HBO’s Rooster has had a hit-and-miss kind of season so far, and with the finale just a week away, the show has finally started to build up to a decent final act befitting of the last episode of the season. Episode 9, titled Ludlow’s Fourth Hottest Professor, is a step up from the dull and clueless swing that was episode 8. The episode not only brings the focus of the show back to the Russos but also provides the necessary tension needed for the big climax of the season.

Lately, the show has been all over the place, giving excessive amounts of time to meaningless subplots and half-baked storylines, which really messed with the pace and the core theme of the series. This particular episode, though, centers around Katie and, through her struggles and issues, puts the light back on the father-daughter dynamics that the show originally set out to explore. 

The episode kind of eases you in with a chipper opening and happy faces all ready to take their problems head-on.

After Greg went to great lengths to persuade Tommy to change his decision about dropping out of college, he decided to stay at Ludlow and complete his studies. Greg, as promised, helps him with his grade. He is joined by Cristle in his initiative, who hilariously uses life-scarring trauma as motivation for her son to keep studying. Like a son really needs to hear, in front of his friends no less, how he was a 14-pound baby and delivering him really messed up his mother down there, just to get back to studying.

Greg then goes to see Katie after her class, who is feeling a bit relieved having told the truth about her and Archie sneaking around the campus. She feels as if it is a new start for her and, in that excitement, puts on her helmet a little too early. To save herself from embarrassment, she innocently asks her dad to do the same, who, without even a second thought, puts his helmet on. Father-daughter time begins with a joyride around campus, complete with sound effects.

The scene shifts to Greg’s living room, where Tommy is busy doing his assignment, and Katie is also there just chilling, and they both are seen sharing a somewhat sibling vibe, which is kind of wholesome to watch. Then, suddenly, Greg enters and asks her about her dinner plans with her mom, which informs us that she is in town once again. 

The topic then somehow shifts to Archie, and she just cannot help but feel breathless whenever she sees him around the campus, just living his life. But she has a plan to divert her mind. She is going after Dylan’s program to put young professors on tenure, and Greg and Tommy could not be more supportive. And while describing herself as a professor fit for tenure, she says how she sees herself as a girl-next-door kind of "hot". To this, Tommy reveals that he may have seen her on a list of the hottest Ludlow professors, and she was in 4th spot.

‘Rooster’ Episode 7 Recap: Can Walt Fix His Mistakes While Archie Steps Up?

This conversation somehow pumps her enough to go talk to Dylan about the tenure the very next day.

Katie really meant business when she said she would be going after the tenure, as she can be seen relentlessly pursuing Dylan to her class, just trying to convince her of her candidacy. After some convincing, Dylan approves of her candidature and promises to put this up for discussion with Walt. The conversation goes well, but as Katie and her parents stroll around campus, Russo is taken aback by how fast-track means Katie has to wait five years to get tenure.

Both mother and daughter make fun of how ineffective he is at motivating Katie. Greg gets annoyed and leaves the two to their mocking and rushes off to the hockey practice. Just moments after, Katie discloses that her dad has finally moved on and taken down the picture of her. Beth looks a bit disappointed hearing that, and Katie senses that and confronts her. However, Beth jokingly tells her that she is just a woman who is hoping that her ex secretly worships her even after their separation.

They both end their conversation on that weird topic.

Katie is seen talking to Walt in the next scene, where he informs her that her wait for tenure has been reduced from five years to just one. Initially, the news makes her happy, but she starts to feel something off about this whole thing. She turns to Cristle and inquires as to whether Walt was lying or if tenure came up when he spoke to her mother. Her response confirmed that her mother had, in fact, interfered. 

While Beth is busy talking to a member of the college board of trustees (obviously trying to go after Walt's job), Katie, with a serious look on her face, asks her for a moment to talk. When Katie confronts her mother in her office for interfering once more, she discovers that her mother is the one who gained her the professor position in the first place, and, now, the tenure. Katie feels foolish for not seeing it earlier. She criticizes her mother for focusing on her work rather than her personal life. However, Katie is shocked by an unbelievable revelation that upsets her even more.

