S03.E10: International Break

[shapeshifter]

16 hours ago, Juneau Gal said:

Nate had cleaned the locker room and set out the kit. You see Will's expression of wonder before he sees and reads the note.

1 hour ago, Crs97 said:

To juxtapose the scenes, Will looks around in wonder, but when the same thing happened with Nate he started insulting everyone because he thought he’d been fired.

Ooohhh! I totally forgot about that!
Do the writers assume we re-binged the previous 2 seasons before watching this one???

 

[AD55]

46 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Ooohhh! I totally forgot about that!
Do the writers assume we re-binged the previous 2 seasons before watching this one???

 

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.

[mledawn]

On 5/20/2023 at 8:18 AM, Sakura12 said:

To me what Nate did is a far worse a betrayal than anything Rebecca did. Rebecca wasn't friends with Ted, she was his boss. Nate was supposed to be a friend. 

Ted was also Nate's boss. To be fair, the lines were blurred because of how Ted operates, and I don't disagree with you on your points overall.

[dovegrey]

Talking unfulfilling storylines - I’m not impressed with Roy’s storyline this season at all. IMO, he’s turning into a caricature of who he was in seasons one and two, and I really didn’t find the tie dye shirt plot to be funny or interesting; it was an antiquated punchline. In seasons past, he wouldn’t have even growled about the shirt; he would have worn it proudly, because who GAF, it’s a color and his niece gave it to him. This season, I would have really liked to have seen Roy come into his own as a coach (besides doing one press conference and teaming up with Jamie) or by adding some level of value or expertise to the team, besides tying dicks to strings and laughing about it. And then his story with Keeley might have seemed like something more than a plot contrivance, as Roy found worth and identity in "retirement."

The game mechanics and Richmond’s performance is where I think the show is really floundering. I have no emotional to connection to this 10-game winning streak and underdog Richmond being #4. It feels so unearned to me, and I have no idea how they’re doing it (besides Total Football), when their head coach is disinterested and their other two coaches don’t appear to add anything. Likewise, I had no idea why they were failing so badly after Zava left; that felt hollow, too. They really could have tied some character stories together into the team’s performance and drawn a compelling season-long arc for many characters.

I’m still enjoying the show but there’s been a clear shift in quality, and I find that nearly every character is suffering for it. Rebecca is probably faring best.

[sjankis630]

22 minutes ago, dovegrey said:

I’m still enjoying the show but there’s been a clear shift in quality, and I find that nearly every character is suffering for it. Rebecca is probably faring best.

dovegrey 

I agree with you. I am just waiting for this show to end -hopefully this season. It is not as good as the past. I wonder if that has to do with Bill Lawrence leaving to do his other show?

If you had told me after the 2nd season ended that there were 12 more episodes to go and that most would be an hour or longer in length I would have been ecstatic. 

Now seeing what they have done with the time I realize you should be careful what you wish for. 

Looking back now I wonder how much of the preciseness of filming during covid contributed in what I think were better stories? Also I wonder how much the delay of season 3 has contributed to my less than stellar reviews? I started watching this show during the middle of season 2 - watched at the beach vacation at that - and was impressed.  Now I am thinking that instead of staying up I will just catch the show on Friday when my schedule is more suited.

I

Edited May 21, 2023 by sjankis630

[FnkyChkn34]

If Hannah Waddingham doesn't win her third* Emmy from this episode alone, then there is definitely something wrong with those Emmy people.

 

*Edit:  She has only won one Emmy for Ted Lasso, and that's a travesty, too.  I didn't realize she was nominated last year but didn't win.  So she must win her second this year.

Edited May 21, 2023 by FnkyChkn34

[paramitch]

On 5/20/2023 at 5:18 AM, Sakura12 said:

To me what Nate did is a far worse a betrayal than anything Rebecca did. Rebecca wasn't friends with Ted, she was his boss. Nate was supposed to be a friend. 

Nate told Trent Crimm, a reporter that Ted had a mental breakdown.  Nate revealed private information to a reporter something Ted shared with Diamond Dogs which is supposed to be a safe place for them to share their feelings and get advice. And he did that with intent to hurt him. Trent told Ted that it was Nate that told him and that is why Trent is no longer a reporter. 

Rebecca even in all her anger wouldn't have done that. We saw her see Ted have a panic in season 1 and she helped him through it. She didn't run to tell any reporters about it. Which could've helped her vendetta. But even she knows you don't blab about someone having a mental crisis. 

