In this profile, we're going to talk about two television shows that are quite similar, "Killing Eve" and "Barry". Both ran four seasons. Both won Emmys. Both were critically acclaimed (hold that thought). And, oh, yeah, both were about contract killers.
There is one major difference (for us, at least). "Killing Eve" started out great, a fantastic romp fueled by imagination. Its last two seasons descended into oblivion, turning a once-astonishing show into a tedious, mundane manifestation that kept trying to one-up itself and kept failing. (Even critics started to hate it.) "Barry", on the other hand, struggled through its first season (we know critics loved it, but we were indifferent), before finding its footing and blossoming into a magnificent macabre farce that we couldn't wait to binge.
What else connects the two? Well, to be honest, we found two Jewish actors in our queue: Kim Bodnia, a Danish Jew who played a very goyishe Russian spy on "Eve" and Sarah Goldberg, a Canadian Jew who played a very goyishe American actress on "Barry". So it was a rare chance to write two profiles by doing half the work!