Lucky Hank Season 1 Episode 2 Recap

The second episode of Lucky Hank demonstrates its skill as a drama with its shrewd writing and excellent lead performance from Bob Odenkirk.

Because I make my living as a writer, staring at a blank Word document with a blinking cursor has probably taken up more of my time than anything else. Hank begins George Saunders’ opening chapter by struggling to express himself.

Lucky Hank Episode 2 Recap and Ending, Explained

Flashback snippets imply that he is prone to procrastination. He searches for an old YouTube video of himself and another novelist, the titular George Saunders, from their heyday while he is doing nothing.

Then, Hank was cooler, leaner, and more self-assured as he discussed the difference between form and content. George jokes that he had a relationship with Hank’s father when the interviewer inquires about how any of them became published.

Even in the video, you can see the issue. Hank is portrayed as a novelist who writes about nepotism.

Who Is George Saunders?

Actually, George, a Booker Prize-winning author and one of the world’s top 100 most important figures is receiving a $50,000 fee to visit Railton College. Hank is reluctant to share the platform with him, ostensibly for financial reasons, but in reality because he fears he would say something in keeping with his nature but inappropriate for a contemporary college campus.

This episode gets a little longer to include a brief spat between English faculty members, a trivial, spiraling argument over a parking space, and a business plan from Hank and Lily’s daughter that they mistake for an impending pregnancy announcement.

But the true focus is on Hank’s own personal concerns, including the cause and persistence of his writer’s block and his ongoing self-sabotage.

Hank naturally sees anything George does as a personal slight. He believes that focusing on his students is intended to draw attention to his own shortcomings as a teacher and that applauding his effort is the same as ignoring his own.

Lucky Hank Season 1 Episode 2 Ending Explained

Lucky Hank Episode 2 Recap and Ending, Explained

Hank rejects any of George’s attempts to connect with him since he sees them as hollow and disrespectful. The dramatic arc of the episode is about Hank coming to terms with the idea that George isn t his enemy; that the compliments of his writing are genuine, and that his highlighting of Hank s failings stems from him considering his stunted writing career as a waste of great talent.

Why Does Hank Decide to Moderate?

When Hank finally agrees to moderate the conversation with George toward the conclusion of this episode, Odenkirk and the show as a whole really turn it on.

He understands that George is sincerely appreciative of Hank’s work and upset that he hasn’t continued it, and he also understands that George is in the best position to lead the debate.

The second half is a masterclass in how to build up to an obvious conclusion just to undermine it. But it’s not a big, ostentatious subversion; rather, it’s a heartfelt and upbeat turn that enables Hank to finally unwind as well as to view his own identity and body of work in a new way.