What Nate did was a personal attack to Ted. That takes more than a I'm sorry imo. 

Again, I agree that what Nate did was terrible. But no, I do not agree that Nate telling the press that Ted had a panic attack is not as bad as Rebecca trying to set up Ted as having a public affair with one of his players' girlfriends (which could have ruined multiple lives). Among the many terrible things Rebecca did.

I absolutely love Rebecca. I completely understand why she did what she did and that she was simply filled with rage and humiliation after Rupert's treatment of her. I was so happy Ted forgave her.

We already know Nate wants to apologize to Ted. So if "sorry" isn't enough, what are you looking for? I'm just curious. Is there a certain level of suffering you want Nate to go through for it to be okay?

On 5/20/2023 at 5:44 AM, shapeshifter said:

Although working for a boss (Rebecca) who is undermining you (Ted) can be more stressful at the time and have life-long impact on career and finances, I think in hindsight it is the hurtful deeds of so-called friends (Nate) or family that stick with the injured party longer emotionally.

Of course, in the show, Rebecca was not really as evil as she tried to be, and Ted has super powers of persuasion, so Rebecca's negative impact on Ted was magically reversed, except for the impact of Ted's being an ocean away from his young son.

I agree that the actions of friends hurt us more than those of strangers or, say, benign co-workers.

But even after Ted's anxiety attack (where she was so warm and caring with him), Rebecca was still actively working to bring Ted (and the team) down.

I just think the show knew we would forgive her because Ted does -- and because we saw how much pain she was in.

And in a similar way, I think the show thinks that because it showed how abused and bullied and insecure Nate was, that we would forgive him in a similar way. And, welp, that's definitely not the general consensus in the fandom.

On 5/20/2023 at 7:19 AM, Sakura12 said:

I'm fine with Ted forgiving Nate because that is what Ted does. But I would hope he makes Nate earn his trust back and not let him be in the diamond dogs. I've been betrayed by a friend and unlike Ted I cut that person out of my life and haven't spoken to them since. So this storyline may have brought that back up to me and it's probably why I'm judging Nate harder than  Rebecca. 

I'm so sorry for what you went through and I'm really glad you were able to cut the toxic person out of your life. It's so hard to do but such a good thing, and really brave.

In terms of Ted and Nate, etc. -- I have horrible anxiety and I deeply empathize with Ted. The one thing for me that's different here however is that I don't care who knows I have anxiety, and I'm open about that. So I'm lucky in that respect -- and I'm also not a major league sports coach (where this revelation could be seen as publicly damaging).

As Ted was keeping his anxiety quiet, I absolutely get how hurtful it was that Nate made it public. Nate absolutely needs to apologize to Ted for that, first and foremost. I am actively rooting for him to atone and be redeemed for it.

I would definitely understand Ted accepting Nate's apology, and then never wanting to speak with him again. I don't know, though -- I don't think that's how Ted is wired. Ted still has that picture Nate gave him on display in his flat. I think Ted has already forgiven Nate and still cares about him, and his friendship. We'll see.

On 5/20/2023 at 11:14 AM, Crs97 said:

On the advice of his marriage counselor and encouragement of his wife to give her space.  Yes, he ultimately made the decision, but it was based on strong personal and professional persuasion.

Oh, man, that whole storyline is so icky. The marriage counselor who (for his own benefit) ganged up on Ted with Michelle in their therapy sessions, caused Ted to doubt and blame himself and to then accept the offer to move to England -- and which also can be directly connected to his distrust of therapists and his unwillingness to get help for his anxiety (thank goodness for Dr. Sharon).

The marriage counselor who then started sleeping with Michelle. Ugh, ugh, ugh.

I will never, ever be okay with the show having Michelle date their fricking marriage counselor. I just hate that storyline so much.

On 5/20/2023 at 11:58 AM, Kabota said:

I'm still so confused about the time wasted with KJPR. With Rebecca so easily refinancing Keeley...what was the point of ANY of that? For Keeley to learn how NOT to run a business? For her to be mopey for like, what, an afternoon? Why not have Rebecca finance from the first and keep Keeley closer? That would've been a natural source of tension already. Or, heck, let Keeley raise the money on her own. I'm so sad to feel this way, but the Roy/Keeley reunion just fell flat to me, partly because of their lack of interaction for episodes and my general dissatisfaction with the PR firm plot.

Thank you! Well said.

