In the courtroom, the Gumb team watches the proceedings of Steve Nichols’ DUI case as Strip Law season 1, episode 3 begins. Everyone is shocked when the judge shows clear favoritism and sentences Nichols to coach a youth basketball team instead of imposing a harsher penalty.
At Gumb Legal, Lincoln is irritated by the positive publicity Nichols receives from the sentence. Determined to get similar attention, Lincoln decides he will coach a basketball team of his own. His complete lack of basketball skill is immediately evident, so he tries to enlist Irene to help. Irene, a physically fit powerhouse, seems like the obvious choice.
Lincoln also needs someone crafty enough to design trick plays. Sheila believes she is a shoo-in. Instead, Lincoln considers Barry Chandelier, the exotic dancer from episode one. Glem chimes in, claiming he knows how to rig children’s basketball games. A less-than-enthused Lincoln gives Glem money and tells him to go have fun somewhere else.
Sheila begs to be allowed to coach. She is granted her request on one condition: she must find the robotic baby doll she accidentally let loose in the office. Irene volunteers to track it down.
When Lincoln applies to become a coach, he is initially turned down because a judge keeps sentencing adults with DUIs to coach youth teams. However, when Lincoln explains he was homeschooled, the program director suggests he start a homeschooled squad instead.
Back at Gumb Legal, Irene retraces the baby doll’s last known locations when she hears it taunting her. Baby Burtrum is on the move and seemingly out for her blood.
Across town, Glem spends the money Lincoln gave him at a casino. There he finds a game called “Glem’s Bounty.” Instead of being confused or alarmed, Glem is thrilled that the casino has finally made a slot machine tailored specifically to him.
At the rec center, Sheila and Lincoln attempt to coach their new team. The children are initially hiding under the bleachers but timidly emerge when Lincoln pulls out “Filbert’s Christian Inhaler” to prove he is an outcast with overzealous parents and radical beliefs, just like them. The children pull out their inhalers in solidarity.
The team consists of a classic nerd, a geek obsessed with Elizabethan-style pantomime, an abrasively curious beekeeper, and two identical boys both named Chancley Johnson. One claims they are brothers, and the other insists they are not. Sheila attempts to include a dog on the team, but a dog dressed in human clothing proves too upsetting for the hyper-religious children.
After their first game, Lincoln thanks the opposing coach for instructing his team not to completely throttle the homeschool squad. The coach obliges and walks off sipping from a flask, ready to get back behind the wheel. Ignoring the implications, Lincoln is relieved that at least no one cares about winning and losing in peewee basketball.
He is quickly proven wrong when sports publications criticize his coaching while praising Nichols. After another game, Lincoln and Sheila take the team out for warm milk and creamed corn, where they run into Nichols. Nichols expresses that he is glad the children are having fun and wishes Lincoln well.
This irritating display of inner peace annoys Lincoln. He promises Nichols that they will meet in the championships and that he will take that inner peace from him. Lincoln has to reiterate that he is the good guy, despite sounding increasingly villainous.
Still hunting for Burtrum, Irene purchases another robotic toy. The replacement, a robotic pizza companion, is quickly destroyed in the dark. Irene grows increasingly fearful.
At the next practice, the team brainstorms ways to win. They decide to recruit a girl raised by wild horses. When she arrives, she behaves ferally but sinks baskets with ease. Lincoln believes they might actually reach the championships.
In a very non-miraculous twist, a plane carrying all the other youth basketball teams meets an untimely demise, leaving only Nichols’ team and Lincoln’s to compete for the title.
Back at the casino, Glem has not moved from the slot machine in four days. The machine seems to know everything about him, tailoring its features to be uniquely addictive. He has not won once but continues to play. In a private room, it is revealed that the machine is a prototype created by a meek scientist and purchased by predatory casino owners. The scientist grapples with the consequences of his invention.
At the championship game, Lincoln’s team leans heavily on the horse-raised recruit. When the buzzer frightens her away, the team quickly falls behind. Suddenly, the dog Sheila tried to recruit returns. In the final moments of the half, the dog leaps with the ball in its mouth and scores. A hawk immediately swoops down and carries the dog away.
In the locker room, Lincoln rallies the team. He realizes they are not lovable underdogs. They are strange, bitter, and fueled by rage. Embracing this new identity, they rebrand themselves the “Homeschool Monsters.” When the second half begins, they brutally attack the opposing team.
In the aftermath, Lincoln is condemned for allowing such behavior, and the players are permanently banned from youth sports. However, a coach notes that under Nevada rules, any sport can technically be won by knockout. By that logic, the homeschool team wins the tournament.
The children are relieved to be free from sports. Nichols, however, fumes at the loss, undoing all the personal growth he seemed to achieve.
Back at Gumb Legal, Lincoln and Sheila recount their descent into obsessive competitiveness. Glem raves about the slot machine bearing his likeness. Meanwhile, Irene sits on the office floor amid the chaos.
She was unable to find Burtrum and appears unhinged. Sheila casually turns off the robotic baby using her phone, revealing she controlled it all along as revenge for Irene stealing a soda earlier in the week. Lincoln points out that Glem stole the soda, not Irene.
In Las Vegas, obsession can take the form of slots, sports, or even a good trick. No matter the shape, it is always too much.
Catch all of season 1 now on Netflix.