‘Chad Powers’ Season 2 Ending Explained: Who Knows About Russ Holliday?

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “12th Quarter,” the Season 2 finale of “Chad Powers,” now streaming on Disney + and Hulu.

It sure is tough being Chad Powers.

Infamous quarterback Russ Holliday (Glen Powell) knows this well. But he’s not going to let anything stop him from continuing his double life as the socially awkward star of the South Georgia Catfish football team — especially not his teammate Gerry (Colton Ryan), who’s closer than ever to exposing Russ’ secret. 

Throughout Season 2, Gerry grows increasingly suspicious of Chad, going so far as stalking the starting quarterback and those closest to him. He doesn’t know that Russ is hiding behind that prosthetic mask, but he’s pretty sure something’s amiss. Why else would Coach Ricky (Perry Mattfeld) be sneaking over to the QB’s house? And then he spots Chad’s father, “Howard Powers” (Toby Russ), wearing a wig and prosthetic nose to the homecoming banquet. 

In the penultimate episode, “11th Quarter,” Gerry breaks into Russ and his friend Danny’s (Frankie A. Rodriguez) house and attacks Danny. The season finale opens by revealing their ransacked basement. Gerry stole the prosthetics used to disguise Russ as Chad. Danny is OK, but there’s blood running down his face. 

Russ, disguised as Chad, meets Gerry at a movie theater, where he finds the backup QB sitting alone in an empty theater screening “Edward Scissorhands.” It’s an ominous setting, and it’s clear that Gerry, who now has hard evidence, won’t back down silently — unless Chad offers him something. 

Instead of revealing what transpires between Chad and Gerry, the episode cuts to a diner where Danny meets Russ. Ricky joins them, and she’s still upset after recently discovering Russ knew that her father, Coach Hudson (Steve Zahn), wasn’t medically cleared to return to the sidelines despite telling everyone — including Ricky — that he was. Russ shrugs off the showdown with Gerry, insisting that all he wanted was money, which Russ will get, meaning that the threat has been neutralized. 

But Danny and Ricky aren’t falling for Russ’ carefree act, and Ricky, unable to take any more of his lies, storms out. Even when he’s alone with Danny, Russ sticks to this vague story, but he does admit that he views Danny as the one true friend he’s had, and now it’s his turn to keep him safe. 

The following day is the Catfish’s final regular season game, and they’re facing the Texas Longhorns. If the Catfish win, they move forward to the College Football Playoffs. If they lose, their dream season ends.

And when the game kicks off, the pressure seems to be getting to Chad, who immediately throws an interception. In fact, Chad can’t seem to do anything right on the field. By halftime, the Catfish are losing — by a lot. 

As the team heads for the locker room, Ricky goes to find Danny, who reveals he found a piece of paper in Russ’ room that lists Chad’s statistics for the game — all negative plays that would tank the Catfish’s season.

It turns out there was more to Russ’s conversation with Gerry: the former backup quarterback demanded that Chad play a “historically bad game” so Gerry would win the bets he placed against him and win $200,000. Gerry didn’t just want the money; he wanted everyone to hate Chad just as much as they hate him. Once Chad loses the game, Gerry also insists that he take responsibility for framing him by placing a 3-d printed gun in his locker in the previous episode. If he did all that, then Gerry wouldn’t come forward with the truth about Chad Powers. A devastated Russ agrees. 

Ricky, who now understands Gerry’s scheme, finds Russ sitting alone and tells him she got the coaching job at Syracuse. She accepted and starts tomorrow, meaning this is the last game they’ll ever play together. She also reveals that she knows about Gerry’s bet, and while there’s a million things that Chad can’t do on the field, Ricky has a few tricks up her sleeve — since she’s watched all of Russ’s old game tape from his time at Oregon.

When the game resumes, Ricky takes on the role as the “Chad whisperer,” drawing up trick plays that help the Catfish get into the end zone while abiding by Gerry’s terms. It’s risky, but it works, and every score makes Gerry scream with rage as he lurks in one of the stadium’s bathrooms.

In the final moments of the game, Chad scores the game-winning touchdown, but a penalty sets them back with just two seconds left on the clock. The only way to score is by breaking Gerry’s strict rules. As Chad weighs his options, he shares a heartfelt moment with Coach Hudson, who tells the quarterback that, no matter what happens, he’s grateful for the great season they shared and is proud of him. And he knows Chad’s late mother would have been too. 

Chad decides to run for it and scores the game-winning touchdown — for real, this time. While everyone celebrates around them, he and Ricky search for each other in the crowd and hug, excitedly, both thankful he went for the win — despite Gerry’s threats.

Speaking of Gerry — he storms on the field, furious that Chad broke his terms and lost the $200,000. As he charges toward Russ and Ricky, he gets punched by Tricia Yeager’s (Wynn Everett) security guard. While carrying Gerry’s limp body off the field, the bodyguard tells Chad that his name has been acquired by Yeager Family Foods, then calmly points out that Chad’s facial prosthetic has slipped, referring to him as “Mr. Holliday.”

How did he know all of that? In a last-ditch effort, Danny revealed Chad’s true identity to Tricia, who heads the Catfish boosters, and asked for her help keeping Russ’ secret safe. Tricia agreed, but coolly explained that they’d be doing things her way — beginning with having Russ and Danny move onto her ranch, so she can keep them “safe” and ensure that Russ stays as Chad “for a long time.” 

Elsewhere on the field, Hudson tells his assistants, Coach Byrd (Quentin Plair) and Coach Dobbs (Clayne Crawford), that this will be his last season as head coach. He wants them and Ricky, whom he doesn’t know accepted the Syracuse job, to move up the ranks. 

Now back in the locker room, Ricky and Russ share an emotional moment while she fixes his prosthetic. Mourning that this is their last game together before she leaves for New York, Ricky starts crying. As Russ consoles her, he confesses he loves her, and the two share their first kiss. 

As they begin making out more passionately, Ricky starts to pull off the remaining prosthetic on Russ’ face, but they’re interrupted when Coach Hudson throws open the locker room door. Russ turns away to hide the fact that half his prosthetic mask is out of place, but it’s unclear how much Coach Hudson saw, as the episode cuts to black.

If “Chad Powers” gets renewed for a third season, there are many loose ends to be tied up. Did Coach Hudson recognize Russ, and can his heart handle the stress of Chad’s real identity? Will Ricky go to Syracuse — especially now that she jeopardized her career by canoodling with a player? Is Gerry really gone for good? And, most importantly, will the Catfish get to — and win — the National Championship?

Let’s say that there are still plenty of plays for Powell and co-creator and director Michael Waldron to run on their way to the end zone.