Lucky Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Confidence is Currency

Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0

4

There’s something to be said for subverting expectations. On Lucky Season 1 Episode 3, “Read the Room,” things tended to zag when we expected a zig.

For example, when I saw that Matthew Rauch would appear in Lucky, a Jonathan Tropper show, I expected him to play something akin to his legendary Clay Burton on Tropper’s Banshee.

Well, nope. RIP, Noah. At least his exit didn’t spook the horses.

Lucky, “Read the Room”

Lucky puts herself in many different spaces on “Read the Room” before climbing back into control.

After witnessing Noah’s torture and execution, we glimpse a moment of panic before John’s creepy Pavlovian conditioning kicks in and she starts problem-solving.

Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s pretty amazing that her dad can calm and refocus her from a distance and with just his voice.

What’s disturbing is how he’s the reason she’s in this fix and that he has no remorse for any of that.

In fact, in both flashbacks, we see how it’s John’s ambition and plotting that have always pushed (or dragged) Lucky into dangerous, illegal situations.

Sometimes a Feeling is All You Got

John’s underdeveloped — possibly non-existent — instinct for risk and consequences contrasts Lucky and Priscilla’s better sense of self-preservation.

For John, it’s all about the payday. He lives for the con and thrives on the thrill of seeing a plan through, even if it endangers his daughter, long-term plans, or his freedom.

In the cold open, we see how he disregards Priscilla’s warning about churning up cash through their gas ploy faster than she can clean it.

The consummate confidence man, he then shrugs off Lucky’s concern about even working with Priscilla.

The oil field flashback also serves to tie Agent Rand into the gas scam, explaining how she established John’s connection to Priscilla and possibly how she sent them both to prison.

Rand’s conflict with her partner boils down to her own addiction to the chase. While John chases the high of a score, she chases the high of taking down criminals.

For both of them, the high is worth pursuing by any means necessary, sacrificing people, procedure, and goodwill as required.

Although they have yet to share a scene here, it’s a treat to see Timothy Olyphant and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor working in tandem again. Their dynamic was the best part of 2024’s Justified: City Primeval.

Ellis-Taylor always impresses with her on-screen presence. To stand toe-to-toe with Annette Bening at her most malevolent and come away with the W is a feat.

Be in a Better Place

Can we take a moment and admire Lucky’s ability to find silver linings? Maybe that’s what she’s named after, because it certainly isn’t for her relationships.

After John’s pep talk, she escapes Priscilla’s estate undetected and manages to slip into a children’s birthday party at a neighboring mansion by politely offering to help a guest with gifts and kids.

I am clearly going to the wrong sorts of children’s birthday parties. Seriously. That walk-in closet is bigger than my kitchen. Also, what kid’s party has an open bar serving shots?

Her pivot from nanny-in-a-t-shirt to socialite-in-borrowed-finery is not just clothes, it’s demeanor and disposition.

In the blink of an eye, she’s transformed from helpful household staff to sympathetic party guest.

Just as quickly, she shifts gears to her father’s training. Interwoven with her childhood memories of his tips on how to be invisible at parties and pick her timing and targets, she scoops money, a ride, and an entirely new identity.

Son of a B*tch

I wonder if emphasizing Priscilla’s concern for her son couldn’t be more subtly managed or if the repeated mention of how irrational and unpredictable it’s making her is laying the groundwork for something more.

Because, honestly, Cary Masterson has been the least interesting part of all of this.

Again, it could be a deliberate choice. He was Lucky’s willing accomplice. Then he betrayed her. Now he’s her target.

Meanwhile, we’re supposed to believe he has a plan that even his mother and Dutch can’t discern.

But he’s an utter void of personality so far. Beyond taking the money and screwing up everyone’s lives, he’s just a shirtless, walking trigger for Lucky.

Even John recognizes that Cary can still mess things up (even more) for him because Lucky’s emotionally spinning out. His directions are crystal-clear. Do not engage.

“This is about the money now. You pick your moment, and then, like Zorro, you get in, you make your little ‘Z’, and you get the fuck out. Do not get it in your head to have some kind of reckoning with him over this. Do you understand? Nothing he says will be good enough. And if he’s willing to do this to you, we don’t know what else he’s willing to do, right?” — John

It’s About Her Damage, Not His

Of course, when she can’t find the $10 million cash in his beach house, she’s forced to confront him.

Overall, Lucky Season 1 Episode 3, “Read the Room,” is a more methodically paced deep-dive into the characters (except Cary) and circumstances than the premiere event episodes.

All the pieces are in place to spring into action once the money’s back in play. And it’s anyone’s guess how it will unfold.

“You ever heard of punctuated equilibrium? It’s an evolutionary theory. Extreme circumstances require radical change. If you want to survive, at least.”

Can Lucky be surgical about getting the money back from Cary?

How did Whittaker know about Cary’s beach house?

Will Lucky and Cary be able to settle things before Agent Rand, the feds, and the full weight of Priscilla’s forces descend on them?

What grabbed you most about “Read the Room,” Fanatics? Hit our comments with your major takeaways!

TV Fanatic is searching for passionate contributors to share their voices across various article types. Think you have what it takes to be a TV Fanatic? Click here for more information and next steps.