For me, honestly, Keeley's storyline started to go wrong with the Vanity Fair piece. I just didn't buy it. At that point, Keeley had been sort of freelancing as the team publicist, and it was implied she had done a good job. She had put together some high-level exposure and promotions, definitely. But for me -- speaking as a career publicist -- we didn't see Keeley operating at any kind of high-power level that would cause a glossy Hollywood-forward magazine like Vanity Fair to pick her out as any kind of international player.

The Vanity Fair piece is what directly leads to her leaving the team and breaking with Roy. And both felt artificial to me, especially given the storyline in season 3.

I just wish they'd had Rebecca finance Keeley as an independent publicist who would still retain the team as a big client. Boom. Then Keeley doesn't leave the team, she's still in the team's orbit, and we still get that Keeley/Rebecca interaction that I thought was so important to the show.

I just think the KJPR thing has been a huge misstep. I think Keeley could have been presented as struggling with independence and success without the giant rug-pull of this season.

Especially since Keeley at the team's HQ had that fun, vibrant office, she was always in everyone's orbit, and she seemed filled with so much joy. I hated her KJPR offices, hated the boring, flat people she surrounded herself with, and hated Jack (I just can't get past the "pretend firing" Jack did with Keeley -- much less the absolutely unforgivable slut-shaming, cowardly ghosting, and then the cruelest cut of all -- not even letting Keeley know her funding had been cut (and come on, we all know Jack was behind it, right?). I mean, Jack even specifically emailed Barbara and mentioned that she would be letting Keeley know ASAP. And she didn't. So that had to be deliberate.

Anyway. I've hated the entire KJPR storyline and think it's been a massive waste of Keeley (and of Juno's talent).

Edited May 22, 2023 by paramitch
fixed tense

[dovegrey]

On 5/20/2023 at 10:19 AM, Sakura12 said:

Ted choose to take the job away from his family. I can't put that on Rebecca. Now he didn't know that she was trying to destroy the team. So he didn't have all the information for his hiring, but that is the nature of jobs you never know what they are hiring for or how long you'll have the job. I don't know much about sports, from what I've seen its pretty easy to get fired from coaching based on the teams performance.

To me, by that logic, then Ted also chose to disclose personal and private medical information to his subordinate coworkers at work. Which is a big no-no that most adults have learned, even when you’re not in a small, competitive industry. If Ted’s choice to move to the UK in good faith for a job mitigates Rebecca’s behavior (which was not a wait-to-fail and fire him approach… she immediately and actively schemed to destroy him with a fake sex scandal and then a hit piece in the newspapers), then, by that logic, Ted’s very informed choice to disclose his health condition at work with coworkers mitigates Nate’s behavior. But I don’t agree that Ted’s choices absolves the behaviors of others, regardless of who the character is.

In general, I didn’t mean to start a tit-for-tat tally of Nate vs. Rebecca when I compared them. I just generally don’t understand the general vitriol toward Nate compared to Rebecca and Jamie, except he’s not nearly as charismatic, their stories/shitty-behavior catalysts were better developed on-screen (making them easier to root for), and both have had a lot of time to simmer and rehabilitate during the episodes and between seasons (which I didn’t have). Either way, I would never talk to Rebecca or Nate again - but I would personally far prefer what Nate did than having Rebecca schmooze me to my face while secretly trying to completely destroy me, my career, and my work for an entire year. I would never trust her or work for her, but I’m glad she’s nice now. (I’m still working to forgive Jamie’s hair this season, though. 😝)

Edited May 22, 2023 by dovegrey

[Capricasix]

I just had a brilliant idea and I wonder if it will happen this way in the show. Nate goes to Ted’s flat to talk to him, Ted invites him in, and he sees where Ted has kept the framed picture since Nate gave it to him. Nate is immediately overcome with remorse and apologizes to Ted. After that, I don’t know 😄

[Kel Varnsen]

4 hours ago, Capricasix said:

After that, I don’t know 😄

I keep thinking back to what Ted said to Michelle over the phone earlier this season. About how he is really upset with what she did and he is not ok with it. But he is trying to figure out how to work through it because they have to have a relationship, and will for the rest of their lives because of their son. It would be interesting to me if he said like an alternate version of that speech to Nate about how he is upset about what he did, and while he appreciates an apology there is no reason for them to have any kind of relationship going forward

[scenicbyway]

Ted has already forgiven Nate.

