In Rooster episode 3, we saw that Russo's first day teaching at Ludlow College was an eventful one, to say the least. He ended up in the hot seat one too many times. Although he made minor mistakes, it was still hilarious to see the staff talk about his shortcomings in an official meeting.
While her dad struggled to find his footing, Katie learned to try to accept her suspension. She put her TA in charge of her classroom things while also learning to branch out. Meanwhile, Archie tried to help Sunny find an advisor in the weirdest ways. On top of all of this, Professor Dylan stepped in as Dean of the college when the Dean had a heart attack and landed in the hospital.
After an up-and-down, chaos-filled three episodes, I’m wondering what more our characters could land themselves in this season.
Russo finds his groove
Russo seems to be finding his groove in his teaching position. His students seem to like him and the material. Just as he's finding his way, he lands in the hot seat again.
After class, he was walking through a student area when he tripped. Due to him covering up his trip by doing the Egyptian dance, he had to apologize and sign an official document saying he wouldn't do such and such dance moves on campus. Crystal gives off weird vibes as Russo signs his infraction and other dance moves he can’t do on campus.
During that meeting, he apologized for making mistakes and then to Professor Dylan (acting Dean) for the hockey game accident. It was so funny how Dylan and Russo's side apologizes confused the staff.
Tommy and Russo’s adventures
Russo goes to bat over Tommy using AI to write his writing assignment. His desire to help Tommy gets turned down by Walt. He closes the library due to it being a Friday night and being pushy about Russo attending his get-together. I’m just rolling my eyes at the power Walt holds over people who can’t say no to him.
He arrives at Walt’s house and accidentally makes a bad first impression on Walt’s wife. He grabs his coat and runs out the door. He runs into Tommy rolling a keg when he should be writing. Tommy confirms he finished writing as he invites an unwilling Russo to come out.
As he’s walking away while Tommy struggles to pick up the keg, Russo changes his mind and helps him out. It’s Friday after all, and his student wants him to have fun for a change. He ends up mastering beer pong with Tommy and his friends. Russo admits to Tommy that he hasn’t been with anyone since his divorce, while Katie is failing to flirt with a bartender at the party her dad bailed on.
He is caught red-handed when the cop finds him touching graffiti with Katie's name on it. Apparently they are all over campus. When the cop finds out Russo’s hands are red because the paint isn’t dry yet, he tells him he’s watching him. Honestly this cop gets on my nerves with how he does his job. After the weirdest exchange ever, Tommy and the guys show back up as they chant Russo’s name.
At the party, Tommy admits that he needs to start his paper revealing he lied earlier. Now, he has inspiration from hanging out with the Rooster all night. After a heart-to-heart and adding cool shades, Tommy and Russo say goodnight. As Tommy writes about Rooster escaping his handcuffs, Russo breaks the bottles tapped to his hands as he struts through campus. He returned to Walt’s and apologized to Walt who couldn’t care less. Then, he approaches Dylan and finally reveals he regrets walking away from their potential kiss as she introduces him to another guy. He ends the night with Crystal in Walt’s office.
Katie's night out
Katie is back with her teaching assistant at her side for her first class after the suspension. Her class loves her honesty while teaching about art history men. She's back and better than ever, and I couldn't be more proud of our girl. Yet that's not the most interesting part of her storyline.
Archie shows up at Katie’s house as she’s getting ready to go to Walt’s. He doesn’t want to have all the eyes on him, and Katie loves to see him suffer. She admits that she doesn’t know how she’ll do it without him as he kisses their dog.
She runs into Archie at Walt’s house, the place he said he didn’t want to go to. He doesn’t like seeing her flirt with the bartender a few feet from him. I love that she chose to do it right after calling him out on fooling her with his odd "get a grip" story. So proud of Katie for standing up for herself. It turns out, maybe Archie isn't as broken up as he acts. But then again, they are both dealing with hurt over their marriage crumbling.
The next morning, Russo runs into Katie while strolling the campus. They both lie about where they’re coming from. Her walk leads her back to her house, where she hands Archie a coffee. He is laying in her bed ready for round two. To his surprise, she regrets sleeping with him and kicks him out.
Rooster airs weekly on HBO on Sundays at 10 PM ET/PT, with the finale releasing on May 10, 2026.