It’s the season finale and while season two of Ballers has wrapped up, things don’t exactly have that happily-ever-after-until-next- season feel to them. There aren’t any real cliff-hangers at the end of this episode but there are quite a few issues left unsolved. As expected Spencer is the one who’s future is the most in question. Let’s have a look shall we?

Last week’s episode saw Spencer making his play to buy ASM from Old Man Anderson. He brought the old man one million bucks in a bag and promised to bring the rest, $11 million, in the form of a check. True to his word, this week Spencer shows up and hands Anderson a check for the promised amount – I guess Vernon came up with that $5 million that Spencer asked for. Ah, but there’s now a small monkey in the wrench, a fly in the ointment. Anderson decides to change the terms of the deal. He doesn’t want to sell, instead he wants to keep the business and offer Spencer a piece of the action for a fraction of the original asking price. There’s some back and forth and, after Spencer regains his cool, they finally agree on a 51/49 split of the profits. Of course you can figure out who got what percentage. The only hurdle is that Spencer has to sort out his problems with the NFL Players Association and get his agent’s registration.

In the meantime things seem to be settling down for Charles. It looks like he has managed to find a balance between his work-life and his home-life. Julie seems happy with the way things are going and that makes things easier for him. The recruit he brought to the Dolphins is working out just fine and GM Larry Siefert is so impressed with these efforts that he promotes Charles to the position of his top assistant. Now Charles will be responsible for scouting promising new talent and participating in discussions that will help the Dolphins come up with a winning strategy. Charles lights up when he hears the news. This, however, will mean that he will be spending a great deal more time on the road. Siefert tells Charles that he’s going to be on the road for the next two months straight scouting talent. “You’ll be on the road for the next couple months. That’s gonna be alright?” Seifert asks Charles. A visibly less enthused Charles simply tells him that it won’t be a problem.

Vernon and Reggie load up the car and head to Dallas for training camp. While on the road Vernon lets Reg know that he realizes that Reggie has grown more responsible in his role as Vernon’s assistant and he wants to put Reg on salary. When Reg says that it won’t be necessary, Vernon mentions that the salary is $3,000 a week. Upon hearing that Reggie ceases to voice his disapproval. On the practice field Vernon runs through some practice drills with an assistant coach when the boss shows up with the new draft pick who is vying for Vernon’s position. The boss wants to see the two men go up against each other in a practice drill. The drill involves a great deal of aggressive physical contact between the two men and Vernon is determined to show that he can still do the job. Upon seeing the way the scene was shot I couldn’t help comparing it to two slaves (the two black players), on a plantation, who were told to fight each other for the amusement of the master (the white boss). Sure, these two players are getting paid an obscene amount of money to do this but with the boss standing there with a huge grin on his face, obviously delighting in what he’s watching, I just couldn’t get that thought outta my mind.

Ricky is waiting on a call from one of the three teams he’s interested in playing for: Carolina, Green Bay and New England. When he gets the call it’s from New England, his first choice, and it looks like he now has a chance for that Hall of Fame shot that Dennis has been talking to him about. Rick meets up with some of his new teammates, including the quarterback, on the beach to run a few pass play drills. Everything seems to go well and Ricky appears to be happy with his choice. When super agent Jason Antolotti tells him that his contract with New England is only for one season and the price is only $1.5 million Ricky has pause for contemplation.

Spencer is getting a shot of pain medication for his hip when he gets a call from his contact at the Players Association. It seems that the process for his registration is being held up by one person. Spencer presses the contact to find out who this person is and where he can be found. The person is Eddie George who used to be one of Spencer’s closest friends until Spencer got him to go in on that bad real estate deal with Andre. Eddie filed a grievance against him and that is what has stopped the process. It seems that Eddie’s going to be at an NFL rookie symposium in Canton, OH. Spencer and Joe catch the next plane there to see if Spencer can reason with Eddie. They check into the hotel where the event is being held and Spencer gets Eddie’s room number. After pushing his way into Eddie’s room the two have words. Eddie tells Spencer that there is no way he’ll vote to approve Spencer’s registration. Eddie then poignantly describes what his life was like after he lost all of his money in Spencer’s investment. He talks about having to take hand-to-mouth jobs, living out of his car for a year and contemplating suicide. “I’m so grateful that I didn’t jump,” he tells Spencer. “Because now I have the chance to say fuck you Spencer! You have no right managing anybody’s money.” I can definitely feel for Eddie at this point. Spencer is left speechless after this. Defeat seems inevitable.

Upon hearing this news Joe suggests the only action available to those in their position — hit a first-class strip joint. There’s nothing like throwing away money that you don’t have in the company of a throng of fine, silicone-enhanced, half-naked women. They have such a good time that they end up getting thrown out of the joint. It’s at this point that Spencer seems to realize that he’s hit rock bottom. He’s got no prospects and nowhere to go. The next day Jay Glazer is hosting a seminar for the rookies and Joe gets Spencer some speaking time at the end of the program. Still looking much disheveled from the antics of the previous night Spencer takes the stage and speaks from his heart. He tells the rookies about the mistakes that he made during his career and he takes the opportunity to publicly apologize to Eddie, who’s also in the room, confessing how he lost Eddie’s money. He tells them that despite what they may think, they’re not invincible. Finally, he tells them that they need to be smart. After he leaves the stage Travis Mack, who’s in the audience, stands up and says that he respects what Spencer’s done and then he leads the crowd in a standing ovation. But Spencer has disappeared. The next time we see him he’s at the hospital ready to go in for his hip replacement surgery.