We saw that in episode one with the press conference. Ted had a public forum to go after him and instead made it about his own mental health. We saw him, guided by Henry put Nate back in the line up in the lego stadium. Instead of yelling at Nate in the elevator when they were alone at West Ham, Ted greeted Nate warmly. He also took Henry to the game and waved at Nate. In the last episode, he had the opportunity to throw axes at a picture of Nate and said it was bad karma. At this point, Nate may apologize but I expect Ted to cut him off with a hug. Ted has been worried about Nate, not mad, which is actually one of Ted’s flaws, it’s why he’s had trouble dealing with his dad’s death and Michelle’s betrayal. 

[Crs97]

I think Ted is conflicted about Nate.  He cares about him, but really isn’t sure how/whether they move forward.  He doesn’t want bad things to happen to Nate.  I’m sure he is concerned that Nate is no longer coaching.  I’m hoping it ends with Ted expressing how much Nate hurt him and maybe forgiving him, but not continuing anything but an arms length relationship.  Nate can be better for the next group of Diamond Dogs; his apology doesn’t reinstate him here.  

I think the fact that everyone keeps telling Ted he is angry about Nate and should show it is leading somewhere.

Edited May 22, 2023 by Crs97

[DEL901]

16 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

I think Ted is conflicted about Nate.  He cares about him, but really isn’t sure how/whether they move forward.  He doesn’t want bad things to happen to Nate.  I’m sure he is concerned that Nate is no longer coaching.  I’m hoping it ends with Ted expressing how much Nate hurt him and maybe forgiving him, but not continuing anything but an arms length relationship.  Nate can be better for the next group of Diamond Dogs; his apology doesn’t reinstate him here.  

I think the fact that everyone keeps telling Ted he is angry about Nate and should show it is leading somewhere.

I think Ted has to get to a place where he is comfortable expressing anger…I think that deep down he always worries that things could end like they did with his father.  

[AD55]

17 hours ago, paramitch said:

Again, I agree that what Nate did was terrible. But no, I do not agree that Nate telling the press that Ted had a panic attack is not as bad as Rebecca trying to set up Ted as having a public affair with one of his players' girlfriends (which could have ruined multiple lives). Among the many terrible things Rebecca did.

I absolutely love Rebecca. I completely understand why she did what she did and that she was simply filled with rage and humiliation after Rupert's treatment of her. I was so happy Ted forgave her.

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.

Edited May 22, 2023 by AD55

[braziliangirl]

3 hours ago, AD55 said:

 

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.

 

I think I was the one who said what you were refering to. My point wasn't that Rebecca told Ted because Keeley blackmailed her (I agree with you about the lightbulb moment). What I was trying to argument is that she didn't stopped until that and that I can appreciate Nate's arc being different.

He wasn't fired or was losing (like Jamie) or someone actively made him stop behaving badly (like with Rebecca, Colin or Isaac). He was winning, had prestige, Jade. And still somehow he started regretting his actions.

I agree with you though about the "why" not being showed in a way that the audience could grasp.

I think the biggest mistake they did was showing Nate in the first episode of the season still behaving very angrily towards Ted and Richmond (even though I can think that his first press conference was before him seeing his work being recognized as headcoach/topdog or whatever. He needed to spit under the table to talk with the journalists).

Then the next episode that largely featured him was Big Week (which showed he wanted to apologize to Ted. I remember writing here that it felt like I missed an episode or something because the change seemed so sudden). 

Maybe if he was more conflicted in the first episode it would've landed better. 

[tennisgurl]

On 5/17/2023 at 2:32 PM, mledawn said:

No disrespect to Peaky Blinders (loved that show) but Nick Cave’s Red Right Hand will always be from the Duane Barry episode of The X Files.

 

See, as much as I love Peaky Blinders and X-Files, Red Right hand will always be the Scream theme song for me. 

I really think that the show underestimated how much Nate pissed people off last season, it went beyond him just telling the press about Ted's panic attacks and leaving the team, he just became such a smug prick that I wanted to snack that smug smirk off his face every time he spoke. I think that people have a really visceral reaction reaction to someone punching down the way that Nate did, he was so needlessly cruel to Will and Colin just because he could, he got just a taste of power and he immediately let it go to his head. I knew that the show would redeem him, and some of it has worked, like Nate trying to engage with his co-workers the way he used to have fun with his old friends, only for it to be super awkward, I keep waiting for him to have a real moment when he realizes just how badly he screwed up. I wanted him to really get hit by the consequences of his action, like being fired if West Ham started doing poorly, but it seems like his redemption was just him getting everything he wants while doing the minimum to try and be less of a shit person. He gets his dream girl, he gets his dads approval, he gets to quit the team on his own terms, and now I'm sure that he'll be forgiven the second he sees Ted again. Apologizing to Will is a good start, but I was really hoping for more. 

