Lucky Hank (1×04) The Goose Boxer Review

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

When it comes to this week’s episode, it certainly lived up to its title which only makes sense considering the key art. But above all else, it was a Hank and Lily and a Bob Odenkirk and Mireille Enos episode as the two went off on their own journeys that are each sure to create some drama down the road. As Hank stumbled his way through yet another ordeal back at the college, Lily reconnected with her past back in her old stomping grounds of New York City as she looked to interview for the job she had her eye on.

Before they went their separate ways, Lily left Hank with an unsettling feeling as to what may happen to him while she was away, thinking that he’d probably end up in jail or in the hospital. Offering some not-so-subtle foreshadowing, it was clear something was going to happen. Meanwhile, Railton College President Dickie Pope (Kyle MacLachlan) called Hank to his office for his inability to present a list of members of his faculty to be cut as a result of budget cuts. Though they made him miserable, they were a family. Pope had a different philosophy when it came to running the college but little did he know, the real reason for those cuts soon presented itself in the form of a new complex with an unfortunate name (the episode does handle that joke in good taste). Hank found himself on edge as his overconfidence about where he thought this situation would all go was shot. The English department, on the other hand, had a plan to lodge a protest at the announcement of the new complex for which he tuned out their dysfunction.

The announcement was a spectacle for the wrong reasons as it and the English department’s protest were undercut by a spiraling Hank who confronted the administration with the truth and threatened to box a goose for good measure. His unique outburst granted him the favor of his department for whom he and Tony later joined at their local bar. Those little moments of camaraderie as they were unified by their shared experience was definitely the highlight of the episode.

The school Lily was interviewing at was a far cry from her current school. There, she ran into an old friend named Tom (Chris Diamantopoulos) but in reality, her plan was solely to use the interview as leverage against her current school. Nevertheless, the two were still glad they could catch up. With another friend named Ashley (Jennifer Spence), the gang was back together. Ultimately, that job was never a possibility to begin with. Finally, that reunion was cut short by an impromptu kiss by Tom. However, Lily was thinking about it all the while, lending credence to Hank’s belief that she had grown bored of him.

That apparent distance between Hank and Lily could be felt in their constant missing of each other’s phone calls to one another. While Lily’s night ended relatively uneventfully, Hank got punched in the face by the college groundskeeper who had a particular fondness for geese therefore did not appreciate Hank’s last public outburst and Meg learned the truth about him taking her classes away at the college. And just as she predicted, after grabbing the groundskeeper, Hank, and Tony, ended up in jail.

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.