At the end of Episode 5 of “Lucky Hank,” we saw Hank and Lily have a bitter argument about the latter shifting to New York for her new job and the former being against it. A lot remains undiscussed between them as they go to bed after doing the dishes. Moreover, he has told his father that he isn’t welcome in Railton.
Spoilers Ahead
Change Of Mind
As Hank sees his father arrive at his mom’s apartment, he wonders what he will ask him when he sees him. Why did he abandon him? Why wasn’t he there at his wedding? Why didn’t he come to see his grandson even once? And maybe after he sends his answers on a postcard or email, they can avoid each other again. Being father and son is clearly out of the question.
A couple of days later, as Hank and Lily are talking about his father, his mother arrives, asking him to speak to his father, who is hurt after Hank tells him not to come to Railton. His father has decided to leave after the coming weekend and go to his second wife, Gruen. And it is up to Hank to stop him because it is important for his mom. This means that he might just have to skip his Conference this weekend. Will he? After much consideration, he decided against it. This comes after he hallucinates seeing his father. It seems that as much as he hates him, he misses him and is just angry with him for not being there.
A New Weekend
The weekend arrives, and so does the Conference. Hank and Tony arrive at the hotel, and they find that Gracie is also there and is getting quite the attention for her poem published in The Atlantic. As Hank and Tony are speaking to an old acquaintance, Hank’s eyes fall on a beautiful lady. He excuses himself, follows her to the drinks section, and can’t help but be attracted to her. Tony arrives a minute later and, realizing what Hank is doing, looks the lady up in the schedule pamphlet. Her name is Anna Howard. He warns Hank against hitting on her, as he will only ruin it. Hank knows that Tony is speaking the truth. He returns to his room and can’t help but wonder about all the losers that have been in that room before him. Perhaps he thinks himself a loser, too, someone who cannot even approach a beautiful lady. But that’s because he already has one.
Lily returns from her jog and finds Julie putting her luggage in her car. She has come over for a few days and has decided to move with her mom to New York and away from her husband, Russell. They had their first fight, and she thinks that he is cheating on her. Lily is slightly, if not a bit more, perplexed. Just because they fought doesn’t mean he’s cheating on her. Right?
Hank isn’t really having a great time at his stay and is trying to find peace somewhere among his masseuse’s non-stop conversations on her phone, a Jacuzzi with floating Oreos, a sauna where he hallucinates his father in a towel, and the constant loud music from the party down in the hall. As he lies down in his bed waiting for the sun to rise the next morning, a mark on the ceiling reminds him of the chandelier that fell due to his weight’s pull when he tried to hang himself (Episode 5). He calls up Tony. A distraction is called for.
The Party And After-Party
Hank and Tony head downstairs to the party. While Tony sets out on his mission to find the female voices who are singing, Hank decides to let go of his professionalism and lies to some professors about a virus that is being spread by the hotel’s Wi-Fi and is affecting systems. It could potentially erase their important files and documents. The professors freak out as their presentations face the threat of extinction. Hank walks away, smiling. Lily and Julie are having snacks and watching TV. Julie finds that there’s nothing better than this, and they will get to do it every night after they move to New York. Lily is lost in thoughts and seems to not have made up her mind about relocating yet.
To Care Or Not To Care
The next day, Hank meets Anna Howard at the hotel cafe. He isn’t attracted to her. He knows her because his father, Henry Devereaux, was her thesis advisor and is also in a relationship with her. He asks her if Henry mentioned him to her and whether he expressed love for him or even for her. Anna tells him to speak to his father, who, according to her, is a good man. But is he really? Surely, a good man wouldn’t abandon his son and make his return decades later and expect that his son would graciously hug him, would he? Hank leaves the café and, after spending a minute or two listening to Grace’s debate that he finds utterly irrelevant, arrives at the game room, where he spends quite some time playing with a kid, letting out his inner restlessness.
He has completely forgotten about Tony’s presentation and only realizes it after getting a text from him and then finding him at the bar. The presentation was a disaster, and he couldn’t even use his notes as a virus had apparently spread through the system. How weirdly ironic is that? If Hank hadn’t pulled the joke on the professors the previous night, maybe Tony’s session wouldn’t have been a disaster. But rather than reassuring him, Hank tells him to his face how his work for the last 3 years has been getting laid and playing racquetball, not preparing for the presentation. The Conference is irrelevant, as they have only come there to make fun of the other professors. Tony tells him that they didn’t make fun of the others because they cared about their work. But Hank did even “a little” bit, although we know that’s all he was there for. That’s when Tony breaks it to him that he has detached himself from everything, and all it has brought him is depression. Hank defends himself by saying that he has a wife and a kid to care for, but Tony tells him exactly what we wanted to tell him, i.e., it doesn’t seem like he cares for them from the way he behaved at the dinner party (Episode 5).
Lily decides to take Julie to meet Russell so that they can have a proper conversation and talk it out. They arrive at the place where Russell works. Before they can even address the issue, Julie reveals that she knows her mother kissed someone in New York (Episode 5). The topic changes from Julie and Russell to Lily and Hank. Russell goes on to say that he supports Julie more than Hank supports Lily. That’s when Lily snaps and asks him why he is cheating on Julie because that’s what she told her earlier. Russell freaks out, and so does Lily, as she didn’t expect her mother to say it in front of him. The whole conversation becomes chaotic, and Lily finally leaves without Julie. It is clear that Julie didn’t want to hear about the issues between her and Hank and so dropped the secret bomb to perhaps get rid of the topic and even give herself some sadistic pleasure (for the lack of a less harsh phrase). She looked angry too, which makes sense.
The weekend is over, and so is the Conference. Hank is waiting for Tony in the lobby when he meets Grace and apologizes to her for the low audience turnout she got at her session. This is just him taking a dig at Grace. But Grace is happy, as she had a great time, and leaves with a middle finger at Hank rather than a wave. Moreover, Hank had only come to the Conference to accompany Tony. He didn’t have a single session. Maybe he went there only to avoid meeting his father during the weekend.
‘Lucky Hank’ Episode 6: Ending Explained – What Did Hank Find Out About His Father?
Hank returns home. Julie has gone back. While having dinner, Lily tells Hank about Julie and Russel. But Hank’s head is occupied by something else. He tells Lily that he is ready to listen to her. She has barely begun talking about New York when he tells her that he has decided to speak to his father. She doesn’t think that it’s a good idea, but he leaves anyway. He arrives at his mother’s place and sits in front of his father, Henry. For some reason, Henry doesn’t realize that he is Hank’s father, and that Hank is his “strong-willed” son. Not willing to accept what he thinks is wrong with his father, Hank keeps on asking him random questions like, did he come by car or train? What day is it? And Who is the current president? Henry ignores them all by changing the topic every time. That’s when the truth dawns on Hank. His father has Alzheimer’s.
It is painful to see Hank this way. All his life, he waited to ask his father why he left him, and when he does get the chance, he finds out that his father doesn’t remember him. Will this be the last time he speaks to his father? Or will he use this as his chance to have a fresh start with him? Will it affect his decision to join Lily in New York? Only “Lucky Hank” Episode 7 can tell.