I might not be thrilled with how that plot went, but I still loved the episode and have loved the season overall. I missed Ted but I agree with others that while Ted might not have been around much, he was there in spirit throughout. He's done so much to improve everyone's lives just by inspiring them, Keeley coming to know her worth, Jamie becoming a good friend/teammate, Roy being vulnerable, Rebecca being over Rupert, no matter where Ted goes he's made a real difference here. 

I wish that Roy and Keely had gotten back together earlier, with much less of Jack, but I'm so happy that they're finally back together I don't even care!

Jamie was so cute smiling when Phoebe said that he was Roy's best friend, and then Roy was so touched by his very thoughtful present. His very thoughtful very Roy present. Then when Jamie wore Sam's number, it was just too sweet. 

"I can't have another sad, skinny girl pass out in my pub. Fucks my Yelp rating".

[AD55]

1 hour ago, braziliangirl said:

I think I was the one who said what you were refering to. My point wasn't that Rebecca told Ted because Keeley blackmailed her (I agree with you about the lightbulb moment). What I was trying to argument is that she didn't stopped until that and that I can appreciate Nate's arc being different.

He wasn't fired or was losing (like Jamie) or someone actively made him stop behaving badly (like with Rebecca, Colin or Isaac). He was winning, had prestige, Jade. And still somehow he started regretting his actions.

I agree with you though about the "why" not being showed in a way that the audience could grasp.

I think the biggest mistake they did was showing Nate in the first episode of the season still behaving very angrily towards Ted and Richmond (even though I can think that his first press conference was before him seeing his work being recognized as headcoach/topdog or whatever. He needed to spit under the table to talk with the journalists).

Then the next episode that largely featured him was Big Week (which showed he wanted to apologize to Ted. I remember writing here that it felt like I missed an episode or something because the change seemed so sudden). 

Maybe if he was more conflicted in the first episode it would've landed better. 

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.

23 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

I think that people have a really visceral reaction reaction to someone punching down the way that Nate did, he was so needlessly cruel to Will and Colin just because he could, he got just a taste of power and he immediately let it go to his head. I

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.

[Kel Varnsen]

4 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

keep waiting for him to have a real moment when he realizes just how badly he screwed up. I wanted him to really get hit by the consequences of his action, like being fired if West Ham started doing poorly, but it seems like his redemption was just him getting everything he wants while doing the minimum to try and be less of a shit person.

That is sort of where I am at. Nate hasn't really had any kind of moment where he realizes how much of an asshole he has been. At best he has realized how Rupert is a much bigger asshole and that he doesn't want to be around him. But that's not the same thing. And by itself I am not sure it is really a reason to want to become a better person.

Edited May 23, 2023 by Kel Varnsen

[DEL901]

11 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

That is sort of where I am at. Nate hasn't really had any kind of moment where he realizes how much of an asshole he has been. At best he has realized how Rupert is a much bigger asshole and that he doesn't want to be around him.

That’s exactly what’s missing.  We say Rebecca realize she didn’t want to be like Rupert and she was sorry for what she did.  Jamie realized he didn’t want to be a man like his father.  Roy has been shown having s3veral epiphanies.  But not Nate.  And not Ted. He had had small ones, but he needs to realize that the world won’t end and people won’t die if he isn’t always happy and positive.  
 

[Uncle JUICE]

Sorry I'm late to the party and once again I feel like a bit of an outsider looking in, but this show has kinda lost its way for me, and I"m not sure I expect it to recover and stick the landing. 

Most of what I feel about Nate has been said, but to succinctly summarize, he's a shit person who did shit things to people and has had no appropriate redemptiom. He literally got everything he wanted: the Hammers were in 2nd place in the table with what CANNOT be more than a month to go given that we know the Greyhounds not only won 10 in a row, but also lost 7 in a row, and I doubt those are the only games they've played. He didn't even get fired, he apparently resigned off screen as far as I can tell. THe manager. Of the 2nd place time in EPL. Resigned because his boss wanted to get him laid. I'm not saying this ISN'T morally reprehensible of Rupert, duh, I'm saying a better show makes this into something, some conflict where Nate really DOES have to make a decision: give up his dream job, risk a black mark on his very young career where it's impossible to break into (EPL has had the same seven managers on rotation whenever anyone is canned, for example. Pottechino has managed half the teams by now!). THAT is a potential redemption, THAT is a story arc. What they gave us was Nate's inexplicably so put off that he resigns, moves home, retains his girlfriend AND HIS DAD SAYS HE IS A GENIUS??? I'm expecting Lasso to be a different show than it wants to be, that's kind of my problem.

