"bestest place on the earth" is the second episode of the fourth season of the American dark comedy crime drama television series Barry.
The series follows Barry Berkman, a hitman from Cleveland who travels to Los Angeles to kill someone but finds himself joining an acting class taught by Gene Cousineau, where he meets aspiring actress Sally Reed and begins to question his path in life as he deals with his criminal associates such as Monroe Fuches and NoHo Hank.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 0.216 million household viewers and gained a 0.04 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.
The episode received extremely positive reviews from critics, who praised Hader's directing, humor, performances, emotional weight and ending.
For the episode, Henry Winkler received a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Back in the present day, Fuches informs his officers that he will abandon the wiretapping operation, not wanting to incriminate Barry (Bill Hader).
Cristobal (Michael Irby) meets with a former Thai associate, Bong (François Chau), to recruit him and his gang for their sand business.
Meanwhile, Lon O'Neil (Patrick Fischler) meets with Gene (Henry Winkler) at the theater of his former acting class and the "interview" turns out to be a dramatized reenactment of his history with Barry.
Sally meets with Lindsay (Jessy Hodges), who explains she cannot be her agent anymore since her reputation is ruined after her outburst with Natalie and her relationship with Barry.
"[4] For the scene where a flashback to Barry's childhood transitions into a daydream, Hader was inspired by some Italian films that accomplished this technique.
They don't do the work, and when they do, they end up like Tony Soprano, circling and recognizing the issue but still keeping the plot wheel spinning.
"[8] Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone deemed the episode as "filled with nightmares, flashbacks, and visions, because everyone is scarred by past events.
"[9] Ben Rosenstock of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Maybe the biggest question, as this final season progresses, will be this: Will anyone in Barry successfully leave behind the worst version of themselves?
"[10] Josh Spiegel of /Film wrote, "With these two excellent and unnerving episodes now in the books, I think it's safe to say that Barry remains as disturbing, as darkly funny, and as uncompromising as ever.
The veteran actor stepped into the spotlight (quite literally) this week, as Gene shared his story with a Vanity Fair writer the only way he knew how: by taking the stage and putting on an elaborate one-man show for an audience of one.