"Ballers" Recap: "Ends"

Written by Scotty

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

Nothing in life is easy, even when it seems that way.  There is always something that will keep you from accomplishing your goal and the only way to combat that is to continue looking forward.  It is hard to imagine that even a simple task may be made into something so much worse when something goes wrong, but if you are willing to face it head on, the repercussions are much easier to deal with.  If you keep moving forward and don’t let the speed bumps get in your way, the drive of life is so much easier to take.

Joe has been able to work his magic with Maximo to get the pictures of Vernon back for a hundred and fifty grand, but now there is a wrinkle in the deal.  As the woman that owns the pictures wants a sit down with Spencer, along with the money.  Spencer will not bow down to this since now he is starting to figure out what really caused this to happen.  With this being the money out of his pocket again, Spencer is showing Vernon how hard it is to be one the best in the game while keeping his noise clean from these types of incidents.  While Vernon may or may not be taking notes from the old veteran, he knows he has a brother in arms, but it looks like his refusal to meet with the woman will keep him from becoming one of the highest paid players in the game.

Ricky is on his own and trying to find a way to get Bella to come back to him.  Without her to keep an eye on him, he cannot concentrate, much less understand why he misses her so much.  While talking to Charles about his problems, Ricky is finally starting to understand that he may need Bella much more than he is willing to admit.  Talking with her sister, Ricky finds out where his love will be that night and just wants to talk to her, but when he sees Bella dancing with the Bird Man, all bets are off.  Starting another altercation, Ricky is pulled away from the crowd by his friends and heads back to his ‘fun house’ to blow off some steam, but he knows that he is not a complete man without his woman.

Jason has been put into a compromising position as his mother has just found herself a new boyfriend.  Summoning her son to the house, Jason is blown away to see that his mother is dating a man half her age.  As the conversation continues over dinner, Jason takes his shots at the young man, but when the subject of needing an agent comes up, that is the only thing that sticks in Jason’s mind.  Playing it hard on his mother, Jason tries to get the couple to break up, but when he walks in on them doing their business, he sees that it is not his decision to make.  Taking his father’s golf clubs out to the range, Jason gives his father the tribute that he deserved with a cigar, a drink and long drives.

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Julie has asked Bella to join her so she can drop some knowledge about Ricky for her friend, but Bella is not too surprised.  But when Julie tells her about the ‘fun house’, Bella’s eyes are opened and she is starting to believe that Ricky may not be the right man for her.  Needing a real drink, the girls plan a night out without the men and land in a Cuban bar that offers great drinks, music and dancing.  Bella finds herself dancing with the Bird Man and even though she is having fun and blowing off some steam, it is short lived when Ricky arrives on the scene.  As she drops the bombshell that she now knows about the ‘fun house’ to her ex, she is sick of playing second fiddle to everyone else in Ricky’s life and is looking to move on.

Even with work high on his radar, Spencer has also been tasked with something else that he does not really want to do.  After talking with Rodney’s widow Tina, Spencer is now in charge of finding a final resting place for his ashes.  Not having a clue what to do with them, he calls up Charles and the two head out to come up with a plan for their fallen friend.  After much plenty of discussion about the good times, and how that might have ended Rodney’s life prematurely, the two decide to take him to the only pure place they could think of.  Pouring Rodney’s ashes out on his old high school football field, the two men agree that it was the purest time in their lives while playing the game and hope that their old friend would be proud.

This episode was just bouncing all over the place and I will say wow.  We get to learn a little bit more about Jason and what he is dealing with while not being an agent and it is not an easier life from what I can tell.  Spencer has his hands full with his client/friends that are getting out of control for no other reason than him not watching their backs.  Even though they say they are listening to him, it is apparent that there is too much emotion to make a wise decision, no matter who it is.  I did enjoy the ending of the episode this week as Charles has come clean about wanting to play football again, since he only feels complete while on the field.  This may cause an issue with him and his wife when all is said and done, but once he makes up his mind, I am pretty sure it is going to be difficult to convince him otherwise.  

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