'Barry' Season 3: Stephen Root Doesn't 'See Reconciliation' for Barry and Funches in Season 4 (Exclusive)

By Stephen Andrew

HBO's hit crime-Comedy Barry will air its Season 3 finale on Sunday, June 12. Ahead of the big finale, PopCulture.com spoke exclusively with series actor Stephen Root, who plays Monroe Fuches in the show. Funches is an old friend of Barry Berkman's (Bill Hader) family and, following Barry's time in the Marines, Funches groomed him for a career as a hitman. The pair have been at odds this season and Root told us that he doesn't "see reconciliation" for the two men in Season 4. Please Note: Barry Spoilers Below.

This season started with Barry and Funches divided by thousands of miles, as Funches fled the United States at the end of Season 2 and wound up hiding in Chechnya. Speaking about the state of Barry and Funches' relationship this season, Root explained, "It's a love, hate thing. Father, son thing. Uncle, brother thing. But he's also got that with Cousineau (Henry Winkler), and that's the main source of, I think, the problems that Fuches has, is that his father figure has been taken over by Cousineau and of his own design. But I think that's really a jealousy thing with the Fuches and Cousineau character and the jealousy thing with Barry and that's deeply rooted, and it affects everything that happens in one, two, and three."

At the beginning of Barry Season 3, it seemed as if Funches was on a good path to be free of the crime world forever. As the season has progressed, however, Funches' desire to get revenge on Barry, for turning against him, has grown volatile, leading him on a crusade to expose Barry and put his life in danger. "I think he's really at a breaking point. There always is some point in a relationship where you've had enough. You've tried too many times."

Root continued, "Fuches wore a wire. He turned him in. When he asked Fuches, 'You wore a wire,' and Fuches' reaction was, 'Okay. I thought it was a good idea at the time.' There comes a time when you've had enough. I think when Barry walked into that thing and tried to kill people in the last episode of two, is like that's enough. What's brilliant about season three is the way that Fuches is trying to hurt Barry, they connect it to incidents in season one. I think that's brilliant writing."

While Funches is on his personal journey, Barry is back in Los Angeles unraveling. His anxiety and despair have only grown, and he's become an angry, untethered version of the quirky anti-hero fans came to love in the first two seasons of the show. When asked if he thinks Funches' attitude toward Barry would be different had he been able to see what Barry was experiencing, Root said, "'If he had that ability' is the phrase. I don't think he does. I do not think he does. His emotional life is stunted at its lowest ebb now. The fact that he's trying to deal with somebody who is now having delusions, he's making the worst decisions, and they keep getting... It's a guy with PTSD who's going down the rabbit hole. So I don't see reconciliation. I didn't write season four, but I don't see it." 

Barry Season 3 comes to a close at HBO on Sunday night, June 12, 9 pm CT/10 pm ET. The series has already been renewed for a fourth season. HBO Max subscribers can revisit all three seasons of the show anytime on the streaming service.

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