Fade to black…

Finally, more details about Spencer’s past bad deal with Andre are revealed. Ricky gets closer to making a decision about his future, with some parental guidance. Vernon and Reggie offer to make a ‘charitable’ gesture. And Charles’ new job creates a possible threat to his happy home.

Spencer wakes up to find his house in a bit of a shambles after the big draft party he threw. He doesn’t have time to throw out the trash, much less the straggling house guests, because he’s got to get up and out in a hurry. He’s on his way to collect some cash that is part of the investment Ricky promised him. Spencer plans to meet with Anderson later to make an offer to buy ASM. Apparently Ricky keeps a small amount of walking-around money in his home safe. We see him counting out one million bucks, in greenbacks, and throwing it in a black bag that he hands to Spencer as Joe looks on. Joe also notices that Ricky’s got more than a few gold bars in the safe as well. “We’re only one computer virus from the financial apocalypse yo. Need that back-up currency when shit goes down,” Rick tells him. Spencer tells Rick that they can take the other $4 million in the form of a check. He just needs the cash to make an impression.

After Spencer and Joe exit Ricky and his father, Dennis, continue their ongoing conversation about Ricky’s future. Before leaving Joe mentioned the $36 million dollar offer that the Rams still have on the table. Ricky is still hesitant about it. Now Dennis offers his son some fatherly advice. He tells Ricky that he should play for a team that has the best quarterback in the league. That’s the best way, according to Dennis, that Ricky can continue to read his potential as the league’s best receiver. Dennis wants his son to set his sights on the Hall of Fame. After a bit more discussion both agree that Rick needs to be with New England. Ricky says he needs to call Jason.

Joe and Old Man Anderson meet with Andre Allen about Andre’s offer to buy ASM. The meeting is short and anything but sweet. Andre offers $9.5 million for the business. This is well below the price that Anderson had in mind. Andre tells the old man that the business isn’t worth what it was before Anderson fired Spencer. He cites the care and attention that Spencer gave clients as the reason that ASM had done well up to this point. Anderson, of course, refuses the offer, telling Andre to come back only if he can spare $15 million.

We find super agent Jason Antolotti reassuring a very concerned Vernon that his place on the Cowboys lineup isn’t in jeopardy, despite the draft pick the team made to replace him, while he continues to recuperate from his injury. During this conversation the subject turned to Spencer’s current situation. When Vernon and Reggie voice their concern for Spencer Jason tells them that the $300 grand that Spencer loaned them last year was all the money that Spencer had at the time. This news catches them by surprise. Vernon decides to invite Spencer over to express his gratitude for this.

En route to his own meeting with Anderson, Spencer makes a quick stop by Vernon’s. Vernon and Reggie reveal what Jason told them bout the loan Spencer made them. In an effort to show their gratitude Reggie hands Spencer a check for a cool million. They want to invest in Spencer’s solo venture also. Spencer politely declines saying that he can’t take the money but he certainly appreciates the offer. He then goes on to his meeting with Anderson. There, with Joe looking on, Spencer announces to the old man that he wants to buy ASM, dropping the black bag on the table in front of Anderson. The old man takes a look at the cash and tells Spencer that he will sell — if Spencer can come up with the rest of the $12 million asking price.

It seems that things in the Greane household are getting a bit tense. Job responsibilities are keeping Charles away from home much more than Julie likes. She’s having trouble juggling her job schedule while trying to care for their infant daughter Kiki. When Charles mentions this to Larry Seifert the GM tells Charles that the job’s schedule is unrelenting. “That’s why I’m twice divorced,” he tells Charles. Seifert then tells Charles to go on home so he can spend some of quality time with his family. When he gets home Charles finds that Julie has hired a male nanny, named Manny (of all things), to take care of Kiki so that she can continue to work at the hospital. Needless to say Charles is not delighted with this new turn of events but, for the time being, there’s nothing that he can do about it.

Back in his car, Spencer gets a call from his doctor. She’s calling to inquire about the condition of his hip and to see about scheduling him for hip replacement surgery. Spencer, who’s munching on pain pills during most of the short conversation, tells her that he’s dealing with the hip problem just fine. He also mentions his current employment situation and says that he’ll consider the surgery sometime around his 65th birthday. He thanks her for her concern but he has to take another call. It’s Andre and he wants to meet.

Andre’s meeting spot is a vacant lot. Apparently it’s the property involved in the $6 million deal that went bad and here’s where we learn what went down. According to Andre, he recommended that Spencer only invest $600 grand in the deal. Andre wasn’t completely sure that it would make money. Spencer decided to go all in with $6 million and he got other people to join him. The deal went south and everybody lost big. This seems to be the source of not only Spencer’s financial issues but also the denial of his registration by the Players Association. Andre tells Spencer that he will give him the money to but ASM and allow him to keep the entire staff on the payroll. Andre also says he’ll clear up Spencer’s registration problems with the P.A. Spencer turns down the offer without hesitation saying that he’ll get the money to buy ASM on his own. That was a very ballsy move, possibly foolish but ballsy. However Andre’s last words to Spencer are that he shouldn’t get the money from his clients. “That’s how you got into this mess in the first place,” Andre says.

Now Vernon and Reg get another visit from Spencer. He wants to take Vernon up on his investment offer but the amount is going to have to be just a bit more that a million. He needs Vern to let him have $5 million! Fade to Black.

