Barry season 3 hit HBO Max at the end of last month like a lightning bolt, shocking viewers with the same psychologically horrifying drama, overwhelming talent, and unbridled meta hilarity after a long, pandemic-fueled three-year hiatus. Barry season 3 seems to be adhering to a trend where each episode is titled after seemingly irrelevant but thematically revealing lines or objects by the end of the half-hour.

For example, the first episode, “Forgiving Jeff,” refers to when Barry, played by the brilliant Bill Hader, yells, “There is no forgiving Jeff” after executing two clients on a remote California hillside in the first minute of the episode. As we move through the scenes, it’s clear that this is more than just an odd line. Jeff is symbolically Barry, and Barry is shouting that he doesn’t believe he is worthy of forgiveness until he concocts an irresponsible plan to find Mr. Cousineau (Henry Winkler) his first acting role in decades to make up for killing his girlfriend. Meanwhile, episode 2, “Limonada,” refers to the moment when Cristobal (Michael Irby) has just made a date with his new boyfriend, the show’s beloved NoHo Hank, played by Anthony Carrigan, and is crossing the street to buy some lemonade from two young school girls when a surprise visitor shows up.

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The result is a careful foreshadowing of the new and complicating events bound to transpire in a season clearly on a collision course to madness, climax, revelation, and antics. Now that Cristobal’s family patriarch has arrived with the expectation that Cristobal eliminates his enemies, i.e., the Chechens and their leader, none other than NoHo Hank, and return to his family in Bolivia, these events will place the heartbroken Hank in a desperate position. He may have no other choice than to solicit his one-time friend and partner in crime: Barry.

What Does Noho Hank & Cristobal’s Drama Mean for Barry?

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On the show sporting the best controversies and contradictions in current television, NoHo Hank and Cristobal are an adorable couple – despite being violent gangsters. It is a shame since the show’s other couple, Barry and Sally (Sarah Goldberg), have no circumstances conspiring to keep them apart and have nothing to blame but their terrible individual choices if they don’t make it. In contrast, Hank and Cristobal have nothing but love between them.

For the latter, it is only past decisions and external influences that are keeping them apart. After seeing the two curled up in front of the television munching on popcorn and lovingly commiserating over their daily inconveniences, like having to withstand police interrogations and having all their buddies/henchmen slaughtered by the competition, in a kind of Save the Cat moment, Barry surprises NoHo Hank on his patio to beg him for work due to his rapidly unraveling mental state. To distract Cristobal from seeing Barry, who Hank knows his boyfriend is jealous of, Hank asks for a somewhat gourmet chai latte. A confused Cristobal still happily obliges, Hank quickly dismisses Barry, and it is immediately clear that despite their differences and fast-paced lifestyles, these two are perfect for each other in the cutest possible ways!

Now it’s been revealed Cristobal has a family who needs his care and attention. If he doesn’t play his situation very carefully, then the somewhat inept NoHo Hank will be murdered by Cristobal’s family; what will happen next? Though Barry had a breakthrough in the last episode, when he scored a part for both the acting coach he wronged and for himself, it’s clear that he is not in a good spot mentally. Barry is taking hit jobs on a kind of assassin’s Craigslist and is starting to see gore and horror in places where it isn’t.

While his triumph may offer him some reprieve, in true Barry fashion, its main protagonist can’t stay out of the hitman lifestyle for long, and it seems like there is no path forward other than for NoHo Hank to take his old pal up on his request while simultaneously keeping Cousineau under a kind of arrest. Now aligning with NoHo Hank against the Bolivians will probably be the worst possible thing for his state of mind and future. However, it might be just the distraction Cousineau needs to think and free himself from his current blackmail and entrapment.

While this would be the best thing that could happen, it would again dismantle Barry’s life and efforts even more and maybe even lead to the wrong kind of “big break.” Moreover, it might become an issue for our favorite couple. Cristobal may not want to return to his family, but that doesn’t mean he wants Barry to deal with them!

How Will Things End for Hank & Barry?

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Barry doesn’t have a penchant for happy endings, so, unfortunately, the prognosis isn’t very good for NoHo Hank and Cristobal. We can hope that maybe, just this once, the most messed-up show on television will give us a surprise pleasantry by writing two of our favorite characters off into the sunset together. But for now, we will just have to cross our fingers and keep tuning in.