Lucky Hank (1×05) The Clock Review

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

In the best episode of the series so far, a dinner party for the Railton College English department at the Devereaux household brings several degrees of dysfunction as the tension between Hank and Lily is at an all-time high. Creating a perfect storm as far as Hank was concerned, a breakdown was inevitable as Bob Odenkirk and Mireille Enos have their first “Emmy” moments respectively. Meanwhile, another flashback to his past gives even further context to his state of mind, explaining his behavior through you guessed it, a clock that played a vital part in Hank’s past. Not just an opportunity to play characters off of each other mostly for laughs, some of those interactions were also meant to flesh out others in compelling ways. Because at the end of the day, the characters were always more than their dysfunction and eccentricities and were actually people and The Clock helped prove that. Finding the right balance between comedy and drama, the writing and direction were on point.

Just like a dinner party, the episode was divided into chapters named after courses but the drama began before the party even started as despite Tom’s claim in the last episode, Lily got the job. However, she was still debating whether or not to accept the offer as she had plenty of other circumstances to deal with despite Hank being adamant about not moving, perhaps none bigger than Tom kissing her. For him, the dinner party was a means to get help to move the clock from his childhood into his home from the storage container that was still in his driveway. He found refuge in that clock as a child whenever his parents argued. It was there for him whenever he felt alone. That being said, finding that help was easier said than done.

As the guests arrived, the news of Lily’s job offer from a prestigious school did not stay secret very long and it became what everyone would talk about for the most part. On one hand, Paul saw it as an opportunity to get his hands on the Devereaux house that he lost out on some 18 years prior. Tony saw it as a means to flirt with June (Alvina August) while deciphering her open marriage with Teddy (Arthur Keng). Though as the stew simmered, so did Hank and Lily as the former invertedly caught up with what was really going on with the latter’s job offer. As Hank was left spiraling, all he could hear was the ticking of the clock, now using it as a means to disassociate from the situation as an adult.

Eventually, Hank stopped hiding from the news once everyone were seated at the table. Things got awkward as he and Lily confronted each other from across the table. His problem with Lily taking a new job and leaving him and his connection to the city of Railton stemmed from his father abandoning him and his mother as a child. As their argument got heated, Hank broke down as the ticking came back more subtly as they argued.

After telling her the whole truth about the night his father left him and he trying to hang himself, Hank and Lily embraced.

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.