The season finale is next week.

When we last saw Spencer Strasmore, his application for registration had been denied by the NFL Players Association and he sacked from his job as a financial advisor by Old Man Anderson. Basically his life is now in the toilet and fate’s hand is on the chain just waiting to give it a yank. What shall Spencer do, oh what shall he do?

Well, to start with he says goodbye to his girlfriend. Tracy’s moving to Connecticut to start her new gig with ESPN. Right before she gets in the limo to head to the airport he happens to mention his new job status to her. Apparently he had just a bit too much tequila the night before and forgot to mention that small item to her. “Wait, Anderson built that division on your shoulders,” she tells him. To which he simply replies, “Yup, ungrateful fuck.” How true. They part in a very amorous manner but it’s unclear about their relationship’s.

Now that he’s not only jobless but also possibly girlfriend-less what’s next? Why he’s gonna take over the world. But first he’s going to throw an NFL draft party for his ‘clients’ and ‘prospective clients’ in order to keep up appearances. The party will be a big help in carrying out the next chunk of his grand master plan. Spencer wants to buy ASM from Anderson even though he doesn’t have a dime to his name. He’s either a visionary or he’s way out there where the buses don’t run. He goes into fund-raising mode, first hitting his boy Ricky up for a small loan — an investment actually — and it’s a mere $12 million. Ricky, whose also currently jobless but has WAY better prospects, agrees to consider the idea. Even for him that amount is more than just a bit of pocket change. Spencer also goes to visit his banker to try and get a loan. While he doesn’t walk out of the bank with a big bank of cash he doesn’t leave with a ‘NO’ for an answer either. Seems he still has hope! On his way back for the bank he gets a text from Andre asking if Spencer’s clients know he’s been fired yet. Spencer tosses the phone out the car window. Hope, after all, is a four-letter word.

Meanwhile Joe, who’s actually still in Spencer’s corner (kinda), is taking Spencer’s place at ASM. He comes out of his office and announces the new hierarchy to the staff and gives them the saddest excuse for a motivational speech that I’ve heard since the last time the company where I used to work at changed hands. Anyway, onward and upward.

Speaking of motivation, Charles finds it hard maintain his motivation after he finds out that Ricky is seriously considering turning down the Dolphins’ offer. After all, Charles went through a lot to get him that deal. Ricky, however, has since received a much more lucrative offer from the Rams who are back in Los Angeles. Ricky lets Charles know this over lunch and Charles immediately has the waitress cancel his order. He feels he wouldn’t be able to cut his food because the knife is no longer on the table. It’s stuck in his back.

Travis Mack is also feeling a bit uncomfortable and it’s not just because of the custom-tailored suit he’s wearing. It’s draft day for the NFL and he’s there in the thick of the proceedings, talking to team reps trying to procure an offer, and a future, for himself. He has sit-downs with team reps from the Miami Dolphins and the Dallas Cowboys. Both reps have no problem voicing concerns about the young phenom’s brash attitude and his reputation for wild antics. They also can’t deny the talent that has gotten him this far. The Dallas rep later tells Jason, who’s also there – obviously,  that if Travis does’t get scooped up in the first round Dallas will definitely pick him up in the second. While that could be good news, Travis wants to be one of the top five first round draft picks. Ah the sting of young ambition.

It’s finally party time though Spencer still hasn’t made his employment status, or lack thereof, known to his clients yet. Both Charles and his wife Julie are there. And of course they run into Ricky. It’s a rather cool encounter, needless to say. However Julie manages, as always, to talk some sense into Charles.

Spencer asks Ricky about his decision concerning the Rams offer. There are worries about the temptations that could await him in the city of angels. But Spencer tells him that this is the biggest offer in the history of free agency. This statement looks like it gets the wheels turning in Ricky’s head. Changing the subject, Ricky informs Spencer that he’s willing to invest $5 million toward Spencer’s business effort. Things are finally beginning to look up.  Charles runs into to Ricky again and they mend fences. In the end Charles encourages Ricky to take the Rams’ offer.

Travis joins the party but he’s on pins and needles about his draft prospects. On television he sees that the top five spots are quickly being snatched up and he’s not one of the snatchers. Joe, who’s also in with Spencer on the new business venture if the money can be found, shotguns a few beers with Travis to help him to relax. Meanwhile Spencer accidentally walks in on Sizzle Suggs who’s getting busy with a young lady whose acquaintance he’s managed to make. Turning to leave, Spencer stops and then asks Sizzle to make a phone call for him. As Travis sits there lamenting about how he didn’t get into the top five draft picks his phone rings. The Baltimore Ravens are picking him up as the number six pick in the draft. That phone call that Spencer asked Sizzle to make worked wonders for the kid. Among the cheers of celebration at Travis’ good fortune Sizzle lets it slip that Spencer’s now out on his own. We’ll see how the shock waves reverberate next week.

