Bill Hader's Barry to end with season 4

The curtain is falling on Barry.

HBO has announced that the Emmy-winning dark comedy will end this year, closing out the story of Bill Hader's hitman-turned actor. The fourth and final season will premiere April 16 on HBO and run for eight episodes, concluding on May 28.

"It's been an amazing journey making this show," Hader said in a statement, "and it's bittersweet that the story has come to its natural conclusion."

HBO also released a teaser for the final season, which finds Barry Berkman (Hader) in prison after his arrest in the season 3 finale. The show premiered in 2018, following the depressed Barry as he relocates to Los Angeles and discovers an unexpected love for acting. Throughout the last three seasons, he's tried to abandon his mercenary past and pursue stardom, only to find himself haunted by past actions and past collaborators (including his former handler, played by Stephen Root, and a gleeful Chechen mobster named NoHo Hank, played by Anthony Carrigan).

Season 3 ended with Barry's arrest, after his former acting teacher Gene Cousineau (Emmy winner Henry Winkler) exposed him to the police. Sarah Goldberg also stars Barry's actor ex-girlfriend Sally Reed.

In an interview with Variety, Hader opened up about the decision to end the series, which he co-created with Silicon Valley's Alec Berg. The actor directs all eight episodes of season 4, and he says that while he and the writers' room were mapping out the fourth season, they began to realize that a "very clear ending presented itself."

"I mean, a lot of people after last season were like, 'Why are you doing another season? It should have just ended,'" Hader told Variety. "But to me, there are still so many questions with the other characters, and with Barry — and there's so many things unsaid. What happens in season 4 is structurally radical in some ways, but it made sense for what I think the characters needed to go through, and what I think the whole show is always kind of headed towards."

Merrick Morton/HBO Bill Hader in 'Barry' season 4

Since its premiere in 2018, Barry has earned 44 Emmy nominations, including nominations for Root, Carrigan, and Goldberg and wins for Hader and Winkler.

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