NOTE: this post contains spoilers for Lucky Hank episode 6, "The Arrival."
The looming cloud over Hank (Bob Odenkirk) for the entire show has been his father, William Henry Devereaux Sr., who abandoned Hank when he was a child. We saw the depth of Hank's pain in Lucky Hank episode 5. That all sets the stage for "The Arrival," when Henry (played by Tom Bower) finally arrives in Railton.
Hank decides he can't help but see the man that has caused him all this pain, pondering all the different questions he would ask him after all this time. Though he doesn't actually talk to him. Instead, he watches from his car like he's on a stakeout as Hank's mom (Anne Gee Byrd) helps Henry into her home.
Hank and Lily (Mireille Enos) also don't seem like they've talked more about their own issues after last week, seemingly back to their usual dynamics. Although, Lily is still interested in New York, hiding her laptop screen with apartment info from Hank. To make things more awkward in the Devereaux house, Julie (Olivia Scott Welch) is staying there as she had a fight with Russell (Daniel Doheny). Hank nearly walks in on her taking a shower.
While they all dance around key things, one Devereaux not mixing words is Hank's mom. She comes to the house scolding Hank for the message he left his dad a few episodes back, telling him he's not welcome in Railton. When she demands Hank come and apologize, Lily gives Hank a way out, telling her he has a conference in Harrisburg.
The conference is for educators, which Hank and Tony (Diedrich Bader) go to every year. This year Tony is set to speak at it. Unfortunately for Hank, he can't escape all awkward conversations, as Gracie (Suzanne Cryer) is also at the conference, set to speak on a poetry panel. Tony tells him he just needs to blow off some steam here, though that does not include trying to sleep with a woman at the bar Hank eyes, reminding him it's not a good idea to follow up Lily's moment of indiscretion (the Tom kiss) with one of his own.
Back in Railton, Lily is trying to get to the bottom of what is going on with Julie and Russell. Julie says she wants to take her mom up on the offer to go to New York, upset that Russell seems changed after he got his job at the bar and is worrying that he may be cheating on her.
Hank, to no surprise, doesn't relax easy — though the masseuse talking on her phone and the couple eating Oreos in the hot tub aren't exactly helping. Then, when he takes a steam in the sauna, he sees a vision of his father, saying that when Hank hears from him why he left he'll find it was all quite reasonable. The one thing that can get Hank out of his funk a little bit is going to a party with Tony and messing with his fellow academics, making up a story about the hotel's internet getting hacked and a virus destroying all their notes.
Julie is still at Hank and Lily's house that night, just hanging out and watching TV with her mom. Julie says they should do this all the time when they are in New York. Lily reminds her that there are a lot of fun things to do in New York, but Julie basically asks what could be better than just spending time together. Could Lily be starting to doubt whether she needs to leave Railton?
Hank gets some coffee the next morning and sees the woman from the bar. He introduces himself but it is quickly clear he is not hitting on her, he's confronting her. She was a former student of Henry's who had an affair with him. Hank asks if his dad ever talked about him, but the woman just tells him that he should talk with his father.
After this, Hank finally has some fun at the retreat hanging out with a kid in the game center. But by doing this, he missed Tony's talk. Tony is upset by that, but more so that his talk went so poorly. Hank tries to cheer him up by saying it doesn't matter, but Tony refutes that — it matters because this is his work and he cares about it. He poses Hank has cared less and less about things and has subsequently gotten more and more depressed, so who really has the right mentality?
Lily, meanwhile, decides she has had enough of Julie complaining about Russell and takes her to his work so they can talk it out. The young couple flips the table on Lily though, quickly resolving their issues and instead pointing out how Lily and Hank aren't appropriately addressing theirs. Lily is the one who storms out angry this time.
When Hank gets back home, he admits to Lily that he is ready to have an honest conversation about New York, but he has to do one thing first — talk with his dad.
Sitting down with the man who left him all those years ago, Hank wants to get down to brass tax: why did he feel like it was OK to move here after what he did? However, as Henry gives unsatisfying answers, Hank begins to realize something — Henry doesn't fully understand who he is talking to, talking about Hank like he isn't sitting right in front of him.
Hank figures out that Henry must be suffering from Alzheimer's (or some cognitive decline). Hank is heartbroken. Part of it may be seeing his father in this state, but even more, it's likely because he finally had the courage to sit down with his biggest demon and he knows he'll never get to have the conversation that he truly needs.
New episodes of Lucky Hank air on TV Sundays on AMC. They also stream on AMC Plus.
