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.
In the episode, Sally passes a chance for a series after she views the content as "revenge porn" and gets jealous when Barry effortlessly gets an audition for a big role in a film.
For her performance in the episode, Goldberg received an Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series nomination at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards.
In the waiting room, Barry (Bill Hader) is approached by one of Lindsay's associates, resulting in him getting an audition for a film directed by Jay Roach.
Sally meets with the producer, Aaron Ryan (David Douglas), for the role, but passes after she learns that the TV series just features abused women killing their husbands, deeming it "revenge porn".
Bill Hader and Alec Berg reviewed options, noting that Barry cut ties with important figures (Fuches and the Chechens) in the previous episode, so he would now be in a "good place".
Club gave the episode a "B+" and wrote, "Barry has maintained a consistently dark tone this season, even at its funniest, so it's a nice bit of modulation to see it indulge in some relatively lighter fare.
But from the moment when Gene calls Barry to inform him that private detective 'Kenneth Goulet' wants to take a look at the cabin, Sarnoff and director Alec Berg throw you right back into the series' deep end.
"[6] Nick Harley of Den of Geek wrote, "'The Audition' is a packed episode, but as stated earlier, it's really a culmination of Sally's arc this season.
The site wrote, "Barry's eternally aspiring actress Sally was under a lot of pressure this week, and Sarah Goldberg let it all come spilling out in a messy, frantic monologue that had us ready to cast her on the spot.
Confessing her fears about her upcoming showcase and standing 'naked' on stage to tell her story and also her intense jealousy at Barry landing a dream audition while she toils in obscurity, Sally scarcely took a breath as she unpacked every bit of her emotional baggage.