The Most Gruesome Murder On Barry

Bill Hader masterfully mixes drama, comedy, and violence in the HBO series "Barry," which largely takes place within the Los Angeles acting scene and the city's organized crime rings. Hader's titular character, Barry Berkman, abruptly finds himself attracted to pursuing a career in acting when he arrives in Los Angeles for an assignment — but his lifestyle and past as a hitman never stop dogging him, leading to hair-raising and hilarious moments along the way. Barry's efforts toward pursuing a new life with his girlfriend Sally (Sarah Goldberg) and others in his acting class are complicated by his involvement with organized crime in the area, such as his handler Monroe Fuches (Stephen Root) and Chechen mobster NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan).

The first two seasons of "Barry" made the show a critical darling, garnering six Emmy wins and 30 nominations total, including multiple acting awards wins for Hader and one for supporting actor Henry Winkler.

"Barry" can be a violent show, but typically, Hader keeps its violence realistic and grounded — after all, Barry is a Marine Corps veteran, not a superhero. However, one standout Season 2 episode took its violence to a new level, leaving "Barry" fans impressed by its zany, elevated take on the show's combat sequences. The episode also won an Emmy for outstanding sound editing.

Barry almost bites off more than he can chew in the Season 2 episode "ronny/lily," in which Barry visits Detective Loach's (John Pirrucello) ex-wife's new boyfriend Ronny (Daniel Bernhardt) at his home. Loach, who takes over the investigation into Barry in the series' second season, tells Barry at the end of the previous episode that he'll let Barry's crimes slide if Barry murders Ronny. Barry, still actively trying to get out of the hitman business, tries to implore Ronny to instead skip town — only to find that Ronny and his daughter, Lily (Jessie Giacomazzi) are master taekwondo practitioners.

Barry and Fuches' protracted battle with both Ronny and Lily lasts the entire episode and ends at a convenience store when Loach and other police officers kill Ronny. Both Ronny and Lily prove bizarrely aggressive combatants, leading many "Barry" fans in the show's Reddit community to praise the episode's gore and Bill Hader's knack for absurd, violent comedy. "This was just a 30 minute Kill Bill scene for an episode. F***ing epic," wrote Reddit user u/highlanderiic.

Hader co-wrote the episode with Alec Berg and served as its sole director, leading other users to compliment his use of long takes for such intense action sequences and dedication to an episode-long fight sequence. "That was insane, it was like a horror movie, or the siege from True Detective season 1 in the projects," user u/I_DAB_DISTILLATE wrote. "I'm literally nauseous."