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All of this, especially the bolded part. I wanted to throw something when Ted said that. The substitution of "tough" for "abusive" and the notion that abuse leads some people to do great things are appalling messages. Further, they are inconsistent with what we've learned about Ted. I'm thinking about Ted's "Way to make the extra pass" note to Jamie and the fact that witnessing his father's abuse and contrasting that with how Sam's father relates to his son motivate Ted's decision to let Jamie return to Richmond. Even if we accept the idea that Jamie became a skilled player only because his dad abused him (which I don't), Ted knows that Jamie became "great" when he learned how to be a team player, which meant rejecting the lessons he learned from an abusive parent. I have no problem with Jamie forgiving his father, but if the show wanted to portray their reconciliation (and I don't see how that scene at the rehab facility can be read any other way), they could have borrowed some of the time they wasted on the KJPR storyline, or one of the other pointless arcs that went nowhere this year. I rewatched the finale on the weekend, and I disliked it even more the second time around. There were sweet scenes, such as Roy joining the Diamond Dogs, but those just make me wistful for what might have been. ETA, while I'm on the subject of Roy, a more logical outcome of Keeley's abusive relationship with Jack would have been a recognition that Roy encouraged her to be her authentic self. Instead, it seems to have led her to the conclusion that being on her own is necessary for growth. I guess this is another example of how abuse leads to greatness? Before folks jump all over me, I'm not saying that a woman needs a man. But I also don't think a healthy relationship is an impediment to a person's autonomy. Try to imagine Roy telling Keeley she needed to apologize for a sex video! To justify Keeley's rejection of Roy, the writers had to turn him into an immature asshole. Not forgetting that Roy broke up with Keeley, a better choice would have been focusing on the fact that Roy needed to recognize he is deserving of love. Throughout season 3, we were led to believe that's where we were headed, from Phoebe's telling Roy he was an idiot for breaking up with Keeley to Rebecca's pointing out that Roy needed to believe he deserved her to Roy's plaintive "How do you know if a girl likes you?" and "Can people change?"

That was me. I had no idea. Thanks.

I love this take!

Yes! to the team winning the whole fucking thing! If you're going to clutter the finale with callbacks, don't undermine one of the more important ones. What they did to Keeley reminded me of the character assassination of Cordelia in Angel. I also think losing Bill Lawrence was huge, and Brett Goldstein may not have had his head fully in the game. He has significant creative control over Shrinking, so the work is likely more satisfying. The series isn't ruined for me. I will rewatch the first 2 series and a handful of series 3 episodes, but the mishandling of so many characters and plotlines will affect my enjoyment.

No judgment on anyone who shipped Rebecca and Ted, but I also never felt they had romantic chemistry. This episode was packed with fan service, which I appreciate. I liked the callbacks to previous episodes. I'm glad that HDG showed up and that his daughter had her own meet cute with Rebecca. I don't believe commercial pilots typically bring their small children to work with them, but who cares? As someone up thread said, I don't watch Ted Lasso for its strict adherence to realism. Still, a fantasy world should have more internal consistency than we've seen in series 3. I love the characters so much that I'm willing to handwave hard enough to generate waves on a nearby lake. The casting director hit gold when they brought Nick Mohammed onboard. I look forward to following his career. One of the benefits for me was being introduced to actors I had never heard of--some of whom have been working for years. If they had redeemed Rupert on the basis of one less-than-cruel encounter with Rebecca, I would have spit nails. Anthony Head is a fantastic villain, and I'm glad he's had a great career since Buffy. I loved that we saw the unethical therapist, whose license should be revoked, behaving like the jerk he is during the game. I'm happy Michelle was finally able to recognize his true character. I don't think Ted and Michelle got back together, but it was nice to see them co-parenting like mature adults. Michelle is a bland character, but I did always appreciate that she never tried to undermine Ted with Henry and continued to support Ted. Divorce is tough, but unless there's abuse, it doesn't mean the couple can't transition to a different--maybe better--type of relationship. Still hurting over the Roy and Keeley situation. Good on Roy going into therapy, but I'm angry at the writers for pulling the bait and switch. Roy and Jamie behaving like gits doesn't jive with how both have grown and matured over the past 3 years. I would have liked to see Jamie recognizing that Roy and Keeley are a better fit for each other.

