History Series / Barry

* UnderageCasting:
** Creator/RobertWisdom (Jim Moss) is only eight years older than Creator/PaulaNewsome, who plays his daughter, Janice.
** InUniverse. In "Make the Unsafe Choice" Sally is pretty upset to find herself auditioning for the role of a middle-aged mother across from a former friend who plays the "millennial" lead.

* UnderageCasting: InUniverse. In "Make the Unsafe Choice" Sally is pretty upset to find herself auditioning for the role of a middle-aged mother across from a former friend who plays the "millennial" lead.

* KillingInSelfDefense: Sally kills one of the biker gang members in the Season 3 finale. While definitely self-defense, as he slapped and choked her first, she still comes off as unhinged as she beats him to death with a bat.

** "it takes a psycho" ends with a troubled young boy walking into a country house where his parents are. At first it seems like another flashback to Barry's childhood only for the parents to be revealed to be [[spoiler: Barry and Sally, revealing that the show has jumped ahead several years.]]

'''Gene Cousineau:''' I think you are deeply... [[HumansAreFlawed human]].

* CarnivalOfKillers: VERY briefly used in "a nice meal" when Hank hires the F.U.B.Ks (Four Ultimate Badass Killers), consisting of a knife fighter, an explosives expert, an ex-Special Forces operative, and a sharpshooter. Hank sends them to take care of Fuches... who promptly sends their boxed heads back to Hank's office.

* CarnivalOfKillers: VERY briefly used in "a nice meal" when Hank hires the F.U.B.Ks (Four Unstoppable Badass Killers), consisting of a knife fighter, an explosives expert, an ex-Special Forces operative, and a sharpshooter. Hank sends them to take care of Fuches... who promptly sends their boxed heads back to Hank's office.

* CurbStompBattle: [=NoHo=] Hank hires an elite kill squad called the FUBKs (four ultimate badass killers) to eliminate Fuches and his gang. [[spoiler:The FUBKs are swiftly neutralized with minimal, if any, casualties to Fuches' gang, and Hank receives the FUBKs' severed heads in boxes]].

* AlmightyJanitor: In season 3, the person Sally is venting all of her insecurities to is revealed to be a slack-jawed baker, who offers her some advice. Then it turns out that people are lined up around the block to seek his advice while buying his beignets. He's apparently a local sage. Later, Barry seeks him out as well.

** [[spoiler: "The Mask Collector," the highly inaccurate [[ShowWithinAShow movie about Barry]] in the GrandFinale, is filled with wooden performances, cheesy writing, and ends with poorly staged slo-mo.]]

** [[spoiler: Downplayed with Sally; while at the end of the series she's developed in some ways, like not needing romantic relationships to validate herself and being able to act as a teacher rather than being nonfunctional outside of acting, she's still largely not any better of a person. Her relationship with her own son seems more cordial than anything, with her still never telling him she loves him and only bothering to pay attention to him when he compliments her acting.]]

* AffablyEvil: A running theme in the film is that hardened gangsters and killers will turn out to be real softies in terms of their personality.

** Creator/{{Jim Cummings|1987}} and Creator/MichaelCumpsty appear as [[spoiler: the fictionalized versions of Barry and Cousineau respectively]] in the finale, alongside Creator/JaedenMartell as [[spoiler: a teenage John.]]

* AffablyEvil: Most figures involved in organized crime, actually. Even the one-shot henchmen mostly seem fun to hang around with.

* AscendedExtra: [=NoHo=] Hank was just supposed to be a bit part and die in the pilot, but the writers decided to spare him, and he quickly became one of the series' stand-out characters.

* BaldOfEvil: [=NoHo=] Hank, who doesn't even have eyebrows. His actor Anthony Carrigan has total alopecia, which prevents his body from growing any hair, including on his eyebrows (so he generally wears fake eyebrows when acting).

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Barry finally finds his redemption [[DeathEqualsRedemption in the form of getting shot by Gene]], which ends up securing his reputation as a sympathetic hero in the public consciousness. Sally and John survive the finale, with Sally making an effort at being a better mother to John and a better person in general, and Hank (who is dead) and Fuches (who saved John's life) are unlikely to enter their lives again. On the other hand, John is growing up without a father, Gene is serving life in prison mostly for crimes he did not commit but partially for killing Barry, and Fuches--the guy who sent Barry on his horrible path in the first place--[[KarmaHoudini remains at large]].]]

