Lily finally has got her interview at Arlyle as episode 4 of Lucky Hank begins. She is going to New York for a couple of days but before she leaves, she blatantly says that she is worried Hank might end up in jail or hospital soon.
We see Chandler, perhaps a new character, and a student, talking about a wedge of flight-bound goose. When the student wonders how they choose their leader, Chandler explains. He says that when the geese fly, they do so against intense wind pressure. The one that flaps their wings the hardest is always in the front. He provides lift to the others, making it easier for them to fly. That is why, even if he leads them into a jet engine, they will follow the leader.
Hank heads into President Pope’s office. He finds his book on the shelf and keeps it in his pocket. Dickie Pope (Kyle MacLachlan) welcomes him and gets straight to the point. He calls Hank a brilliant professor and pulls him for not submitting the downsizing list. Hank stands his ground. Pope says that even Hank knows the people who do not deserve to be there and Hank quietly agrees. The professor will be given the option to choose his own people in the future for the betterment of his department.
The legislature is cutting the budget by 23% and Pope needs to trim faculty. Hank says that will not be the case as they do it every year and do not go through with it. There is a feeling that Pope is diverting funds into the Jeffrey Q. Epstein Technical Careers Center (not named after the infamous paedophile) but Pope resists that accusation. Pope says unlike his predecessors, he will not be asking them for more money, shocking Hank.
Hank tells Paul about his meeting and he is furious. Despite Hank sticking up for his department, they think otherwise. Paul says they could have strategized first before he went in. Hank blares him out by playing a song in his head as he did with Pope and drowning himself in his own thoughts. Lily meets Tom, an old acquaintance at Arlyle.
The entire school has gone digital and the kids look very happy. He is expecting her to do well and she is excited. When she mentions she might leverage the offer at Railton, Tom is disappointed.
She tries to backtrack and apologizes but Tom asks her to go anyway. Hank works out at the gym with Tony and thinks about what Lily said to him. Does Hank secretly care about the professors he calls incompetent? He actually thinks Lily is bored with him, which he blurts out while throwing punches.
While talking to Tony, Hank cannot list one professor in his department, including himself, who shouldn’t be “chopping block,” i.e., make it to the list. Leslie prepares the department for protesting at the Epstein Center.
They want their message to reach the Harrisbur
