#and will kitman - shoutout to that dude for a great beard impersonation

[chainofclovers]

Ted Lasso 3x7 Thoughts

Having only five episodes of this television show left is…something. I have a lot of feelings about Ted Lasso and this team he’s “borrowing for a while.” 

These thoughts are kind of a jumble!

Common thread: good relationship advice, a dream I’ve been dreaming about since s2 contained so much bad dating advice (or, more importantly, people who didn’t want to give their opinions on relationships because they didn’t want the responsibility of meddling). I’ve been certain that as the characters start to wind their way back to each other, the questions people ask about themselves and each other will get more honest, and the answers they receive in response will be more open, too. It’s actually pretty thrilling to see that happening. It feels like the closest thing to a single string (ba-dum tss!) running throughout this season, and I love it.

I’ve liked the Nate and Jade stuff a lot more than I expected to. Getting to see more of Nate’s family was such a delight, and I love that even if the whole family is kind of navigating around Nate’s dad’s ire, there’s so much love in the house and Nate gets some genuine support. And some good advice: you have to ask for things, and you have to do it with the full awareness that it might not work out. I’m so glad Nate got to see the map his father designed for his mother in all its grandeur. And I’m so glad his own attempt at replicating the grandeur got destroyed by a vehicle, freeing him up to rely on himself simply asking the question. 

It also did my heart good to catch the tail-end of Rebecca recapping Amsterdam for Keeley, and to see Rebecca sharing her fears about Jack. It was really something—she actually shares her concerns straightforwardly, and makes it clear that she isn’t saying Keeley’s new girlfriend is like her abusive ex-husband, but that Keeley has an opportunity to keep her eyes open and respond to what she sees. I also loved that Rebecca makes it clear that she isn’t jealous of Jack and is happy for Keeley, even as she’s also got concerns and of course has experienced some significant lonely moments as a result of Keeley being wrapped up in Jack. I dunno, it all feels realistically complex but also realistically drama-avoidant, and it felt like major growth for Rebecca. And it comes right off of Keeley pointing out the growth Rebecca exhibited in not sleeping with Boat Guy even if she might’ve liked the opportunity to! 

I was also very relieved to get a return to Beard and Ted at the pub! I missed them sitting and drinking their beers together! I did not really buy that Ted thought Jane might be hinting at marriage, but if he was joking, I think he needed to be more joke-y. Alas, I think that line was in there to get them to the pegging conversation, which was in there to get them to the pegging-marriage comparison joke. It admittedly paid off, but I think Phoebe Walsh and team could’ve found a smoother transition to the pegging discussion.

Very into Simi and Sam and very into Sam figuring out his wording and positioning with the racist home secretary on his own, albeit with Simi’s influence. I appreciated his anger and sadness in the locker room so much, and his father being there just in time for Sam to be able to hug him and cry on him was such a balm. I looooove that Ola really leans into the whole thing about visiting dads being allowed to be very awkward and make things uncomfortable, whether talking to the ex or the new love interest. I love that Ola knows about Sam and Rebecca and almost certainly has opinions but was also able to laugh about the whole thing with his son. Because, you know. Everyone is fine. It’s okay. And there are much bigger concerns, like the vandalism of the restaurant. When the team is there helping and Ola sees the sign light up as the first reveal that the restaurant is named for him…ahhhhhhhhh. It all made me wonder if Sam intentionally downplayed some of the presumably-notable London media coverage of the restaurant opening specifically so he could have that surprise moment with his dad. And when the restaurant was damaged, he felt like that moment couldn’t take place the way he wanted, but then it turned into something even better than he could’ve imagined—an opportunity to bring his dad into his community and team (his home in London, all working together to repair the place he created so that Nigerian people missing home could feel a connection to Nigeria!) and cook with Simi and his father.

In keeping with the pattern of trending-up experiences with good pals (and sisters, and best friends) talking about relationships of all sorts, I love that Total Football became a very literal (and very fun to watch) reflection on space and energy and interplay, the relations between people. I LOVED that each of the coaches takes their own role in explaining the what and why of Total Football. I was a little afraid that Ted was passing it off to Beard because he was scared that he didn’t actually understand the tactic well enough, but that wasn’t the case at all—all three primary coaches were fully engaged. And then Trent’s got the spirit, with some absurdly meta commentary! And then Jamie is the one who really cracks the code, which I absolutely adored. (Side note: how adorable was it that they all brought back the signal and flipped him off.) (Side note 2: they really said “we hear a lot of y’all are extremely into this red string of fate thing” and turned it into a dick joke! And Roy didn’t fully understand that this tactic was a one-time-only situation!) 

Speaking of things I absolutely adored, the whole rom-com montage motif throughout, with storefronts opening and flowers and the promise of an early morning…..YES. And I’m forever obsessed with Roy and Jamie being folded into the quaintness of that as, briefly, just two quirky extras giving the neighborhood some flavor. The string that binds jogging Jamie to Roy on his bike! Ahhhh!

I feel like there was more. These episodes contain so much. But I have got to go to sleep, and I feel happy to be able to do that while feeling generally very glad about that entire episode. I can think of a couple characters who should talk to each other more. (More than a couple, in fact!) But I loved the sense of progress and purpose to this episode, and I feel like things this season have generally been really beautifully paced, so for the most part I’m happy.