‘Barry’ Season 2, Episode 5 “ronny/lily”
You know that thing where you hear an episode of a show is the signature episode of the series, but you’ve never watched the series so you don’t know why it’s so good? And then when you finally do get around to watching that episode, three years later, you realize why everyone couldn’t shut up about it in 2019? Yeah, that’s Barry, Season 2, Episode 5 “ronny/lilly”. I’m aware I’m extremely late to the party here, but the format breaking half-hour finds Barry (Bill Hader) once again trying to do the (sort of) right thing by letting his quarry, Ronny (Daniel Bernhardt), go free. Unfortunately, the wheezing Taekwondo master doesn’t want freedom, and what follows is a nearly real-time escalating fight between Barry, Ronny, Barry’s handler Fuches (Stephen Root) and Ronny’s feral daughter Lily (Jessie Giacomazzi). It’s brutal, game-changing to the overall narrative of the season, but most importantly howlingly funny. I may never get over hearing Fuches reveal he can’t pull Lily off his face because he super-glued his hands to the steering wheel, and I don’t want to. Few episodes live up to the hype; “ronny/lily” does, and then some.