mm-hmm.
00:12:14
Amelie
Yeah.
00:12:15
Jo
And it's really bingeable because each show flows into the next one. And unlike, okay, I was talking to Brannick. We were doing a podcast about good bad moms for Mother's Day and the TV show Evil.
00:12:34
Amelie
Mm-hmm.
00:12:34
Jo
I brought that up because evil is a show that starts out right as the pandemic starts and then loses all momentum because they have to shut down production for the pandemic.
00:12:40
Amelie
Mm-hmm.
00:12:45
Amelie
La catastrophe.
00:12:47
Jo
And then for Barry, because it comes out in 2018, is a year before it really kind of starts.
00:12:52
Amelie
Mm-hmm.
00:12:54
Jo
I think it was 18, 19. And then it takes a big gap. because the pandemic shuts it down, because they can't do anything. So it's kind like people might've lost interest. They might've done this, might've done that, but they didn't, they came back for Barry.
00:13:12
Jo
They came back for Barry, which they didn't come back for evil as much. And that's why evil has this kind of like on like a a little bit weird streak on being played. Why do you think people came back and even paused?
00:13:27
Jo
Because Barry's on pause for a while, like for two years. Why do you think people came back?
00:13:31
Amelie
the writing very simple the writing we've talked about it with my husband several times and all the friends when a theory is well right well written okay when the person know what direction is taking people come back I will name a few series for Jaguar's man and
00:13:32
Jo
The writing? Maybe. Yeah. think so.
00:13:44
Jo
Right. Right.
00:13:48
Jo
Right.
00:13:59
Amelie
breaking bad
00:14:00
Jo
I never got into Breaking Bad.
00:14:02
Amelie
know i know i know and don't be a shame don't be ashamed i'm going to tell you why you didn't go there because it reminds you of your life we have a common for that they get let's take a step they get my friend i'm telling you do you do it it's not just about match
00:14:03
Jo
I know. This is like my shame. Like Norm MacDonald to tease me for that. I don't know. I don't know. I just...
00:14:14
Jo
I was like, meth dealer? never made meth. Las Vegas? I didn't make meth, though.
00:14:25
Jo
I'm telling you, I did not make meth.
00:14:27
Amelie
I know, but it's not about meth. It starts like that, but actually it's not about meth. It's about people with with ah native origin, people who are poor, people who are victims of addiction, people who are in the police department, people who are prostitutes themselves, people who play in casinos.
00:14:42
Jo
Okay.
00:14:48
Amelie
You have every kind of... social background and every character you can be friends with them or you can have empathy even the bad guy you're like yeah I get it so I think
00:14:54
Jo
Right.
00:15:03
Jo
Okay. Well, I mean, I have no basis on this, I never really watched it beyond the first two seasons.
00:15:07
Amelie
but it's as a writer would advise you to watch it because it's super interesting like every character you can take every character and really follow it right
00:15:18
Jo
If I didn't watch it for Norm Macdonald, I'm not watching it for you. And I was like, to paraphrase Simpsons, like, sweetie, sweetie, sweetie, if the cops can't have me turn down my music.
00:15:25
Amelie
Babe, babe, orange clock.
00:15:29
Amelie
Orange clock.
00:15:29
Jo
Yeah.
00:15:29
Jo
Yeah. Okay. Clack of Orange.
00:15:30
Amelie
I'm going orange clock you, my friend.
00:15:31
Jo
Yeah. No.
00:15:33
Amelie
One day, I'm going to come.
00:15:34
Jo
We to work on that phrasing.
00:15:36
Amelie
Orange clock.
00:15:37
Jo
Yeah. But but we're going back to Barry then. Yeah.
00:15:39
Amelie
Anyway, yes.
00:15:40
Jo
Yeah. Sure, but there's some things to come back to, and maybe that was the structural issue of evil after a couple of seasons, or after the first two seasons, it kind of spun out of not give a shit land, writing-wise.
00:15:55
Jo
And that's where Barry made strong. goes 2018, 19, and then it takes three years. 22 was the season three.
00:16:01
Amelie
mm-hmm
00:16:04
Jo
And people waited and they came back and it was as a stellar thing. And I think you're right. Maybe it really was the writing and we're engrossed.
00:16:14
Amelie
after another thing another thing it's not like the traditional american movie or american theory because as a french person everything looks kinda polish Right?
00:16:26
Amelie
When you watch an American series, film, like the actors are really good looking, like you're dying, you're good looking.
00:16:28
Jo
Yeah.
00:16:33
Amelie
You've got cancer, you're good looking. You're the bad guy, you're looking.
