{"id":401121,"date":"2026-04-20T03:55:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T03:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/401121\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T03:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T03:55:08","slug":"season-1-episode-7-all-the-dogs-names","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/401121\/","title":{"rendered":"season 1, episode 7, “All The Dogs’ Names”"},"content":{"rendered":"

On paper, Rooster<\/a> has the makings of an ideal comfort show. Its co-creators have established they can deliver heartfelt comedies anchored by a great ensemble, as well as emotionally heavy storylines with relatively low stakes. (See: Shrinking, Ted Lasso, Scrubs, and Sports Night.) So, seven episodes in, HBO\u2019s series should be a breeze, but it isn\u2019t. Perhaps the reason is uneven chemistry, the eyebrow-raising portrayal of academia<\/a>, or flimsier subplots (like the return of Alan Ruck\u2019s Dean Riggs, who couldn\u2019t be more of a caricature of a misogynist if he tried). It\u2019s not like Rooster doesn\u2019t click into place because it is often enjoyable. But it feels oddly unable to reach its comedic, wholesome potential despite the efforts of Steve Carell, Danielle Deadwyler, and Charly Clive. Or maybe I\u2019m just that goddamn frustrated by Phil Dunster\u2019s Archie, whose back-and-forth between his estranged wife and the grad student he got pregnant tempers my excitement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In \u201cAll The Dogs\u2019 Names,\u201d Archie continues his mission to be the Worst Type Of Guy by gleefully love bombing both women in his life. He\u2019s just that afraid of rejection and is driven by his insecurity and desire for validation. So he promises Katie (Clive) that he\u2019ll bring her breakfast daily before class, a way to woo her until she takes him back. On the same day, he also hangs out with and tries hard to impress Sunny\u2019s (Lauren Tsai) father. Once again, the only one speaking sense here is Mo (Robby Hoffman), who is visibly annoyed that Archie and Fred (Jim O\u2019Heir) are bonding. At least she can see what a tool her roommate\u2019s boyfriend is, but this cyclical narrative is exactly what\u2019s bogging down Rooster\u2018s ability to be heartwarming and funny. Unfortunately, there are no laughs to be had about Archie\u2019s behavior, and there\u2019s no one to correct him on it either. (That ass-whooping from Greg Russo at the end of episode two had no impact.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

For his part, Fred nudges Archie to go to Sunny\u2019s appointment with her OB-GYN. It\u2019s the first time he goes with her to the doctor, and that speaks volumes about how uninterested he is in Sunny and helping her out with the baby. At the clinic itself, though, Archie seems genuinely moved for a change during the scan. Based on his reaction and the fact that he decided to abandon his \u201cbring Katie her favorite latte and croissant every morning\u201d plan, I hope he\u2019s picked a lane. (If it were up to me, the lane would lead him directly out of Ludlow, far away from both Katie and Sunny.) I would also assume this is Rooster finally building some character development for him. Hey, if Dunster could pull it off in Lasso, I have faith he can do it again here, if the writing gives him room for it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Plus, seeing Walt\u2019s growth gives me hope. So far, John C. McGinley has been the oddest one out. He\u2019s so-so comic relief, and Walt\u2019s dynamic with the students and professors is confounding. (Stop inviting everyone into your home sauna, my guy.) He does that again in \u201cAll The Dogs\u2019 Names,\u201d asking Greg to accompany him to discuss the state of their friendship. Walt admits to feeling disrespected by Greg, the man he blackmailed into taking the writer-in-residence gig to save his daughter\u2019s job. Anyway, Greg keeps avoiding him because Walt is \u201ca lot,\u201d which is fair. But the college president has had just about enough, especially because he\u2019s aware that Greg and Cristle (Annie Mumolo) banged in his office. So Walt and Greg bond by riding bikes and not sweating in the sauna.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I appreciated Walt\u2019s much-needed arc in this half hour also because of the conversation he has with Riggs, who resumes his Dean Of Faculty position. But it\u2019s clear to everyone that Dylan (Deadwyler), who took the job in the interim, is a better fit. She goes back to being a poetry professor, and Walt even offers her a promotion as head of the English department. (Um, how easy is it to just pass jobs around on this campus, considering Walt also makes Greg the interim hockey coach?) But after taking Greg\u2019s advice about demanding more for herself, Dylan states her desire to go after Riggs\u2019 role. It leads Walt to seriously reflect on whether he should defend his old friend, whom he realizes doesn\u2019t even want to try being good at his job. Riggs refused to let a student reschedule an exam on the day their grandparent died and told a classics professor that she was \u201ctop-heavy in a good way.\u201d Sigh. Walt rightly tells him off, saying, \u201cI felt this place leaving me behind, so I ran as fast as I could to catch up. I don\u2019t always get there, but I damn sure make the effort. You? You don\u2019t even try.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

This gives us some insight into Walt\u2019s persistence with everyone around him without entirely excusing it. And as the cherry on top, he ultimately makes the right choice and, presumably, after talking to the Ludlow board, gives Dylan the job. It helped that Katie also went to bat for Dylan and roped in her student to do it, too. Evidently, Greg is on team Dylan as well. Their slow burn continues to be one of the best parts of Rooster. Maybe the two of them will progress now that Cristle has broken up with Greg, afraid of the impact it\u2019ll have on Tommy (Maximo Salas). However, she\u2019s also upset that Greg accepted the decision without fighting for her, and it leads to a bit of a breakdown.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cristle isn\u2019t the only one who ends \u201cAll The Dogs\u2019 Names\u201d in a dour mood. Katie, once again, is heartbroken because Archie doesn\u2019t choose her. She expectantly waits for him to show up with sweet treats in hand, but all he can muster from afar is a sad wave. It\u2019s the reality check she needs that he isn\u2019t going to change, so she gathers herself up and struts into class to start teaching. Clive\u2019s facial expressions are appropriately crushing, but I\u2019m getting tired of this push-and-pull, and I want Rooster\u2018s remaining three installments to find a way out of this maze that it has trapped Katie, Archie, and Sunny in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stray observations<\/p>\n

\u2022 I\u2019m thrilled this episode fit in a couple of scenes with The Office\u2018s Steve Carell and Parks And Rec\u2018s Jim O\u2019Heir together. Fred reveals that Greg is his favorite author and gets him to sign a copy of the book while awkwardly discussing how they\u2019re now a part of each other\u2019s lives (thanks to their daughters\u2019 questionable tastes in men).\u00a0
\n\u2022 I felt it when Fred turned to Archie and asked him with a straight face, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with you?\u201d\u00a0
\n\u2022 Fred\u2019s joy over the fact that Sunny is having a baby explains why she is keeping it, but Rooster could benefit more from exploring Sunny\u2019s POV.\u00a0
\n\u2022 Danielle Deadwyler nailed her line reading of \u201cOh, I\u2019m not going anywhere\u201d when Dylan and Greg are cornered by Rory Scovel\u2019s cop, who threatens to throw them in jail for riding a bike together.\u00a0
\n\u2022 Dylan is going to offer Greg the position of head of the English department to set the stage for season two<\/a>, right?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Saloni Gajjar is The A.V. Club\u2018s TV critic.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On paper, Rooster has the makings of an ideal comfort show. Its co-creators have established they can deliver…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401122,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[146,85,46,411],"class_list":{"0":"post-401121","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}