Lucky Hank (1×02) George Saunders Review

For our spoiler-free review of the last episode of Lucky Hank, click here.

As much of Railton College has moved on from Hank’s antics, the episode attempts to find some wiggle room moving forward as a figure from Hank’s past comes back to stir up some inner conflicts. Going more the introspective route, the series continues to find a sweet spot when it comes to its tonal balance. Odenkirk is certainly up for the challenge once again as many viewers are sure to relate to his feelings of jealousy, resentment, and self-doubt as he begins to question whether he is enough below the surface of his gruff exterior. As much as the episodes are hilarious at times, these character moments have been the most satisfying. Meanwhile, this episode gets the rest of the cast more involved as subplots helped to break things up and/or work in conjunction with Hank’s story and move that one forward. That being said, it still needs to find the right balance and figure out what it wants to be. Though it’s only been two episodes, the writing and direction go a long way in steering it on the right track.

Trying to get back to writing his second book, Hank was faced with writer’s block. Thinking about his writer friend George Saunders (Brian Huskey), he remembered the good times but Saunders had since gone on to a more successful and more illustrious career as a writer. Holding plenty of resentment, little did Hank know, he was set to speak at the college with him asked to moderate. However, Hank was against it as the feeling of having to deal with Saunders, on top of everything else, only added to his stress level. Nevertheless, he begrudgingly accepted him with open arms. As they caught up, the English department threw themselves at Saunders except for Emma (Shannon DeVido). Sitting in Hanks’s class, he was more supportive until Hanks’s resentment took over after being called out. In the end, it was all about their relationship with Hank’s father who got them each of their starts but Hank’s self-doubt put those intentions into question.

The night of the talk had Hank all riled up so he took a walk where a talk from his friend Tony Conigula (Diedrich Bader) convinced him to do what he probably should have done in the first place, just talk to Saunders about his feelings. Saunders told him the truth and it was the shot of confidence he needed. The clearing of that air made for an insightful talk that the episode unfortunately brushed over with a musical montage.

The end of the episode saw Hank walking back to his car with Lily after the talk wondering what could have been. Odenkirk may have the comedic timing but his mastery of those smaller introspective moments is just as impressive and a testament of his range which everybody already knows. However, Enos knows how to reign in that energy.

In other news:

Hank and Lily got news that their daughter Julie (Olivia Scott Welch) and her boyfriend Russell (Daniel Doheny) had news so their minds immediately went to a baby which proved to not be the case and was something even worse in their eyes. Bartow’s pretentiousness went to an even higher level as he had a plan to stand up to the faculty that even got him attention of a fellow student named Ava (Lilah Fitzgerald). A war erupted between Gracie and Paul (Cedric Yarbrough) over a particularly loud sports car for which he was proud of. However, Gracie was adamant that she had to be above it but despite that, she still had her flawed moments.

still courtesy of AMC Networks

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.