HBO’s new comedy series starring Steve Carell keeps delivering awkward moments and family drama. The third episode, titled “White Whale,” aired on March 22, 2026, and showed Greg Russo’s first day as writer-in-residence at Ludlow College going completely wrong. What started as a deal to save his daughter Katie’s job quickly turned into a series of embarrassing moments, classroom mistakes, and unexpected campus chaos.
The episode follows Greg as he tries to fit into a world he never experienced himself. He never went to college, and now he is supposed to teach a writing seminar to students who mostly have never read his books. His shiny new shoes become a running problem throughout the day, causing him to slip, fall, and end up in uncomfortable situations. By the end of the episode, Greg finds himself alone at home, tossing pennies into a mason jar, wondering if he made a huge mistake.
Greg’s Teaching Debut Brings Accidental Offenses and Slippery Shoes
Greg’s first day starts with him lying to Katie about how he spent his last night in Florida. He told her his friends threw him a big goodbye party, but the truth is he spent the evening alone, watching hockey and throwing pennies into a jar. Katie quickly catches on when he names characters from the sitcom Cheers as his friends who were there.
When Greg arrives at his new faculty house, he finds a welcome basket from the college. Katie turns down his offer to stay with him, saying she needs her own space and wants to deal with her problems alone. She tells him she has spent too much time in her mother’s shadow, and now her father is showing up to do the same thing. They leave things on a light note, with Katie joking that she will crash with him for a few days, and Greg believing her.
Walking to campus in his new shiny shoes, Greg meets Professor Dylan Shepard (Danielle Deadwyler). He admits he has first-day nerves, and she agrees to walk with him. But she quickly uses him to confront President Walt (John C. McGinley) about something. It turns out Walt had promised the writer-in-residence job to Dylan’s friend Ruby, an award-winning poet. But Walt gave the job to Greg instead because Ruby had not written anything people had heard of.
Greg defends Walt’s decision, explaining he only took the job to save Katie’s position. Dylan leaves upset, and Walt shows Greg to his office. The office connects to Walt’s office, which makes Walt very happy. As quickly as he showed up, Walt leaves, letting the door slam behind him.
Greg arrives at his classroom out of breath after tumbling down a hill because of his slippery shoes. One student, Tommy, recognizes him and has a copy of one of his books. But Greg quickly learns that none of his books are in the college library. He describes his books as “beach reads” that you find at airports, but he tells the class they are examples of how to write page-turners.
The class does not go well from there. When Greg calls a student his “white whale,” referencing Moby-Dick, the student accuses him of body-shaming. He tries to explain he meant it as a positive challenge, but the damage is done. Archie (Phil Dunster) is in the class and surprisingly defends Greg, saying everyone makes mistakes on their first day. Greg later meets with the dean and gets a verbal warning. The dean invites him for a porch whiskey later that night.
The slippery shoes cause more trouble when Greg slips again and grabs a student’s chest to break his fall. He argues it was a “gentle cupping,” not a full squeeze, but the disciplinary committee does not see it that way. The student says she knows it was an accident, but Greg’s day keeps getting worse.
Katie Struggles With Suspension While Watching Archie Move On
Katie is dealing with her suspension from teaching after burning down Archie’s house. She finds herself watching Archie teach his class through the window of his classroom door. She watches him laugh with students and look comfortable in front of the room. When two students spot her, she quickly walks away and runs into someone else, hurrying off embarrassed.
Later, Katie meets with Dylan, who has now become the interim dean after the actual dean suffered a heart attack. Katie admits she is struggling and asks for help. Dylan agrees to try to get Katie’s suspension lifted, even though she admits she does not fully know how her new job works yet. Katie tells Dylan that watching Archie teach made her realize he is not struggling the way she is.
When Greg shows up at Katie’s house needing her to look at his lesson plans, she is smoking a cigarette and quickly hands it to her teaching assistant Lilly to hide it. Both Katie and Lilly tell Greg his lesson plan has too much scheduled and that he needs to relax. Katie tries to tell him to have fun with his teaching, like when he coached her childhood sports teams. But Greg is too nervous to listen and rushes off to class.
Katie ends up going out with Lilly instead of going to the hockey game with Greg. Greg shows up at the game alone, wearing an old hockey jersey he has to turn inside out because the mascot is offensive. He runs into Dylan at the game, who is there because the hockey coach is clearly drunk and she has to handle it as the stand-in dean. Greg sits alone, feeling like he is failing at everything, and leaves early when the coach throws a bottle onto the ice.
Back at his house, Greg sits alone throwing pennies into a jar from across the room. The jar seems to have been his companion since his divorce, and the scene shows how lonely he really is, even though he came to Ludlow to be near his daughter.
Dean Riggs Suffers Heart Attack, Dylan Takes Over Leadership Role
A major shakeup happens when Dean Riggs (Alan Ruck) has a heart attack in his office. Dylan had gone to confront him about moving the free speech zone right outside her office as petty revenge for her complaining about him. When Riggs starts choking and asks for water, Dylan refuses to hand him a glass. He collapses, and Archie tells her to call 911. As Dylan makes the call, Archie takes a thank-you gift from the dean’s desk.
Riggs survives but will be out for a while. Walt tells Dylan she will cover the dean’s classes and take over his duties. Walt insists Riggs will be back soon, but the show cuts to Riggs in the hospital with a breathing tube. Susan, the dean’s wife, tells Greg that the dean valued their friendship, even though Greg admits he did not know him well.
Greg ends up sleeping in the dean’s hospital room and wakes up late for class. He rushes to campus, but his students are ready to leave because he is not there. He stops them and asks someone to read the lesson plan since he never went home after the hospital. Eventually, he gives up and tells the class to just have fun. He admits to being scared to teach but reminds them they are all connected through their love of writing stories. His honesty about his own writing journey finally connects with the students.
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Sunny Searches for an Advisor While Keeping Her Pregnancy Private
Sunny (Lauren Tsai) is trying to secure a summer internship before her pregnancy becomes obvious. She talks with her roommate Mo (Robby Hoffman) about options, but Archie keeps shushing them because he is trying to write his book. Mo clearly does not like Archie and thinks he should leave Sunny alone.
Sunny decides she wants to ask Walt to be her advisor, but Archie warns against it. He says Walt is too nosy and will insert himself into their business. Archie tells Sunny about the time Walt overheard him mention wanting a dog and showed up at his house with a dog named Roscoe. Even though Archie loves the dog now, he thinks Walt oversteps.
Later, Sunny approaches the dean about being her advisor, but he turns her down. Walt, who is lifting weights nearby, overhears and gives her advice about picking the best advisor regardless of what they can do for her. Sunny thanks him but does not ask him directly. When she tells Archie she wishes she had asked Walt, he tells her Walt was just eavesdropping like he always does.
Archie eventually helps connect Sunny with Walt. Walt seems excited to have a front-row seat to the drama between Sunny, Archie, and Katie. Sunny is relieved to have someone who will give her honest advice. Archie also tries to bribe Dean Riggs with a fancy bottle of wine but snatches it back when Riggs has his heart attack.
The episode ends with Dylan now serving as the interim dean, Greg sitting alone in his house, and Katie still avoiding her father. New episodes of Rooster air every Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on HBO and stream on HBO Max. The first season will run for 10 episodes, with the finale scheduled for May 2026.
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