#nate reviewing

[atomicradiogirl]

nate fick save us nate fick if you’re listening please save us

[doubleddenden]

Okay, onto gen 5 characters. I've said it before, but gen 5 is probably my favorite for a lot of reasons, and in this case, it's the most like home imo, and the characters are fantastic all around.

Starting with Hilbert, the male mc of BW1. Hilbert is basically a callback to Red in a few ways, but he's also the protagonist I have always found the easiest to project onto. Why? As a teen, that was probably the closest to me a Pokemon mc would get. The thick brown hair and brown eyes especially. The outfit is simultaneously a disaster and pretty cool, I'd maybe unzip the hoodie, perhaps untuck the shoes, and maybe I'd just have a regular backpack, but he's probably my favorite vanilla MaleC out of all the others. Hilbert and Hilda are supposed to be a little older than past protagonists, and their designs definitely have a broader range of age most could project onto imo- basically a Scooby Doo situation, where you can be anywhere from 15 to late 20s and kinda pull off whatever you're going for. 9/10, Samurott coded

And of course, the best vanilla MaleC is paired with the best vanilla FemC. I might be biased by the short shorts and ponytail, but when I was a teenager, Hilda came in around the same age I was and really NAILED that American girl look- other than the vest and wrist bands, this could literally be any number of girls I grew up with and had a crush on, my age, slightly younger, or older than I was. Hell, to this day, this is still how a lot of girls dress in the summer here, maybe subbing the boots for tennis shoes or sandals. To me, that's the PERFECT blank slate for those people, perfect for any age range really. Other FemCs tend to be more girly girl in design on a vanilla basis, but Hilda really is that tomboy girl friend you had growing up. 10/10 design.

We'll skip a little to the bw2 protagonists. There is a slight change of art style that I think is probably my favorite interpretation of the Pokemon art style by none other than Yusuke Ohmura. He has a pretty nice shading style that really works well with character design, and the Pokemon he designs are pretty top notch- Samurott and its family being some of them.

Oh GOD NO. NO NO NO. Not this one. Okay look, BW2 are my favorite games in the series, and I do like a decent chunk of the outfit- except the hair and hat. Some fan art manages to fix up the hair, but official art just makes it look awful as they can on every level. Nate is such a huge downgrade from Hilbert in so many ways that it's so hard to project onto. I know they're going for a sporty triathlete look, and from the neck down he has that covered- maybe a little TOO pasty, but it's passable. But with the head and hair, he reads like of those dorky aged 40 to 50 something people that are athletic, but wear the stupidest clothes possible- except Nate also looks like he's having that midlife crisis at the ripe old age of 14. 5/10 man, that hair and hat just ruin everything. Such a shame because it's literally my favorite game and my favorite gen.

Rosa on the other hand is definitely the standout protagonist of bw2. Other than the hair and hat, I've definitely seen women my age (at the time, so 17 or 18) or older wear a look like this. The hair is definitely stand out, but Princess Leia twin tails is such an iconic look that it just works really well for her. Maybe the short shorts a little frilly, but I have seen joggers wear dolphin shorts with leggings like this, and tbh I've seen people without the shorts going to Walmart. The shoes sort of combine the style and sensibility of Hilbert and Hilda and the top is honestly a nice choice for a sporty look- if I could ever find them in my size, I'd love to wear baseball shirts like this. I remember the bra? Bikini top? Whatever that pink thing is peaking- it caused some ruckus when she was first revealed, but honestly it's fine and I think it's a cute addition- plenty of people would expose more and be safe in a realistic setting. I wouldn't say she's as good as Hilda, but she manages to retain that neutral age range where you can sort imagine whatever you want, which to me she reads as 18 or so- although I do think it is harder to call her a blank slate with as much personality as she has. Still, a fantastic design, and proooobably when a lot of guys starting played as the girl simply because they tend to look better than the guys. 9/10, we can pretend Nate doesn't exist, right?

Now onto the rivals, starting with BW1, and probably my favorite cast of rivals given their stories

Cheren is a good mix of analytical and competitive in my mind, and certainly read like a character that would have gone Sasuke on the rest of us were it not for intervention from Alder. His team is also pretty unique and decent, and I personally just can't see him with anything other than Serperior as a starter. He's a decent challenge- not scary like Route 110 May or Azalea Town exit Silver, but he keeps you on your toes and is a decent friend to you- maybe not to Bianca at first, but I kinda ship em after a bit. An 8 for a really good story arc, I really thought he'd end up as another dragon chosen in the Pokemon Grey we never got.

