Almost three years ago, Season Two of Barry came to a close. Three years! Do you even remember who Detective Janice Moss is? We hope you do, because her death was the crux of the second season of HBO's twisted black comedy. Way back at the end of Season One, when it seemed like things were going well for Barry Block, it was Janice who discovered that he was at the center of an ongoing murder case she was looking into. Then Barry Berkman made an appearance and took Janice out of this world, leaving her lover (and Barry's teacher) Gene in emotional shambles.
That information only leads us to Season Two's premiere! The second season had the task of answering questions lingering around Moss's death, as well as introducing a whole new threat in the form of Esther, a Burmese gang leader at odds with Noho Hank. Also, who could forget Sally and her journey toward becoming a bona fide actress? Let's catch up with all the characters (and where they landed in Season Two) before heading into Season Three.
Barry Berkman/Barry Block
Listen. Barry is in deep shit. After killing Moss to keep the secret of his hit man past under wraps, he's left juggling an ongoing hit man relationship with NoHo Hank and Fuches, his acting career with Gene, and his relationship with Sally. Barry is tasked with killing the Burmese gang leader, Esther, at the beginning of the season but he botches the initial hit, putting him in a precarious position with the Burmese gang, as well as with NoHo Hank and Fuches. Throughout the season, Barry works with Sally on a scene she developed from real life, depicting the abusive relationship she experienced with her ex-husband. Over the course of several episodes, Barry and Sally struggle with how honest they should be with the dialogue, but the final product (a version of the truth) earns Sally critical acclaim.
When it comes to Moss, Barry is arrested alongside Gene as a suspect in the murder. Both are eventually released, but the pressure is mounting on Barry, who calls Fuches with the promise that he will eventually kill him. And in a fit of rage at the end of the season, Barry slaughters the entire Burmese gang, including Esther.
Gene Cousineau
Gene's season was largely comprised of him making sense of his loss and grieving his girlfriend. It affects him to the point that he wants to cancel the acting class's upcoming production, if not the whole class itself. He's cooperative with the police through the entire investigation, until the police start thinking that Janice's case is going to come up cold. Meanwhile, Barry helps get Gene back on track by inspiring him with a story from his time in the Marines, but it ultimately just leads Barry closer to revealing his true self to Gene. By the end of the season, Gene is tricked by Fuches, who is on a revenge mission against Barry after Barry cuts ties with him. Posing as a detective, Fuches brings Gene to a car trunk containing Moss's body. It looks like he's going to kill Gene, but instead, he reveals to him that Barry was the one who killed his girlfriend. Gene is arrested after fleeing the scene and is subsequently listed as a suspect in Moss's death, but he's released soon after.
NoHo Hank and Monroe Fuches
NoHo Hank is a perfect character. The end. When he begins the season, he has a partnership with Cristobal that crosses the line between professional and intimate. He's also still dealing with the reverb of not killing Pazar's assassin from Season One. While navigating all those threats, he's introduced to Esther. Cristobal wants to bring her and the Burmese gang into the fold, thus threatening Hank. Hank enlists Barry to take Esther out, calling back on how Hank saved Barry's life before and he owes him.
After the botched hit—we mentioned that above, keep up!—Barry offers to train Chechens to carry out the hit on their own. Hank agrees, but as it turns out, no one is as good at Barry's job as Barry. More on that in a moment.
At the beginning of the season, Fuches is in Ohio, trying to find himself a "new Barry." That doesn't shake out though, and after evidence is found from Pazar's assassination in Season One, Fuches and Barry get further entangled in a three-gang cold war. Fuches and Barry eventually reconcile, only for Fuches to turn on Barry again. To make matters worse, Fuches had been posing as a private detective, leading Gene on to get his own revenge on Barry. In the penultimate episode, he considers killing Gene, but instead, leads Gene to Moss's body and reveals Barry is the one responsible. This time, Barry promises lethal revenge against the man who groomed him for hit man work. On a tear, Barry attempts to kill Fuches, but he escapes. Instead, Barry kills the entirety of the Burmese gang, including Esther.
Sally Reed and the Acting Class
Poor, Sally. By the end of the season, she's the only person in Barry's inner circle who doesn't know about his hit man double life. As she and Barry grow their relationship, Season Two is all about Sally breaking out as a legitimate actress. All season, she and Barry work on a piece inspired by her abusive marriage, struggling with how honest she should be about being a survivor of domestic abuse. As she prepares throughout the season, Sally eventually gets offered a major TV role but turns it down because it's all about abused women killing their husbands.
Instead, she focuses on the scene she's rehearsed with Barry, pushing back against her ex, Sam, and telling a slightly altered version of the truth that is met with critical acclaim.
