In the first 2 episodes of Chad Powers, we were introduced to Russ Holliday, a quarterback for the Oregon college football team, whose minor mistake at the end zone cost his team the game against the Georgia college football team. He spent the next 8 years wallowing in self-pity, doing odd jobs for his father, and fraternizing with the scum of the Earth. He was poised to join the XFL, but when that contract got cancelled as well, Russ came up with the weird idea of using the movie prosthetics made by his dad to pose as a completely new person and restart his football career. He went for the tryouts at the University of South Georgia and was immediately recognized by Danny, the mascot. But instead of exposing Russ’s plan, Danny decided to help him, because he believed that even Russ deserved a second chance, and also because Danny hoped that if “Chad” became a popular footballer, he’d get a slice of his profits. Now, while Russ did get selected into the South Georgia Catfish, he didn’t immediately secure the quarterback position, because he had lost his touch over the last few years. Hence, he was forced to watch from the sidelines as Gerry played in his dream position. Did things change for Chad in the third episode? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Chad Is Humiliated
Russ, after his unimpressive performance at the second stage of the tryouts, seems to be working on his health, as he is seen jogging through the woods whilst listening to playback commentary of the match that cost him his career. He crosses paths with Ricky, but since he isn’t in his Chad Powers makeup, she doesn’t recognize him. Then the episode cuts to the match between the Catfish and Ole Miss Rebels, where the Catfish are struggling pretty badly. When Coach Byrd calls Chad’s name, for a second, it seems like he is going to be allowed to play, but he’s called to hold a cup while one of his teammates pees into it. Apparently players aren’t allowed to leave the field during a match, and it’s expected for them to sweat out all the water they have consumed. But I guess this is a rare instance where a player has to relieve himself in the middle of a crowded stadium. Hence, Chad has to hold a cup while everyone else blocks the player as he pees into it; real intense stuff. Of course, Chad is humiliated by this treatment, and Ricky is also offended that that’s what Chad is being subjected to.
So, right after Gerry, who is the primary quarterback of the team, hits the field, Ricky tells Chad to start warming up, because she plans to put him out there one way or another. While doing so, Chad and Ricky have a chat about the latter’s track running career and how it was ruined by an injury that she suffered during hurdles. This conversation is noticed by Dobbs and Danny, but since Dobbs has incredibly low self-esteem, he approaches them first and chastises Ricky for getting Chad to warm up and potentially messing with Gerry’s head. Then he proceeds to order Ricky to get him an empty Gatorade bottle so that he can spit in it. She is subjected to the same kind of humiliation as Chad was a few moments earlier, but this one is way more hurtful because Ricky is a genuinely nice human being and she is the daughter of Coach Jake. As Ricky goes away to execute the order she has just been given, Danny approaches Chad and tells him to continue wooing Ricky in order to get into the game.
Ricky Is Humiliated As Well
Things at the suite get as tense as they have on the sidelines because, at the end of the day, a loss for the team will end up hurting the financial situation of the boosters. When Tricia lights up a cigarette in the suite, she is reprimanded by another booster called Davis, who reminds her that just because she is good at spending her father’s money doesn’t mean she has the freedom to break rules against smoking. That obviously prompts Tricia to take some personal swipes at Davis that he has no option but to digest. After making a bad play, Nishan comes over to the sidelines and spills water all over the electrics, thereby frying the radio system that the coaches use to communicate with the players on the field. By the way, as a novice when it comes to football, I had no idea this was allowed.
I knew about headsets being used to communicate between non-players at the dugout, but helmets having built-in communication devices so that coaches and the players can talk to each other during the game? That seems lazy to me. Anyway, going back to the plot, since the headsets are not functioning, Byrd interrupts Ricky and Chad’s conversation about how they can defeat the Rebels by sending her to the locker room to get some fresh headsets. She rushes off to the locker room almost instantly, and that’s where she runs into Tricia. Now, Tricia wants to be on the sidelines—even though that’s against the rules—and give the coaches and the players an earful because, well, it’s her money that’s on the line, and she wants results. So, she orders Ricky to take her to Jake, which she does. By then, the headsets have started working, thereby rendering Ricky’s “mission” completely meaningless.
Ricky and Jake Have a Falling Out
Ricky tries to make up for that pointless adventure to the locker room for the headsets by butting into a conversation between Tricia and Jake about how nonsensical the Catfish’s plays have been so far. She senses that Tricia is deeply unimpressed by everything the male coaches are doing, and she tries to introduce one of her strategies (which is probably one of many that have been rejected by Dobbs). Byrd actually agrees with Ricky, but he doesn’t think that Gerry will be able to pull it off. So, Chad enters the conversation, saying that he’ll be able to do what Gerry can’t. The game is in its fourth quarter, and it won’t hurt anyone to try something different. Yet, Jake refuses to budge, which obviously angers everyone, especially Ricky, and she gets into a heated conversation with her dad. Since Jake is unable to win the verbal battle with Ricky, he plays the seniority card and orders her to get off the sidelines. While she is going to the locker room, Chad goes after her to support her emotionally but instead ends up getting scolded by Ricky for trying to empathize with her without experiencing any kind of loss. That’s because Russ has presented Chad as someone who is like the village idiot. Hence, his words of compassion ring hollow.
But the truth of the matter is that Ricky has a lot more in common with Russ than she knows. Of course, she doesn’t know that because of Russ’s whole dual identity act, and there’s no way of knowing how she’ll react to the revelation that the guy who has been trying to relate with her is Russ. Anyway, while all this is going on, the game begins, and while trying to chuck the ball at his teammate, Gerry stumbles from the playing field into the sidelines. That’s when Danny makes a split-second decision and trips Gerry, which snaps a few bones in his leg. This obviously creates the perfect opportunity to have Chad step in and help the Catfish to win. The only issue, though, is that he still has to execute the strategies that have been approved by Jake. Now, due to Russ’ skillset, Jake’s plays work better than they did when Gerry was the quarterback. Yet it’s not enough to help the Catfish win the game.
Chad Helps the Catfish Win a Game
At the end of Chad Powers episode 3, for the final stretch, Chad decides to use one of the plays devised by Ricky. He knows that there’s no way to call for a timeout or to take him out of the game and replace him with someone who can stick to the schedule. He is aware of the fact that he is risking his career. However, he still goes ahead with it, and, call it miracle or talent, Chad’s gamble works out. This serves as a redeeming moment for Jake, Ricky, the Catfish, and of course, Russ himself. After facing defeat after defeat after defeat, everyone gets to celebrate for a change, and it’s all because of Chad and Ricky. Hence, while everybody is celebrating on the field, Chad decides to head to the locker room to celebrate with Ricky.
It’s pretty evident that the show is building towards a romantic affair between Chad and Ricky, but if they get too close, Russ will need to reveal his true identity and risk his budding college football career. What will Chad choose then? Some kind of “no touch-y” romance, no romance at all, or the truth? Only one of these options will help him maintain his fake college football career, while the other two will severely complicate things. The only way I see it working is if Russ decides that this little experiment was nothing more than a spirited attempt to prove to himself that he still had the juice, retires his Chad persona, and decides to help the Catfish as a coach alongside Ricky. That way, they can romance each other, and Russ can stay close to football. That said, those are just my thoughts on this episode of the show. If you have any opinions on the same, feel free to share them in the comments section below.
