"The Power of No" is the second episode of the second 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.
In the episode, Barry is forced to participate in a hit for NoHo Hank and is also pressured by Gene to use his war speech for a performance.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 0.424 million household viewers and gained a 0.2 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.
The episode received positive reviews, with critics praising the performances, character development and Murai's directing.
Gene (Henry Winkler) announces his intentions of a performance where the students play a short piece that perfectly encapsulates their own personal truth.
Her sole female agent, Lindsay (Jessy Hodges), sympathizes and urges her to bide her time until the perfect role comes along.
Loach (John Pirruccello) goes to Cleveland and visits Fuches (Stephen Root), revealing he knows about his tooth and questions him about Barry.
[1] As the writers already had elements in motion for the season premiere, Bill Hader wanted to expand on the idea of Fuches working with Loach.
It will be interesting to see where the series lands on this question or if it addresses whether Barry is a product of external manipulation or a wholly autonomous individual.
"[5] Nick Harley of Den of Geek gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "For many people, the best part about acting is about the opportunity to inhabit someone else's life and escape your own for a brief period of time, but for the actors on Barry, they're hindered by their constant self-examination.