was this the season finale?
if it is... why are there so many cliffhangers and unresolved issues... I cared a lot less about the hip than I did about getting back at Andre...
shareThere's really nothing to "get back" at Andre for.
This whole time Spencer has thought Andre has been out to get him... when really, all of Spencer's problems were of his own doing. He was so focused on moving forward and revenge this entire season (and last season), that he never once held the mirror up to himself and realized that the true bad guy in his life was not Andre, but his own stubbornness and lack of self-awareness.
Andre advised him of the risky nature of the real estate deal and advised him not to sink all his money into it (which is what an advisor does... they advise)... Spencer ignored that advice and rolled the dice, and lost. You can blame Andre somewhat for bringing that deal to Spencer in the first place and enabling him, but ultimately Spencer made the call.
Andre also told Spencer not to involve his friends in the deal... Spencer ignored that advice and con'ed guys like Eddie George into sinking everything they had into it.
Fast forward to episode 8-9 of this season and Spencer is right back at it, making huge gambles with his friends money. He had learned nothing from all of his mistakes.
Spencer even made the (wrong) assumption that Andre had been standing in his way of NFLPA certification, when it was actually Eddie George... someone that Spencer had screwed over royally in the past, never made an attempt to "make things right" with, and was actually doing something responsible in reporting Spencer to the NFLPA.
Even Spencer's hip injury in and of itself was of his own doing. He ignored Andre's financial advice, he rolled the dice, he lost. Rather than retiring and ending up broke like Eddie (in the show), he had to come back and play another season for the money... and he ended up seriously injuring himself.
Rather than getting it fixed, he kept putting it off (rolling the dice, once again). His image was more important than his health and well-being.
The whole point of this season is to show that Spencer's worst enemy all along hasn't been Andre, it hasn't been Mr. Anderson... it's been Spencer himself, both his shortsighted views and riverboat gambling nature.
Hopefully giving the talk to the rookies (which basically amounted to him saying, "don't be an idiot, like I was") and going in for the surgery is a step towards Spencer accepting some of the blame for his own costly actions. Additionally, it's also optimize that Spencer might, for the first time every... be looking at life with an actual long term vision, rather than a short sighted goal.
(don't worry... I'm sure Season 3 will be full of plenty more zany adventures, revelations, and trips to the strip club. And who knows... maybe Andre will turn out to actually be a bad guy once Spencer does start to really poach clients from him. This season though? He wasn't the bad guy at all.)
"There's really nothing to "get back" at Andre for.
This whole time Spencer has thought Andre has been out to get him... when really, all of Spencer's problems were of his own doing. He was so focused on moving forward and revenge this entire season (and last season), that he never once held the mirror up to himself and realized that the true bad guy in his life was not Andre, but his own stubbornness and lack of self-awareness. "
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That's a VERY good analysis.
It also why the finale ended with Spencer finally going in for surgery. He's finally "growing up," so to speak, and facing his demons.
It's too bad this show isn't an hour long, because issues like this, and like what Charles is going through, could be examined so much deeper with more time. Of course, "deep" isn't exactly Wallberg's goal here.
Totally agree.
Charles' story is pretty much a throwaway at this point (they take the time introduce the "manny" last week, and follow it up with crickets in the finale)... which is really unfortunate because it could be an interesting one.
The show either needs to drop some of these secondary characters (Ricky/Charles/Vernon/Travis) and focus on Spencer/Joe, or, it needs to be an hour long. There's just not enough time every week to cover Spencer/Ricky/Charles/Vernon AND hit the strip club every episode for some T&A.
Thanks for this thorough reply I appreciate you took the time and effort to point out the (many) things I missed... .
This does change my opinion entirely
No prob!
For what it's worth, I don't think this is a case of you flat out missing things as much as it is a failure of the show to lay out all of the dots that needed to be connected in a clear manner. Less gratuitous strip club scenes and more exposition probably would have cleared a lot of this up.
My wife watched every episode with me, paid attention, and had questions very similar to yours after the finale.