'Luck' Season 1, Episode 3: Recap

HBO shows are definitely a huge commitment. Each episode is between 50 and 60 minutes long without any commercials. This makes carving out time on Sunday nights, when there are new episodes, or during the weekdays, in between Sundays, to try and catch up pretty difficult. With network or non premium subscription shows, scheduling the programs into a weekly itinerary is less daunting as viewers can expect episodes to be no longer than 45 minutes. However, it is pretty consensual that once someone commits to an HBO program, they do not regret it because the premium network shows are just so much better in quality than any other television show. HBO programming has always been revolutionary and as I continue to watch its newest program, Luck, I further my case that HBO will forever produce the best TV shows ever. David Milch’s horse racing drama is finally narrowing its focus by the series’ third episode and it seems to be building toward something explosive. The characters’ actions and decisions are all unfolding and their paths are starting to line up more clearly. During the premiere and the second episode, each character seemed so distant and unconnected that it appeared to be another Treme (great characters, but what’s the purpose? It’s been two seasons and no one seems to know yet), but now Luck looks more like the second season of David Simon’s The Wire which began to converge toward the middle of the season and ended in tragic and very surprising ways. My fingers are crossed that my prediction is correct.

The series’ third episode is directed by one of HBO’s regular directors, Allen Coulter, who has sat behind the camera for multiple episodes of The Sopranos, Sex and the City, and Boardwalk Empire as well as the underrated film, Hollywoodland. We begin with Ace casually exercising in the gym of what I guess is the hotel he has been staying at since he was released from prison at the beginning of the season. The gym is completely empty besides Ace who is walking on the treadmill. He is visited by his probation officer who notifies Ace that he has to be urine tested, Ace agrees and is obviously annoyed by this interruption of his morning workout, but is surprised to learn that the probation officer will not be watching him pee like the last time he was tested. Ace is allowed to relieve himself behind closed doors.

Around the same time this morning, we find the degenerates picking up Lonnie from the hospital. Lonnie still has some healing to do (those violent women fractured Lonnie’s skull and he has severe bruising), but he has spent enough time in the hospital and is free to go. Of course, Jerry is missing from the quartet and when he arrives he faces the expected wrath from Marcus who grills him for being late to pick up their friend. Jerry brushes Marcus’ criticisms off for he’s planning on being very productive this episode. Despite their loss of Turo Escalante’s longshot horse in the previous episode, the sloppy gamblers are willing to pay much more than the originally intended $8,000 to buy the longshot from the cowboy who won it in the tie breaker. Jerry decides to visit Escalante at the stables to discuss the longshot horse and get an inside scoop (which is provided upon the payment of a small price). Escalante bluntly states that the horse won’t be making it around the track during the next race, but Jerry calls the trainer’s bluff realizing that Escalante must still have eyes for this horse and is angry about having lost it to the cowboy. Escalante decides to go along with Jerry and says that if him and his pals can settle things with the cowboy, then Escalante will have the horse checked out by a vet and hints that he may agree to train the horse again. Jerry smiles.

Cutting back to Ace, he walks into an office building and is greeted by his old employees with reverence, but a cocky, and bright, young kid shows no respect when he questions Ace’s plan to take over the Santa Anita racetrack. His statements of opposition send Ace out of the room, but the kid has made an impression and the intimidating Ace (Hoffman really is fantastic in this role) wants the kid sent to his hotel as soon as possible. We learn that this kid is a whiz at muni derivatives (…I dropped calculus, what is this?) but the purpose that he or complex mathematics serves for Ace and his plans is still unknown.
Hopping over to Santa Anita, Walter Smith arrives early to fill out the final registration paperwork for GettinUp Morning’s first race. His excitement is apparent now that he has Ronnie Jenkins as the jockey and things are looking great for his lightning fast colt. Walter waits with Joey and an inquiring journalist to see what gate position GettinUp Morning receives for his very first race. Walter hopes for any position other than the No. 1 spot, but unfortunately Walter’s prayers are not answered and GettinUp Morning is locked into that damned spot, also known as the “rail” position. Walter is angry and Joey attempts to reassure him by saying that the No. 1 position has done fairly well as of recently – Joey’s stutter is in full force here which relieves his sentiments of any reassuring feelings.

Back to the motivated Jerry who finds the cowboy currently owning Escalante’s longshot. The duo barter at length about what price Jerry and his friends can and are willing to pay for the horse. Eventually, they agree that $25,000 for the horse and $7500 for a barbecue grill will suffice (the grill is beat to hell, but the $7500 will serve as pocket money for the cowboy which is fine by him since that is almost what Renzo was going to pay for the horse alone back in Episode 2). Jerry returns to the hotel to find his three associates talking about what their stable name will be once they have their horse (Renzo is pushing for ‘The Four Amigos’). He informs everyone one the good news and we see smiles spread across the four degenerates’ faces. This marks one of the few times Marcus has, and probably will, smile during the series.

