'Chad Powers' Season 2 Ending Explained: Did Catfish win? Gerry’s threat puts Russ' future at risk
'Chad Powers' Season 2 just dropped all its episodes on Hulu, and life has definitely gotten considerably harder for everyone's favorite quarterback. For those unaware, the show follows Russ Holliday (Glen Powell), a disgraced former college football quarterback who tries to relive his glory days by disguising himself as the titular character playing for the South Georgia Catfish. This season, he has to deal with his teammate Gerry's (Colton Ryan) doubts. Gerry's suspicion grows when he sees Coach Ricky Hudson (Perry Mattfeld) sneaking into Chad's house at odd times and Howard Powers (Toby Russ) wearing prosthetics during the homecoming banquet. All these events make him wonder what's going on.
Things come to a head in the penultimate episode titled '11th Quarter.' Gerry attacks Russ' friend Danny (Frankie Rodriguez), and finally gets his hands on the prosthetics that turn Russ into Chad. Gerry now has evidence of Chad's misdeeds and could destroy everything the disgraced athlete has worked so hard to build. Chad needs to offer him something in return to keep the secret from coming out. Chad and Gerry meet in an empty theatre during the finale to discuss things, but the audience is unaware of the details of their conversation. Russ later catches up with Ricky (Perry Mattfeld) and Danny, telling them that all Gerry wanted was money to keep his mouth shut.
The proceedings shift to the all-important game between Catfish and the Texas Longhorns. If Catfish wins this game, they advance to the College Football Playoffs; if not, their dream season comes to an end. Chad is horrible in the field and brings the entire team down. By halftime, the Catfish are considerably behind their opponents. Ricky, shocked to see what is transpiring, meets Danny, who reveals that he found a piece of paper in Chad's room that lists Chad's statistics, essentially all the negative plays that would tank the Catfish's season. It all goes back to Chad and Gerry's fateful meeting in the theatre, where the latter asked him to play a “historically bad game” so the backup QB could win all his bets placed against Chad, amounting to around $200,000. He also threatened Chad to take responsibility for framing him by placing a 3-D printed gun in his locker. Chad agreed to all the terms in exchange for keeping his identity a secret.
Ricky catches up with Chad and tells him that she knows everything. Drawing on her knowledge of Russ’ previous games, she develops a strategy Chad can use on the field that will help the team win without violating Gerry's terms. The plan works, and Catfish starts making a comeback in the match. However, everything falls apart in the final moments, when the only way to win is to score a touchdown, but that would require breaking one of Gerry's laid-out terms. As Chad is contemplating what to do, he shares a heartwarming moment with Coach Hudson, who tells him that no matter what happens, both his coach and his mother are proud of him. Chad decides to go for it and wins the game for the team.
Everyone is ecstatic except Gerry, who storms into the field but is stopped by Tricia Yeager’s (Wynn Everett) security guard. It is later revealed that Tricia knows about Chad's secret and now has a vested interest in keeping the ruse going. The season ends with Chad and Ricky confessing their feelings, and Coach Hudson walking in on them. If the show is renewed for another season, it will probably focus on Chad's new relationship and Tricia's schemes.