* DownerEnding:
** The finale of season 3. [[spoiler:Fuches is imprisoned. Sally kills a man in self-defense, and with her professional career ruined and this new trauma in her life, she decides to return to Joplin, without Barry. Hank manages to kill Elena and rescue Cristóbal, but his Chechen friends were killed in brutal circumstances, and both are clearly traumatized by what happened. Finally, Gene, with Moss' help, manipulates and tricks Barry so that he is finally unmasked and arrested by the police, just at the moment when Barry had decided to stop killing and run away with Sally. And despite Barry's arrest, the final scene makes it clear that Gene and Moss will continue to grieve over Janice's death.]] Of course, this can be BittersweetEnding depending on what the viewer's feelings for the characters are at that exact moment in the plot.
** The series as a whole. [[spoiler:Hank is killed by Fuches, who lets John go before [[KarmaHoudini vanishing into the night]]. After Sally leaves Barry, he finally realizes that the only true way to redeem himself is to turn himself in to clear Gene's name, only for Gene to kill him, eliminating the only person who could exonerate him. Gene is convicted of murdering Janice and Barry and sentenced to life in prison, while Barry is buried in Arlington Cemetery. The movie about Moss's murder portrays Barry as a down-on-his-luck ex-Marine whom Gene framed for the murder. The only high points are that Sally and John are living decently in the present and Hank and Fuches' entire gangs were killed off.]]

* FullNameBasis: Barry always refers to Jay Roach as "Jay Roach." He also runs the two names together, so he might think that it's a single name, Jayroach.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: [[spoiler:The [[ShowWithinAShow movie]] made about Barry's life postmortem makes him far more sympathetic (and less unstable) than the mass murderer he was in reality. Ostensibly to make the story more marketable he becomes a straight-up thriller/action hero. He's merely a traumatized vet instead of a war criminal who's only not in jail even pre-LA by means of vague string-pulling on the part of his dad's criminal friend, his career as a hitman between getting discharged and taking up acting is completely excised, and his murder of Janice is pinned on Cousineau. His other victims, like Chris, are simply never mentioned. Crosses over with HistoricalBadassUpgrade, as Film Barry is shown cutting a swathe through armed criminals with automatic weapons to rescue his family, while the real Barry (mentally and physically disheveled) merely arrived to find all the criminals had killed each other before he got there. Because Gene killed Barry before he could confess everything, no one will ever know the truth about what happened.]]

** In the finale for season 1 Barry has killed off Goran and the Chechens loyal to him, Hank is starting an optimistic business partnership/friendship with Cristóbal, Barry and Sally are together and improving in their acting and Gene and Janice are also together. It seems like smooth sailing, up [[spoiler: until Janice hears about Barry's monologue from Gene and she realizes that Barry is the murderer she's been hunting all season.]]

* NotSoAboveItAll: [[spoiler: In the beginning of season 3 where Barry purposes a plan to Sally to commit psychological warfare on a executive as a means of helping her, Sally is rightfully horrified and even breaks up with Barry because of it. However later on in the season after Natalie films Sally's profanity laced rant directed at her which gets Sally dropped by her talent agency, Sally actually ask Barry to perform that plan on Natalie.]]

* StickySituation: In 2.05, while trying to give Barry some WorstAid, Fuches manages to literally glue himself to the steering wheel of the car. While they're being chased by a possibly inhuman nine-year-old girl. It's that kind of show.

-->'''Barry:''' Why did you say that. ''WHY DID YOU SAY THAT?!''
** Barry has another one in Season 3 Episode 8, "starting now", [[spoiler: when he is confronted by Albert who asked him why he has killed so many people including Chris.]]

* YoungerThanTheyLook: Stovka, the badass assassin brought in by the Chechen mob in "Make the Unsafe Choice"...or rather the formerly badass assassin, as now he's just a gaunt old man with a vacant stare and a cane, played by 78-year-old Larry Hankin. When Fuches asks how old he is, Stovka says "Forty-five."

** The series as a whole. [[spoiler:Hank is killed by Fuches, who lets John go before [[KarmaHoudini vanishing into the night]]. After Sally leaves Barry, he finally realizes that the only true way to redeem himself is to turn himself in to clear Gene's name, only for Gene to kill him, eliminating the only person who could exonerate him. Gene is convicted of murdering Janice and Barry and serving a life sentence in prison, while Barry is buried in Arlington Cemetery. The movie about Moss's murder portrays Barry as a down-on-his-luck ex-Marine whom Gene framed for the murder. The only high points are that Sally and John are living decently in the present and Hank and Fuches' entire gangs were killed off.]]

