The season premiere of the third season of Barry has officially been announced by HBO. The Emmy award-winning dark comedy featuring co-creator Bill Hader, who plays the titular role as well as writing and directing the series, will return this spring with an eight-episode series.

After the conclusion of the second season that ended in May 2019, fans have been anticipating when the third season would arrive. Similar to other shows, the third season began production in March 2020 when it suddenly shut down due to COVID-19. It wasn't until January 2021, when Hader gave fans an update that seasons three and four had been written. Hader and co-creator Alec Berg used the time during the pandemic shutdown to completely rewrite the two upcoming seasons. Another update also revealed that the season began filming in August 2021, giving fans a glimmer of anticipation that season three was coming even sooner. After staying quiet about the upcoming season, HBO suddenly dropped that the third season would premiere this April.

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, "Season three, more than anything, shows the ramifications of Barry's violence," Hader told critics at the Television Critics Association during a virtual event. "Even more bad things happen. Mostly bad." Berg adds, "What's interesting: All of the wreckage of seasons one and two that Barry had to do to keep the plates spinning … all goes back to his decision to become an actor. I really enjoy the fact that everything that happens in the show is a consequence of Barry wanting a better life, and every bit of that better life he's trying to achieve has led to all this chaos."

After a three-year hiatus, what can we expect from season three of Barry?

Where We Left Off

Bill Hader holding a gun with a theater curtain halfway against him in Barry
Warner Bros. Television Distribution

Barry follows its titular protagonist as he attempts to untangle himself from the world of assassination and fully immerse himself in his newfound passion for acting. Still, his attempts to stay away from violence seem to get thwarted at every turn throughout the show.

Related: The Tourist: Cast, Plot, Release Date, and Everything Else We KnowIn season two, we last see Barry (Hader) wanting to move on from his past life as a hitman and pursue a serious career as an actor. He continues to work alongside his acting teacher, Gene (Henry Winkler), while also helping another student and his girlfriend, Sally (Sarah Goldberg), get into serious acting roles. We also see how difficult it is for Barry to continue this career change when he still has some loose ends to fill from his old boss Fuches (Stephen Root).

Plot: What To Expect This Season

barry season 3 photos
HBO

Along with releasing the date for the upcoming season, HBO also released first-look photos that gave fans some sort of hint of what is to come. There's a lot we can expect from this upcoming season, knowing what we know from the previous one. Barry still wants to get revenge on Fuches, so we anticipate that he will do whatever he can to find him. He also had a major audition that he purposefully messed up on but intrigued the director. We can expect that he will get a call back about a role, but the question is which one?

In the season two finale, Barry's old boss Fuches takes Gene to the forest where they find his missing girlfriend's car with her dead body inside. With the intent to kill Gene, Fuches whispers something to Gene that isn't revealed until the last moment in that episode which was "Barry Berkman did this."

Related: True Blood Reboot Is Still Getting Fleshed Out Says HBO BossWith that bombshell, the biggest mystery that we expect this third season to cover is seeing what Gene will do now that he got this new information. Based on the first-look photos, we know Barry and Gene get together for a conversation. Barry continues to be worried about his acting teacher. Will Gene try to get revenge on Barry for killing the love of his life? That question seems predictable, but viewers want to know what kind of revenge Gene is capable of. Does he go to the authorities with this new information, or will he just ask Barry upfront?

We can also expect to see Sally have her major break in her acting career. In the season two finale, viewers got to see her perform her piece in front of her agent and manager, which became her breakthrough after rave reviews for audiences. Also, in the first-look photos, we see Sally on a production set which means she was able to get a serious acting role that she craved throughout seasons one and two. Aside from her career, viewers will want to see where she is with her personal life, especially her relationship with Barry. Does it still exist? Or will they just keep it professional?

Expected Premiere Date

The six-time Emmy-winning series will premiere season three Sunday, April 24th, on HBO and HBO Max.