‘Lucky Hank’ Recap: ‘The Goose Boxer’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Four of ‘Lucky Hank’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Over the course of the past few weeks, we’ve talked at length about the fascinating nature of the mid-life crisis, courtesy of how the AMC series, Lucky Hank, is presenting it. For this is a series that is taking us through an incredibly detailed exploration of this important moment in the lives of some. To the point where we have been privy to every up and every down regarding the mid-life crisis that Hank is currently going through and thankfully, this series isn’t showing any signs of letting up when it comes to that. Simply because the next episode of this series continued to dive deep into what goes into this point in someone’s life, and some of the emotions that one feels when their time arrives to deal with it, and how hard that can be and how that can bring about further emotional outbursts.
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A feat that ‘The Goose Boxer’ accomplished by making Hank… quite vulnerable. For this is a story that saw Lily head to New York to interview for that fancy job, with gaining some leverage at work in mind, and well… that meant Hank was alone, with his neuroses and his thoughts. Which concerned Lily of course, despite Hank’s assurances that he was going to be ‘a-ok’ in her absence. But she was right to be worried. Because by being alone, by not having someone to center him… Hank began to just quietly feel his feels. Such as how there was anger and frustration in his heart over not having what he wanted, and silence helped to amplify those feelings and allow for them to quickly consume him.

To the point where he once again began to act out at work, because he couldn’t process those feelings. Which included going toe to toe with Dickie Pope, the University President. To make it clear that he was going to protect the English Department in his own way. A reality that he doubled down upon when he learned the need for the cuts. Since Dickie made a rotten deal for a new building on campus, and that was the tipping point for Hank, and he truly let loose his frustrations. By pretending to box a goose moments before the groundbreaking for that dirty building. Which in turn, got everyone’s attention, including the local news, and that attention allowed for him to just blast out his frustrations aloud regarding this issue and impress his cohorts in doing so.

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A move that made Hank feel good, if only for a moment. Because expressing frustrations and anger, merely allowed for his mind to wander to other haunting concerns. During a fine night out no less, and despite finally having the respect of his department… all he could think about… was how little he had from a connection standpoint. How he had spent so many years fighting to avoid such moments and that his only real connection was Lily and even that… might have been fading. For he was worried that he had not done enough to keep her attention and her fancy, because of his perceived inadequacies and his perceived failures. And that panic let him act out again and find himself in jail, bringing his wife’s worries to life, but more so… providing us with fascinating insight on the turmoil that one experiences when they think they’ve wasted years… and what was amazing, is that this story had more to offer regarding the mid-life crisis.
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For this is a story that also made sure to follow Lily’s journey. One that seemed to be nothing more than a throwaway filler story at first. Since she did fine in the interview, hung out with an old flame and his significant other to just let… let loose and have a little fun. Because sometimes in life, you need to do that. But a surprise kiss from that flame, and the news that he and his beloved made a significant change to their relationship by ending it… had an interesting influence on Lily. In that… she realized that this was a fine chance to just get away from the quagmire at home and the difficult moments for a little self-care and to perhaps ponder upon what she wanted out of life at this particular stage of it. Since others were doing just that. Making it clear that the mid-life crisis is something for all… and is oft handled differently by folks. 

If anything, all of these elements made this a powerful episode. Simply because… Hank has yet to find his way or his focus after pondering upon tomorrow for weeks on end, and he’s not alone in wondering what tomorrow will bring and well, it was just incredible to see a duality of crises play out before our eyes and come to understand how singular moments and opportunities can influence the arrival of the crisis and how much emotion goes into it. Plus, it was wonderful to gain empathic perspective on this period in a person’s life, since we do view this as a selfish phase, when in fact, it is clearly more than that. It is a period of rebirth, of change, dependent of course on how it is viewed in the eye of the beholder, and likely… exploring the fallout of everyone’s missteps here alongside a deeper dive into these two dueling crises is where this story is headed next. And it will be fascinating to see what this story will teach us when that examination gets underway. Until next time.

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