Hulu’s sports comedy Chad Powers returns for its second season, streaming now on Disney+ and Hulu. Starring Glen Powell as disgraced college quarterback Russ Holliday, the series shifts from a lighthearted character comedy into a high-stakes football thriller as mounting lies and a vengeful backup quarterback threaten to destroy the South Georgia Catfish.
Glen Powell and the Thriller Turn in Season 2
When Chad Powers debuted with its wild premise—featuring a disgraced college quarterback donning prosthetics and a bad wig to walk on at a university in Georgia—critics frequently compared it to comedies like Eastbound & Down and Ted Lasso. But as the show returns for its second season, it has transformed into something much sharper and more dangerous.
Co-creator Michael Waldron explains that the series finally became what it always wanted to be once other characters learned the truth and started asking hard questions. This is insane. This is stupid. What are you thinking?
Waldron noted of the show’s new voice, pointing out that Russ Holliday is ultimately just trying to cross the goal line and win a championship as if credits roll right after.
“The thing that Glen always said that struck me was that, in his mind, Russ is just thinking about crossing the goal line, winning the National Championship, and then it’s almost like credits roll for him. But this is real life, and getting to interrogate that in a real dramatic way kind of became the engine of Season 2.”
Michael Waldron, Co-creator, via Deadline
The Escalating Deception and the Threat from Gerry
The path to the National Championship is complicated by a grueling schedule and a rapidly unraveling web of lies. As more people discover that Chad Powers is actually Russ Holliday—including assistant coach Erika, known as Ricky, played by Perry Mattfeld—the pressure mounts. Team mascot Danny, played by Frankie A. Rodriguez, becomes deeply entangled in the cover-up.
The greatest threat to the scheme comes from backup quarterback Gerry, played by Colton Ryan. Reeling from gasdrinking and a psychological breaking point, Gerry transitions from an optimistic punching bag into a vengeful adversary.
The conflict reaches a boiling point when Gerry breaks into Russ and Danny’s home, ransacking the basement and stealing the prosthetics used to disguise Russ. To neutralize the threat, Gerry demands that Chad throw a historically bad game
during the regular-season finale against the Texas Longhorns so that Gerry can win $200,000 in bets he placed against him.
The Texas Longhorns Showdown and the Finale
During the high-stakes game against the Texas Longhorns—where a win sends the South Georgia Catfish to the College Football Playoffs—Chad immediately throws an interception and struggles through a disastrous first half in order to fulfill Gerry’s demands. But Ricky discovers a list of negative plays in Russ’s room and uncovers the betting scheme.
Armed with knowledge from watching Russ’s old Oregon game tapes, Ricky steps in as a tactical advisor, drawing up trick plays that allow the Catfish to score while keeping Gerry’s blackmail terms intact. Even as booster Trisha, played by Wynn Everett, is pulled into the conspiracy to insulate the lie, the characters are forced to ask themselves a fundamental question about competitive sports.
“We’re constantly asking our characters: How far would you go to win, and is winning the most important thing?”
Michael Waldron, Co-creator, via Deadline
As the final seconds tick away, Chad scores a game-winning touchdown, though penalties leave the team with immense pressure and a lingering uncertainty. With Ricky accepting a coaching job at Syracuse starting the next day, the second season concludes by leaving the future of the Catfish—and the ultimate fate of Russ Holliday’s elaborate deception—precariously balanced.
По теме
