Season 1 & 2 Discussion

[meep.meep]

Small Talk has to be named:  Bantr

[AngieBee1]

Brendan Hunt gives details about the episode. Nothing too revelatory except, yes, this and the Christmas episode were the additional episodes chosen when Apple+ increased the episode order. https://tvline.com/2021/09/17/ted-lasso-recap-season-2-episode-9-beard-after-hours-explained/

My thoughts on the episode? Huge departure, but no less enjoyable. Bits I loved:

-Getting to spend more time with the three lads and having them have a fantastic night out.

-The music (Blur, Edwyn Collins, Sir Mix a Lot, The Streets). 

-The fact that Baz did the same dance move Nate did when Nate entered the gala in S1. 

-Beard's "Are you there, God? It's me; Margaret's son."

-Insight on Beard's frustration at himself for not challenging Ted. 

What I decidedly didn't love is his continued obsession with Jane. But then again that's realistic. Many people stay with the worst people.  In the interview linked Hunt says Beard has self-love issues and I think that's one of the reasons he stays with Jane. Another realistic thing because his public persona is one of extreme confidence, yet there is still that something within him that keeps him from reaching for the love he deserves. 

[KittenPokerCheater]

A very interesting bottle episode.  Not my favorite but very well done. I've never like the song Blue Moon.

I LOVED the night out he gave the Lads from the Club.  Watching them gleefully running on the field at Wembley was so great and heart warming.  

It was fun to get to know the Lads a little better too.

I'm still mad that Beard is with Jane.  Beard is weird and wonderful and I want him to be with someone who isn't controlling.

[MissLucas]

Experimental filler episodes are always a bit risky and I'm not sure the timing for this one was good. I did not really enjoy it because it used a couple of tropes I find truly stressful. But kudos to the show for giving it a go, it was quite artsy and obviously full of references.

Random observations: Coach Beard has impressive hula hoop skills. An since when is the 'BELIEVE' poster fixed? I'm convinced that's bad luck, somebody unfix that ASAP!

[Turtle Wexler]

11 hours ago, christine falls said:

The latest episode is based on the 1985 Martin Scorsese film After Hours, which follows Griffin Dunne trying to make his way home in NYC at night after losing his last $20. 

I don’t usually visit the forum while I’m watching, but I did today, and this was helpful—thanks!—as was knowing that it was one of the extra episodes, so while I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it, either. I really like Beard, and so I did like getting to spend time with him away from Ted/coaching. I hate that he’s stuck in a toxic cycle with Jane, and I hope that he’s eventually able to get away from her.
 

I also like getting to see more of Baz, Jeremy, and Paul and in a way that feels natural and not shoehorned in to give Beard someone else to spend time with.

Brendan Hunt said he thinks that everything happened (save the commentary) so I wonder if any of it will carry through (e.g., the fight with Jamie’s dad) or not. 

[MerBearStare]

1 hour ago, KittenPokerCheater said:

I LOVED the night out he gave the Lads from the Club.  Watching them gleefully running on the field at Wembley was so great and heart warming.  

It was fun to get to know the Lads a little better too.

I'm still mad that Beard is with Jane.  Beard is weird and wonderful and I want him to be with someone who isn't controlling.

Agree with everything you said, Kitten Poker Cheater. I loved when they were all at Bones and Honey (that name! 😂😂😂) and talking to the snooty Oxford alums.

I honestly don't get what the show wants us to think about Beard and Jane. Are they toxic or should they be together? Maybe they're being intentionally ambiguous. 

This was probably my least favorite episode so far, but even a "bad" Ted Lasso episode is still better than most other things on tv. And Coach Beard's dope new pants kind of make it all worth while.

Edited September 17, 2021 by MerBearStare

[Cornhusker12]

3 hours ago, AngieBee1 said:

I'm sure there are other interviews but Sudeikis talks about it with the Kansas City Starhttps://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=jason+sudeikis+kansas+city+star+empire+strikes+back&d=4961099789041943&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=xKDNtITaqNPQDCMRpoBWCvSOmF75ZN4g

And the tail end of this USA Today article https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2021/07/22/jason-sudeikis-ted-lasso-season-2-star-wars-fans/7979429002/

Thank you! This confirms my suspicion that people may be taking these quotes a little too seriously in the world of a show like Ted Lasso haha. Maybe I will be completely blindsided, but I just can't imagine why any of those comments would lead people to assume we're in for death and destruction all of a sudden.

