it takes a psycho
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 0.303 million household viewers and gained a 0.08 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.
The episode received universal acclaim from critics, who praised Hader's directing and Barry's limited presence, as well as the character development, focus on the supporting cast, performances (particularly Carrigan, Irby, and Goldberg), emotional weight, sound mixing and twist ending, and was named one of the best television episodes of the year by several publications.
Warden Reynolds (Richard Riehle) has guards attack Fuches (Stephen Root), accusing him of being involved in Barry's escape.
[a] With Barry on the run, Hank (Anthony Carrigan) and Cristobal (Michael Irby) increase security at the crew's compound and reward their workers by giving them an entertainment room.
Tom (Fred Melamed) and Leo (Andrew Leeds) place Gene (Henry Winkler) alone in an isolated cabin to prevent him from talking to the press again before trial.
Meanwhile, Sally (Sarah Goldberg) helps Kristen (Ellyn Jameson) prepare for her role on the set of the blockbuster superhero film project Mega Girls directed by Sian Heder.
At lunch, Fuches walks into the cafeteria bruised and bloody, and notices the respect the other prisoners give him for his loyalty to Barry despite being betrayed, choosing to wait until he has started eating to begin their own meals.
Hank cries inside the house shortly before a Chechen henchman shows him that assassins shot Cristobal dead.
Two boys named John (Zachary Golinger) and Travis fight in a remote setting similar to Barry's prior daydreams.
[1] Hader wanted Hank to "make some big moves to try to be a tough guy and it ends up getting Cristobal killed", which would result in the character's death in the episode.
[2] Commenting on Sally's decision, Sarah Goldberg explained, "Barry is the one place she can go where she's going to feel seen, loved, heard and free of all of this humiliation and trauma.
[6] Her appearance was inspired by a phenomenon where, as Hader describes, "you do a little prestige movie that wins awards, and then Hollywood opens up the gates for you, and then you get 'Mega Girls 4'.
[2] Paul McCrane's casting dates back to when he auditioned for the role of Fuches: both he and Patrick Fischler, who played Lon in the first three episodes of the season, gave impressive reads for Fuches, to the point that casting director Sherry Thomas would come back to Hader at the start of each season to ask if there was a role they could give the two actors.
It was two stories high, with a contraption underneath the set that could be opened, which Hader described as "an hourglass membrane thing" where the stunt performers could fall.
Yet, the whirling blades serve as a reminder that the one hitman at the center of everyone's personality crises is out there, evading the cops and on the hunt, coming for one of his former friends.
"[12] Ben Rosenstock of Vulture gave the episode a perfect 5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "While Bill Hader's proclivity for tight, ruthlessly efficient storytelling is mostly an asset on this show, sometimes his more ambitious character arcs could use a little more time to percolate.
"[14] Josh Spiegel of /Film wrote, "'it takes a psycho' does an excellent job of creating a mid-season cliffhanger of sorts for many of its characters, and one that we're presumably going to get resolved with whatever future state is the case for them all.
The site wrote, "Hoo boy... this was a rough week on Barry, with Sally and Gene facing painful life crises.
But no one was put through the wringer more than our beloved goofball NoHo Hank, and Anthony Carrigan expertly stripped away the Chechen gangster's silly façade to expose the cold calculations at his core.
It was devastating to see Hank go to the dark side like that, but Carrigan absolutely wowed us with his ability to turn a court jester into a malevolent prince.