It has all these extra neat and absolutely implausible resolutions to messy things. Keely's business, which is incomprehensible because they never show what she's doing, at which she's MAYBE competent (Again we have to guess), goes under because the investor pulled funding? Oh, no problem, REbecca can invest in it! WHY WOULD SHE? Where are Rebecca's lawyers? A neater more believable solution is to say we'll hire you on in house as President of Marketing. 

Super league...the whole plot done in one episode?? Again Lasso, if you're not going to be a sports show, you're better off staying AWAY from sport stuff entirely. Because this was nonsense, from the moment AFC RIchmond is invited in. They haven't even been in the premier league for TWO SEASONS, and they're a 'super club? Zero chance Rebecca's credible in that room and not because she's a woman, or because she's Rupert's ex, but because HER TEAM DOESN'T BELONG THERE.

Also why is Danny a psycho now? No hint of that at all, even in game footage he's smiling and happy and polite, you can't show him throwing in a spicy tackle every now and then? GIve us some supporting structure? If he had the keeper one on one and CHOSE to smash the ball in his face rather than try to score, I mean come on now. 

I"m glad Lasso's ending. I've been with it long enough where I'll see it through, but a season 4? No thanks. Rename it AFC RIchmond and give Rebecca a starring role in it, with her showing what a boss bitch really is, I'll watch that. Just don't do any soccer in it.

[Lois Sandborne]

19 minutes ago, Uncle JUICE said:

I'm expecting Lasso to be a different show than it wants to be, that's kind of my problem.

You. Me. Same.

Poor Ms. Bowen. Poor Van Damme.

[mledawn]

I know I have said it before recently but unsure if I said it in this forum - it is really apparent when actors and writers don’t take into account scenes that didn’t air. So many times we hear later how “oh, we wrote this scene where…” or “we filmed this scene but it was cut”. So the actors and writers have a view of a character that the audience doesn’t have because we never saw those scenes. I think this is the case with Nate - things are probably on the cutting room floor. Maybe that gives too much credit to the writers but I can’t otherwise grasp how they could so badly underestimate this storyline.

 

@tennisgurl you’re not the first here to say that but I have never seen any of the Screams! Ha.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

9 hours ago, Uncle JUICE said:

Super league...the whole plot done in one episode?? Again Lasso, if you're not going to be a sports show, you're better off staying AWAY from sport stuff entirely. Because this was nonsense, from the moment AFC RIchmond is invited in. They haven't even been in the premier league for TWO SEASONS, and they're a 'super club? Zero chance Rebecca's credible in that room and not because she's a woman, or because she's Rupert's ex, but because HER TEAM DOESN'T BELONG THERE.

Not gonna lie, even though I think Rebecca crushed that whole speech scene - which was the only real reason she was invited, and went, to begin with - I just could not begin to fathom why she even had a spot at the table in the first place. 

I mean, to think that Akufu would tolerate a club like AFC Richmond being invited to, and involved in, his 'Super League' of the "highest quality clubs that people will have to pay premium prices to watch" just made no sense at all. 

And this isn't even bringing up the fact that said team has a player on it that he just spent multi-millions to a nation's government to prevent his inclusion on player's national soccer squad because he dislikes him so much!

I like Ted Lasso, but sometimes the logic leaps are just nonsensical.

[DEL901]

27 minutes ago, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

And this isn't even bringing up the fact that said team has a player on it that he just spent multi-millions to a nation's government to prevent his inclusion on player's national soccer squad because he dislikes him so much!

I like Ted Lasso, but sometimes the logic leaps are just nonsensical.

I think he is petty enough to include Richmond just so he could get Sam fired.  

[kwnyc]

On 5/21/2023 at 1:12 PM, dovegrey said:

This season, I would have really liked to have seen Roy come into his own as a coach (besides doing one press conference and teaming up with Jamie)

I would say that taking a self-involved immature head case and turning him into a world-class player shows Roy's strength. He's a player's coach; Nate was a whiteboard guy, Beard translates Ted.

[Danny Franks]

Dani in international mode is quite scary. I'm sure players in real life don't treat their club teammates like enemies, but there must  be a lot of tension at times.