Ugly things from Spencer’s past surface to bite him in the ass big time this week on Ballers. Charles finds his groove in his new job, and things for Ricky continue to look up but not without complications. When we last dropped in on Ricky he was having a disagreement with his father, Dennis, over statements that Dennis made on Twitter. Those statements cost Ricky his offer with New Orleans and when Rick confronted his father about the issue things got real physical real fast. Ricky talks to Charles about what happened and Charles convinces him that he needs to be the bigger man and give Dennis a pass on this one. Their conversation also brings to light the fact that Ricky really wants to remain in Miami. Ricky goes to apologize to Dennis, bearing a peace offering — a new sports car. Meanwhile Charles goes to work to try to get Ricky another offer with the Dolphins. He brings the matter before Larry Seifert and Seifert tells him that in order for this plan to work not only would Ricky have to accept on offer with slightly less money, Charles will have to get another player to restructure his deal. That player is Alonzo Cooley. It’s a tough sell but Charles manages to pull it off. He lets Ricky know that the Dolphins will offer him a three-year contract for $9 million a year. It seems like Charles has finally found his niche in the Dolphins organization. Ricky is happy with the deal and gets on the phone to tell Jason to finalize things. Jason, however, has some news of his own. It seems the St. Louis Rams now have Ricky Jerret fever and they’ve made an offer, $36 million over three years with half of it guaranteed. Alas, decisions, decisions. Wish I could have those kind of financial problems.

Although Spencer hasn’t received word about his registration from the Players Association he still continues to act as a ‘mentor’ for young Travis Mack, who is looking to be a top round pick in the upcoming NFL draft. In order to raise Travis’ profile Spencer books him to tape an appearance on Jay Glazer’s program. When Glazer throws up a problematic play diagram on the show’s whiteboard and asks Travis how he would handle the situation Travis storms off the set. Spencer finds the lad and wants to know what’s wrong. Travis finally breaks down and admits that he’s dyslexic and seeing the play diagrammed on the whiteboard just frustrated the hell outta him. Spencer and Travis talk a bit more and Travis decides to go back and continue the taping. He erases Glazer’s diagram from the board and then proceeds to verbally diagram a brilliant solution to the problem Glazer presented. Once again Travis manages to impress those around him.

After meeting with Andre last week Joe is really beginning to have questions about incidents in Spencer’s past. The two are taking a steam when Joe decides to address his concerns. He also tells Spencer about Andre’s job offer. Things go ballistic from there. Joe mentions that Andre said that he shouldn’t trust Spencer and then he does allude to the fact that he thinks there are some things that Spencer hasn’t told him. That sets Spencer off, of course, and then it seems that the steam isn’t the only thing heating up the room. Joe then storms out.

When Spencer goes into the office who does he see meeting with Old Man Anderson but Andre.  It seems that Andre’s there to announce that he’s managed to steal Ndamukong Suh from Spencer and Joe and he also announces that he wants to buy ASM from the old man. Anderson says he won’t sell for less than a figure ending in eight zeroes. “You gotta keep a closer eye on your boys,” Andre tells Anderson. “The NFL PA, they certainly are.” He leaves the old man with something to ponder. Joe’s doing some pondering as well. He goes to Maximo Gomez and at first asks him to dig up some more dirt on Andre but when Maximo tells him that it’s a futile pursuit Joe turns around and requests info on Spencer. Maximo immediately gives him the lowdown on the storefront clinic where Spencer went to get his pain meds re-supplied. Joe visits the clinic and bribes the info out of the doctor. When confronted with all this info Spencer tells Joe the drug issue isn’t what Andre has over him. Spencer then comes clean about the real estate deal that went bad. It seems Spencer lost $6 million in that deal with Andre and he wasn’t the only one who lost a large amount of cash. There were other players who lost loads of cash in the deal as well. Now the chickens are coming home to roost. Old Man Anderson invites them to a business dinner where he drops the bomb. The Player’s Association denied Spencer his registration. Apparently the word’s out about his shady financial past.

There’s no joy in Mudville. Mighty Spencer has struck out. What’s gonna happen next? We’ll find out in two weeks.

Larry Seifert gives Charles his first assignment in his new position with the front office — inform lineman Nick Kovac that his services are no longer needed by the Dolphins. He tosses Charles the phone but Charles thinks that this news would be better delivered in person. He shows up at Kovacs house to find that there’s a birthday party going on for the player’s young daughter. DAMN! Could his timing be any better. When he finally gets Kovac alone and prepares to drop the bomb Kovac describes how grateful he is to be in Miami where he has access to excellent medical care for his daughter. The little girl has a severe case of asthma and Kovacs has been really impressed with the treatment she’s been getting from her doctor. Charles, being a new father, is so touched by what he’s hearing that he doesn’t have the heart to tell Kovacs that he’s getting the ax. When he gets back in the car with his wife, Julie, he confesses that he couldn’t deliver the news to the player that he was being cut. Julie tells him, in no uncertain terms, that this is what the job is and he needs to come to grips with it. He has her turn the car around and goes back to finish what he started. Upon walking back into the house he finds that Kovacs has already heard the news from Seifert, whom he called right after Charles left. Kovacs goes off on Charles for not having the balls to tell him face to face. Charles talks to Kovacs, who’s in the middle of a raging fit over the news, and calms him down by apologizing first. He then says that Kovacs is still young, he still has a promising career ahead of him and that he’ll be able to play for a team that will appreciate him more than the Dolphins have.

Ricky, still pondering the offers from Buffalo and New Orleans, is discussing the matter with his father, Dennis, and TTD. Dennis is counseling his son to go where the money is but Ricky isn’t sure and still seems to be seriously considering New Orleans. TTD suggests that he go and spend some quiet time at the fun house and there maybe he can finally reach a concrete decision. Rick likes that suggestion and is spending some time in the pool when he’s joined by two female ‘advisors’ who show up to ‘help’ him sort out his options. In the middle of their intense conversation about the merits of moving to New Orleans, Ricky’s phone rings. It’s Jason telling him that New Orleans has taken its offer off the table because of a tweet that Dennis put out saying that his son should be about getting a big payday. This, of course, does nothing to strengthen the tenuous relationship between father and son. The next time we see Rick, he’s confronting his father over the issue and as we leave them things have come to blows.