00:16:36
Amelie
Simple as
00:16:37
Jo
Yeah.
00:16:37
Jo
Yeah.
00:16:38
Amelie
And America come across like rich, heaven, clean, and everything is perfect. But in Barry, it is uncinematic reality.
00:16:49
Amelie
Routine, loneliness, banality of evil.
00:16:52
Amelie
Like, there is this scene when Barry arrives on the parking lot and he found out he has to drive this beat up old car. You never ah see in a series the bad guy or the main character driving a shitty car like this.
00:17:12
Amelie
But Mr.
00:17:12
Jo
A piece of shit.
00:17:13
Amelie
Everybody, yes. Second scene. He needs to kill someone. Where is he? He's in the highway stuck in traffic. Do you see an American series, the guy stuck in traffic? No.
00:17:24
Amelie
They drive like this and when they need an emergency, they just bang, bang, bang the siren.
00:17:29
Jo
Yeah.
00:17:30
Amelie
Boom, they go. No traffic, no accident, no car problem. Like never, ever, ever. They never have a problem. And whenever they're in the scene, in two minutes, stop chrono, they are in the scene.
00:17:42
Jo
Yeah, it's a lot of shortcuts. And sometimes I don't know that's just the way the movie's edited or just pieced together and like that.
00:17:47
Amelie
Yeah.
00:17:48
Jo
And there's one thing.
00:17:49
Amelie
Siri, I can shoot you in two days.
00:17:52
Amelie
You feel better. oh my god, Michael, Michael, you got shot. Oh my god. Two days later, Michael is walking. No. When you watch the series, one character got beaten up. He's got scars and stuff.
00:18:03
Jo
Yeah, Barry does too.
00:18:03
Amelie
One of the baggers get shot. He's like in slow motion because he's in pain when he wants to bend in his knee. It takes time.
00:18:13
Jo
Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:13
Amelie
That's why people come back because it's not cinema, cinema, Hollywood, glitter and stuff. People are ugly, people make mistakes, people look ah like everybody.
00:18:24
Amelie
He's not exceptional. He's an exceptional killer, but he's a simple John, like you can meet him.
00:18:30
Jo
Yeah, and that's what it is. I think he's relatable because he's not James Bond. He's not the super powerful.
00:18:37
Amelie
Yes.
00:18:38
Jo
He's not the Terminator. He's just some dude who has training and has a lot of damage emotionally. And so the only thing in his life is basically father figure who abuses the crap out of him emotionally.
00:18:54
Amelie
Mm-hmm.
00:18:55
Jo
to make a killing, you know, pun intended, I guess, where they just kind of like, this is your job and he has, he knows nothing else.
00:18:59
Amelie
Correct.
00:19:03
Jo
And so when it gets in this acting studio and and and actually starts going like, Oh, there's more to life other than what I'm doing.
00:19:04
Amelie
Mm-hmm.
00:19:10
Amelie
Mm-hmm.
00:19:11
Jo
And it's the dichotomy of a bunch of poor actors and some dude walking around with like thousands of dollars in cash because he is a contract hire. Right.
00:19:21
Amelie
Mm-hmm.
00:19:21
Jo
So you see this and he doesn't really have this emotional connection to a lot of stuff. and lot lot of anxiety. And I think the character is so fleshed out. That is why the story works. It's what Bill Hader, not just to write him, but what Bill Hader brings to the character, which every person brings. Like Henry Winkler goes from the Fonz to like playing a caricature of himself, maybe. I don't know.
00:19:44
Amelie
yeah
00:19:45
Jo
Then you have everyone else like Sarah Goldberg is and Steven Roots and Anthony Carrigan, who know whole Hank, you know, all these people that become you see them in the first episode, you're OK, and they become major characters for the rest of the seasons.
00:20:03
Jo
And they're all interesting. know, no one's there's no dull moment.
00:20:07
Amelie
correct and every funny and very good at it back it's a is dramatic that drama
00:20:08
Jo
There's no like. Yes.
00:20:13
Amelie
on point right but at the same time it's really really funny like my favorite characters are the Chechen they're hilarious I love it I love it and what I like about all this character is the beautiful guy who's going to be shot the Chechen be harder like Barry the actors everybody have something like for example the actress is a good actress
00:20:15
Jo
Right. Yes. Yeah.
00:20:41
Amelie
But she's super dumb. I don't I despised her.
00:20:44
Jo
Dumb or vapid?
00:20:45
Amelie
But...
00:20:46
Jo
I think there's a difference between dumb and being vapid.
00:20:50
Amelie
past She's not dumb. In French we would say c'est une bonne.
00:20:53
Jo
Manipulative.
