Mitch

Mitch
Biographical Information
Nationality	American
Occupation	Owner of Beignets by Mitch
Behind the scenes
First appearance	"710N"
Last appearance	"710N"
Portrayed by	Tom Allen

Mitch is a character in the television series Barry. He is the owner of the Beignets by Mitch shop, where he sells beignets. The shop is very popular and often has a long line, in part due to the quality of Mitch's product but also because Mitch is known to be a very good listener and gives helpful advice to each and every one of his customers. This quality contrasts with Mitch's perpetually stoned attitude.

History

Prior to the events of the show, Mitch worked as a baker at a churro shop in Eagle Rock. Despite the good pay, his dream was to make beignets, eventually starting his own business.

He once encouraged a woman to talk with her daughter.

He also used to be a drug dealer, and at one point attended a 10-year reunion of some people he worked with. He was dismayed that all of them had changed in the intervening years, one having joined MAGA and tried to get Mitch in on anti-Critical Race Theory rhetoric, while the other made him watch videos of dads rapping.

In "710N", Sally, NoHo Hank, and Barry each separately go to Beignets by Mitch to talk about the issues in their life: Sally regarding the recent cancellation of her show and her relationship with BanShe, NoHo Hank with Cristobal's kidnapping and the destruction of his business, and Barry with his recent invite to dine with his former Army buddies. In each case, Mitch offers advice: with Sally he suggests she is better off avoiding BanShe after how they treated her, he suggests NoHo Hank shouldn't pine after Cristobal considering all the red flags in their relationship before offering him a business opportunity to go legit rather than continue working with the Chechens and Bolivians, and he suggests Barry tread carefully in meeting friends from an old part of his life. All three characters ultimately choose to ignore his advice, with negative results.

Trivia

• Mitch is played by Tom Allen, an American actor who is often typecast as stoner/"surfer bro" characters. Allen recalled that episode director Bill Hader instructed him to play the role with "as little emotion as possible."
• The scenes featuring Mitch were originally separate scenes of the characters talking to different people about their problems. The writers felt the scenes as written didn't flow, whereas having a singular person to serve as their sounding board not only created more of a through-line but also gave the characters freedom to express themselves more.