Spencer, Jason and Travis Mack join TV sports analyst Mark Schlereth for a little fishing trip. Schlereth had been downplaying Travis’ draft prospects and Spencer thought the fishing trip would give them a chance to iron things out and upgrade his prospective client’s profile with the TV analyst. Well, he got that wrong. Travis is up in Schlereth’s face from the jump about the comments Schlereth made on his show. Spencer has to issue a stern rebuff in order to get Travis to back down. When Schlereth continues to doubt Travis’ ability Spencer has the boat captain detour to a stretch of beach so that he can prove that Travis has what it takes by proving that he can run. Even though he’s had quite a few beers, Travis completes a 40-yard dash with a 4.58 time. This impresses Schlereth enough so that has to rethink his opinion of the kid.

Joe has accepted an invite from a very attractive friend to attend a party at an exclusive palatial residence. There he spots the young lady who invited him. She reveals that the house belongs to Andre Allen and it was Andre who asked her to invite him. As if on cue, Andre sees Joe and waves him over. Not being one to waste time Andre cuts to the quick. He wants Joe to leave Anderson, and Spencer, and come work for him. Andre sweetens the deal by saying that he’ll increase Joe’s salary to a cool $500 grand, up from the $350 grand that he’s currently getting. Joe at first says he’ll think about it, but just before leaving the swanky little shindig he informs Andre that he’ll have to respectfully decline the offer. Andre drops some knowledge on Joe about Spencer’s past financial dealings and tells him to ask Spencer more in-depth questions about his financial past.

It looks like things are now going to get rather complicated between Spencer and Joe. Apparently somebody has ‘some ‘splaining’ to do. It could get very ugly indeed.

Super agent Jason Antolotti headed out into the Florida Everglades to talk to a young Florida State University linebacker named Travis Mack. When Jason arrives at his destination he’s greeted by a wise-assed young man who would fit the iconic definition of a hillbilly if only he lived anywhere near some hills. Travis introduces Jason to his uncles, Billy, Bob and Wade, and then carries on like a spoiled child when he finds out that Jason hasn’t come bearing gifts. The agent cuts right to the point. “Is there some place where we can go meet without your dirty uncles breathing down my neck?” he asks. Travis takes him out into the swamp on an airboat. He fakes engine trouble and coaxes Jason into getting out into the reptile-filled water to give the boat a push. When Jason does so the boy fires up the boat’s engine, leaving Jason to fend for himself among the alligators, snakes and bugs. Jason is having a yee-haw time experiencing mother nature’s gifts. During all this the agent keeps reminding himself that signing this kid could bring him $3 million. When Jason finally makes his way back to the Mack homestead he basically washes his hands of Travis and his childish antics. Before he can leave though, Travis stops him, apologizes, and tells Jason that he really does need his help.

During lunch, Tracy tells Spencer that she’s got an interview for an on-air job with ESPN in Connecticut. Spencer’s excitement for her news is quickly tempered when he sees Ndamukong Suh’s assistant, Victoria, meeting with Andre. Going over to say hello, and to find out what’s up, Spencer is politely chastised by Victoria for not answering her call when she tried to contact him the previous evening. He apologizes and tells her he was dealing with a rather pressing matter (Vernon). He then somewhat jokingly asks what he needed to do to attend such a high-powered meeting like the one he’s witnessing between Victoria, Andre and a couple other money mogul-types. He quickly gets his faced pressed when Victoria replies, somewhat coldly, “Try picking up the phone.” She then starts discussing Suh’s interests in real estate development with Andre. Spencer wishes them a nice afternoon and exits stage right with a look on his face like that of someone who just fumbled the ball on the one yard line.

On their way to a meeting with Old Man Anderson, Spencer fills Joe in about the lunchtime debacle, saying that they’ll lose Suh to Andre.  and Joe doesn’t take this well. He worries about how they’ll tell Anderson. The old man has been keeping up with their issues and he’s not very understanding about the situation. He wants them to bring in new clients to the business — or else. When Spencer mentions the ongoing conflict with Andre, the old man is even less appreciative of their situation. To his credit, Spencer takes responsibility for the ongoing feud and Anderson appreciates that. He then tells Spencer to go and fix things.

Over at Vernon’s things are really on edge. Ever since the Cowboys snubbed Vernon on the issue of what they plan to do about his injury it’s been tense. Vernon and Reggie are on pins and needles as they wait for a statement from the team to be given at a press conference broadcast on ESPN. The tension is broken when the Cowboys’ team rep announces that Vernon injured himself in training and they expect him to return, full strength, next season. The team’s gonna stick by him. It’ll be interesting to see what Vernon learns from this.

Charles walks in to meet with Larry Seifert to discuss the possibility of his switching to right tackle. Charles explains to Seifert that he initially had some trouble with the switch but now he’s embracing the idea and he’ll give the job everything he’s got. Seifert informs Charles that they’ve already got someone to play right tackle and that they’re going to let Charles go. “You should be proud of your contribution here,” he tells Charles. Yeah, these people always know the most comforting thing to say when they’re giving you the ax.