As someone who really doesn't care about Roy and Keely, I'm still all in on Roy and Phoebe's teacher. I really like Ruth Bradley as an actor, and think she tends to be underused in a lot of things. Perhaps it's because she makes such a big impact with just a few minutes of screentime. I loved her quiet admonishment to herself after seemingly scaring Roy off.

Meanwhile, Jamie and Roy's sister needs to happen, just so we can see Roy's herculean struggles with accepting both that Jamie is a changed man and that his sister is an adult who can make her own choices.

I've enjoyed Roy and Jamie's friendship a lot this season, and it's done a lot of heavy lifting to cover for some other storylines, which have been dull and practically afterthoughts. It feels like the writers just got bored of Keely and Jack, and of Nathan at West Ham, so did away with them in minutes, after setting them up all season. Eh, okay. I guess it's lucky I didn't care about either storyline.

I'm always up for Edwin Akufo and his incredibly immature vendetta against Sam. Sam Richardson is having a blast being such a spoiled bully, and I was laughing out loud at Sam's weary, reluctant acceptance that he couldn't stop Francis from snubbing him.

The super league stuff is another case of the show very briefly addressing a real world issue, along with nude photo leaks, the UK Home Secretary being a dipshit, and even Colin being gay. The show gets on a soapbox and says a few worthy things, then moves on without it being referred to again.

It seems like this season has been at least partly about proving the show can continue without Jason Sudeikis, given how little screentime he appears to have in some episodes. I'd watch the Roy, Jamie and Rebecca show.

Edited June 2, 2023 by Danny Franks

[Verovee]

I really don’t get Nate’s father saying he was hard because he didn’t know how to father a genius. Are we to take from this that Nate gave up whatever direction he had because his dads expectations were too high and that’s how he ended up a kit man? What is this genius? 

[ahisma]

On 5/21/2023 at 10:12 AM, dovegrey said:

I really didn’t find the tie dye shirt plot to be funny or interesting; it was an antiquated punchline. In seasons past, he wouldn’t have even growled about the shirt; he would have worn it proudly, because who GAF, it’s a color and his niece gave it to him.

This was the only thing that didn’t work for me at all. Roy would wear a pink headband with bunny ears if Phoebe wanted him to and be completely stone-faced about it. If a stranger said anything, they’d get the Roy Kent glare. If a friend said anything, he’d say it was from Phoebe and they’d just nod, “Oh, yeah, fair play.”

Still, I absolutely WHEEZED when Jaimie changed the E to a U on Roy’s old kit! And again when I saw Phoebe’s face as she figured it out, and again when she made Jaimie pay up! 

Roy’s sister has the family eyebrows. But yeah, she’s fit. 😉

[Haleth]

Waaaay too much Nate. My interpretation is that he still doesn’t get what he did wrong. His moping around is because he’s still feeling sorry for himself.  He knows he lost a good thing with Richmond but still blames others. He can’t be redeemed or forgiven until he steps out of his own narcissism and sees that he hurt a lot of people and takes responsibility.  Rebecca got it. Jamie got it. Roy got it. All of them became better people when they quit thinking of only their own needs. Can Nate do that in the next two hours?  It’s going to be difficult. 

[TV Anonymous]

Just to shed a light on the idea of European Super League. That idea IRL was brought to life by certain owners of top European clubs, mostly the American ones, namely Stan Kroenke (also owner of L.A. Rams, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche), John Henry (also owner of Boston Red Sox), and Joel Glazer (also owner of Tampa Bay Buccaneers). They basically wanted top European clubs to play in an exclusive league without promotion and relegation, just as major sports leagues in North America. The reactions were fierce, forcing them to scrub the plan.

[Absurda]

I think the problem with Nate's redemption is that they are trying to do it in less than one season.  Everyone else has had multiple seasons to grow and Nate's arcs have felt more like a roller coaster than a gentle hill.

I liked Evil Dani, it was just some silliness.  Perhaps he's over compensating to remind himself that he and Van Damm aren't teammates this time.

One thing Akufu's appearance did was make me crave a Chicago style hotdog!

[Crs97]

I thought evil Dani was funny, too, but I never thought he deliberately set out to hurt Van Damme in the match and I think others did.

[QuantumMechanic]

Re: Rebecca vs Nate

I think the big difference is that with 1st season Rebecca it was "it's not personal, it's just business".  With the attempted fake sex scandal thing she wasn't doing it with the goal of hurting Ted per se.  She wanted to hurt the team and Ted was just collateral damage.  Whereas Nate was very specifically trying to hurt Ted.