I didn't love the finale, but I didn't hate it either. I need to watch it again to sort out my feelings about it. My heart hurt when Roy asked "How do you know if a girl likes you?" My biggest disappointment is Roy and Keeley not getting together. I understand the rationale, but it didn't work for me. James Lance is the guest on Films to Be Buried With this week. I listened to it while I was walking my dog. He did not disappoint.

I understand the frustration of those who believe some of us are setting a higher bar for Nate's redemption than for Rebecca's and Jamie's. I've said before that one of the reasons Nate's actions hit differently with me is because his attacks on the team, and especially Ted, were intensely personal. Related to this is that my expectations of Rebecca and Jamie were low to begin with. Both of them were almost cartoon villains when the series started. The writers stacked the cards against Nate. They encouraged us to root for him, and we felt betrayed when he turned on people who had helped and encouraged him and whom viewers held in affection. I think it is harder to forgive someone who has been presented as flawed but essentially decent--as part of Team Lasso--than it is to grow to like someone who started out as a bastard. Viewers identify with the characters we respect and/or love. As the team came to sympathize with Jamie, we did, too. As Keeley uncovered Rebecca's good qualities, we saw them as well. The writers did Nate a disservice by removing him to West Ham, where he interacted only with people viewers are indifferent to (Jade, his coworkers) or loath (Rupert). I care about what Roy and Sam think of Jamie, or what Keeley and Ted think of Rebecca, and their judgments affect mine. This doesn't quite work in reverse. That a scumbag like Rupert treats Nate with contempt doesn't make me like Nate more. I don't care about Rupert's opinion of Nate, and I think less of Nate that he does care. Nate has turned on his boss, but for a genius, he's been slow to grasp how despicable Rupert is. I don't believe Nate is unredeemable, and I have been persuaded by folks on this forum that what he did was not worse than what Rebecca and Jamie did. But the writers set themselves a difficult task by making us first like and then loath Nate, and then attempting to redeem him out of context. Perhaps they will pull it off, now that Nate has rejected Rupert and is returning to Richmond, but I think it would have been easier had they not waited until the last two episodes.

That's an intriguing speculation. I mentioned in another thread that Rupert invites underlings into his confidence to corrupt/control them. That's what he did with Higgins. This would offer an alternative narrative to Higgins's failure to inform Rebecca about Rupert's cheating. I think most of us have forgiven Higgins for that. Showing Nate taking a principled stand in a similar context would be demonstrating, rather than telling, that he is becoming more empathetic. If this is how it plays out, I hope the writers show his concern extends to Bex's daughter, relationships between parents and children being a central preoccupation in TL. ETA: I still think this will be too little, too late in filling in the many gaps in the Nate redemption arc.

How did I not know about this?!! I just watched the Judy Kuhn clip--delightful! Ted would definitely include a reference to this performance in one of his signature digressions.

That's so interesting and makes me view those scenes a little differently.

Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks have great chemistry. "Don't cry, Shop Girl" gets me every time. I want the dress and sweater Meg Ryan wears in that scene.

I adore The Shop around the Corner and think it's a much better movie than An Affair to Remember. The problems I have with YGM don't exist in The Shop around the Corner.

I love that part, too, and I agree it's more relevant to the show. I think Meg may even say something like "when people say that, what they mean is it's not personal to them." Hanks talks like a mob boss in that scene.

