William Henry ‘Hank’ Devereaux(Bob Odenkirk ) does not look very lucky as he holds a workshop for arrogant young writers, who demand his comments on their awful prose and then argue when he tells them what they don’t want to hear. For his honesty, he gets trolled on social media– a perpetual hazard these days.
This eight-episode show, created by Paul Lieberstein and Aaron Zelman (on SonlyLiv), based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Straight Man by Richard Russo, is about mid-life crisis and second chances.
Hank is the head of the English department at Railton College, which he calls a “middling college in this sad forgotten town,” where he has to deal with petty problems of staff and students, which would be enough to drive anyone crazy. He has written just one novel before his creativity decreases or his problems increase, with his marriage and his family. He has reached that depressing stage of life at which a person sinks or swims. In some morning bantering with his cheerful wife, Hank states that every adult is eighty percent misery, to which she says, she is just thirty. He wonders why everyone is obsessed with happiness, “what happened to just getting through the day?”
Odenkirk—of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul fame—plays the exhausted Hank with such helplessness, that the audience can’t but root for him. What is worse is that he is aware of his own mediocrity.
His wife Lily (Mireille Enos) tries to help him overcome his current torment, but how is he to cope with his father and writing peers? This is certainly not anything like To Sir With Love or Dead Poets Society and Hank is no inspiration for his students. But it is an absurd look at academia and its many pitfalls in today’s times. The tone is light, the pace easy, but the literary roots show in the dialogue and in Hank’s caustic thoughts.
Judging from the first episode, the show promises to be an absorbing watch, Hank’s travails are so real and relatable. Odenkirk is such a fine actor and fits into every role so effortlessly, heis a delight to watch. New episodes will drop every Monday, and it does look like it would be worth following Hank’s story.
Lucky Hank
Created by Paul Lieberstein, Aaron Zelman
Cast : Bob Odenkirk, Mireille Enos, Arthur Keng, Haig Sutherland and others
On SonyLiv
