NOTE: this post contains spoilers for Lucky Hank episode 8, "The Chopping Block."
After looming over everyone's heads all season, the layoffs at Railton College have begun. Dickie Pope (Kyle MacLachlan) tells a news crew the moves will benefit the school and its bloated budget, but it certainly is not good for those he fired. Hank (Bob Odenkirk) walks past one of the fired professors, crying. To his credit, Hank is still doing what he can to fight the cuts.
He finds Pope in the cafeteria, disgustingly picking out raisins from the buffet line with his fingers, and tries to convince Pope he has evidence the building built for Jeffrey Epstein (reminder, not that one) involved the use of misappropriated funds. But Pope doesn't buy his bluff and insists either Hank give him a list of English professors to fire or he'll do it himself.
Things at the Devereaux household aren't going great either. Julie (Olivia Scott Welch) is staying there, though Russell (Daniel Doheny) arrives trying to get her to take him back after he was caught cheating. Julie is having none of it.
Meanwhile, Lily (Mireille Enos) is making her official move to New York. Before she goes, she checks in with Russell and asks what his plan is. He thinks he can stick it out until Julie is ready to talk to him, not believing Julie really knows what she wants and will give in to him eventually. Lily slaps him as she does not appreciate his view of her daughter.
She and Hank then say their goodbyes, trying to figure out when they'll see each other next. Hank says he can come up that weekend, but Lily reminds him that he wanted to stay in Railton because of his career — "I did say that. I hate me," Hank replies — and with everything going on at the school, he should actually invest some time in it.
But it's hard for Hank to fully put himself into his work when it involves firing three people. Hank tries to share the load first with his secretary (Ellen MacNevin) and then with Billie (Nancy Robertson), but both refuse to help him. Then later, when Paul (Cedric Yarbrough) just tells him to get on with it, Hank sadly admits he doesn't know what to do.
Lily's first day in New York brings about her first celebrity sighting, Catherine Keener. See fangirls out, even admitting she and Hank both have a thing for the actress. Keener tries to be polite, asking if Hank is there with Lily. When Lily says he is still in Pennsylvania, Keener acknowledges long distance can be hard. Even so, Lily is gleeful at the general interaction.
Hank throws a Hail Mary, going to see Jeffrey Epstein (Chris Gethard) to find out if he can prove that Pope misused funds for the building. Unfortunately, Epstein says there was no shady deal, and that Pope likely just took out a loan.
With no more moves to play, Hank realizes he has to just get the stuff he hates over with. This starts with grading the most recent story of Bartow (Jackson Kelly). Though Hank says he hated it, he actually compliments Bartow for a single paragraph and says it's good writing and something he should continue to work on. Bartow is actually glad to finally get constructive criticism from Hank. Hank then tells the English Department he won't be making a list and the people fired will be decided by Pope. To await their fate, they go to the bar.
There he runs into Meg (Sara Amini). She tries to defend her sleeping with Russell by saying she doesn't believe in marriage, that she didn’t force him into bed and that her intention was not to hurt Julie, but Hank pokes holes in every one of her points.
The English department eventually is joined by Dean Rose (Oscar Nunez), who tells them he has resigned (or at least written his resignation letter, just needing to spell check it) and joins them in solidarity, including Gracie (Suzanne Cryer), who he has rekindled a romance with. They are later joined by Epstein and Tony (Diedrich Bader), who invites them to his house after they learn Emma (Shannon DeVido), Finney (Haig Sutherland) and Billie are getting fired. They don't seem enthused to continue partying, but Tony saying he has a hot tub gets them ready to go.
It's one of the saddest hot tub parties ever until Epstein mentions something about Pope trying to emulate MIT. This sets off bells in Rose's head, realizing that MIT is looking for a new president and Pope may be angling for that job, instituting the cuts to boost his resume. With the help of Pope's put-upon assistant, Hank and the department are able to get the evidence and expose Pope, who is quickly fired by the board and the professors reinstated.
Things still at home are iffy though. Russell is still on the porch, and when Hank asks if Julie has talked with him, she says kind of (they talked through the window earlier, but no ground was gained). Hank ultimately apologizes for getting Russell the job at the bar, which Julie appreciates. She then apologizes that he and Lily are getting separated. Hank is in denial about this though. So is Lily when he talks to her on the phone, though it's clear the two aren't being fully honest with themselves.
Though Hank is a conquering hero for the time being in the English department, he realizes he needs another form of validation. So he goes to see his father (Tom Bower) and tells him he kept people from getting fired. But Henry goes off onto his own tangent about how he was forced to retire, revealing the reason was he lied about being at the Selma march in 1965. When Hank asks why he would do that, Henry says it was so he could get published and still be invited to panels, the only thing that mattered to him.
This gives Hank an epiphany. His father left them as a child because he thought his career was everything and he couldn't see what he had. Hank won't make that mistake. He tenders his resignation with Rose (though the Dean ends up shredding the letter) and heads to New York to see Lily. Lily is surprised by his arrival and, when Hank isn't in front of her, looks a bit disappointed. Hank may have realized what he wanted, but is it too late for him and Lily?
That's where Lucky Hank ends, so unless a season 2 is on the way, the fate of their marriage seems to be up for interpretation.
You can watch all eight episodes of Lucky Hank on AMC Plus.
