Episode 7 of Lucky Hank ended with Hank and his daughter Julie waiting for the kettle to boil at the latter’s place. Hank is still upset with his father. On top of everything, he has to choose three professors to lay off as a part of the budget cut at Railton. And Julie has just found out that her husband, Russel, has been cheating on her. Also, we know that Lily wants a divorce, as she tells a random guy in a New York restaurant. She doesn’t want to be with Hank anymore. How will all this turn out? Lucky Hank Episode 8 is the season finale of this beautifully complex drama, starring existential crisis more than anything or anyone else.
Spoilers Ahead
Lay Offs
The budget has been cut. Lay-offs have begun. Teachers have lost their jobs. Railton College is undergoing a radical change. Dickie Pope, the owner of Railton, gives a very optimistic speech about it to rather disinterested reporters and no audience. Hank meets Pope in the Lemke Center cafeteria after asking his assistant Dennis where he is, by leveraging the fact that Pope makes him sharpen all of his pencils to the same length. So much for being a professor. He tells Dickie that he has a letter from Jeffrey Epstein that says that Dickie siphoned funds [$10 million] provided for the faculty to build the Jeffrey Q. Epstein Technical Careers Center. Dickie tells him straightaway that it’s not true and also not to associate his name with Epstein’s. He has also prepared a list of the professors in case Hank fails to do so. Hank’s idea fails again, and he has to find another way to pull himself out of the situation of having to choose who he wants to sack even though he doesn’t want to. That night, as he was cooking dinner with Julie, Russell finally knocked on the door with flowers in hand. Lily is back from New York, and she will be shifting there the next day with her luggage. Julie doesn’t want to talk to Russel and ends up ruining a wall by throwing a wine bottle at it, which wedges itself in there. Her anger and the wine spill over at the same time. Hank tends to the wine, while Lily tends to her daughter’s rage. Russel is left outside.
A New Move
Russel camped on Hank’s porch for the night. Julie is helping her father put the stuff in the car. Lily lays a tight slap on Russel’s face. Why? Because he tells her that her daughter doesn’t know what she wants. He might be right. Either way, he deserved the slap. Julie then tells Lily to be calm and reasonable before taking any decision. As for Hank, she knows it is unlikely for him to come to New York and also, deep down, doesn’t want him to come [now that we know that she wants a divorce, which is not really an option for her yet, so she would rather be alone]. She thus tells him to take care of his career. They hug, and she leaves.
Hank arrives at his office and asks his assistant Rachel who she would fire if given a chance. Naturally, she is in no way taking anyone’s name. Hank writes down the names of the seven professors on a piece of paper and keeps staring at it, hoping that four of them will magically disappear and he will be left with three. Well, magic doesn’t exist, at least not at Railton, mediocrity’s capital. So he calls Billy, the senior of the lot, who is freaked out as she didn’t expect Hank to fire her. But when he asks her the same question he asked Rachel, her answer is the same as Rachel’s. She is not doing his work.
Lily arrives in New York and is at a coffee shop with Ashley when she spots famous actress Catherine Keener. She approaches her and, out of excitement, tells her how her husband makes a move on her whenever Catherine’s name is mentioned. It’s somewhat awkward, but both ladies manage to laugh it off until Catherine asks her if her husband is in New York. This is strange. Why would she want to know if a random fan’s husband is in town? Does she know Hank? Also, Hank making a move on Lily whenever she mentions Catherine can be a way for him to prevent Lily from talking about her further. This means that Hank has a past with Catherine. Well, this is interesting. Coming back to their conversation, Catherine leaves with a smile. Lily’s first day in New York was great, and she couldn’t have been happier.
Hank decides to meet Jeffrey Epstein. He and Tony arrive at Jeffrey’s office at his food-tech factory, which is nearby Railton College. They wanted to see if he could help and find out that Dickie cut Jeffrey off from the equation. They tell him how Dickie cut $10 million from the faculty budget, but he finds it unlikely. It is natural for Jeffrey not to know what the truth is, but he offers Hank and Tony beers if they are sacked. He needs friends. He doesn’t have them. Hank asks him to put in a good word for the English department to his board. They will be at Nora’s (the bar where Meg works) in the evening in case he wants to buy them a drink.
Dean Jacob is having a great time in his office with his ladylove, Gracie. But when he asks her to move with him to Florida, she makes it clear that she isn’t going because she likes it at Railton. Jacob doesn’t want to stay because he hates Dickie Pope, who, he believes, doesn’t have any idea about public education.
Reason To Hurt
Julie finally decides to talk to Russel, who is still in his camp on the porch. He tells her how he finds it scary to talk about issues with her. He is speaking the truth because he said the same thing to Hank earlier at the car shop. But Julie finds it weird to discuss issues just because it’s scary. They are married, and the only way to solve issues is not to cheat but to address them. Russel is still a child.
