tricky legacies

Series co-creator and lead actor Bill Hader wrote and directed the episode.

In April 2023, the episode's title was revealed as "tricky legacies" and it was announced that series creator and lead actor Bill Hader had written and directed it. This was Hader's eleventh writing credit, and his fifteenth directing credit.[1]

The decision to make a time jump was conceived in the early stages of the season, when the writers discussed it in summer 2020. The writers wanted to explore Barry's dream of having a family with Sally, preferring to skip the time spent on the run as they deemed it "uninteresting."[2] The writers settled on a 8-year time jump, which would line up with the age of John, as well as introducing the aspect of the biopic, which would serve as a catalyst for the characters.[2] Originally, the episode would revolve around all main characters of the series, but Bill Hader thought it would be interesting if they focused solely on Barry and Sally, as "it'd be nice to just live in the jump for a second."[2]

By giving a son to Barry, Hader wanted Barry to have "a chance to be the person he always wanted to be in the eyes of his son, which is a hero and a guy who does the right thing and a guy who's not violent."[2] He also gave Barry the running gag of finding any flaw in Abraham Lincoln, saying "In his mind, he's like, 'I'm like Abraham Lincoln. I'm a good person, but I also did some terrible things. I have a tricky legacy, but these people are all remembered for being great people.' So that's what he's wanting, and he is very concerned about how his son sees him and how his son will remember him."[3] Barry's constant use of religion was used as "He can't really find redemption with anybody else, so he's turned to God for redemption... but again, I don't think he really understands religion."[4]

Sally's personality was defined by Hader as "she's living Barry's dream. I don't think she wanted a kid. This is not for her. It's kind of like her own prison." He also explained that Sally killing a person and then trying to get into acting coaching, "that this is where I deserve to go is with a bad guy."[2] Sarah Goldberg was excited about the prospect of the episode, explaining she asked Hader "Can we please go like full Gena Rowlands' Woman Under the Influence opening night? Can we go all the way down to the darkness?" She said, "They're terrible parents. But she's living his dream. It's a nightmare for her, but I think there's a part of her that feels like, maybe this is what I deserve."[5] She considered that Sally's decision to stay with him is also out of fear, as she has nowhere to go and her only option would be to stay with Barry.[6] She further added, "I don't think there's a happily ever after for these two. I don't think it's ever been a love story between Barry and Sally. At worst, I'd say it's been convenience, and at best it's been survival — but never a love story."[7]

The scene where Barry goes outside when someone knocks on the door was not completely taken literally by Hader, who explained, "It was kind of the idea that the darkness plays a lot into the show of people coming in and out of darkness." He further added, "That thing, whatever that is, is just gonna knock on the door at some point and I think Barry just goes and stares it down. That was the feeling behind it at least, but people can have their own interpretations of it."[2]

The episode was filmed in Lancaster, California. According to Hader, there is no specific location as to where the events of the episode take place, only referring to it as "somewhere in that part of the country out in the middle of nowhere."[2]

The episode was watched by 0.279 million viewers, earning a 0.07 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale. This means that 0.07 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode.[8] This was a slight decrease from the previous episode, which was watched by 0.303 million viewers with a 0.08 in the 18-49 demographics.[9]

"tricky legacies" received critical acclaim. Matt Schimkowitz of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A–" and wrote, "After last week’s clearing of the board, 'tricky legacies' doubles down on darkness, depression, and duplicity. The doubling of characters and resetting identities through a filter of filth and decay evokes Twin Peaks' final episode, when Dale Cooper awakes in Odessa, Texas, in a seemingly different reality. Barry and Sally have changed superficially, but ultimately the past remains a part of them, a trauma they cannot escape, no matter how much they try to outrun it."[10]

Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone wrote, "All of this is interesting to some degree, but 'Tricky Legacies' does too good a job of making us appreciate the misery and boredom of the life these two fugitives have built for themselves. In addition to the time-jump, this fits into another prestige TV trend: the departure episode, which either focuses on relatively minor characters, or else deviates wildly from the usual format. Often, these are among my favorite episodes in a given season of those shows. This one, though, was a tough sit: making its glum points again and again, until I was incredibly relieved to see the action cut back to Los Angeles for a glimpse of a bearded Gene Cousineau returning to town to get involved with a planned Barry Berkman biopic."[11] Ben Rosenstock of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Except for one scene near the end, 'Tricky Legacies' takes place entirely outside of Los Angeles, immersing us in a world that looks and sounds different from what we're used to on Barry. Most of the episode is spent catching us up on Barry and Sally's new life, denying us much of the resolution we might've hoped for. What's going on with Hank? Is Fuches still in prison? Is Leo okay? Those questions will have to wait."[12]

Steve Greene of IndieWire gave the episode an "A–" and wrote, "Barry gets so much out of hard cuts. Hopping between characters and slicing off conversations is part of what gives the show its comic edge. 'Tricky Legacies' swaps out those harsh transitions for gentler dissolves. In a way, it's another blurring of past and present, of phasing things out rather than lopping them off definitively."[13] Josh Spiegel of /Film wrote, "It is, if nothing else, quickly becoming like some truly great films that are also the opposite of rewatchable. 'tricky legacies' is a fine episode of television, but it seems likely that we're only going to get grimmer before the series wraps up... whee?"[14]

TVLine named Sarah Goldberg as the "Performer of the Week" for the week of May 13, 2023, for her performance in the episode. The site wrote, "Goldberg has been wowing us for four seasons now with her work as ruthlessly ambitious actress Sally on HBO's pitch-black hitman comedy. But this week, she topped herself by essentially crafting a performance within a performance as Sally took on a new identity and completely transformed herself into a frustrated mother drinking herself into oblivion."[15]