Gauntlet 2.6 - Season Opener

Gauntlet : Season Opener
Genre : Sports / Drama
Showrunner: Antoine Fuqua
Writer : Matt Parker

Cast: William Fichtner, Josh Duhamel, Trevor Jackson, Eric Roberts, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Jared Keeso, Corey Hawkins, Saffron Burrows and Kat Graham

Plot:Coach Ken Heath (William Fichtner) leads his team, the Memphis Pharaohs, out on the field for the first game of the season. He names Jefferson Thomas (Trevor Jackson) the team's offensive captain for the game. Heath tells him to defer to the second half if they win the coin toss. He heads out to the coin toss, which the Pharaohs win. Thomas tells the referee they want the ball. The referee announces the kick-off and Coach Heath asks Thomas what happened. Thomas says his nerves got the best of him and he forgot what Heath wanted. DeAndre Colson (Corey Hawkins) goes out to return the opening kick-off. He takes the kick out of his own end zone, seeing an opening, and takes the ball all the way to mid-field on the strength of his all-world speed. Thomas looks over to Tim Collins (Josh Duhamel) and finally admits that Colson is definitely faster than him. Collins laughs that he was the only one who didn't already know that. Offensive coordinator Stan Swift (Jared Keeso) is up in the coaches booth and relays the opening play to rookie quarterback Alex Wright (Patrick Schwarzenegger).

The first play from scrimmage is a counter run play from Thomas that nets the team 10 yards. On the next play the offensive line breaks down, collapsing the pocket around Wright, who is able to shake free from one defender and bolts down field. He keeps scrambling, all the way to the end zone, but takes several hits along the way and held onto the football gingerly. The announcers comment that this is a much faster Memphis Pharaohs team than we saw the season before. Swift tells Wright he did a good job escaping pressure on that play. Heath tells Wright to make sure he has a secure hold on the football and to not fight contact for extra yards, especially after he already had the first down. Leonard Palmer (Eric Roberts) calls the team's marketing director from the owners booth and tells him to start coming up with campaigns around Alex Wright.

After the game, the Memphis Pharaohs celebrate a Week 1 victory in the locker room. Reporters are interviewing Alex Wright, who finished the game with three touchdowns. Colson invites Thomas to come out to club to celebrate the win. At first Thomas turns down the offer, but decides to come along. Tim Collins leaves the game without showering since he never broke a sweat on the bench.

At the club, people keep trying to hand Thomas drinks, and he turns them down. Colson tells Thomas to let loose and celebrate, they lead an undefeated professional football team. Thomas obliges and takes a drink. Then he has another and another. Thomas ends up getting into a fight with security and is asked to leave. Colson tells Thomas to calm down. He's supposed to celebrate and have a drink, not go on a bender and start a fight. Thomas leaves the club. Thomas is embarrassed by his behavior and doesn't want to drive home drunk. He also doesn't want his girlfriend Gwendolyn to see him in this condition. He sits on the hood of his car and calls Nikki (Kat Graham). He tells her he's pretty sure that baby growing inside of her is his. She can tell he's drunk and asks where he is. He tells her what club he's outside of. Nikki tells him to wait where he is.

Collins and Sharon Matthews (Saffron Burrows) lay in bed. He vents to her about how difficult it was to watch a game from the sideline after all these years on the field. He doesn't know if he'll ever get used to it since he's never been a backup before - not in the pros or in college. She asks him if he's thought about retiring at all. He tells her he just isn't sure right now.

Nikki arrives outside the club where she finds Thomas laying on the hood of his car. She tells him to get inside her car. He drunkenly stumbles over to her car and gets in. She says that she thought he got his shit together last time she saw him. He says he thought he did. She asks him why he didn't call his girlfriend, and he says he doesn't know. She confirms his suspicion that the baby is his. Thomas is stunned silent.

Coach Heath wakes up in his office in the middle of the night when he hears a noise. He follows the noise to the film room where he finds Swift and Wright already going over the game film from that night's game. He tells them to lock up when they are done and heads home.