The scene that opens "forgiving jeff" may very well be the show's thesis statement. Barry prepares to execute a man named Jeff for having an affair with another man's wife (a call back to the pilot, where he was contracted to kill a fellow actor who was sleeping with a mob boss' wife), only for the latter to call it off and forgive him. Barry's response? Execute the both of them and storm off, shouting that there is no forgiving Jeff. If the past two seasons were about Barry trying to become a better person and leave his hitman past behind, this season opens with Barry completely given into his murderous urges, scouring the Web for contracts while lying to Sally that he is lining up acting gigs. Bill Hader is fantastic in this episode, conveying the appearance of a man who's completely given up and has numbly resigned himself to the darkness that is his life.
Meanwhile, Hank is dealing with the aftermath of Barry's assault on the monastery. In a hilarious scene, Hank goes into an interrogation and pins the blame on Fuches, who he dubs as a mysterious assassin called "The Raven". His and Barry's storylines for this episode intersect when Barry shows up late at night to his house and asks for a job, only for Hank to furiously rebuff him and inform that "forgiveness must be earned".
The true star of the episode however is Gene and his reaction to the news that Barry killed his lover Janice. Barry has always excelled at plotting and the way the premiere upends the status quo and the Barry-Gene relationship is no exception. After his attempts to go to the police fail, Gene invites Barry over to his office and confronts him with a gun. In true comic fashion, the gun falls apart before Gene even points it at Barry and the latter takes him out into the desert to kill him. Gene begs for his life, promising to not tell anyone and that he forgives Barry. Still hearing Hank's words that forgiveness must be earned, Barry is suddenly jolted by the idea that he can earn Gene's forgiveness, before telling Gene to get back in the truck. Where the show goes next I have absolutely no idea, but color me excited to find out.
Notes:
* Sally's plot is separate from the other storylines in the episode, but no less compelling. Following her showcase last season where she spun the story of her abusive ex into a much more shallow, Hollywood-type story, Sally is now the creator and star of a semi-autobiographical television show called Joplin. Judging from the few snippets we see, it's a by-the-numbers melodrama about a mother trying to save her daughter from an abusive relationship.
* The one scene we get of Fuches shows that he is in the Chechen mountains following his escape at the end of Season 2. He's not living his best life, having to get milk for his cereal from a goat and complaining about the lack of cable, but at least he has Anna to keep him company.
* Speaking of people living their best lives, Hank and Cristobal are finally(!) an item after Season 2 endlessly teased their romance. While I'm glad they were able to patch things up following Hank's rogue assassination attempt, there is some trouble in paradise with Cristobal still upset over the fact that Barry killed all his friends. The look on Anthony Carrigan's face as Cristobal says he has no one is both hilarious and heartbreaking.
* Another hilarious scene; Barry on the phone with a potential contract who wants Barry to kill her husband while trying to buy flowers for Sally.
* D'Arcy Carden's Natalie was mainly a joke character in the first two seasons, so it's great that she semes to have a bigger role this season shadowing Sally at her television gig. The change in her facial expressions as Sally condescendingly tells her to make her a snack is exceptional.
* Gene has managed to fully reconcile with his son, enough that he's living in his house for what seems to be a permanent fixture and has a relationship with his grandson. He's also closed his acting school, presumably because he wouldn't be able to face Barry at that point.
* Some truly wonderful shots in this episode, my favorite being the tracking shot of Sally walking through the set giving orders to the crew.
*Nice visual motif of Barry imagining Sally and Gene getting shot with sniper bullets while talking to him. A reminder of his Afghanistan experience and detiorating mental state
* That two-minute "Previously On" was probably done by HBO on account of the show being on hiatus for three years. At least it caught my dad up to speed.
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