‘Barry’ Character Killed off in Season 4, Episode 4

Barry Season 4 is the end of the road for the hit HBO series, and the fourth episode brought one character’s storyline to a definitive conclusion. It was certainly always a possibility that there were going to be some deaths in the show’s swan-song season, but we were quite heartbroken to see one character killed off on Sunday night. Please note: spoilers below for Barry Season 4.

In the episode, Barry (Bill Hader) and NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan) have a heated telephone conversation that ends with Barry promising to rain hell down on Hank if he ever gets out of prison. Later, Hank is showing off a sandpit to his crew, but when he walks away, Cristobal (Michael Irby) and the rest of the gang get swallowed by the pit. As Cristobal begins to drown in the sand, we hear Hank run in to save him. It is then revealed that Hank had planned the sandpit as a trap for the gang, in order to show his loyalty to his former Chechen mob boss, which effectively brought him back into the fold.

That evening, Hank and Cristobal have an emotional argument at their home, with Cristobal telling Hank that he is leaving him for his dishonesty. Hank follows Cristobal to his car, begging him to stay and telling him that he “can’t” leave. Cristobal sends Hank away, back into the house. Hank sits down on the couch and begins to cry. 

We then see a figure enter, and for a moment the presumption is that it’s Cristobal returning. However, the individual is revealed to be a Chechen mob member who apologizes to Hank for what just transpired outside. It becomes clear that Hank knew what was going to happen if Cristobal tried to leave, and we see the pain on his face as he walks by the doorway and witnesses Cristobal’s body laying on the ground with blood all around.

Speaking to Variety about the shocking moment Irby said, “I gotta be honest with you, as much as I was heartbroken about it, I knew it was something that kind of had to happen. I was here a lot longer than I ever thought I would be, so that was all a gift. When Bill shared with me that Cristobal was gonna find his way to the other side, it was kind of exciting. I was looking forward to reading it, and I wasn’t sure how they were going to do it, but I knew that the fans were going to be quite traumatized with all this. The NoHo and Cristobal story has become kind of a fan favorite, which is neat to be caught up in.”