Chad Powers Episode 5: Wendy just delivered the most surprising twist of the show - Here’s how

Chad Powers Episode 5, titled 5th Quarter, dropped on October 21, 2025, on Hulu.

In a dramatic twist, Wendy’s true identity collided with the chaos of Russ’s double life. In this episode, the tension is not just about keeping secrets anymore as romance gets tangled up in the lies, and family dynamics turn sharp, almost dangerous.

With the finale looming, Chad Powers Episode 5 doesn’t let anyone off easy. Every main character gets pushed to their limit.

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Unpacking Wendy’s twist in Chad Powers Episode 5

Wendy’s twist in Episode 5 of Chad Powers explodes right at the moment when everything already feels like it’s about to collapse. The whole season, Russ Holliday (Glen Powell) has been stuck in an impossible balancing act, hiding behind the mask of Chad Powers, hoping he can somehow leave his old life behind and start fresh with Coach Jake Hudson’s floundering football team.

The night before the big team interview at the Hudsons’ lake house, Russ slips out to a bar, looking for distraction, maybe just a little relief from the pressure. That’s where he meets a woman, and they hook up.

But the illusion shatters the next morning. Russ, still in full Chad Powers mode, walks into the Hudson home and comes face-to-face with Wendy, Coach Hudson’s wife and the mother of his teammate, Ricky. In a split second, everything falls into place, horribly. The “stranger” from last night wasn’t a stranger at all. Both Russ and Wendy feel the gut-punch of recognition, but with the cameras rolling for the team’s big family interview, they have to pretend nothing is wrong.

It all unravels at the lunch table. The cameras are there to capture unity, but instead, they catch a family in meltdown. Wendy snaps and blurts out the truth: she slept with Russ, never realizing he was Chad, never knowing he was her son’s teammate or her husband’s player.

For Russ, it’s immediate panic. One bad decision, and now his whole double life is teetering on the edge. Jake, blindsided, can barely process what he’s hearing. Ricky’s suspicions, already simmering since he saw Russ at Wendy’s hotel, explode into anger and confusion. And then, Jake collapses from a heart attack, leaving everyone scrambling and Russ frozen, realizing just how badly things have spun out of control as the episode slams to a close.

Outlets like Decider and Metacritic have singled it out, not just because it’s shocking, but because it’s honest. Megan Ketch’s Wendy brings real pain and regret to the role. You see how broken she feels, how trapped by her own choices and the life she has built with Jake.

Episode 5 changes the whole show’s trajectory. Up to now, Chad Powers has been a mix of sports comedy and identity farce, with Russ always just about keeping his mask in place. But the 5th Quarter pushes him to the edge. Before the big reveal, you watch Russ drinking alone, wrestling with the ghosts of his past, fantasizing about leaving Russ Holliday behind for good and becoming Chad Powers permanently.

His interactions with Ricky, Danny, and Coach Byrd are loaded with anxiety. He has to stay in character, but he almost signs his real name on a football for a sick fan, stumbles through a live ESPN interview, and you feel the walls closing in. The family interview, meant to be a feel-good segment for the cameras, turns into a dumpster fire. Jake’s obsession with football has wrecked his family, Ricky is sick of feeling stalked, and Wendy finally explodes, confessing the affair and shattering the fragile peace they had tried to hold together.

It all builds toward the episode’s finale, when Jake collapses. Now, everything else has faded away. Will he survive? Will Russ finally get exposed?

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Who plays Wendy in Chad Powers?

Wendy Hudson is portrayed by Megan Ketch in Chad Powers. The American actress, who has gained prominence through her roles in American Gothic and Blue Bloods, brings both depth and emotional authenticity to Wendy, a character whose allure and remorse make her one of the most complex characters in Hulu’s comic-drama.

In Chad Powers, a show created by Glen Powell and Michael Waldron and co-produced by Eli and Peyton Manning, Ketch’s performance appears to be a crucial point around which the show’s stressful family and relationship dynamics revolve.

Chad Powers made a splash when it premiered on September 30, 2025, and right from the start, Wendy Hudson stood out. She is the ever-devoted wife to Coach Jake Hudson (Steve Zahn) and the loving mother to Ricky (Perry Mattfeld).

At first, the Hudsons come across as the bedrock of the South Georgia Catfish football team. Wendy, especially, is the emotional anchor, juggling the chaos at home and the relentless demands of Jake’s coaching life.

As the season goes on, the cracks in the Hudsons’ picture-perfect life deepen. Behind the closed doors of their small-town home, Wendy’s role shifts from supportive partner to someone desperate for acknowledgment.

All of this tension explodes in Episode 5, 5th Quarter, which aired on October 21, 2025. This is where Wendy’s story collides with the show’s central secret, and everything changes. The episode reveals that Wendy is the woman Russ slept with the night before the big ESPN interview at the Hudsons’ lake house. When she and Russ see each other at the house, there’s this instant, silent recognition.

Wendy’s transformation in this episode is striking. Megan Ketch takes her from a supporting character to the one driving the show’s biggest twist. Wendy’s confession rips out the Hudson family’s foundation. Critics raved about the showdown between Wendy and Jake.

Now, Chad Powers Episode 6 is on the horizon, set to air on October 28, 2025. Wendy stands alone, surrounded by the wreckage. The guilt is crushing, and fear for what happens next hangs over her. Jake is in the hospital, Ricky is devastated, and the truth about Chad Powers is one misstep away from coming out.

For the first time, Wendy isn’t just reacting to the chaos around her. She is at the center of it, forced to reckon with her choices, her grief, and what she wants her life to be if the dust ever settles. All eyes are on her, and she can’t hide behind the role of the perfect wife or mother.

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In the sixth episode of Chad Powers, Wendy is caught right at the center of the storm, and her revelation sends ripples not only through her disintegrating marriage but far beyond that. The truth she has revealed threatens to drag Chad’s double life into the spotlight, revealing secrets that can totally change things for him and everyone around.

The fan community online, mainly on Reddit, is rattling with theories about Wendy’s forthcoming moves. A section of the audience thinks that Wendy will be very proactive in the process of tearing down Chad’s fortress of lies, thus portraying her as the possible cause of his downfall. Others, however, have a more sophisticated perspective and argue that Wendy might eventually discover her capacity for forgiving Chad, realizing that his untruths have not only hurt her but also Russ and their entire circle.

What’s clear is that Episode 6 is poised to give Wendy’s character the resolution and emotional depth she deserves. Megan Ketch’s portrayal has gradually elevated Wendy from a seemingly peripheral figure to the emotional epicenter of Chad Powers, capturing vulnerability, anger, and strength that come from being thrust into the spotlight by circumstances beyond her control.