00:20:56
Amelie
C'est une bonne. She's dumb. It's not the same translation.
00:21:01
Jo
Yeah.
00:21:02
Amelie
Like, she's a female dickhead. Like, she used Barry.
00:21:04
Jo
Yeah. Yeah, no.
00:21:05
Amelie
She used Barry. I hate that. I met this girl several times at reception.
00:21:07
Jo
Vapid.
00:21:11
Amelie
Hi, could you pay for my bill? Hi, could you pick me up? And and when Barry falls in love with her and thinks he's his girlfriend, boyfriend, girlfriend, she's like, have an audition.
00:21:16
Jo
Yeah.
00:21:23
Amelie
Yes, I need to look up my audition.
00:21:25
Jo
Oh, yeah. The scene where you still my bed?
00:21:26
Amelie
Yeah, yeah. what What kind of edition?
00:21:28
Jo
Yeah.
00:21:29
Amelie
Oh, a military doctor. Okay, cool. Do you have any question because I went to the military? No. Okay, cool. Okay, cool. So can you leave? And he thinks they're together, right?
00:21:40
Jo
Yeah.
00:21:41
Amelie
And then she's upset because she's like, oh, what are you doing? I'm not your thing. You doesn't design me. No, but math, math, math, math. You're using him. You're nice with him.
00:21:51
Amelie
And after, you're like, oh, I don't understand.
00:21:54
Jo
Well, that goes into the character, and this is why it works really well. that that The one scene we're describing, I think, is in the first or second episode, or between the first one.
00:22:03
Amelie
First episode, first episode.
00:22:06
Jo
And it goes into... He's like, you know, you need the help. I was in the military. was Marine, whatever he says. She's like, no, no, my agent will help me.
00:22:15
Jo
He knows a lot. It's like, yeah, okay.
00:22:15
Amelie
Yeah, yeah.
00:22:17
Amelie
Yeah, okay.
00:22:17
Jo
Sure, sure, sure.
00:22:18
Amelie
Yeah, yeah, yeah, same.
00:22:18
Jo
And then he's this... killer, but he's this pretty emotionally fragile or even like a sweet person.
00:22:27
Amelie
Yeah, like a 13-year-old boy, he doesn't know how to... doesn't know how to socialize.
00:22:32
Jo
Yeah.
00:22:32
Amelie
We don't know about his life. We don't know about his childhood in the first episode. We don't know... We know he's a killer. He went to Afghanistan and stuff.
00:22:40
Amelie
He's emotionless. He goes to the school, the drama school, to follow the guy. And he discovers he can do something.
00:22:40
Jo
Right.
00:22:52
Amelie
He can be recognized.
00:22:54
Jo
That's something beyond him being a killer.
00:22:54
Amelie
Yeah.
00:22:56
Jo
Yeah. And that's the weird thing is I'm looking at IMDB. This is the log line. This is like the little one sentence snippet of it. A hit man from the Midwest moves to Los Angeles and gets caught up in the city's theaters art scene.
00:23:08
Amelie
Yeah.
00:23:09
Jo
Like that, like if you told me like, Hey man, I'm going to watch this TV show.
00:23:12
Jo
What's the TV show about? Oh, you know, it's about a hit man from the Midwest. He goes to LA and he like becomes a theater nerd. i'm like, I'm not watching this shit. What the fuck you talking about, them man? There's no fucking way I'm watching this.
00:23:23
Amelie
You...
00:23:23
Jo
Like, really?
00:23:23
Jo
Like, you think I'm going to watch this shit? But it works.
00:23:27
Jo
Yeah. It's like you start watching it like, oh my my God.
00:23:29
Amelie
You asked me why I watched that series. So first was because of Be Ladder and I found it and I checked it.
00:23:31
Jo
Yeah.
00:23:34
Amelie
I watched the trailer, you know, some clips on YouTube, and I immediately liked it because it reminded me of my friend AJ and my friend Ben. They both went to Afghanistan.
00:23:42
Jo
Right.
00:23:44
Amelie
And they tried to be the normal people ever, but they killed people.
00:23:49
Jo
Yeah.
00:23:49
Amelie
And I'm telling you, seeing your friend crying and saying, Amelie, I killed people in Afghanistan. and you're just out of a party, you don't know what to do. And they try be the most normal people ever.
00:24:01
Amelie
One is married, live in America, he goes to travel, he has an amazing Instagram with a lot of long-skinned and stuff. Good for him, he's happier, he's got a service his dog and everything, but he's still broken.
00:24:13
Amelie
And the second one is just homeless.
