Warning! Spoilers ahead for Barry season 3.
The third season of HBO’s hitman comedy Barry recently wrapped up with a stunning finale episode, “starting now.” This episode was so intense and unpredictable and, above all, conclusive that it could’ve been the ending of the entire series. Barry got his comeuppance, Gene achieved redemption, and the LAPD can finally close the book on “The Raven” investigation.
But it wasn’t the end of the series. HBO has already greenlit Barry for a fourth season, with series co-creator and star Bill Hader directing every episode. Season 3’s bombshell ending contains a few key setups for where season 4 could go when the show returns.
Fuches Goes To Prison
Throughout season 3, Fuches was given not one, but two opportunities to settle down on a farm with a beautiful woman who loves him. And in both cases, he couldn’t let go of his vendetta against Barry and returned to L.A. to exact revenge.
This ultimately landed Fuches in prison. In the season finale, after revealing his connection to Barry in an interrogation with Albert, Fuches is booked and sent to prison. In season 4, Barry could become a prison show.
Gene Is Starring In A Play
After punching Barry in the face on the set of Laws of Humanity, Gene was desperate to leave town. But he ended up staying in L.A. when an inspirational article about his relationship with Barry led to an unprecedented career comeback.
Following the success of his MasterClass acting course, Gene is approached about putting on a play that would be broadcast to movie theaters around the country.
Sally Is A Killer
When Sally appears in Barry’s apartment in the season 3 finale, it seems like the worst mistake she’ll make is sending her ex to psychologically torture Natalie. But then, moments later, she becomes a killer. After Barry is knocked out by one of Fuches’ vengeful footsoldiers, he grabs Sally and strangles her.
Refusing to be mistreated by yet another violent man, Sally grabs a knife and jams it in the guy’s neck. Then, when he’s dazed, she picks up a baseball bat and beats him to death. Sally killed this man in self-defense, but she’ll still have to live with the mental toll of taking a life when season 4 rolls around.
NoHo Hank And Cristobal Are Reunited
Season 3 finally gave Barry fans a couple they could root for. Barry and Sally have always been terrible for each other – the latter is too self-involved to be a good partner and the former is a violent psychopath hiding his double life as a mass murderer – so audiences were relieved when they broke up. NoHo Hank and Cristobal’s adorable romantic pairing has given the Barry-verse its first wholesome love story.
Coming from two warring gangs, Hank and Cristobal’s romance has parallels with Romeo and Juliet. With Hank escaping from captivity and saving Cristobal from his wife’s torture, these star-crossed lovebirds have finally been reunited ahead of season 4.
The LAPD Thinks Fuches Is “The Raven”
NoHo Hank covered up Barry’s crimes by identifying Fuches as “The Raven,” a notorious Chechen assassin. After being charged for these crimes, Fuches decides to adopt his unearned nickname.
When he’s given his prison jumpsuit and identified as Monroe Fuches, Fuches tells the guard that his name is “The Raven,” seemingly to cash in on the street cred that comes along with the moniker and its reputation.
Sally’s Short-Lived Showbiz Career Is Over
At the end of season 2, Sally got swept up in a Hollywood fairy tale when her theater piece was widely acclaimed enough to earn an agent and a development deal with a streaming service. But by the end of season 3, just as her career was getting started, she’d destroyed it with a pattern of rage and instability.
This plot turn might seem insignificant now that she has to live with a killing, but Sally’s dream of being an actor who writes her own material finally came true and she managed to dash those dreams within a few weeks.
Albert Forgives Barry
When Albert came back onto the scene to help the LAPD’s investigation into Barry’s gangland killings, he quickly deduced that it was his old Marine buddy who committed all the murders. Fans expected Albert to exact brutal revenge against Barry, or at least arrest him, but when he finally tracked down Barry in the finale, he ultimately forgave him.
If Barry hadn’t saved Albert’s life in the war, his daughter wouldn’t exist. So, he gives Barry what he’s been seeking all season: forgiveness. Barry’s future looks bleak right now, but Albert has proven he’s not beyond redemption.
All Of Hank’s Fellow Chechen Mobsters Are Dead
Throughout Barry’s run, the titular hitman-turned-actor has been caught in an L.A. gang war between the Chechens and the Bolivians. But after the shocking events of season 3, the Chechen operation consists entirely of NoHo Hank.
Most of Hank’s fellow Chechen mobsters were killed in the police raid on their operation, which Batir unwittingly live-streamed for the Chechens back at home. The survivors of the raid were then taken out by the Bolivians’ pet panther. Now, Hank is running the Chechen operation by himself.
Sally Goes Back To Joplin
After Sally kills the man who came to assassinate Barry, Barry offers to take the fall for the murder and implores Sally to get out of his apartment and leave the crime scene. Later, Barry calls Sally and makes a plan to leave Los Angeles with her.
But, unbeknownst to Barry, Sally is already at the airport, leaving town alone. She boards a plane to her hometown of Joplin, Missouri, where she’ll likely reunite with her family in season 4.
Barry Gets Arrested
At the end of the season 3 finale, Gene lures Barry to Jim Moss’ house and spins a yarn that inspires Barry to go into the house to kill Jim. As it turns out, the whole thing is a setup. Gene is in cahoots with Jim and they’ve got a police squad waiting in the house to take Barry down. The season ends with an incredulous Barry being taken into custody.
Barry’s arrest, paired with Fuches’ imprisonment, seems to set up a hilarious odd-couple storyline for season 4 in which the former black-market colleagues will have to share a cell (or at least a cell block).