[FnkyChkn34]

2 hours ago, Cornhusker12 said:

Thank you! This confirms my suspicion that people may be taking these quotes a little too seriously in the world of a show like Ted Lasso haha. Maybe I will be completely blindsided, but I just can't imagine why any of those comments would lead people to assume we're in for death and destruction all of a sudden.

Exactly. All he says is that they have to look within themselves - like every good character does at some point. Also, they all have daddy issues. 

Edited September 17, 2021 by FnkyChkn34
fixed typo

[Kiddvideo]

The only thing I can figure out is they wanted us to think it was a drug-induced hallucination and Coach putting his feet on the desk at the end (and showing us the sequined pants proving it was real) was supposed to be illuminating. So now we know Coach has the ability to let loose.

I’m going to file this with that episode of The Golden Girls and forget it exists.

[slasherboy]

4 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

 Also, they all have daddy issues. 

Who doesn't?

[ichbin]

So, I watched it.  Didn't care for it in terms of an episode for this particular series.  This show is called Ted Lasso, not Coach Beard.  I enjoy the other characters playing off one another with small bursts of introspection shown.  This was too much Beard.

[HerkyJerky]

Besides “After Hours”, the other film this episode reminds me of is the 1973 Malcolm McDowell movie “O Lucky Man!” 😳

[LADreamr]

I can see where this episode would put some people off, but I kinda loved it.  It was different than the usual episodes, but it still had a lot of the same humor and heart.  And it kind of made sense for Beard.  I found the episode of Nate's great decline much more disturbing.  I usually watch these episodes several times, but I haven't been able to watch that one again.

Edited to add:

LOVE the Small Talk thread being called Bantr, @meep.meep

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by LADreamr

[rejnel]

LOVED IT.

[Turtle Wexler]

12 hours ago, MerBearStare said:

I honestly don't get what the show wants us to think about Beard and Jane. Are they toxic or should they be together? Maybe they're being intentionally ambiguous. 

Yeah. I was thinking about when we first meet Jane at the gala, Beard ends up annoying her by continuing to play virtual chess when she wants to go dance. I couldn’t help but wonder whether the writers changed their minds about the kind of person she was going to be. (Not that toxic people can’t be charming and appear not-toxic, of course, but the shift didn’t seem planned to me. 🤷‍♀️)

[Tabbygirl521]

7 hours ago, Kiddvideo said:

The only thing I can figure out is they wanted us to think it was a drug-induced hallucination and Coach putting his feet on the desk at the end (and showing us the sequined pants proving it was real) was supposed to be illuminating. So now we know Coach has the ability to let loose.

I’m going to file this with that episode of The Golden Girls and forget it exists.

I think even the pants at the end were part of the hallucination because his legs were visible to all but no one commented. 

[pennben]

4 hours ago, Turtle Wexler said:

Yeah. I was thinking about when we first meet Jane at the gala, Beard ends up annoying her by continuing to play virtual chess when she wants to go dance. I couldn’t help but wonder whether the writers changed their minds about the kind of person she was going to be. (Not that toxic people can’t be charming and appear not-toxic, of course, but the shift didn’t seem planned to me. 🤷‍♀️)

I’m mostly playing here, but arguably Coach Beard is a bit toxic himself. 

[Trillium]

I think this one is you either like it or you don’t. I liked going on a weird tippy adventure with Beard and the pub guys. I wasn’t in a place mentally to deal with the aftermath of last week’s, so this met me were I was at. But I think also knowing this was supposed to be an extra stand alone episode helped. 
 

 

[Crs97]

5 hours ago, Tabbygirl521 said:

 

12 hours ago, Kiddvideo said:

The only thing I can figure out is they wanted us to think it was a drug-induced hallucination and Coach putting his feet on the desk at the end (and showing us the sequined pants proving it was real) was supposed to be illuminating. So now we know Coach has the ability to let loose.