Ricky tries to bond with his father, Dennis, over drinks at a bar, but the two quickly come into conflict when Dennis is asked why he wasn’t really there for Ricky and his mother. Dennis leaves in a huff tossing Ricky the keys to his house and telling him not to wait up. At Dennis’s house, Ricky finds a scrapbook and begins to flip through it. In it he finds news clippings depicting not only the highlights of Dennis’s football career but his own as well. It seems that the old man has been keeping up with his son’s achievements after all.

Spencer tells Joe to find some kind of dirt that they can use against Andre. Joe gets in contact with Maximo Gomez, who delivers incriminating pictures of Andre. Spencer goes forth to meet with Andre armed with these pics and an offer to quash the conflict. If Andre stops going after Spencer’s clients, Spencer won’t make the images public. Andre tells him no matter what Spencer digs up on him he, Andre, can dig up things much worse on Joe and on Spencer. Clearly this isn’t the end of this beef.

Ballers airs Sundays at 10 pm on HBO

Reggie wakes Spencer up with an early A.M. call to tell him about Vernon’s injured leg. Spencer tells them to meet him at the sports med center where has a specialist look at Vernon’s leg. The doctor does not have good news. Seems that Vernon messed up his achilles tendon. Spencer tells him that the doctor is the best there is and that everything will be fine. Reggie told Spencer that the injury happened while Vernon was doing training exercises but finally Vernon fesses up about the paintball injury. When Jason arrives and says he has to let the team know about Vernon’s situation things quickly descend into a minor panic. Spencer tells Jason how Vernon got injured and Jason immediately says that this type of injury could void Vernon’s contract. Reggie says that they should lie about how Vernon got hurt and, much to his own surprise, Spencer agrees. After the procedure Spencer and Jason explain to Vernon that getting injured doing something not related to the game, like playing paintball, could cost him his job. They agree to go to the team with the story that Vernon got injured in his backyard while doing some training drills. Vernon reluctantly agrees to go along with the story. It seems that Vernon has a thing against lying but in this case honesty may not be the best policy.

While Vernon’s in surgery Joe calls Spencer to tell him that Andre is now coming back at them for stealing Sizzle Suggs from him. Joe says that Andre is calling ALL their clients, except for Ricky and Vernon, trying to get them to sign with him. Joe says that he’s trying to placate those clients who are thinking about going over to Andre by going along with whatever business ventures that they want to invest in. He seems most worried about retired football great Anthony ‘Spice’ Adams. (Sizzle and Spice, sounds like they ought to open a damn strip club with those names.) Spice wants to open a hotel in the Florida Keys and he’s in town so Spencer and Joe meet with him for dinner. Spice wants to open an affordable hotel and name it after him mother. He’s even ready to sink $4 million into the deal. While Spice heads off to the restroom, Spencer and Joe start to argue over the venture. Spencer doesn’t think that it’s a sound idea while Joe just wants to go along and placate Spice so they won’t lose him to Andre.

Despite Spencer’s misgivings they agree to go with Spice to check out the land he wants to buy for the hotel. Spencer is less than impressed with the piece of land that Spice has picked out, but he goes along with Joe, who’s overly enthusiastic about the property, just to humor Spice. Later, over drinks, Spencer lays down the truth to Spice. “This hotel thing isn’t gonna happen Spice,” Spencer tells him. He explains that the location is poor and he runs down the numerous problems that Spice would encounter in trying to get the hotel built on that land. Spice finally agrees but says he’s not giving up on his dream. Spencer agrees with him and tells him that they’ll meet again the next week and work the whole thing out.

Ricky arrives in New Orleans ready to be wowed by what he hopes will be an juicy contract offer. When he meets with the team representatives they talk a good game and pay him a great deal of compliments on his playing skills. They tell him that they want him to be a leader to the younger players on the team. They also give him a solid offer, $30 million over three years. Ricky likes the offer but he tells them he still needs to feel the ‘LOVE’. The next day at the airport, as Ricky is about to leave, the team rep shows up with a little surprise. He’s brought a marching band, a choir, the Saints cheerleaders and Saints Coach Sean Payton along to show Ricky the ‘LOVE’. Now Ricky is sold on the idea of joining the team and tells the coach that they’ll win the championship. Can you believe the ego on this guy? Thirty million wasn’t enough. They also had to put on a show and make him the center of attention. And I thought Donald Chump had a corner on the market when it came to being childish.

Charles has some serious reservations about being switched to right tackle and he voices them to his wife Julie. She sees his distress but she knows that this is something that he has to work out on his own. In the meantime, she is impressed at how well Charles has taken on the role of being a father to their new daughter. As a little token of appreciation she has his minivan tricked out with a new paint job and sound system. Charles is overwhelmed by the gesture and they decide to ‘break-in’ the newly tricked-out ride. That’s one way to take a man’s mind of his troubles for a bit.

Back home recuperating from his surgery, Vernon decides it’s best to go on radio silence until he can figure out how to deal with telling the team’s rep about his injury. When the rep shows up at Vernon’s place to see him Vernon doesn’t answer the door. Jason hears from the rep about this and calls Spencer who says he’ll handle it. Spencer arrives at Vernon’s and has to let himself in using the key that’s hidden under the front door mat. When Vernon says the team’s owner called but he ignored the call Spencer tells him that he should always take a call from the boss. “These are the guys that sign your checks,” he tells Vernon. Vernon then admits that he doesn’t want to lie about his injury. “If your gut says tell the truth, then that’s what you should do,” Spencer councils. He has Vernon call the boss back. When Vernon tells the truth about how he got injured the boss hangs up on him.

