#can you tell i do not enjoy the zava arc

[babytarttdoodoo]

AU where Zava went to West Ham

Nate, even the dark side manager version, would absolutely cave under the 'pass to Zava' philosophy.

Roy still offers to train Jamie but does it weeks earlier in the season: "you're the best player on the team" "oh, thanks, coach" "but you're not good enough to beat Zava... yet".

Richmond still probably don't stumble onto Total Football until Amsterdam but their teamwork isn't utterly obliterated over the season either. (And hooray Colin isn't benched.)

Jamie (in peak condition) actually gets to go toe-to-toe with Zava (not in peak condition) with full prick permission during the West Ham game.

Rebecca was angry Rupert seemed to 'win' again by getting Zava but Jamie actually became her 'shite in nine-ing armour' by playing fucking circles around him.

The team doesn't need to be 'motivated' by the Nate video and so don't go insane in the second half (regrettably because I love the feral himbos).

Zava still retires after that game whether Richmond win or not (remember when irl Beckham decided to retire because Messi blew past him on the pitch?).

That actually gives Rupert a reason to start hating Jamie and be willing to target him in the final.

[lunar-years]

The JackKeeley story would have been vastly improved imo if they had actually used it as a mechanism to explore Keeley's headspace with both her 3-season cycle of crumbling relationships and her struggles with her job. Like, yeah Jack was definitely...something... as a character. Incredibly unlikable, obviously. A conservative elitist bitch who saw Keeley as someone she needed to hid to protect her own image, absolutely. Lauding Keeley around the office and showering her with gifts in this weird peacocking of their power imbalance, yes. And then to top it off she went and decided to victim blame her girlfriend after Keeley refused to do what Jack wanted her to do/"risked" Jack's precious reputation. All of which was completely gross, and it was unpleasant to watch, and I totally get why people hate it on that alone. BUT Jack was a Plot Device character, which I personally could probably have gone along with so long as she like...actually serviced an arc worth telling with a satisfying conclusion, anddd that's where the show lost me.

I think the writers sort of tried to do something interesting with it, what with showing how depressed and spiraling Keeley got after that breakup and maybe making half a reference to her abandonment issues and having her panic over the loss of her funding. But, rather than the end result being Keeley grasping hold of her own life and taking space to reexamine what she actually wants out of both her relationships and career, she... immediately falls back into old patterns (by sleeping with Roy despite not wanting to get back together with him just to feel something or whatever, which is then never explicitly addressed as a bad move or ill advised behavior) and gets her business back by...virtue of having a rich friend who can swoop in with several thousand pounds and fix all her problems (i cannot begin to tell you how much I loathed Rebecca fixing everything for her instead of Keeley finding her own path back). At the VERY LEAST I wish she had gotten the opportunity to process the things that had happened to her in that relationship and how damaged she clearly felt by it, lean on her friends for emotional support and healing (rather than having them pull out their wallets and immediately problem solved), and have an honest and frank conversation with Roy about how he, too, hurt her and his apology wasn't good enough and wasn't going to fix everything immediately. That's what Keeley deserved.

Which is all to say, I definitely did not enjoy Jack or the JackKeeley relationship, but I would've been willing to forgive a lot if including her had felt like...purposeful? Instead (like Zava & Shandy and a lot of things in s3 tbh) it just felt like she was taking up a bunch of screen time while not furthering Keeley (the main character we are all very invested in and actually care about) at all in her journey. Instead the show just kept kicking Keeley while she was down and then at the end everything was magically grand again with Keeley having next to no real agency in any of it. That's why keeley's s3 storyline was so damn bad (Jack included).

[batnsons]

okay, catching up on Ted Lasso season 3, I’m midway through 3x5 rn. Thoughts on the season so far (spoilers and LOTS of thoughts under the cut!

Sassy's right, Ted is indeed a mess and I love him so so much and I want to give him all the hugs. (I'm also mad at her for the way she handled that but I'm not surprised, we've known she's like that from day one.) I wish this man would realize that it’s okay to be hurt by things, that he’s allowed to be upset when people hurt him, and he’s allowed to defend himself. But I also greatly appreciate that he’s always trying to take the high road. Him telling Michelle he was upset with her was soooo important and I’m so so proud. We had the beginnings of another panic attack, early on, after he found out and then it was cut off by Zava, but I wish we'd gotten more of a follow up on that. Cause there had to have been some aftermath to that. Also, I've been on the Ted is Jamie's Dad wagon since almost day one and this season is giving me SO MUCH. I hope we get to see so much more of them.

