Ronny/Lily (S02E05)

Forget about GoT; Barry offers the best fight scene. Furthermore, it takes place in broad daylight, so you can properly enjoy its choreography. In a surreal variation on Kill Bill, this series pushes the boundaries (of how far the protagonist can go without us completely condemning him) and goes far beyond the familiar space (similar to Donald Glover in some episodes of Atlanta) and even outside of the main storyline (no Sally, no Cousineau). In essence, however, it is another example of what Barry’s creators do best – defying the viewer’s expectations, repeatedly forcing you to ask “WTF?”. One might expect that the raw opening brawl, filmed in long layered shots with observationally impartial camerawork (while the participants occasionally disappear from the frame, which is typical of a series that maintains a dispassionate distance from its characters), would merely be a prologue to the story that follows. Instead of that, however, more and more complications accumulate in bizarre ways, and the whole thing is incredibly funny, exciting and grim (the flashback from the desert and the variation thereof at the end). This episode is the highlight of the season so far. (30.04.2019)