While Katie’s life is unraveling once again after learning some hidden truths, Archie is going through some of his own mess.

In the episode, Archie is seen struggling with his upcoming book, driving himself crazy with the deadline fast approaching. He manages to finish the book on time and sends it to his editor for feedback, while also giving a copy to his students for their opinions. But Archie, being Archie, could not take their criticism positively and instead acted rudely to their suggestions. 

Later, he hears from his editor, who informs him that they are canceling his book. Coincidentally, Sunny happens to walk in while the conversation is underway, and Archie behaves as if the editor was impressed by his book, and this is exactly what he tells Sunny afterwards. He is clearly ashamed of his failure and is not coping with it very well. He just does not want to let Sunny see him as a failure, too.

On the other hand, Sunny has decided to go ahead with her decision from the previous episode and decline the job offer from her dream firm. She informs Walt of the same, who finds it hard to process that information. But after some thought, he gives his approval to the decision on the condition that Sunny first needs to confirm that Archie is prepared to show the same level of commitment to her and the baby.

By the looks of how things are going for Archie and Sunny, we get an idea that they are headed for a sure-shot disaster, and how big it is going to be will only be revealed in the finale. But is it going to be as big as Katie’s?

Before we delve into what happened after Katie’s conversation with her mom, there is a little subplot about Greg coaching the college hockey team for one last time before his term is up. Greg and Dylan talk to the drunkard hockey coach at the beginning of the episode, who is still going through the rehabilitation program, so he is still in no condition to come back to coaching.

Therefore, Greg will continue to coach the team while they find someone to fill in. He is excited about the progress that the team has made under him and suggests that Walt bring the college board member who threatened to do away with the hockey program altogether due to budgetary restrictions. According to him, seeing the progress firsthand might sway him otherwise. Walt agrees, and Greg could not be more thankful.

Before the match, he gave a pep talk to the team, which had no effect on their morale whatsoever. So, he thought it would be a good idea to bring in the former coach, who went on to reveal some of the nasty and awful things he did to the players without them knowing. This idea could have easily blown up in his face, but it worked wonders for the team, who went on to crush the opposition and win the game.

Buzzed by his victory, Greg returns home to find a distraught Katie who confronts him for meddling in her affairs. She asks him about the real reason for joining Ludlow, and he gave her a fake answer, but it was futile, as she already knew the truth. Her mother told her that it was Greg all along, trying to make things easy for her. It was he who asked her mother to get her the job in the first place. 

She then said that she wished he had not gotten involved when she was about to be fired, as she might have gotten out of the place, away from Archie and his memories. He tries to make amends by telling her that all he wanted was the best for her, but she does not want to listen to any explanation. All she wanted was for her dad to trust her to make her own life decisions. Katie is deeply saddened by all the lies, and she is a bit angry, too. Greg is left feeling depressed and alone when she storms out. 

She stuffs herself with pies in a diner to mitigate her anger and disappointment with her father. She encounters Archie there, who is also drowning his sorrows in a poorly made tea (according to his pretentious standards). Surprisingly, he consoles her by praising her intelligence and eventually turns the topic of conversation to himself by talking about his book getting cancelled. She tells him he will get his book back since he persuaded her to take him back, and even prepared a speech for that matter. 

She later insists on telling her about the contents of the speech, and after some pestering, Archie does. Halfway through it, Katie says yes, and Archie is visibly baffled, inquiring what she is saying yes to, as he is not actually giving her the speech to get her back. Katie does not care; she says she is on board, and he may do as he pleases with that information. This leaves not only Archie but the viewers, too, flabbergasted as she leaves after kissing him.

This is the kind of bombshell that the finale of a series needs to conclude the season with a bang. While Greg and Katie’s relationship hangs in the balance, she is on her way to tank Archie’s hopes for a future with Sunny and the baby. The finale holds a lot of surprises for the audience, and hopefully, it will stick to the father-daughter track with less focus on the distracting subplots.   

'Rooster' Episode 6 Recap: Greg Starts a New Relationship While Katie Struggles With Her Old One

How do you think Katie’s falling out with Greg will play out in the finale? Share your thoughts in the comments.