Hank gives Bartow an A on his test. This is something he never expected himself to do, and from the looks of it, neither did Bartow. This is a positive sign, but Hank doesn’t see it that way. For him, it is a life hack to do the worst thing on your worst day because it can’t get any worse. Hank then returns to his department and tells the others that he hasn’t been able to come up with the names. So, to celebrate this, they will be heading to Nora’s. Drinks are on Hank. At Nora’s, he meets Meg. This is the first time he’s seen her since he found Russel at her place. She apologizes that Julie is in pain, but says she isn’t trying to hurt her. Hank asks her who she was trying to hurt. A silence follows. Was Meg really trying to hurt Julie? She wouldn’t. She was trying to help Russel, although we might judge her for the way she did it. She doesn’t think Russel is immature, and 22 is no age to get married. Or was she trying to hurt Hank by sleeping with his daughter’s husband for what he did to her? That’s rough, but Hank might think that it is the case, although we may not. Hank returns to the table, and a few minutes later, Dean Jacob arrives and tells them that he has submitted his resignation. He seems to have finally decided to leave for Miami. Tony arrives then and is followed by Jeffrey Epstein and his girlfriend. Hank introduces them to the English department. Unfortunately, he says that he tried to speak to the board members, but they have already decided whom to lay off. That’s when Jacob announces the names: Emma, Finny, and Billie. Tony reads the room and the gloomy atmosphere and asks them to join him at his house and let it all out. He has a hot tub, too.
Carpe Diem
At Tony’s house, Jeffrey reveals that Dickie Pope’s step seems to be the result of his obsession with the new position that he wants to grab at MIT. Jacob corroborates this piece of information. So Dickie is trying to prove his power to the MIT folks, or is he? Hank tells Jeffrey that he and the other professors can have the “Q” removed from the middle of his name that is visble on the new building, which Dickie added to prevent people from confusing him with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in return for any leverage over Dickie. Jeffrey thinks that even if he had anything on Dickie, Hank could not possibly have the “Q” removed, although he would like it a lot. He hates the “Q.” That’s when Jacob tells him that the “Q” was Dickie’s idea and his alone. No one else cared about it. So Dickie lied to Jeffrey when he said that the decision was taken unanimously. This realization makes Jeffrey really angry.
The next day, Dickie gets a call from the Board of Trustees of Railton College. They show him the news, which states how Dickie Pope laid off 25% of the faculty by lying that it was for the benefit of the institution just so that he could add it to his resume and increase his chances for a position at MIT. It was his assistant, Dennis, who confirmed the allegations. Dickie realizes what’s about to happen and walks out of the room.
Hank returns home that night and apologizes to Julie for being even partly responsible for her present state. She, too, apologizes to him for what he and her mother are going through. She thinks they are separating. Hank doesn’t believe her. Do we believe her? Probably. Hank then calls up Lily and gives her the news that the College Board will begin discussing the whole lay-off thing. Lily tries to remind him of Catherine Keener and the way he makes his move whenever she mentions her. But Hank doesn’t seem to remember it, which is weird because he made a move only a few days ago [he is probably hiding something here]. He then tells her that their daughter thinks they have separated. Lily laughs it off. It is silly for Julie to think that. A short but deafening silence follows before Hank tells Lily that he needs to sleep. The line disconnects, but Lily is far from sleeping, so she decides to play her piano. Thankfully, she doesn’t have to sleep beside him or have him around. She can think however she likes and do whatever she likes now.
Why Does Hank Meet His Father Again?
The next day, Hank decides not to rejoice with his peers, who don’t seem to think that Hank had anything to do with the board’s decision to reinstate all the professors and throw out Dickie, and he visits his parents. He tells them that no one is getting fired and is all smiles about it. His happiness is, as always, short-lived, as he finds out that for all those who thought Henry was gone, all he did was change facts for his essay so that people would invite him to panels, conferences, and discussions. Henry could have been with his wife, his son, and his granddaughter and been happy just like Hank, but instead, he chose to go to conferences. It doesn’t matter anymore because Hank is happy. He is happy with his peers, his wife, and his child. He submits his resignation to Railton College. Jacob puts it in the shredder, but it’s already too late. Hank has left for New York.
Lily is in her apartment when there is a knock on the door. To her surprise and perhaps some shock, it is her husband, Hank, smiling at her. They hug and kiss. Lucky Hank Episode 8 ends with Hank screaming in happiness from inside the washroom while the smile on Lily’s face disappears and is replaced with gloom. We know she didn’t want Hank to come to New York. And what Hank did wasn’t for Lily but for himself so that he could get his mind away from his father’s actions. How long does he plan to stay in New York? Will he take up a job here? On top of these questions, there is Lily’s choice to get a divorce, Julie and Russel, and the curious case of Catherine Keener. All that we do know is that Lily isn’t ready for Hank in New York, and neither is New York.
