‘Rooster’ Episode 5 Recap – This Is What We’ve Been Waiting For

In many ways, Episode 5 of Rooster is the one I was waiting for. I could see the dramedy’s potential from the very beginning, but it was missing something, relying on arch comedy pratfalls to keep the laughs going as the characters jogged in place. But those encouraging signs we spotted turn out to have been foretelling the arrival of “Mr. Razzles”, which develops Greg and Katie in more textured ways thanks to the sudden arrival of Greg’s ex-wife, Beth, whose infidelity led to the breakdown of their marriage.

There’s no ambiguity here, by the way. Even though all of what we’ve heard about Beth thus far has been second-hand, most of it from Greg’s bitter perspective, it all turns out to be accurate. Beth, a high-power Ludlow alum – explaining her return to campus to donate a student centre and kick-start a green initiative – was a hardcore careerist who didn’t really have time for marriage; an affair with Greg’s best friend was the only thing that fit in her schedule. Beth doesn’t beat around the bush with this. She regrets how it was handled, but it was a long time ago, and Greg is old enough to have gotten over it.

Greg hasn’t gotten over it, though, obviously, which becomes immediately apparent when he and Katie try to prepare for her arrival by hosting an “everything’s fine” family game night, and he repeatedly falls to pieces. Beth had apparently tried to be civil with Greg post-divorce, and he essentially fled from the difficulty of that dynamic; now, as an unlikely campus rock star who parties with the students and has been unironically nicknamed Rooster, he’s seemingly in a better position to make things work platonically, for no other reason than Katie’s benefit.

Only he isn’t. It becomes clear right away that Greg’s refusal to engage with Beth after the breakdown of their marriage has left him saddled with a wealth of resentments and issues that he hasn’t dealt with. He gets carried away during some light banter and mentions Beth having had an affair with his best friend. Towards the end of the episode, Katie re-hangs the painting that Greg carries everywhere, and Beth identifies it as having been acquired when he and Beth vacationed in Italy in their heyday; Katie was conceived shortly after. Greg hasn’t moved on at all, and as soon as Beth recognises that, she basically flees the scene.

Where Rooster Episode 5 excels is in not trying to vilify Beth. She was in the wrong at the time – and her unwillingness to discuss things in the present day isn’t particularly healthy either – but the fact that she can acknowledge she was in the wrong is a smart choice. Beth’s character flaws ruined her relationship with Greg, and have coloured her relationship with Katie, but that leads to more interesting dynamics. Katie kind of wants her mother’s advice about Archie, but she knows she isn’t well-positioned to give it. This not only makes Beth and Katie’s relationship feel more real, but also adds some contours to Greg and Katie’s dynamic, especially given he has had to be the one who supported her emotionally despite struggling so much in that regard himself.

And Katie needs advice because she’s digging a deeper and deeper hole for herself with Archie, whom she keeps sleeping with even though she knows it’s a bad idea. Sunny – whose relationship with Archie is the only one in the show I’m not buying – seems to be going off Archie at a record pace, but she can tell his heart isn’t in it. The baby, of course, makes things much more complicated, but we’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it. That’s if Archie doesn’t get himself arrested or further disgraced in the meantime. His search for the “For Katie” graffiti artist takes a turn here when his prime suspect assumes he wants to speak to her alone so that he can sleep with her. This guy can’t seem to do right for doing wrong.

But things are better. Greg is finding his place on campus, bonding with alcoholic hockey coach Jake, and he’s doing it on his own terms, without clinging to his former relationship with Beth. I do think there’s light at the end of the romantic tunnel for Greg and Dylan – there’s certainly more longevity there than with Cristle, who at one point photocopies her boobs for Greg to sign under the guise of a boring HR form – and, in a roundabout way, a potentially happy ending for Katie and Archie, at least if they can both get out of their own way. That might be easier said than done, though.