00:24:16
Jo
mind you mind you just just heads up people do watch this show so make you are you sure you're okay or they're okay with you saying this stuff okay just making sure so get my ass out of fucking oblivion all right okay just making sure just make just just trying to set the ground rules
00:24:16
Amelie
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:24:28
Amelie
yes yes yes yes yes definitely I don't know don't yes definitely all day there's a first talk about the to not be shy about having PTSD yeah these people living in Czech Republic Prague because they basically I just made fuck off from America they had enough of America he didn't get help whatsoever
00:24:45
Jo
Don't give addresses out, please. Okay.
00:24:51
Amelie
One, Ben was a soldier because his family are soldiers. His great grandfather was a war hero. His grandfather did did Vietnam, but he went to Vietnam voluntarily.
00:25:02
Amelie
And he went to Afghanistan because it was his turn. And he's like, yeah, nah.
00:25:06
Jo
All
00:25:06
Amelie
He came back. He was completely broken.
00:25:09
Jo
right.
00:25:09
Amelie
He told me came from a where it's really, really poor. It's normal to be a soldier, yada, yada, yada.
00:25:16
Jo
Yeah.
00:25:16
Amelie
So he stayed in Europe. He's like, I needed to get out. So he went, poof, quit his family and stuff.
00:25:19
Jo
Yeah.
00:25:22
Jo
I can see
00:25:22
Amelie
The other one, it was mandatory by the family. It's a crazy story. I won't share it. But basically, he shouldn't be in Afghanistan.
00:25:32
Amelie
He was more a victim in every place. it It was just a 19-year-old teenager, and he saw things he was not supposed to see. So PTSD, alcoholism, he had enough.
00:25:40
Jo
Right.
00:25:43
Amelie
He left America. went to Europe to backpacking, met his wife, stayed in Czech Republic, and we've been friends for 10 years.
00:25:51
Amelie
So everything good, everything good.
00:25:51
Jo
Cool.
00:25:52
Jo
Very cool. Yeah.
00:25:54
Amelie
And he's in an association, talks with a lot of people, he found a beautiful dog who is helping him with his PTSD, everything is fine. But my point is, I know that kind of guy who tried to come back to normal life, and the thing is, when you talk with them past 3am in the morning, they're like, oh, you know, you give me a gun, I fucking shoot anyone.
00:26:15
Amelie
Like so many people are useless. And I'm like, dude, you're talking about people. And for them, they need to stop and to rethink the normal human and stuff.
00:26:21
Jo
Yeah.
00:26:25
Amelie
And sometimes they say, we have conversation with people. We just want to shoot them. They're so dumb. And we had the possibility to shoot them before. And now, no. You know what I mean? Like they've got, I've called addition drugs, alcohol and stuff like that.
00:26:37
Amelie
One don't have help and just say, don't care. I'm going to the rabbit hole. Fuck it. The other one is more like, no, no, no, I need to i stay alive for my family. I've got my wife. I've got everything.
00:26:47
Amelie
I need to travel and stuff.
00:26:48
Amelie
You see what I mean? So when I saw Barry, when I watched Barry, and they watched the series, I'm like, yeah, yeah, that's my friend.
00:26:51
Jo
No.
00:26:56
Amelie
Yeah, I know that. I understand Barry. He came out of military. has his uncle who is a figure who is there. And he's like, hey, what can I do? Your purpose is to kill.
00:27:07
Amelie
Great. You're really good at it. Come on, Barry, do that. And you see that in the first scene. He doesn't have any friends, any family.
00:27:14
Amelie
He's alone. He kills a guy. There is no music. Boom. It fades with music when he starts to open the door. What do we see? Second scene. He's just a man in a crone in an anonymous crowd, right?
00:27:26
Amelie
Just a guy sleeping, snowing.
00:27:26
Jo
Yeah.
00:27:28
Amelie
He's in economy. He's not first class like James Bond. He comes back home. It's snowing. His uncle comes. He's like, hey, you you wash out. You know what you need? You need a little bit of sun. LA, you're going to l LA.
00:27:40
Amelie
Oh, you've got a mission for me. Yes, LA, the sound, the Chechen, a lot of money.
00:27:42
Jo
Yeah.
00:27:45
Amelie
know what I mean? It's just...
00:27:46
Jo
Yeah, he's passing the time. When we first meet in the series, he's passing time in life. He's just fucking passing the day.
00:27:54
Amelie
Yeah.
00:27:55
Jo
He's like, oh, what want to do Like, I don't know. I could bowling today.
00:27:58
Amelie
Yeah.
00:27:58
Jo
You know, the there's no fun in it. There's no passion anywhere. It's just he's doing what he has to do. Like someone will go to a job to work at Wendy's.