Me, too. I was relieved they didn't go there. I suspect you're right and Ted will slip away, as he did with Dr. Sharon, and Nate will take over. Not the ending I was hoping for, but that's this season for you. I loved the episode, so long as I don't try to make sense of it in the context of the series. In You've Got Mail, Meg Ryan's character tells her ex that there isn't someone else, but there's the dream of someone else (or words to that effect). That's my overall response to this season of TL. That's also how I feel about that movie, BTW. It could have been good were it not for that whole falling-in-love-with-a-corporate-asshole-who destroyed-your beautiful-independent [children's!]-bookstore travesty. Have a little self-respect, Meg! Thank you! When Jamie started stroking his mum's leg, I thought, "well, it's not just his father who effed him up." I don't get the "will they/won't they" with Roy and Keeley. I really need them to be well and truly a couple. The way this season has gone, I almost wouldn't put it past the writers to end the last episode with Keeley giving Nate an appraising look. Totally agree. Also, they don't need him, as evidenced by Nate's exclamation "Colin's free!" being followed by Jamie making the extra pass. The team and current coaches have got this. ETA that I did get a kick out of Roy's dismissive "I don't give a fuck" and his acknowledging that he and Nate have different strengths, when Ted asked if he would be okay with Nate returning to the team. Even though I'm pretty sure that foreshadows Roy and Nate becoming the new Ted and Beard. There's no way Beard stays in London if Ted leaves. I'm apparently entering the acceptance phase of Nate's return to Richmond.

Thank you for reminding me of the context of your comment. I agree with everything you say here, especially about feeling like you missed an episode. I don't think it would have taken a whole lot to show that Nick is learning. With Jamie, there were little beats along the way that gave us hints that he had the potential to change--I'm thinking of his reaction to Ted's giving him a toy soldier and encouraging note. I love the scene where Nick leaves the bar, and I'm sure something followed that precipitated his quitting West Ham. For me, it's about the writers doing a better job of connecting the dots. I love all of this. With respect to the bolded bit, the writers could have made his treatment of Colin a little less revolting by reminding the audience that Colin is one of the people who bullied him. It's still punching down, but with context.

My main issue is not so much whether Nate is redeemable but whether the showrunners have made a case for his change of heart. Rebecca's transformation from a woman consumed by hatred to one who is motivated by love is gradual and signposted throughout series 1. We see her beginning to care for Ted (her sensitivity when he has a panic attack, the compassionate glance she levels at him when he tells Rupert his father died at age 16). People whom she respects, like Sassy and Keeley, call her out, showing that her obsession with Rupert, during and after the marriage, has hurt people whom she cares about. That these insights don't result in an immediate change of behavior is true to life. Someone pointed out that even after the dart game, Rebecca is still on the revenge train, telling Higgins to fill the stands with the rival team's fans. It can be reasonably argued that Rebecca's being blackmailed into coming clean with Ted shows that she has not evolved much. But I think her lightbulb moment is not the blackmail but Keeley's telling her that confessing to Ted "would change how I feel about you." That, combined with her finally acknowledging how much she has hurt Nora, helps her realize that her love for her friends surpasses her hatred of Rupert. But it's "very close," as Roy tells Keeley, when he admits his affection for her just barely exceeds his dislike of Jamie. For this reason, her change of heart takes most of season 1. With Nate, we see that he is changing but not why. Why does he think he owes Ted an apology? Perhaps it's seeing how much worse Rupert is than Ted, but he presumably already knew that. Recognizing that Ted is the better man is a low bar and thin gruel for the resumption of their relationship. And regardless, the writers haven't shown us that might be the rationale. I also can't for the life of me figure out why and how Nate realized that he had abused Will. I'm not even convinced that someone as self-absorbed as Nate would remember Will existed after he left Richmond. Instead, Nate's path to redemption is signposted by the people around him treating him better (Jade) and even apologizing to him (his father). That contrasts with Rebecca's journey. The writers did a good job of showing that Nate's insecurities result largely from bullying and from his belief that his father doesn't love and respect him. They did an excellent job of making viewers loath Nick in spite of this. But they have done a horrible job of showing why Nick is becoming someone who is motivated by love, not resentment. The power of and need for love are at the heart of Ted Lasso. We've seen how much Nate needs to be loved, but we haven't seen him recognizing that filling that need requires generosity and compassion. Sometimes the authors of tech manuals leave out crucial steps because they seem obvious to them. I think Ted Lasso's writers know the characters so well that they have left too much to the viewers to infer.