Like blind Butchie told Omar on The Wire, “Conscience do cost.”

Spencer begins to implement his plans for revenge against his nemesis Andre Allen. However it seems he has another big issue to deal with, pain management and the possible drug addiction that it’s causing. Tracy, Ricky and Charles are also encountering some bumps along life’s little yellow brick road. Let’s get on with the recap, shall we?

This week’s episode starts with Spencer inspecting the memento he got from his tussle with Sizzle during their appearance on Jay Glazer’s TV show, a huge ugly multicolored bruise on his left hip. It appears to be serious enough to cause him to limp into the pharmacy to get his prescription for Vicodin refilled. The pharmacist throws a monkey in the wrench by saying that the script can’t be refilled without a doctor’s orders. The doctor tells Spencer that she has a real concern about the amount of the painkiller that he’s consuming. After some back and forth, that appeared to contain a little pleading on Spencer’s part, she agrees to write him a single script for 20 pills with the provision that he come in and get a full exam within ten days time. Spencer, of course, agrees. Anything to get that fix.

Sizzle is waiting in the conference room at the office when Spencer walks in. This seems to have slightly pissed off Virginia, Spencer’s assistant, who says that Sizzle just strolled in unannounced and made himself at home. Spencer tells her that he invited Sizz and then he and Joe go into meet with Sizzle. While serving up a burger boxed lunch they discuss Sizzle’s current financial situation. Sizzle says he’s looked into things with Andre and has come away with just one burning question. “Where the fuck is my money at?” He says that Andre has no answers for him about this situation and he’s getting rather pissed about it. Spencer jumps in at that point to seize the opportunity. He tells Sizzle that it’s time for a change. Sizzle agrees but says that when subjects like this come up between him and Andre, Andre always manages to talk him out of doing anything. During this entire conversation Joe just sits back looks more and more uncomfortable about the way things are going. Noticing his partner’s ‘distress’ Spencer calls Joe out into the hall to find out what’s up. Joe expresses his uneasiness with the situation and says that they should consult Anderson before going up against a major player like Andre. Joe also reminds Spencer that their organization hasn’t been officially cleared by the league yet. Spencer’s not having any of this. He reminds Joe that the old man is still looking for them to bring in more big clients. Once back in the room, Spencer tells Sizz that they will work with him. Joe has Sizzle call Andre to tell him about the change. Once Andre answers, Sizzle punks out and then agrees to meet Andre the next day at a tennis tournament. He then gets Spencer and Joe to agree to meet with Andre at the tournament and tell him the news. “It’s not my fight anymore,” Sizzle tells them. “Got my managers to handle it.” Balls of steel on that guy.

During a lunch meeting with her boss Tracy attempts to discuss the issue of equal pay. She tries to bring up, as an example, a new employee who’s getting paid 20 grand more than she is for basically doing the same job. Her boss just blows her off by saying it’s not a big deal. He also asks about the story with Ricky Jarret’s contract situation all the while calling her ‘Legs’ and dropping in the occasional sexual innuendo. Tracy’s had enough. She quits and walks away.

Reggie drops by to seek some financial advice from Joe. He want’s to ask Vernon to start paying him a salary and he wants to know how much Joe thinks he should ask. Nothing. That’s what Joe tells him, and he ain’t far from right considering Reggie’s already soaking Vernon like a sponge for almost all his living expenses. After a bit of role playing, in which Reggie tries to explain what he does for Reggie, Joe gives in and comes up with a number — $1,500 a week. Reggie seems OK with it. Afterwards Joe calls Vernon and gives him the heads up on Reggie’s plan. Ultimately Vernon agrees to the $1,500 a week figure. DAYUUMM! Wish I could collect that kinda cake for just sitting’ on my ass and beatin’ some poor bastard on the Playstation.

Reggie brings up the salary issue during a paintball match. After saying he’s given it some thought Vernon says he’s agreeable to the idea. They differ on the amount just a little bit though. Reg wants three grand a week while Vernon’s figure is eight hundred. Seems there’s a bit of a disagreement. Hmm, what to do? During a mother grueling paintball round, which Reggie hates, by the way, Reggie sees a chance to take a shot at Vernon. Mumbling about the $800 he lights Vernon up. Vernon falls off a platform and is screaming in pain about his leg when Reg finally gets over to him. If this proves to be a serious injury Reggie might actually have to go out and work for a living. Wouldn’t that just SUCK!

Ricky, Jason and TTD get together to discuss which team Jason should try to negotiate a deal with. After looking at San Diego, Denver, New England and Buffalo Ricky, decides to go with New Orleans. Jason says he will get right on it. TTD seems just a bit disappointed though, being a highly experienced cannabis connoisseur, he was hoping for Denver because weed is legal in Colorado. Ah, the bitter sting of life’s disappointments.

Charles is meeting with the Dolphins’ coach about his situation with the team. The coach assures Charles that he has a secure place on the team that his work is much appreciated he’s well respected. There’s gonna be just a small change though, the coach is gonna switch Charles’ position to right tackle. Charles is not happy with the switch and voices his opinion. The coach gives him no alternative. “You either go on the right side, or you go back home and it’s Sports Center with your dick in your left hand and a big ole jug of Kaopectate in your right.” Never a more eloquently put ultimatum have I heard in quite a long time. Charles has no choice.

