Religion is a big part of life for Clark, aka New Barry. This new “heaven” he has achieved with Sally and her child, as Bill Hader described it to TVLine, must be preserved at all costs. “He really can’t find redemption with anyone else, so he turned to God for redemption…but then again, I don’t think he really understands religion,” the series creator noted.
Barry manipulates religion and his new morality to justify taking extreme measures to protect his family. Protecting himself from possible intruders with a weapon seems to be a normal part of family life for him. When he hears a faint noise in the distance, he asks Sally to get in the tub as if she were telling him to have some milk on the way home. He also protects his son from associating with other children. Worst of all, he seems to feel justified in conspiring to kill Gene Cousineau in order to preserve his “safe place.”
He’s always been a bit crazy, but now Barry has successfully shaped a little corner of the world after his own vision. He may not be able to redeem himself in the eyes of the world, but he can become a hero in the eyes of his son. “He’s trying to paint the version of himself that he wants to be for his son,” Hader explained. “The way his son sees him is how he always wanted everyone to see him.”
The blinding light of their desert home is suffocating in itself, but the darkness is invading their lives too, always has been. NoHo Hank or one of Barry’s other enemies could very well be after him, but the call of evil is coming from inside the house.
