Barry, created by Bill Hader and Alec Berg, has just finished airing its fourth season.
It stars Hader as the titular Barry Berkman, a former U.S. Marine who uses his skills as a hitman. But feeling lonely and dissatisfied with his life, he decides to take up a career in acting. The show manages to strike a delicate balance between dark and comedic moments without either being overbearing.
While some fans thought the show would end after season three, with Barry being caught making for a fitting end, Hader and his team decided that a fourth season was necessary. It opens with Barry in prison, getting used to this new life and attempting to keep his mental health from deteriorating.
The show has been immensely popular with fans and critics, with a review from Ready Steady Cut calling it “one of the greatest shows of all time.” With the show’s popularity at an all-time high, some are wondering whether there will be another season.
Will there be a Season 5 of Barry – renewed or canceled status
Sadly for show fans, Hader has confirmed that there won’t be another season of Barry, saying in an interview with Variety in March 2023 that he had decided to conclude the series at season four because “a very clear ending presented itself.”
He added: “It was very much in the writing and the storytelling. I mean, a lot of people after last season were like, ‘Why are you doing another season?’ It should have just ended. But to me, there are still so many questions with the other characters, and with Barry — and there’s so many things unsaid.”
When confronted with whether the show should have ended with season three, Hader said that it made sense for what the characters had to go through to continue the story, and the fourth season would be “structurally radical in some ways.”
When Amy Gravitt, the executive vice president of HBO comedy programming, heard this news, she accepted the decision with an anguished sigh but, trusting Hader’s judgment, said, “Obviously, now that we’re here, we’re feeling sentimental about it. But it really does feel like it’s the right time to finish the show.”
There are no spin-offs for Barry in the works at HBO, but there might be in the future. A potential candidate for their own show is the popular character of NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan), who was going to be killed off earlier in the series, but it was decided to keep him alive.
But as Hader wants to make a movie of his own for his next project, any potential spin-off would be a long time in the making, if at all.
This is one of the best TV shows EVER!!! I will truly miss all of the characters.