Warning: Major spoilers ahead

Greg is busy helping Tommy catch up with his college work to help him pass, recruiting Tommy’s pals Spooner and JD to help.

The second Greg leaves, the trio tries to take a weed break, but are stopped by Tommy’s mother Cristle, who demands they stay in the room and work – giving them a graphic insight into Tommy’s birth as a 14lb baby in the process.

Greg catches up with Katie as school lets out for the day, heading off on a bike ride together around campus.

At Walt’s house, Sunny breaks the news to him that she’s turning down the Biotecha job to stay at Ludlow with Archie. Walt is disappointed in her choice – as is Mo, who is furious at her.

However, after processing, Walt says he supports her, but she needs to make sure that Archie is making the same commitment to her that she’s willing to make for him. Mo promises to kill him if he’s not.

Archie meanwhile, is chain-drinking energy drinks and struggling to finish his novel. After cancelling a number of classes, Dylan checks in on him and finds him in his office in a state of caffeine-induced hyperactivity. She warns him not to cancel any more classes, before leaving him to it.

Greg and Dylan hold a meeting with Coach Jake to check in with him after his stint in rehab. He notes he’s doing well – though has taken up online gambling. With Greg leaving the college in a matter of days, Dylan wants to know if he is ready to return to work. He’s hesitant, as he feels he should complete the eight-week rehab course he’s on but notes a “demon” in his brain is eager to come back. Dylan warns him not to listen to that and assures him he’ll find someone else.

Tommy is at Katie’s house learning about World War II history – though isn’t entirely getting it. Katie and Greg keep an eye on him but get distracted about Katie’s plan to try and get her life back on track. To boost her ego and get her back into the dating world, he asks Tommy if he thinks she’s attractive (because she doesn’t trust her dad’s opinion, which is always positive). He tells her that there’s a list of Ludlow’s hottest teachers, and she’s fourth on the list. This is exactly the boost Katie needs.

The next day, Archie attends a feedback session with students he’s tasked with reading his excessively long book manuscript. He scolds those who were unable to make significant headway in the massive tome, while others try to give some kind of positive spin but argue that it needs to be shorter. Archie doesn’t listen and snaps at them before dismissing them all.

He later vents his frustrations to Sunny, who tells him that truly great people don’t need to be complimented. He questions how people are supposed to know they’re great if no one says it. However, he has a surprise for her – a soon-to-be available house on campus that they can move in to as a family to raise the baby. The house turns out to be Greg’s current residence when he opens the door to flip Archie off.

On campus, Greg and Walt catch up, and Walt shares that Graham, the head of the trustees, has recommended that they cut the hockey team. Greg fights to save it and urges Walt to get Graham to the next game so he can prove the team’s worth.

Katie visits Dylan in class and argues her case to be given tenure at the school. Dylan agrees she’s the perfect candidate, but there is a five-year track before they can grant it. Grabbing coffee with Greg and her mother, Elizabeth, she shares her excitement about this.

When Greg leaves, she notes to Elizabeth about how well he is doing since their split, even taking down the photo he had hung up of her during happier days. Katie urges her mother to leave her dad alone, because he’s doing better and seems to be finally getting over her, but Elizabeth jokes that he won’t because “nobody ever does”. When Katie tells her it’s not funny, Elizabeth continues to make jokes, saying she can’t help wanting her ex to miss her a bit.

At hockey practice, Greg is amping up the team ahead of their game with Pruitt. The team are nervous, with one of them noting their teeth got knocked out last time. He tries to encourage them but is distracted by Donny the cop watching and jeering from the sidelines, before saying the team are acting like “a bunch of girls”.

Greg is annoyed but agrees they shouldn’t be behaving like that – and is once again pulled into a disciplinary for comparing the men to little girls.

Archie, part of the board, is pulled away by a phone call from his publisher. It’s not good news: they’ve decided not to publish his book. When he spots Sunny, he lies and says that they loved it, which excites Sunny who believes he’s going to be an author.

The interaction is spotted by Katie, who is walking with Walt. He has a proposition for her – instead of the five-year wait, he would like her to make tenure in one. Katie happily accepts but something dawns on her. She asks Cristle if her mother put a word in on her behalf, and Cristle awkwardly confirms she did.

Katie finds her mother in the cafeteria and pulls her away for a talk.

Ahead of the big game, Greg surprises the team with an appearance by Coach Jake. He begins to rally them but starts to ruin it through a series of confessions – revealing he’d stolen things from them, slept with some of their girlfriends, and mixed up their meds. Nonetheless, this has the desired effect – the team hit the ice angry and fired up.

On the rink, things get violent quickly, with the Ludlow team dominating Pruitt College physically. Cristle gets into the game as she watches with Coach Jake, while Walt looks on with a horrified Graham – who eventually gets into it. The team wins, and everyone is ready to celebrate.

Meanwhile, Katie chastises her mother for interfering in her career, as she had worked hard to break out from her shadow and wanted to earn it herself. It comes out that Elizabeth had secretly gotten the job for her, which upsets her even more. Now she feels stupid and naive, believing she did it herself – especially as her mother isn’t exactly involved in her life. Elizabeth accidentally lets slip that it wasn’t her idea to put a word in… it was Greg’s.

In the locker room, Greg joins the team in celebrating their big win against Pruitt College. All the guys cheer for him and he laps it up.

But later that night, as he gets home, his buzz is flattened by Katie waiting for him. She confronts him about taking the job at Ludlow so she wouldn’t get fired, and he admits he did. She tells him that being fired could have been an opportunity for her to get away from Archie and find her own path in life.

When he tells her he did not want to see her make that mistake, she tells him she’s allowed – and needs – to make mistakes on her own terms. When she asks if there’s anything else she needs to know, he reluctantly shares that he’s become online friends with Sunny’s dad, but that’s it. She tells him that she’s upset, and that she thought he believed in her, but his behaviour indicates that’s not the case.

Katie heads to the diner to binge pie and finds Archie there too, sulkily drinking tea. She joins him and the pair rant about their shared problems. He comforts her, saying she’s the smartest person in any room and can do anything she wants to do.

When he tells her about the book deal falling through, she supports him by dismissing the publisher but draws a line when he starts fishing for compliments. She does tell him that he’s incredibly convincing as a person and will no doubt find another way to make it work. He admits that marrying her was the only thing that didn’t feel like a mistake. She kisses him and tells him she’ll reunite with him if he really wants.

She then leaves, leaving Archie with the cheque – and a big decision to make.