‘Barry’ finale’s commentary on gun violence stared oblivious fans right in the face

Warning: the following article contains spoilers for season 4, episode 8 of Barry.

The Barry series finale is less than 24 hours old, and already fans are beyond picking apart the characters’ fates and have turned to parsing its social commentary. One area ripe for examination is the series’ use of firearms as a crutch for its lead character: Barry solves his problems with guns throughout all four seasons. And although he tries to live a life free of violence in the final episodes, he finds himself strapping on several assault weapons for one last quest to save his loved ones.

During a teaser that trades in the show’s typically grim humor, Barry buys these weapons at a store that looks a lot like a Walmart, then strides through the aisles with them presumably locked and loaded. He passes children, old folks, and staff before making his way out to the parking lot, where he struggles to fit into a vehicle with all the weaponry he’s purchased.

Some viewers thought there was a missed opportunity here to more thoroughly explore the ease with which you can buy a gun in America. But others thought the near-wordless teaser said everything it needed to:

Most of the comments agreed with the above take, praising the commentary as mostly visual — and not especially subtle, given that none of the shoppers seem to notice the angry white man carrying firearms through the store:

Of course, the commentary doesn’t end with the teaser, but with the fate of the firearms. Barry doesn’t even get to use them, as a major dust-up at NoHo Hank’s headquarters leads to two rival gangs killing each other. Mostly with guns, mind.

Plus, the time when Barry really needs a gun is at his former acting teacher Gene Cousineau’s home, but he’s killed by Cousineau before the former hitman can rally his own arsenal. Here’s another not-so-subtle critique, this time of gun advocates’ stance that if more people were armed, fewer would die in public shootings. Hader seems to be suggesting that you’d need to have a gun loaded and in your hands at pretty much all times to be ready for a shot you don’t see coming. And even then, as Barry learns, bullets can cross a room a lot faster than people can react.

Is Barry a full-on anti-gun show? Not necessarily. Maybe Bill Hader just wants to laugh at how absurd America looks to the rest of the world. What else can you do in a country where necessary, meaningful change never happens? In fact, that might be the point of the series right there.