** In the SeriesFinale, [[spoiler:before his confrontation with Hank and Fuches, Barry offers a prayer to god promising to sacrifice himself so that he may save his son and redeem himself, only [[AntiClimax to find out that his son had already been saved by Fuches]].]] [[spoiler: Barry does still ultimately sacrifice himself; by getting killed by Gene [[HeelFaceDoorSlam just as he's decided to turn himself in to exonerate him]]. In doing so, Barry is redeemed in the public view as a tragic hero who was manipulated in to a life of crime by Gene, while his son gets to live a normal life instead of remaining on the run.]]

* FreudianExcuse: In season 4 when Sally's mom watches Sally's pilot episode show, she is more bothered about how she will explain the fact Sally (accurately) portrayed her ex as abusive to the neighbors and seems in general more worried about her own image then the fact Sally is clearly distraught by everything going on in her life. It explains a lot of Sally's selfish attiude.

* {{Gayngster}}: [[spoiler:Increasingly implied with [=NoHo=] Hank through season 1 through his rather flamboyant and even a little effeminate mannerisms combined with his obsequious behavior toward Barry. In season 2, he falls in love with Cristóbal, who returns his affections. By season three, they're a full-fledged couple]].

** Cristobal's father-in-law, Fernando, is the head of the main branch of the Bolivian mob and also a polite and considerate family man and BenevolentBoss whose only regret about aborting his operation to massacre his Chechen rivals is that his hitmen were so excited to do it. He decides to break the news softly to them by taking them out to lunch first.

** Played totally straight in the Season 3 finale [[spoiler:as Hank, after being terrified by hearing his friends being mauled and eaten by a panther, escapes his captivity by gunning down the panther and several Bolivians, including Cristobal's wife Elena. The look on his face after he's reunited with a traumatised Cristobal suggests that he's no longer going to be so squeamish about personally killing anyone after that.]]

** He tells Hank not to chase after Cristobal since his dishonesty and infidelity are major red flags. [[spoiler: Hank goes to Bolivia anyway and ends up captured and imprisoned by the Sifuentes family.]]

* CureYourGays: Cristobal's wife kidnaps him and tries to cure his gayness with some aversion therapy -- that is, electrocuting him while a male stripper dances for him.

** The finale of season 3. [[spoiler:Fuches is imprisoned. Sally kills a man in self-defense, and with her professional career ruined and this new trauma in her life, she decides to return to Joplin, without Barry. Hank manages to kill Elena and rescue Cristobal, but his Chechen friends were killed in brutal circumstances, and both are clearly traumatized by what happened. Finally, Gene, with Moss' help, manipulates and tricks Barry so that he is finally unmasked and arrested by the police, just at the moment when Barry had decided to stop killing and run away with Sally. And despite Barry's arrest, the final scene makes it clear that Gene and Moss will continue to grieve over Janice's death.]] Of course, this can be BittersweetEnding depending on what the viewer's feelings for the characters are at that exact moment in the plot.

* FourLinesAllWaiting: Season 3 weaves six separate storylines and most of the characters apart from Barry don't get involved in any of the others: [[spoiler:Fuches going after Barry via his victims' families, Sally's work life, Barry's mental breakdown and break-up with Sally, Albert showing up as an FBI agent investigating the Chechens, Hank and Cristobal trying to conceal their relationship and keep the peace between their families, and lastly Gene's career resurrection after he splits off from Barry's breakdown storyline.]]

** [[spoiler:Hank is an AffablyEvil PunchClockVillain who [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes genuinely loves his boyfriend, friends, and family]], seemingly making him perfect for a HeelFaceTurn. While he does attempt this, by season 4 he admits that deep down he always really wanted to be a big gangster and turns down a golden opportunity to go legit in favor of doubling down on the criminal life. This is also partly motivated by fear of what his former associates would do to him and Cristobal if he left, but he both makes it clear he enjoys the prestige his mob brings and never even considers the idea of just turning himself in, much like Barry. Ultimately his final acts are kidnapping an innocent kid (albeit reluctantly) to save his own skin before dying in a gang shootout, amidst what would've been his legitimate business.]]

** In the finale for season 1 Barry has killed off Goran and the Chechens loyal to him, Hank is starting an optimistic business partnership/friendship with Cristobal, Barry and Sally are together and improving in their acting and Gene and Janice are also together. It seems like smooth sailing, up [[spoiler: until Janice hears about Barry's monologue from Gene and she realizes that Barry is the murderer she's been hunting all season.]]