JAMIE!! My sweet Angel Boy. He’s emulating Ted so much this season and it kills me. It’s so so precious. He’s growing so much, and he’s trying so hard, and he’s just!! He’s doing so good! I do wish they would address his trauma responses, though. He’s clearly still having them and I wish they would talk about it. I’m not a fan of the way they’ve had Roy be so aggressive to him without any repercussions, when Jamie is clearly reacting with trauma responses. I’m not sure if that’s a writing point or if Phil is just doing that himself but I would really like to see it addressed. (@altschmerzes and I have talked about this a lot, they’ve got their own posts on the subject too that I really enjoy.) I am, however, delighted at the way Roy has taken Jamie under his wing. He’s been the only one to notice so far that Jamie is upset about Zava (and for good reason!) And I love that.

SPEAKING OF ZAVA. I DESPISE THIS MAN. First off, he’s just WEIRD. But second, he’s a nightmare!! And Jamie’s the only one who sees it! His speech about Zava being a diva and unpleasant was really delightful. (“And I weren’t being’ Ironic, I were neon’ hypocritical”. Have I mentioned I adore Jamie?? HES BECOME SELF AWARE!) Anyway. He’s got manipulative abilities not quite up to Rupert’s standards but, they’re still pretty bad.

And now on the topic of Rupert: this fucking PRICK. He’s manipulating the hell outta Nate and it’s making me mad. He’s gaslighting him, and essentially “love bombing” him every time Nate seems to be showing remorse or regret. And it’s so interesting because you know this is exactly what he must have done to Rebecca, and is probably now doing to Bex (although she seems like she’s well aware of his tendencies and is hitting back in her own way. Those digs about him being old?? Yeah. I hope we get to see Bex and Rebecca bonding later, I want to see Rebecca helping Bex out.) He’s an absolutely brilliant manipulator and I realllly hope we see him get what’s coming to him. And I love that Nate is showing distaste for his “activities” with the assistant.

And now for Nate. I went into this season absolutely hating him (not as much as much as Rupert, but close), and now? Now I just feel bad for him. And I love that we still see bits of the old Nate coming through. He really is just being absolutely played and manipulated and his ego and pride are the only things in his way now. He’s too proud to let himself admit that he’s been wrong, especially in front of Rupert. He’s in too deep and he’s floundering and he’s only got Ted as a lifeline but he’s very nearly burned that in his lust for power and prestige. But he so desperately wants it, you can see it. I really do hope we get a redemption arc, honestly. Never thought I’d say that. But we are now seeing the crest of that wave, so to speak, where we saw Jamie at the beginning of the series. And Jamie was able to claw his way out, so shouldn’t Nate now be able to as well?? It’s really really interesting, the way we’ve seen their stories parallel each other. What we’ve seen from Nate here is what we didn’t see with Jamie: the rise of the ego and pride as a survival mechanism. So here’s hoping we get to see Nate being pulled from that riptide just like Jamie is. But he’s gotta make the decision to reach for that lifeline himself. I really hope he does.

As for everything else: I feel like Rebecca is floundering, trying to cling desperately to this idea that she has to be more successful than Rupert in order to prove to him she doesn’t need him. But she’s missing the reality that the only person she needs to prove anything to is herself. I’m so interested to see where the rest of her growth takes her. Trent I’m delighted to see more of, I love that he’s hanging around the club now. He’s so fun and a lovely outside perspective for them all. Colin has got one hell of an interesting storyline happening on the sidelines, and I’m so so curious to see where this goes. I love that Trent was given the same missing piece of information that we were given as an audience, it makes for a really interesting audience stand-in, seeing him react to the things Colin says and does knowing what we all know now as well. Makes for some really interesting storytelling. I’m a little, not sad per se but… bummed? at how little Sam content we’ve gotten so far but I think that’s remedied later so I’m not too worried about it right now. Beard and Ted are delightful as always, I’m always so thrilled by their comfortable relationship, they’re like two sides of the same coin that function so so well together. Platonic soulmates, honestly. And then there’s Michelle. I’m so mad at her. But I’m even more mad at the therapist. I’m sorry, that man’s license should be taken away. And I’m glad they straight up had someone say it was unethical out loud but I really hope they bring it up more. Because it’s so so wrong and so unethical it’s unbelievable. Michelle is less at fault for this than the therapist, for sure, but I’m still mad at her for all of it. And I’m so glad Ted told her he was upset. Because regardless of who she’s dating, Ted absolutely should’ve been consulted before she introduced a new partner to their son. Like, that shit’s not okay. At all. Add in that he was their couple’s therapist?? (Which brings into question all sorts of other things, mind you.) Nah that’s messed up and I’m so angry about it.

Tldr: so far I’m ultimately very happy with this season, the character arcs are hurting me and also giving me so much joy. Rupert is a prick as always, and Ted and Jamie are my boys.