To be fair to the writers, I *did* re-binge the previous 2 seasons just before watching this one, and I still missed this. Sigh.

So many great comments! A couple of Nate observations: 1. What Rebecca did was awful, and I won't make excuses for her. But as others have said, the showrunners did a better job with her redemption arc than they have (so far) with Nate's. What she did landed differently with many viewers, including me, however, because it wasn't personal. Nate's attack on Ted was, and viciously so. The worst part was his telling Ted he had abandoned Henry, hitting Ted where he's most vulnerable. The psychology works because Nate felt abandoned by his father. He was conflating Henry with himself. But it was still mean, not least because Nate was not completely wrong. Ted didn't abandon Henry, but his decision to put an ocean between himself and his son has had and will continue to have consequences for their relationship. That's simply the reality, even if Ted's reasons are defensible. 2. I also hope that Nate apologizes to Will in person, but what he did do worked for me. He acknowledged in a concrete way that he and Will were both kit men, which shows real growth. He was mean to Will because Will reminded him that he was one degree of separation from a job he thought was beneath him. I hope he has a similar light bulb moment with his prejudice against Jade's family business. Sorry about the pun. I'll let myself out.

Thank you so much for taking the time to indulge our curiosity. I had read about the Seattle show, and I'm glad Brett scheduled extra gigs, so you were able to attend. What fun! I engage in a fair amount of Brett stalking myself, and I really enjoy his podcast. I doubt he'll be heading to my small New England state anytime soon, but a girl can dream.

Has Roy said "I love you" to Keeley onscreen before this episode?

So, you're just going to toss this off as an aside? I feel like it should have its own thread. 😉

I have been mainly neutral on the question of Nate's redemption, except that I think it has been done poorly. But I HATE that Roy echoed Nate's Jesus fucking Christ when Keeley caught him by surprise. Are the writers seriously suggesting that Nate and Roy have been on similar paths toward redemption this season? Words fail me. Those two scenes make me think that Nate is going to end up coaching Richmond. Ugh. ETA that I think the shirt Roy was wearing at the end was similar in color and somewhat similar in design to the one that Nate was wearing earlier. Double ugh.

I think spinoffs work best when the lead is a minor character from the original series (e.g., Fraser). I would totally watch a series starring Trent Crimm, independent.

So much this. I just rewatched the episode, and I loved catching all the moments I missed (thanks to everyone who listed things to look out for!). Girl in a Cardigan referenced Trent taking in the scene in the locker room, which I did register on first watch. I loved that so much. James Lance makes the most of every scene he's in. A few people have mentioned that we haven't seen enough of Rebecca's growth. I've thought that, too. But as I watched this episode, it occurred to me that throughout this season, we've been witnessing all the ways that Richmond is truly her team now. For Rupert, the team was an extension of himself, and Rebecca got sucked into that. But I think she was wrong when she said that Richmond was the only thing Rupert had ever cared about. I don't believe he genuinely cares about anyone or anything, except insofar as they reflect back his narcissistic view of himself as a superior being. Hiring Ted was the kind of dickish move that Rupert would make, but Rebecca is now the anti-Rupert. She doesn't overidentify with her friends and employees, which is why she is able to help the people in her orbit become better versions of who they already are, rather than shaping them in her own image. To bring this back to my rewatch of the episode, a couple of folks remarked on how luminous Rebecca looked in her scene with Roy. I had totally missed that. Lighting and makeup are so important in TV and movies that her radiant look must have been intentional. She has come into her own. A feature of Rebecca's relationship with Sam was her being validated as a desirable woman. That's what she needed at the time, and that was okay. I do hope we see the return of HDG and a glimpse of Rebecca finding her joy separate from her work life. But I don't believe she needs HDG, or a kid, to prove to herself that she is a worthy human being.

This bugged me, too. It was a missed opportunity to show that Keeley is still the Keeley we know and love.