In Santa Anita, Ronnie is preparing to enter the gate for his first race back on the saddle. He looks worried and expresses a few cautious words to the horse right before the race begins. Walter is watching from the stands along with the journalist from earlier, and though GettinUp Morning doesn’t run for a couple of days, he wants to watch Ronnie’s performance as a jockey during this race. The race begins and goes horribly. Walter watches intently as Ronnie is trailing close to last when the race begins, but is then shocked as Ronnie is thrown from his horse during the race’s first bend. Ronnie lands hard and breaks his collarbone. Walter’s excitement from earlier in the episode has dissipated, what is he going to do for GettinUp Morning’s first race? Simultaneously, the show’s other jockey is also involved in a frightening injury. Leon is struggling to make weight so he has cut down on his eating and is spending time in the sauna to try and sweat off any pounds he can. This unhealthy routine leads to sudden lightheadedness and while walking out of the sauna Leon faints cracking his head open on the tile floor. The doctor wants to get him off the saddle for a few days, but Joey begs against it. The doctor agrees and Leon remains slated to ride in his upcoming races.

If only Marcus, Lonnie, Jerry, and Renzo knew how close they were to not having a rider. The quartet visits Escalante who lays out all of their projected expenses as new horse owners. They listen quietly but seem more interested in other things like their stable name (Renzo standing behind his still) and what the jockey’s silks will look like. Later on, while in the stands and without Jerry, Marcus, for the first time, speaks positively about Jerry. He cannot deny that Jerry’s persistence brought the longshot horse into their possession and he hopes that Jerry is starting to turn himself around. Lonnie suggests that his hospitalization may have been a wake up call for Jerry. It’s possible, but seemingly unlikely. Is Jerry finally kicking his gambling habits?

Ace arrives at his hotel and finds the smarty-pants kid waiting for him. The duo enters the elevator along with Gus and an unknown woman (hello Joan Allen! We can expect this character to be reoccurring) who was sitting in the lobby of the hotel and shot over to the elevator the minute she saw Ace walk in. They are heading up to Ace’s hotel room, which is private, so the elevator operator asks the women to specify the floor to which she is heading. She starts to scramble and rummage through her pocketbook nervously and her silence makes the kid, Ace, Gus, and the elevator operator stare back at her, puzzled. Before Ace, Gus, and the kid exit the elevator the women lunges toward Ace and tries to get a business card into his hands. She works for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, which asks former prison inmates to care for broken down horses. Ace tells her to give her card to Gus and he will get back to her soon enough. She thanks him. In the hotel room, Ace heatedly talks to the kid (who’s name is Nathan Israel) and tells him that he has the opportunity to earn $1 million dollars for 12 months of direct work for Ace. Nathan is no longer questioning Ace and he leaves the hotel with the prospect of a profitable proposition in the near future.

Nighttime arrives. Escalante stayed true to his promise and had his pretty vet check out the longshot and certifies the horse healthy. She tries to talk to Escalante privately but he is rude to her and makes a point of telling her that he no longer suspects her of blabbing about the longshot horse (he’s still upset that the horse was bid on at all in episode 2 and is determined to find the snitch). Yet, she doesn’t stay angry with Escalante for long for she appears at his house the minute he gets home and asks, “Neighborhood Watch. Are you the one having trouble getting sex?” They go inside the house and she remedies this problem for Escalante. We find the injured Ronnie (his collarbone should heal in about four to six weeks) sitting in his car outside of a liquor store snorting a line of cocaine before heading in to buy some booze. This action makes us question if Ronnie was really catapulted off the horse or if he threw himself off purposefully for more prescription drugs. Being able to jockey again did not kick him of his addictive habits. Sadly, Jerry is not off gambling either and he sets Marcus into a fit of rage as he heads out to the casino following a great day. Jerry encounters the antagonizing Asian gambler at the casino yet again, but we leave Jerry before we see how his fortune turns out tonight. Finally, there is Walter who is practicing a conversation he is going to have with Rosie, the exercise trainer he sent away to a minor-league track in Portland because she was his second choice to jockey GettinUp Morning. He needs her back, but will she decide to return? Walter needs some luck right now; let’s hope Rosie is forgiving.

Ace and Gus are talking in the hotel room (this seems to be the routine way to end each episode of this series). Ace is impressed with Nathan, but he laments about his lack of style. We finally realize what Nathan’s purpose will be: The go-between, money man that Ace is looking for. Ace is also happy that Nathan’s personality is one that will certainly annoy his former associate Mike Smythe, who is responsible for Ace’s jail time. Gus has had a slice of success today too. He visited the track earlier in the day to take a look at his horse run around the track in an exercise run. Escalante times the horse and speaks positively of his talents, but then they both spot a runaway horse running around the track in the opposite direction about to directly collide with Gus’ horse. The duo panic, but Gus’ horse avoids the collision on his own. Relieved, Escalante tells Gus that his horse has a good mind. Ace, drifting off to sleep, asks Gus to remind him to call that nice lady from the elevator in the morning. Gus agrees as he too is drifting off to sleep with the sight of his horse flying down the track filling his dreams.

Everything seems to be coming together, but like every good HBO series there is still a lot of questions to be answered and many characters’ intentions to be revealed. Will Ace get involved with the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation? Is Jerry going to ruin a perfectly good day with a bust at the casino? Will Leon and Ronnie be able to successfully jockey despite their injuries? Will Rosie come back to Walter? When are we going to meet Mike? This series is getting progressively better and with six episodes left in the season I’m sure the answers to these questions will reveal themselves in shocking HBO fashion.

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