00:28:06
Amelie
Yeah. Like, for example, Ben and AJ told me at the beginning, you have the effort to be back home and it's not the same. And then you drink your drink, drink, drink. For AJ, he said to me, drinky drink, drink, drink.
00:28:20
Amelie
And he wants to talk to people. ah ah just wants to talk to people nonstop. He wants just to pass time and to drink and to fall asleep and to forget. Simple as that. The other one, it's more complicated. He was like, yeah, I'm not going to stay here. I'm going to go to Europe.
00:28:36
Jo
Right.
00:28:37
Amelie
went to Germany and stuff. He tried to do some stuff. And then he was like, yeah, I just want to be a barman and to be forgotten, basically.
00:28:43
Jo
So you're seeing part of this and Barry, the character of Barry, and I can I can connect with that as well.
00:28:48
Amelie
Yeah.
00:28:51
Amelie
Yeah, yeah.
00:28:51
Jo
Parts of my life, but
00:28:54
Jo
I think that's maybe why if you read the log line, I'm like, I'm not watching this shit. It sounds fucking dumb.
00:29:00
Amelie
Mm-hmm.
00:29:01
Jo
And then you see the first, even from the first episode, like, I can actually connect with this at a human level.
00:29:09
Amelie
yeah
00:29:10
Jo
And you're just kind of going along with it. And then won't spoil what happens throughout the seasons, but we are going to do a one episode per episode. One of our shows per episode, and we will spoil, on a deep dive and spoil the shit out of it then.
00:29:25
Jo
There's some things I really want to get to that happen later on in the seasons that i'm like, this is scarily realistic. And I'm not sure if they knew what they're doing in the beginning when Bill Hader's sitting down and says, to fucking do this.
00:29:38
Jo
Or if that just happened to progress, and especially if you have your first half of your series happens before a pandemic and then you just take two years fucking off.
00:29:49
Jo
And then your second half of series happens after the pandemic. You had a lot of time to it go, what do I want to do with this character? What do I want to do? You have a lot of time to really go through this.
00:30:00
Jo
ah ah Maybe the pandemic helped them. Maybe that pause actually helped Barry become a better show. I don't know. But it's possible they had that time to really explore because they weren't under pressure to do, do, do, go, go, go, go. It was go, go, go, go.
00:30:15
Jo
Big fucking pause as the world puts on pause for a while. And then go, go, go for the last two seasons.
00:30:20
Amelie
what do you think as a writer
00:30:23
Jo
I think it would drive me nuts if I had a series. Like, holy shit, this great. This is golden. And then like, fuck, how do I keep the characters fresh? How do I keep, you know, even as an actor, like how would I keep them in, how do I come back to Barry after pausing for two years?
00:30:40
Jo
You know, and then try to get into it. I think it would give me more time to really explore other things and really, really hit home the final two seasons.
00:30:51
Amelie
Mm-hmm.
00:30:52
Jo
But there's a risk that you spend too much time and it starts deteriorating. But they didn't do that. Like they kept it on point in the end and We'll get into the seasons. We'll get into air everything that like that.
00:31:03
Jo
But it becomes darker. After the pandemic, it becomes darker. It's a dark comedy to begin with. It becomes really fucking dark after the pandemic. Like really just fucking hits it.
00:31:16
Jo
And which we'll talk
Future Deep Dives into Barry
00:31:16
Jo
about. like We'll put these out. And we'll talk about one episode per episode. So there's four seasons. Eight episodes each. 32 deep dives into Barry.
00:31:27
Jo
Sound good to you?
00:31:29
Amelie
fantastic
00:31:30
Jo
Awesome sauce. See, that's what we're going And that's it for the show today. Thank you again, Emily. Remember, click like, subscribe, ring the bell, whatever they do. If you're into Barry, great. Watch us. We're coming out one a week.
00:31:42
Jo
All good. And if you're not into Barry, we still got other things. The Mother's Day thing, stuff like that. George, not George, Bruce Campbell's coming out soon. All that and more. ah ah More human demons.
00:31:55
Jo
Thanks. Hit my music.
00:32:01
Jo
And the dancing begins.
00:32:09
Jo
Yeah, but I do think you're right on especially the... like Except for the actors, like actress-actress inside the studio, like most of look like normal fucking people. That's why it works.
00:32:23
Amelie
Yeah.
00:32:24
Amelie
Yeah.
00:32:24
Jo
Except for Goldberg, you
00:32:30
Jo
All right. You're going to hear a cat soon.
00:32:40
Jo
Meow.
00:32:40
Amelie
I don't.