Ricky Underwood (2024)

Richard "Ricky" Underwood lll is one of the main characters and was known for being a bad boy and womanizer in the Grant High School, yet he is what he calls “Damaged Inventory.”

He is the biological child of Bob and Nora Underwood, the adoptive son of Shakur and Margaret , the foster brother of Ethan, and the father of John Juergens. He is also the husband of Amy Juergens (he married Amy a couple of years after the series finale events, confirmed by creator, writer and executive producer Brenda Hampton). He is portrayed by Daren Kagasoff.

History[]

His father, Bob, is a drug addict who beat Ricky's mother Nora and sexually abused Ricky as a young child. His mother was both a drug addict and an alcoholic who never helped him out of fear. Ricky claims this abuse was responsible for most of his future actions. Ricky was taken away from his parents after the abuse came to light, and put into foster care. As a teenager, Ricky attended Ulysses S. Grant High School, where he was the drummer in the high school marching band and had a reputation of being a promiscuous bad boy.

He used to see a therapist, Lauren's father Dr. Ken Fields, who he occasionally visits for advice as an adult. The summer before Ricky's sophom*ore year, he had a one night stand with Amy Juergens because she was a virgin and bored at band camp. It was short and bad sex, and he didn't use protection of any kind. He also knocked her up. He denies even being the father to others for part of her pregnancy even finding out about her pregnancy a few days later. Despite his misgivings over being a good father, Ricky is shown to love and care for his son John. He and Amy go on a date in the fall finale of season 3 and she makes him get tested before considering having sex with him.

Ricky tests disease-free, and chooses to have sex with nobody other than Amy. Their first time having sex since Ricky got Amy pregnant occurred in the wake of dealing with the news of Ben and Adrian's stillborn daughter. Amy and John soon move in with Ricky. Amy finds messages left by Adrian, after telling her she's in love with Ricky. Amy gets caught by Ricky, with him stating they should spend some time apart if she can't trust him. On one specific occasion Ricky threatens to hurt Amy if she does not move when he is falsely accused of sexual misconduct by Karlee, an older woman Ricky used to sleep with. Ricky eventually apologizes to Amy and they make up. Amy tries to get Ricky to propose by doing "wild" things such as giving him a milkshake and a bath. Ricky ends up being convinced, and at the end of his graduation speech, he proposes to Amy. At the graduation party, Amy allows Ricky to kiss Adrian one last time to give them closure.

Ricky wants to know when Amy wants to get married and is taken aback when Amy doesn't seem to be in a hurry to plan their wedding. Amy told everyone that Ricky and her eloped in the season 5 premiere even though they pulled out at the last minute. Eventually, Amy breaks up with him and leaves John in his care while she goes to New York to attend college. Eventually, after a couple of years, Ricky and John moved to New York, along with George, Amy’s dad and John’s grandpa. The cross-country travel while taking on college was just too stressful for Amy, but no one wanted to see her abandon her dreams so everyone came to her. That’s right, Grandpa George, Ricky and John all in an apartment in Brooklyn Heights, all so Amy could be with John more often while getting her degree.

Leo used his connections at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights to help Ricky transfer and finish his degree, and Leo helped John as well. John started school at a neighborhood kindergarten and continued in school there, walking distance for John and Grandpa George. Also, Leo got Ricky a job at a neighborhood butcher, and after awhile, with everyone else in the old neighborhood, Leo packed up and moved to Brooklyn Heights too. He owns property there, he has friends and family there, he loves it. And Amy and Ricky fell in love with each other and with New York. They married after both of them graduated and were all too happy to have George move across the hall — so convenient.

Relationships[]

Amy Underwood[]

First Relationship:

• Start: Prior to Falling in Love (1x01)
• End: Prior to Falling in Love (1x01)
  • Reason: It was just a one-night stand.
    • This is seen in a flashback: One Night at Band Camp

Second Relationship:

• Start: Rules of Engagement (3x14)
• Engagement: And Circ*mstance (4x13)
• Elope: To Begin With (5x01)
• End: Thank You and Goodbye (5x24)
  • Reason: Amy decides that she needed to take a break from her life with Ricky and John to focus on her future and believes that she still might have feelings for Ben. She ends up moving to New York City for college and leaves Ricky and John in California.

Third relationship:

• Start: Post-series
• Shortly after, Ricky and John moved to New York, along with George. Amy and Ricky got back together and got married after they both graduated.

Adrian Lee[]

First Relationship:

• Start: Before Falling in Love
• Off and on relationship between start and end (mainly sexual)
• End: Good Girls and Boys (2x22)
  • Reason: Adrian had sex with Ben.
  • After learning Ben and Adrian had sex Ricky is upset and cries, he later left town to visit his mom, Nora.
  • When he returned he blamed Adrian for their break up, even though he gave her no respect, honesty, or emotional support as she did for him.
  • He also admitted he only used her for sex, and he cheated on her repeatedly.

Grace Bowman[]

First Relationship:

• Start: I Feel Sick (1x03)
• End: Chocolate Cake (1x16)
  • Reason: Grace finds out that Ricky is still sleeping with Adrian. Ricky is scared of his dad hurting Grace to get back at Ricky for getting him arrested. Ricky was a lying, two-timing jerk who lied and tried to manipulate her by using her faith. He also lied to her about not being the father of Amy's baby when she asked for his help at the abortion clinic.

Trivia[]

• In the Season 4 episode "When Opportunity Knocks", his true intelligence is shown when he is able to determine exactly how many days are in 25 years in only a few seconds, which is 9125 plus 6 for leap year.
• In the Season 4 episode "And Circ*mstance", it is revealed that Ricky had a 4.2 GPA average however it was not earned since it was revealed in Season 1 Episode 1 and 7 that he cheated with the help of Joe Hampton, and girls he either slept with or flirted with. He maybe very intelligent since he received a high SAT score.
• Margaret Shakur said she stopped receiving money from the state when she adopted him.
• He realizes he doesn’t deserve Amy and John but he’s grateful he has them in his life. In 5 seasons he grew up and also realizes that if he loves Amy, he’d let her go, hoping she would choose him in the end. He knows she deserves better than him but hopes she’d choose him anyway In 5 seasons he was humbled even though he remained confident
• And Amy and Ricky fell in love with each other in New York, and after they had both graduated, they got married.
• Ricky may have a knack for business and he and Leo are in the midst of creating a high end fast food chain.

Gallery[]