Joe and Spencer attend the tournament to talk to Andre and Joe is still not convinced that they’re going about this the right way. He seriously fears the kind of power that Andre wields. He again tells Spencer that they should talk to Anderson before making this kind of move. Spencer stops him and asks for a favor. He wants Joe to bust him one in the jaw to get Spencer in the competitive state of mind. Joe does this without hesitation and Spencer then also tells him about the bad financial deal he had with Andre. Joe finally begins to understand. Andre strongly warns Spencer to stay away from Sizzle. Spencer explains that it looks like Andre doesn’t understand his client the way he should. Spencer say that he and Joe do understand them and can do a much better job for them. “On behalf of Siz and all the other players,” Spencer tells Andre as he leans on close. “You’re fucking fired!”

It’s gonna be on like popcorn now.

The story opens as Spencer, Joe and Old Man Anderson are the opening of their client Ndamukong Suh’s new restaurant ‘Suh Casa’. Spencer, now the head of Anderson Financial’s sports management division, is coerced into the uncomfortable position of making a few remarks at this event when he notices an un-welcome presence in the crowd. Money manager Andre Allen (Andy Garcia) arrives with football star Terrell ’T-Sizzle’ Suggs. Their appearance rattles an already nervous Spencer who can’t seem to finish his speech fast enough. Afterwards we find out that there’s bad blood between Spencer and Andre as well as between Spencer and Sizzle. This point is made apparent later when Andre approaches Spencer and receives and extremely frosty reception. Super-agent Jason Antolotti comments to Spencer that Andre was just stopping through while on his way to have dinner with the governor. Spencer quickly replies that he can only hope that Andre chokes on his meal. Afterwards Jay Glazer arrives and with the help, or rather the insistence, of Old Man Anderson gets Spencer to agree to appear on his talk show. Anderson believes this will bring some positive attention to the business.

Ricky is busy planning a low-key celebration for his thirtieth birthday. He’s also expecting a healthy financial boost to accompany his contract renewal with the Dolphins. When his father and his assistant, TTD, try to talk Ricky into making the affair a bit more flamboyant, Ricky nixes the idea saying he wants to keep things low key in order to continue to maintain his new image of respectability.

Charles Greene shows up for an appearance event at the Chevy dealership where he worked before getting back into the game. It seems there have been some major changes in his life because he doesn’t show up alone. He has his new baby daughter in tow, seems his wife had to pull doctor duty at the hospital. You would think that between the money that he makes from playing pro ball and her salary as a doctor they would be able to afford decent child care. During the event, Charles discusses the upcoming season with one of the Dolphins’ coaches who’s also on hand. The coach tells him that there will be some big changes taking place within the team and though he can’t say what they are, he doesn’t want Charles to be caught off guard when they happen. “You’re a good man,” he tells Charles.

Yeah, I’ve heard that before and it’s always meant no good for some poor bastard.

Joe and Spencer appear on Jay Glazer’s show and are starting to discuss the finer points of their financial management business, and how it can benefit the rich athletes they hope to attract as clients, when Glazer drops a bomb on Spencer. He brings out ’Sizzle’ and things really get hot. As soon as Sizzle walks on the set you can see Spencer tense up. They used to be teammates. When Jay asks about the tension between the two, Spencer tries to play it off but Sizzle calls bullshit and says that it has to do with a Twitter post that Spencer put up while they were still playing. Spencer again tries to make light of the situation but Sizzle continues to go at him with the same kind of enthusiasm with which Hillary Clinton goes after Donald Chump. And like Chump, Spencer can only take so much before things explode – right there on the set. A tussle results and after it’s all over we see Spencer, in obvious pain, limping to his car. If that’s not enough, back at the office Anderson takes a big chunk outta Spencer’s ass for his poor display of self-control on TV. It seems that Anderson’s getting calls from his investors because of this little episode. Anderson tells Spencer that he needs to set a better example if he’s going to continue to be the one in charge.

Jason is trying to negotiate Ricky’s new contract with the Dolphins GM, Larry Seifert, and Jason’s not at all happy with what he’s hearing. Seifert’s only willing to offer Ricky $12 million over two years plus incentives. Seifert feels that this more than a fair deal but Jason isn’t having it. He later tells Spencer that it looks like the team is close to being through with Ricky. Jason then quickly switches gears and starts in on Spencer for the TV incident. Jason tells his friend that he knows Spencer’s anger is really directed at Andre.

Now a bit of Spencer’s past reveals itself. It seems that Andre talked Spencer into investing in a real estate deal that went south causing Spencer to lose a substantial amount of cash. Of course Spencer still holds a huge grudge and why shouldn’t he? This forced Spencer to have to play an extra year just to recover the loss.

It seems that Alonzo Cooley will be getting that $12 million, plus incentives, that had been offered to Ricky. When Ricky hears this he scraps all the plans for his refined birthday celebration and moves the happening to the Funhouse instead. As the celebration goes down at the Funhouse with more than the usual amount of rawness Sizzle appears yet again. Jason invited him in hopes that Spencer will swallow his pride and work things out with his former teammate like an adult. That’s exactly what happens, the two come to an understanding and bury the hatchet. Afterwards Spencer tells Joe and Jason that he intends to sign Sizzle and steal all of Andre’s other clients out from under him as well. Revenge is the purest form of motivation. Amen!