‘Chad Powers’: Glen Powell & Perry Mattfeld on Russ & Ricky’s Season 2 Ending
What To Know
- Chad Powers returned for Season 2 on September 3.
- Stars Glen Powell and Perry Mattfeld weigh in on Russ and Ricky’s Season 2 finale ending.
- Russ and Ricky have had a slow-burn dynamic since the first season.
After waiting a year to reunite with the characters of Chad Powers, Season 2 of Hulu’s hit comedy completely delivered on the palpable chemistry between disgraced quarterback Russ Holliday (Glen Powell) and football coach Ricky Hudson (Perry Mattfeld). (Warning: Spoilers for the Chad Powers Season 2 finale!)
As fans will recall, Season 1 saw Ricky uncover the truth behind Chad Powers’ disguise, as she realized Russ Holliday was behind the quirky character who had wormed his way onto her South Georgia Catfish team. While she threatened to expose his secret, he countered that doing so would ruin the team’s chances for success, and so Season 2 kicked off with a strained dynamic.
Russ’ betrayal as Chad may have hurt Ricky, but not enough to keep her from helping him, even when the odds were stacked against him. In Season 2’s finale, after disgruntled teammate Gerry (Colton Ryan) blackmails Russ, Ricky is the one to encourage the quarterback to reach for success, even if it has consequences, because that’s what he deserves.
“When you’re a football player… you’re a function of a program, right? You’re only really as good as your last game,” Powell told TV Insider. “And I do believe that… the essence of a good relationship is two people that really root for each other, even if it sort of is tragic,” he noted, acknowledging Russ and Ricky’s predicament.
While they care for one another, the idea of them getting their happy ending is nearly impossible as she’s called to coach another team, and he faces the potential ruin of having his secret exposed by Gerry in retaliation for winning the game he was tasked with losing. “She’s believing this is sort of their last game together, but she’s rooting for him to cross that line and he’s rooting for her to be the person out in front,” Powell pointed out.
Their mutual success in the game was elevated when Gerry’s threat was taken off the board by booster Tricia (Wynn Everett), who has the funds to potentially carry the secret identity all the way to the nationals after ousted mascot and bestie Danny (Frankie A. Rodriguez) sought protection for them all as he appealed to Tricia’s drive to win.
“He’s so afraid of not being able to be Chad,” Mattfeld shared, adding that Ricky “says it’s the same person… She’s verbally made that connection for him that it’s OK to believe that you’re not Russ anymore. Chad and Russ is one.”
With that realization for both Ricky and Russ, it only made sense for their sizzling chemistry to take a steamy turn, resulting in a seriously hot kiss in Season 2’s closing moments. “It’s rooting for the best of your soul,” Powell shared about Russ and Ricky’s mutual desire to go the distance on the football field.
Whether or not there’s room for them to do so off the field will be a test for Season 3 to potentially explore if ordered, but after Russ told Ricky he loved her, we’re hopeful there will be more to their story. After all, Mattfeld said, “I don’t even think [Russ] believes yet that he could be as good as Chad.”
Could further exploring a potential romance and aiming for success with the South Georgia Catfish lead to that kind of self-understanding for Russ? That’s just a few of the questions that linger, especially after Ricky’s dad, Coach Hudson (Steve Zahn), walked in on the pair mid-kiss as she was in the middle of tearing Russ’ Chad prosthetics off of his face.
Stay tuned to find out what could be next, and let us know what you thought of Russ and Ricky’s Season 2 ending in the comments section below.
Chad Powers, Seasons 1-2, Streaming Now, Hulu
