The Disillusioned Teacher
As his father’s prestigious career comes to an end, Hank is thrown into turmoil. Struggling with his own disappointed ambitions (he’s written a novel that can’t even be found in the Renton campus bookstore), he violently attacks a student in his creative writing workshop, Bartow Williams Stevens (Jackson Kelly), for being poor in quality paper. The incident sparks a minor scandal that could cost Hank his job as head of Layton’s English literature department.
All of which might make Lucky Hank sound like a melancholy mid-life crisis meditation. Except we’re dealing here with an adaptation of Richard Russo’s novel Straight Man, adapted by Office producer Paul Lieberstein while embodying its eternal scapegoat, Toby. the co-creator of the series is none other than Aaron Zelman , who appears in Criminal The co-creator of the series is none other than Aaron Zelman, who appears in the cast of Criminal Minds, Damages, The Killing and even Silicon Valley.
A Marriage Without Love
Aaron Zelman and Paul Lieberstein are both known for exploring the vagaries of the contemporary work world, and some of the show’s best moments are those in which faculty members bicker with each other or conspire against others. Unlike College Girl Sex or The Chair (Netflix miniseries, 2021), both of which are set in the Ivy League, Railton presents itself as an entirely ordinary university. Its shabby walls bear a disturbing resemblance to the characters, thanks to low ceilings and sweeping neon lights. Tenure binds the professors together, giving the impression that they are trapped in a loveless marriage. They despise each other desperately, know each other’s weaknesses and know which string to pull to attack each other. I won’t reveal here that Cedric Yarbrough (Reno 911, don’t call!) and Suzanne Cryer (Silicon Valley) tore it up in episode 2, but let’s just say that writers and actors rarely pull off such precise, detailed compositions in the show’s short hour.
Given the release date of Straight Man (1998), one might worry that the series would take a step back from the struggles of cancellation culture, which, we’re constantly told, is everywhere these days. Except it’s not: Lucky Hank is set in the present, or at least recently enough for Hank’s students to record his tirade against Bartow on their smartphones. Members of the administration are enraged, and the university dean (Oscar Nuñez, a former comrade of Lieberstein’s in office) is in a panic when Bartow’s wealthy parents show up to talk to him directly. With his reputation in tatters, Hank doesn’t seem all that upset, and the scandal is just a plot point until Bartow decides to set up a “committee of excellence” to keep a close eye on the teachers.
A rich, smug, stubborn man
Lucky Hank’s main problem, however, was that it centered on Hank. Some may find it hard to sympathize with him as he lounges around the spacious, sun-drenched kitchen of his gorgeous home. Even as we pass on his material pleasures, we become increasingly aware that Hank is by far our least sympathetic character. Hank is simply a disillusioned artist who is content to be complacent. He continues to resent his father, who left home when he was 14. He persists in his discord with George Saunders (Brian Huskey), the author of the now-famous Tenth of December, who was no better known than Hank when he published his only novel.
