NOTE: this post contains spoilers for Lucky Hank episode 1.
The last time we saw Bob Odenkirk on TV, his Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman was heading to jail as Better Call Saul drew to a close. In his latest TV series, Odenkirk finds himself in a new kind of jail — chair of the English department at the small liberal arts school Railton College in rust belt Pennsylvania. By the look of Odenkirk's Hank, Saul may be in the better situation.
Lucky Hank kicks off with the titular professor methodically listening to his student Bartow (Jackson Kelly) read his latest short story. Bartow waits for his professor's thoughts, but Hank tries to just move on. When Bartow continues to press, Hank gives his honest critique — at first just simply pointed at Bartow's poor writing style, but as the student tries to justify himself, Hank's frustration grows into a full on rant on the mediocrity of Bartown, their school and even at himself, all of which is recorded by another student on their phone.
As Hank sleeps that night, his phone starts blowing up with texts from his colleagues after a story was posted about his rant. Hank doesn't seem to be phased or embarrassed by it though, not even bringing it up with his wife, Lily (Mireille Enos), the next morning. Though he does admit that he is 80% miserable, which he believes should be normal for an adult his age. Lily counters that normal is closer to her level, 30%.
The article has become the talk of campus, with students and teachers giving Hank leering looks, though some seem to agree with his stance. Bartow is waiting outside his office. Hank admits that he was "uncareful" with his words, but when asked to make a public apology, he refuses.
The fallout of the article has spread to Hank's English department as well. Gracie (Suzanne Cryer) is upset with Paul (Cedric Yarbrough) over putting her on a list of "mediocre" writers inspired by Hank's rant, while everyone is pissed off at Hank in varying levels. After making another snide comment, Gracie hits Hank with her spiral notebook, with one of its rings getting stuck in Hank's nose.
Lily, who serves as a vice principal at a high school, has a different approach to her job. Forced to deal with a student causing problems, she attempts to calm the parent and teacher down and reach a compromise to avoid expelling the student; an example of her misery index only being at 30% paying off.
Hank goes to meet with Dean Jacob Rose (Oscar Nunez), who is trying to aleve Bartow and his parents after Hank's rant, saying it was caused by some embarrassing medical issue Hank has. Jacob tries to get Hank to apologize, but he again refuses. When the president of the university calls Jacob's office, Hank assumes it's about him, but Jacob pops this egotistical notion, hinting there is something bigger going on at the school.
It's not just school bothering Hank though. Lily points out he has been carrying around a newspaper article about his estranged father, a famous literary critic, retiring. Then, when their daughter Julie (Olivia Scott Welch) stops by he sneaks out of the house. Later, Julie is able to catch up with him, but when she asks for money to support her husband's new career path, Hank refuses.
Still upset with Hank, Gracie begins to plot removing him as the department chair, recruiting some of the other professors. Hank is given the heads up on this by one of his colleagues, but rather than see it as a negative, he and Lily realize it could be a chance for them to start fresh and move to New York, where Lily has a potential job lined up.
This gives Hank a ray of hope — he doesn't have a care when meeting with Jacob about next year's budget and gets another boost from stiffing his dad's assistant when the old man couldn't reach out to him directly. When it comes time for the vote, Hank watches with glee as he is ousted. However, they have to delay the vote for a new chair because they didn't think that far ahead in their scheming.
When Hank and Lily begin to talk about New York again, Hank is now hesitant. This frustrates Lily, which makes it seem like they have had this conversation many times before. Things then go bad at school for Lily, when the student she fought for breaks a window, causing the ire of her superior as they could have avoided it if she had just let him be expelled.
Back in class, Bartow is absent but has written an open letter in the school paper calling for Hank to apologize. Instead, in front of the whole class, Hank again tears down Bartow's writing, even though he doesn't disagree with many of the arguments he is making.
When the English department meets again to vote on the new chair, their incohesiveness and lack of planning actually results in Hank getting re-elected for another three-year term as chair.
This leads to a couple of moments of reflection for Hank. First, playing racquetball with his friend Tony (Diedrich Bader), Hank admits he is scared what his father retiring could mean, specifically if after all these years he wants to try and reconnect; with his unique world perspective, he says he regrets "all these years failing to appreciate all I didn't have." Later, he catches up with Lily on a run, telling her that they elected him chair again. They both have a good laugh over it before Lily continues on her run.
As the episode ends, the Bee Gees' song "I Started a Joke" starts playing, with the lyrics "I didn't see that the joke was on me" hanging in the air. What could that possibly symbolize as we get ready to go deeper into Hank's life?
Lucky Hank airs new episodes Sunday on AMC and is available to stream on AMC Plus.
