Table of contents:
Beware, the article reveals key details about the series finale.
Sarah Goldberg recently appeared as Sally Reed Barry, who has had a long journey throughout the show’s run. Sally is an aspiring actress from Joplin, Missouri, and one of the first people Barry Berkman (Bill Hader) meets in Los Angeles, and soon becomes his love interest. After the final broadcast, Goldberg discussed Sally’s end with The Hollywood Reporter.
“I read that ending to Sally, and I said, ‘Oh, so no fireworks. It’s not like she kills someone or kills herself or gets hit by a car and kills her son, she’s just doing a high school production. Our city, which is a type of content. It wasn’t until we shot it that I realized, “Oh, that’s beautiful.” Finally, she has some peace. She’s the only kind that gets a semblance of a happy ending or something close to a happy ending.”
When we first met Sally in Jane Cousino’s (Henry Winkler) acting class, she was very famously hungry. As Goldberg told The Hollywood Reporter, she wants to be a star with the Oscars and all the other accolades that come with it. And then, at the end of the show, a bout of flowers in the supermarket, the applause of her student, and the praise of her son John (Jayden Martell) suffices her.
“I’ve always thought Sally has this duality of someone who’s actually an artist and really has something to say but someone who has a fading kind of narcissism and ruthless ambition. They’re at war with each other. We don’t erase old Sally. There’s still this rhythm when Her son says, “I love you.” And instead of saying, “I love you, too,” she asks for validation and wants to know if the show is any good. Old Sally is still there—not fully developed. But I’d love peace with that ending.”
Barry offers a lot of twists and turns before Sally gets her happy ending.
Before Sally can reach this happy ending, she has to deal with the kidnapping of her son by Chechen criminals. NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan), a man who switches between being Barry’s friend and being his enemy, captures them to use them as bait to lure Barry out. The final two episodes are the only point in the series where Goldberg and Carrigan work on screen together.
“I was so excited. We’d become such good friends over the years, we never really got to work together. I think there was a pitch in Season 2 where Hank and Sally were supposed to go to the same Pilates class, and then they were always talking or complaining aboutfor me Barry [not knowing] It’s the same as Barry, but I think he ended up at a dead end.”
In the end, it doesn’t happen that Sally and Hank share a Pilates class, much to Goldberg’s dismay. She was excited to work with Carrigan. So, in the end, after they shot their first take, she looked the other actor in the eye and said, “Oh my God, I wish we had more of this.” However, Goldberg found an upside to the situation.
“But that’s the beauty of the show: Because the storylines are so isolated, I can be a fan too. I can watch the other storylines and go, ‘Oh my God, you guys were filming what?! I hope this is satisfying for the crowd. For us it was. It was a moment when worlds collided. Just to be able to hang out in molded chairs, drink tea together, and eat cake. It was a great way to end it. I wish we had more, but it was something.”
all episodes Barry Now available on Max.
