We need to be talking about this episode the same way we talk about Ozymandias from Breaking Bad. This episode might not be as refined and perfect as that Breaking Bad episode, but in terms of what it represents and what it accomplishes, it’s very similar. Both episodes are a deconstruction of the show’s protagonist as the consequences of their violent actions finally catch up to them. Everything they’ve worked to achieve crumbles around them.

Both shows played with morality, with our protagonist committing heinous actions and yet presenting just enough sympathetic qualities that you can’t help but hope they get away with it in the end. But both of these episodes exist as a statement on why it’s foolish to believe that that’s possible. Not the idea of “getting away with it” in a legal sense, but the notion of leaving behind their criminal lives. They’re both stuck on the path they walk because of their own toxic tendencies that they refuse to resolve, and they’re never going to change because of that. That I can even say this comedy show accomplished such a feat is a testament to just how unique this show is. I can only hope that like Breaking Bad, Barry’s story won’t end in redemption next season.

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