‘Barry’ Writer Explains the Show’s ‘Stoner Oracle’ – The Hollywood Reporter

In “710N”, the sixth episode of BarryIn its third season, a hugely popular beignet shop opens in Los Angeles and becomes a destination for three of the show’s aimless characters. In this scene, Sarah Goldbergs Sally tells the owner of Beignets by Mitch about her career frustrations after her TV show falls apart. Emmy-nominated writer Duffy Boudreau breaks down the first scene of the episode’s running joke about the hipster “stoner oracle.”

“Mitch is one such oracle dude who runs a super popular hipster venue,” says Boudreau. “People are queuing up to eat these desserts — but, more importantly, to get life advice from him.” While he guides Sally well, she still ignores everything he has to say. “Often the right answer is right in front of us and we know it, but it’s not what we want to hear,” adds Boudreau. “This theme of self-deception is such an important part of the show, and it’s encapsulated perfectly [in the scenes with Mitch] where our characters are real with themselves.”

Actor Tom Allen plays Mitch, the beignet shop stoner owner who has taken LA by storm. “We have been very lucky,” says Boudreau. “I think it’s a really difficult role because it’s so specific.” Mitch is a sounding board for Sally to voice her grievances, and he takes it all in. “The big note Bill gave him that day [we shot the scene] was: ‘Just show no emotion at all”, Boudreau recalls about the directing of co-creator/star Hader. “It was all about the attitude, and it gave him this weird gravitas that was really funny.”

Boudreau says that Sally, played by Sarah Goldberg, is the empathetic heart of the show. “Even if she’s an asshole, she’s right,” he says. “She is clearly the most talented person in [Gene Cousineau’s acting] class. She has been successful in running her own show. She’s had a bit of bad luck, you know, but whatever other personality traits she has that put people off, Sally is the most serious person on the show.

The Los Angeles Set Barry is sometimes a Hollywood satire, but the city’s setting also gives the writers plenty of room to explore the fringes of LA for its humor. “For us, it’s the weird corners of LA,” Boudreau says of where the writers get their inspiration from. Beignets by Mitch was an opportunity to make fun of LA’s food scene and the quirky people that populate the urban sprawl.

Later in the episode, Barry and NoHo Hank make their own visits to Beignets by Mitch – and of course neither of them take Mitch’s advice. “It was nice to have one character meet three of our main characters. That’s just not a normal part of the show,” said Boudreau, noting that Sally and NoHo Hank haven’t interacted about it yet. Barryare three seasons.

This story first appeared in a standalone July issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.