* OverlyLongGag: When Cristobal leaves Hank, the camera holds on Hank's forlorn expression while he hear Cristobal offscreen as he walks a loooong way to his car, gets in, starts it up, turns on chirpy pop music, and finally drives away.

* SeriesFauxnale: Season 3 feels like a DownerEnding series finale as [[spoiler: Barry’s work as a hit man is uncovered and he is captured by the police after being set up by Gene Cousineau, while Fuches is also arrested. Sally return to Joplin to get away from Barry after experiencing new trauma and seeing her professional career tarnished. Hank manages to rescue Cristobal from the Bolivians but both are traumatized during their captivity and will try to move on together. Despite Barry's arrest, both Gene and Moss will continue to grieve over Janice's death.]]

** "limonada" is said by Cristobal when he [[spoiler: asks some neighborhood girls if they're selling lemonade: "Are you girls selling limonada?"]]

** "all the sauces" is taken from [[spoiler: a text from Hank to Cristobal, read by Fernando, wherein he says the Chechens are excited to go to Buffalo Wild Wings to try the sauces there.]]

** Season 3 Episode 8, "starting now": [[spoiler: Sally kills one of Barry's attackers and flees to Joplin by herself. Hank breaks out of his cell and rescues Cristobal, who likely has brain damage. Fuches goes to prison, adopting his (fake) identity as "The Raven". Barry gets arrested for murdering Moss, after being set up by Gene and Jim, Moss' father.]]
** Season 4 Episode 4, "it takes a psycho": [[spoiler: Barry has escaped from custody. Hank kills his own men in order to spare him and Cristobal from a raid from the Chechens, only for Cristobal to reject him and end up getting killed anyways for knowing too much. Gene accidentally shoots his own son Leo out of paranoia, potentially killing him. Sally finds Barry in her own home and immediately decides to run away with him, the show then [[TimeSkip jumps around a decade later]] to reveal they now have a son and reside in an area similar to the place from Barry's daydreams]].

** Andrei and the Chechen Mob vanish from the story after the 8-year TimeSkip. It's never established if they're still backing Hank's construction company or if he [[spoiler:took revenge on them for killing Christobal]].

* StylisticSuck: Almost all the performances and monologues in the acting class suck, especially the ones that the students wrote themselves. A lot of the professional gigs aren't any better, like the one where Barry plays a bully who gets tricked into eating his own shit pie.

** Creator/FredArmisen appears in "you're charming" as an assassin disguised as an FBI agent.

** The final shootout between Fuches's gang and Hank's men isn't a dramatic affair with PrettyLittleHeadshots and extended action; they're all in a wide space with zero cover and armed with automatic weapons and grenades. The entire battle takes all of a minute before almost everyone is wounded or dead. Additionally, we see the various effects of a frag grenade exploding in close quarters in grisly detail; one man is blinded, several have lost limbs, and another has his stomach blown open and entrails scattered.

** The final shootout between Fuches's gang and Hank's men isn't a dramatic affair with PrettyLittleHeadshots and extended action; they're all in a wide space with zero cover and armed with automatic weapons and grenades. The entire affair takes all of a minute before almost everyone is wounded or dead. Additionally, we see the various effects of a frag grenade exploding in close quarters in grisly detail; one man is blinded, several have lost limbs, and another has his stomach blown open and entrails scattered.

** Creator/SianHeder appears {{AsHimself as herself}}, directing the in-universe superhero film ''Mega Girls'.

* BaldOfEvil: [=NoHo=] Hank, who doesn't even have eyebrows. His actor Anthony Carrigan has total alopecia, which prevents his body from growing any hair.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Barry finally finds his redemption [[DeathEqualsRedemption in the form of getting shot by Gene]], which ends up securing his reputation as a sympathetic hero in the public consciousness. Sally and John survive the finale, with Sally making an effort at being a better mother to John and a better person in general, and Hank (who is dead) and Fuches (who saved John's life) are unlikely to enter their lives again. On the other hand, John is growing up without a father, Gene is serving life in prison for crimes he did not commit, and Fuches--the guy who sent Barry on his horrible path in the first place--[[KarmaHoudini remains at large]].]]
* BlackAndGreyMorality: Each character ranges from being either a flawed but ultimately well meaning person, to downright murderous psychopaths.
* BlackComedy: A sitcom about a hit man trying to make it as an actor. In one episode, Hank sends Barry a text that says "KILL PACO!", and then confetti rains down in Barry's phone.

* FullNameBasis: Barry always refers to Creator/JayRoach as "Jay Roach." He also runs the two names together, so he might think that it's a single name, Jayroach.