The following contains spoilers from “Barry” Season 4 Episode 5.
In the middle of its final season, “Barry” jumps forward eight years in time to find Barry (Bill Hader) and Sally (Sarah Goldberg) with their son John in the middle of nowhere. But while Barry is overjoyed by their separation, Sally finds herself in “a total hellscape of her own making,” Goldberg tells TheWrap.
In this future Sally is working as a waitress named Emily. But she’s also putting on a performance — every day she dons a wig, fake nails and completes it with an ultra-Southern accent. All of which is completely unnecessary.
“I was really excited about that episode,” Goldberg said in an April interview. “I’ve been asking Bill since Season 1 Episode 1, ‘Can we go full Gena Rowlands ‘Woman Under the Influence’ like opening night? Can we go dark?” So he made good on his promise.
Goldberg had the opportunity to find Sally in a completely different world.
“I think with the time jump the idea was that we’re in a different world, they have a very different existence,” she said. “So when I got the script, I felt like cutting off my hand. I was so surprised and excited by it, and as an actor to get to do something like this is a real treat.
The actress added that she loved the idea that Sally was enjoying herself in this performance as Emily, even though it was completely unnecessary.
“I mean, it’s a total pivot from what you’ve seen Sally do before. It’s a complete physical transformation with wigs and nails and accents, and I think it’s pretty bleak,” she said. “We had a good time making it and for Sally, I think she’s kind of caught up in this total hellscape of her own making. But within that, I think she finds her place as Emily the waitress. giving a career performance. She has no reason to have that accent and this character at this stage in their escapades and yet she remains committed. That’s the last little piece of her past life we can see. Any Not watching, but she wants to do her Meryl Streep performance (laughs).
Goldberg called it a “wild ride,” but it’s also a great example of how dynamic the tone of “Barry” can be given that an episode like this fits within the narrative.
“It felt like we were on a different show, but in a really exciting way. I’m always impressed by the elasticity of tone of what the show can hold,” she said. “I hope the audience will go along with us, but it felt like we were taking a big swing. It was good fun, it was very twisted.”
For Sally’s headspace from the perspective of Hader – who wrote and directed the episode – the showrunner said it is rooted in a scene from earlier in the season where Sally shows her mother her show “Joplin”.
“I always thought it was interesting that when they see ‘Joplin’ her mom says, ‘You don’t have any kids, you’re not married, what are you talking about?’ I think making ‘Joplin’ was always Sally’s version of what her life could have been,” Hader told TheWrap. “And now she feels she deserves that life. But the reason he stayed, and I thought it was very important, is that moment when there’s a knock on the door and it’s like, ‘Thank God Barry is here.’ Their bond is like fugitives. This is their biggest bond. They are wonderful in fugitive business. They are terrible parents. But she is living her dream. It’s a nightmare for him, but I think there’s a part of him that feels like, maybe this is what I deserve.