[Schweedie]

9 hours ago, QuantumMechanic said:

Re: Rebecca vs Nate

I think the big difference is that with 1st season Rebecca it was "it's not personal, it's just business".  With the attempted fake sex scandal thing she wasn't doing it with the goal of hurting Ted per se.  She wanted to hurt the team and Ted was just collateral damage.  Whereas Nate was very specifically trying to hurt Ted.

Right, but - does that make it better? That she was happy to cause problems in two, as far as she knew, happy relationships in order to hurt the team and by extension Rupert? I just don't see it being business and not personal as a "big difference". My issue with Nate's redemption arc has never been that he deserved it less than Rebecca, just that they handled it very poorly.

Edited July 3, 2023 by Schweedie

[norcalgal]

On 5/16/2023 at 10:29 PM, twoods said:

Was this the first time that I liked Rupert? It was nice to see a different side to him.

Yeah, until he tried to kiss Rebecca, he was more Rupert Giles than Rupert Mannion.

[norcalgal]

On 5/17/2023 at 12:32 PM, mledawn said:

Nick Cave’s Red Right Hand will always be from the Duane Barry episode of The X Files.

This!  In fact, I've never heard this song anywhere else (radio, other tv shows - nada, zip - just the X Files).

[anna0852]

On 5/17/2023 at 3:32 PM, mledawn said:

 

No disrespect to Peaky Blinders (loved that show) but Nick Cave’s Red Right Hand will always be from the Duane Barry episode of The X Files.

 

No disrespect to The X-Files but Red Right Hand belongs to Scream 😁

[norcalgal]

On 6/13/2023 at 5:52 AM, TV Anonymous said:

Just to shed a light on the idea of European Super League. That idea IRL was brought to life by certain owners of top European clubs, mostly the American ones, namely Stan Kroenke (also owner of L.A. Rams, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche), John Henry (also owner of Boston Red Sox), and Joel Glazer (also owner of Tampa Bay Buccaneers). They basically wanted top European clubs to play in an exclusive league without promotion and relegation, just as major sports leagues in North America. The reactions were fierce, forcing them to scrub the plan.

Perhaps the last iteration of the Super League was promoted by the American EPL owners, but the idea of it has been around a long time - I think mainly pushed by Agnelli of Juve and LaPorte of Barca. Given the vast gulf in money differential between La Liga/Serie A  and the EPL, I don't expect the idea to go away because the Spanish/Italian clubs need the money more so than the EPL clubs.

[mledawn]

4 hours ago, anna0852 said:

No disrespect to The X-Files but Red Right Hand belongs to Scream 😁

A few people have commented this but in my defense, I've never seen it 🙃

[Girl in a Cardigan]

8 hours ago, anna0852 said:

No disrespect to The X-Files but Red Right Hand belongs to Scream 😁

And no disrespect to Scream (1996), but The X-Files used it in 1995, so this is where I heard it first. I definitely saw Scream, but have no memory of the song being used (to be fair, I also barely remember the movie because it was nearly 30 years ago). So we'll have to agree to disagree about to which previous media belongs to this song!

[blackwing]

On 5/16/2023 at 9:42 PM, juno said:

Yes, it appears that Ted Lasso is now the co-star in a show about Nate. A mindblowingly shitty character that was destroyed, and now the people in charge have decided to spend the entire season trying to convince the fans that heck, he is just a misunderstood, gosh darn, awesome dude. I have never seen any show literally wreck itself to pull a character back and no, I still have not watched a second of Nate this season.

I truly loathe the character of Nate, I have disliked him from the start.  I absolutely HATE that this season has spent so much time on him.  I truly couldn't give a shit about what happens to him and I hate that he eats up screentime that could be better used on other characters.  I'd love to see more of Montlaur and Bumbercatch.

How many times do we need to see him moping and not eating?  Why do we need to see him playing the violin?  I just don't care.

On 5/17/2023 at 12:09 AM, Armchair Critic said:

I double checked to make sure I watched all of the last episode, I thought I missed when Nate quit.

I see that most everyone seems to be taking Nate at his word that he quit.  But since it was offscreen, how are we certain that he in fact quit and wasn't fired?  He was at the bar with Rupert who brought along two women to service them, he gets uncomfortable and leaves.  Then we hear that he is out as West Ham manager.

I'd like to think that Rupert fired him because Rupert realised that Nate is not a good fit with him personality-wise.  And that Nate is just saying he quit.  It's just like when someone IRL is about to get fired and then they claim they quit, to make a better spin.  Or they say it was a "mutual decision".