It’s been almost three years since the season two finale of Barry premiered on HBO. Thankfully, the long wait for new episodes is almost over. HBO has announced that Barry season 3 will premiere on Sunday, April 24. And it will once again find Bill Hader’s Barry Berkman trying to escape his life of violence in favor of his current passion for acting.
Hader co-created the series in 2018 alongside Alec Berg. In the show, Barry is a contract killer who unexpectedly found himself drawn to acting while on a mission to assassinate a target. Barry also found a mentor in his acting coach, Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler), and a place in Gene’s class alongside other would-be actors. Unfortunately for Barry, the violence of his past keeps intruding on his new life regardless of his desires.
According to HBO’s description for the third season, Barry is once again making a go at being a full-time actor. But this time, it’s not other people who are getting in Barry’s way. Instead, he is forced to contend with the realization that his own propensity for violence led him down the path of a killer. The synopsis for the season asks “What is it about his own psyche that led him to become a killer in the first place? Season 3 finds Barry and the other characters trying to make the right choice.”
Via The Hollywood Reporter, Hader and Berg offered reporters a few more hints about what the season will be about.
“Season 3, more than anything, shows the ramifications of [Barry’s violence],” said Hader. “Even more bad things happen. Mostly bad.”
“What’s interesting: All of the wreckage of seasons 1 and 2 that Barry had to do to keep the plates spinning … all goes back to his decision to become an actor,” added Berg. “I really enjoy the fact that everything that happens in the show is a consequence of Barry wanting a better life, and every bit of that better life he’s trying to achieve has led to all this chaos.”
Like the first two seasons, Barry season 3 will consist of eight episodes, which will be released weekly on HBO and HBO Max.