I’m going to file this with that episode of The Golden Girls and forget it exists.

Expand  

I think even the pants at the end were part of the hallucination because his legs were visible to all but no one commented. 

 

If you watch, Ted does a small, quizzical double take when Beard puts his feet up.  I think they are real.

[MissLucas]

I also think the pants were real. Roy is not the type to make comments on fashion and I think Nate is too intimidated by Coach Beard to dare. They also did not comment on his bruises - that was left to Ted who's closest to Beard.

Edited September 18, 2021 by MissLucas

[Enigma X]

I think the whole thing was real and liked it. Not sure if it fit with this show though or maybe just not in this spot. But, I honestly do hope this is setting Beard up to express that he actually does care about winning (in their line of work it does not have to be bad thing) more than Ted does.

[KittenPokerCheater]

15 minutes ago, Enigma X said:

I honestly do hope this is setting Beard up to express that he actually does care about winning (in their line of work it does not have to be bad thing) more than Ted does

Didn't Beard do that in the last season when they are debating whether to pull Roy from the game?
 

[Enigma X]

1 minute ago, KittenPokerCheater said:

Didn't Beard do that in the last season when they are debating whether to pull Roy from the game?
 

It seemed a bit passive to me.

[SHD]

Did anyone else pause and pause and pause so that they could read as many of Jane's 50+ text messages as possible? She seems like she's a LOT to deal with. She completely spun out just because he didn't answer right away.

I transcribed them (all 52!) - typos are as they appeared in the texts.

********

If you’re not going to join me, I at least hope you’re having some fun.

Hey.

I do love you, you know.

I said I love you.

I LOVE YOU.

Oh, now you can’t say it back cos I took too long?

F*** you Beard.

I did what you asked

I’m literally doing what you asked.

F*** you Beard

You know there’s a lot of men after me tonight.

I turned down three guys already.

Make that four.

A guy kissed me while I was writing that text.

You’re a real piece of work, Beard

I’m never gonna speak to you again

You’ve got 10 seconds to call me

Time’s up.

Right.

We’re done.

I’m having the best night

I realize how fun life is without you around me

You would’ve loved this place

But you would’vev ruined it

I don’t even love you

It was a joke

I thought you liked jokes.

Oh god my dress just fell off.

How annoying!!!

Listen, You know that time you said you wanted to meet my mum, and I said you couldn’t meet her. I wasn’t embarrassed about you, I was embarrassed about her. But you know what, I am embarrassed about you. You’re embarrassing. My mum’s f***ing amazing.

I’m willing to consider you’re not getting these texts because your battery died

And if that’s the case I’m truly sorry

It’s hard to discuss feelinfs

I know you always say I’m really reasonable but you don’t know this about me…

Sometimes I can be a bit emotional

So maybe I’m lashing out

OK

Nothing?

Still…nothing?

For real???

This is too far.

OK I literally couldn’t give a f*** what you’re doing but don’t you dare ever speak to me again.

Don’t come crawling back to me. Ever. You’re dead to me, like I hope you’re lying face down

In a ditch somewhere and a squirrel is eating you. A f***ing squirrel is eating you from the feet up until all that’s left is your f**ing stupid beard and nothing else

I mean it

S**t

Beard?

You HAVEN’T been hit by a train, have you?

Baerd?

Just reply so I know you’re not dead

Cos I’d feel like s***

If you were dead.

 

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by SHD

[Turtle Wexler]

1 hour ago, SHD said:

Did anyone else pause and pause and pause so that they could read as many of Jane's 50+ text messages as possible? She seems like she's a LOT to deal with. She completely spun out just because he didn't answer right away.

Thank you!! I generally can’t read the texts from where I’m sitting relative to my TV, and it always seems like there’s a weird glare on them? I don’t know whether it’s my eyes or whatever it is they do to make them show up clearly (or both). Given how many there were, I knew Jane was spinning out, but actually reading the texts makes it even more upsetting.