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The female characters in Ballers (2015) didn’t fare much better in Season One, Episode Five: “Machete Charge” than they had earlier in the season, but Ricky Jerret, played by John David Washington emerged as a character worth caring about who isn’t Spencer Strasmore (Dwayne Johnson). Ricky started the season as little more than a stereotype of the talented but difficult athlete, in the mold of Terrell Owens or Chad Johnson. In the pilot, he is left scrambling for a playing spot with the Miami Dolphins after one too many off-field incidents prompted the Greenbay Packers to cut him loose. Now, as the series moves towards its midpoint, this has changed.

Ricky’s struggles to stay on the straight and narrow have been a strong through-line in every episode. The stark contrasts of where he is compared to where he wants to be (and who he wants to be) are highlighted in “Machete Charge.” His internal conflicts between being a faithful, spiritual partner to his girlfriend and leader to his teammates and the devil-may-care freewheeling ‘baller’ are played by Washington with a surprising subtlety given the subject matter. His motivations always seem to be coming from the right place, even at times when he is making the wrong decisions.

The contradictions in his outward behavior are also interesting from a character development perspective. When Annabella (Annabelle Acosta), his girlfriend, encourages him to find common ground with his primary adversary on the team (the one who, by the way, Ricky slept with his mother) Ricky chooses a strip club. This is apparently, for these characters, a safe place. Ricky calls in Charles for back-up and, in a scene that shines a bright light in a shady space on Ricky’s complexities, the two men have a serious conversation while getting lap dances. Charles has struggles of his own, being faced with a woman who is texting him racy pictures. Ricky is the voice of reason, urging Charles to stay true to his wife. “Marriage is a sacred thing. You’ve got to be strong in the eyes of the Lord,” Ricky says, while a topless stripper bumps and grinds in his lap. (This also demonstrates Ballers female problem—women constantly being reduced to hollow clichés and almost exclusively Madonna/Whore-types—which continues to be a roadblock for the series.) Ricky’s statement is wholly without irony for him. He really believes in the things he is telling Charles.

Ricky Jerret sees the right path for himself. He knows what he wants to do but the struggles of his passionate competitiveness and need for acceptance and attention keep getting in his way. The conflicts and trials of a character striving to the be the best version of himself in a world fraught with peril and temptation and soaked in money, alcohol, and sweat could make for some interesting television in the episodes to come. Washington’s ability to balance these dichotomies makes both him and his character worth watching.