Lucky Hank (1×08) The Chopping Block Review

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

As the fate of the Railton College English department laid in the balance, the time for stalling was over on this latest episode of Lucky Hank. Instead of playing defense, Hank opted to play offense in exposing Dickie Pope’s corruption. Either way, he had to pick 3 professors from his department to fire or Dickie would do it for him. However, putting that list together proved to be a futile task for Hank who could not pick anybody to fire. He also had plenty of drama at home. With Lily leaving for New York City, Hank was left to deal with Julie and Russell as the latter found himself camped out outside waiting for an opportunity to talk to her. That opportunity seemed increasingly unlikely as her disinterest grew as the temperature got colder. In spite of thar, Russell wasn’t about to give up and was so cute while doing it. Julie and Russell still had issues to deal with at the root of their current spat as did Hank and Meg as it all started after he lied to her.

The key to bringing Pope down to the bottom of where he got the extra money to fund his center may very well be Jeffrey Epstein (Chris Gethard) (not THAT one). It was clear that Pope cared more about his money than he ever did about public education. He had his sights set higher as his budget restructuring or cost appropriation was merely a means to an end, an audition for a job as President of MIT. In the end, he wasn’t going to get away with it as his eventual exposure led to his ousting from the Railton College board.

Ultimately, Hank did not want to become his father who only cared about invitations to conferences and not his family. Unlike his father, he had a breakthrough moment when he came to the realization that he had everything he ever wanted and was not going to take it for granted so he tended his own resignation letter for the college and drove up to New York City to be with Lily. She had quite the day herself, running into a celebrity for whom shared a connection to her and Hank. Julie and Russell’s current marital situation had him thinking about his own marriage to Lily. Hank did not want to be separated from her anymore.

However, Lily appeared to not be as thrilled about reuniting with Hank. The look from Mireille Enos as Lily in the last shot of the episode said it all.

In other news:

The sad hot tub party at Tony’s house was a highlight. The Railton College English department banter was also on point. In a tact on subplot, Dean Rose was serious about leaving the college and pursuing a romantic relationship with Gracie and perhaps the turmoil at the top of the Railton College administration was his chance, just after some careful spell checking of his resignation letter first. Bob Odenkirk’s line deliveries were strong both when he was reflecting or when trading jabs with Pope or the English department or connecting with Julie. The writing and direction were stellar here in an otherwise strongly directed and written season of television. Whether or not this series will be renewed for another season remains to be seen but Lucky Hank is worth the shot, even for the bingeing crowd.

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.