Design wise? Oh God we stole ALL his rizz. It's definitely just shy of "um ackshualee" nerdy, the hair just... boy, who cuts your bangs? Fire them please. And also, I fucking hate pants with exposed ankles- nobody but hipsters wear pants like that. Nobody. No. "But I do" no you don't, you don't exist or you're a hipster. I think this is actually the start of the fad of exposing most male ankles in the series and it drives me up the wall. Get regular fit pants, the skinny jeans ruin it, and please fix your bangs, bro. 5/10 on design

Congrats on the transition, Barry- oh sorry, force of habit- Bianca. Jokes aside, again with the green and orange. Someone at game freak was craving carrots I stg. The outfit definitely read as someone that was sheltered by her daddy for a long time, an innocent and sweet type that's kinda clueless to the world- especially its fashion sensibilities (I headcanon Elesa helped her pick out better clothes eventually). Its definitely an outfit I might have seen on some of my church girl friends- in different colors mind you. Its fine, but it definitely isn't something you should reasonably be exploring with imo. 6/10, bw2 is just a better fit

On a character level, though, I really do admire her for at least trying to come out of her shell. She didn't land among the stars, but the decision to leave home against her father's wishes to *find herself* is such a relatable experience I've always felt I could have experienced had things gone only slightly different at home. She is such a sweetheart, and her heart is stupid big (like her forehead). I feel like she's actually more dangerous than other rivals in some cases, often ambushing you at really inopportune times. Technically, I think she might be stronger than most female rivals, too. I definitely feel like her character could have used a little more development in BW1, but BW2 finalizes it in a way that I can't help but just really enjoy her character. 8/10

Cheren BW2- not so much a rival anymore, but a mentor figure now and the first gym leader we fight, taking up the Normal type from Lenora. I definitely still abhor the bangs and the ankle exposing skinny jeans, but he does look better and more realized. He's nervous about his new job, but he's doing a fine job as a gym leader and teacher. He did lose the glasses for some reason- wonder where they went hmmmm? But honestly, I think he looks better without them.

I do love how he's still super gung-ho about stopping Team Plasma, even with his new job. He's still our bro in arms, and I gotta respect that- I will say, I do think being a normal type kinda comes from nowhere, unless maybe Bianca lent him her Stoutland or something- maybe in exchange for those glasses hmmmm? But all teasing aside, I guess starting as the first gym leader- a role meant to endure loss after loss- shows remarkable character growth from the previous game of being obsessed with strength. That, and I guess you gotta start from the bottom if you're going to become a gym leader. In my ideal BW3, I'd see him become a mix type final gym leader akin to Blue tbh.

Design is an improved 7/10. Character arc is an 8.

Oh honey, you look so much better and much more comfortable. Bianca looks so much more sure of herself, too, now acting as Professor Juniper's assistant, and imo should hopefully become a future professor. Her BW1 outfit felt super restrictive and tight in some places, but her BW2 outfit feels a bit looser, a bit more cozy, and honestly kind of a good representation of what happens when she finally follows her own path rather than her dad's wants or the gym path. The green and orange even look better here! And- HEY THERE'S CHEREN'S GLASSES! What a cutie lol.

I really love her character in BW2, going from a girl that's unsure of which foot to step with first to becoming a big-sister type mentor to us. She's a lot braver and even travels with us through Reversal Mountain in a mutual aid to each other- I've definitely grinded my ass off in there a few times with her to help heal my Pokemon. Honestly, probably one of the best character growths in all of Pokemon.

Design is an 8/10, character is a 9/10

Hugh, our rival from BW2. He definitely has Nate beat in terms of drip and hair. Probably one of my favorite rival designs in the entire series- ruined by ankle GOD DAMMIT WHO AT GAME FREAK IS FROTHING AT THE MOUTH TO SEE MALE ANKLES SO BADLY!? Well, in any case, he has that edgy look DOWN, with a really nice blend of navy and red that avoids being outright black- as evident from his gloves and shoe accents. The white also really helps his design stand out. The design really makes him seem like this super badass, and he kind of is on some level. 9/10 design

On a rival level, though, he's less of a rival and more of a bro, which is kind of surprising given the Adidas Sasuke vibe he's got going on. His little sister's Purloin was stolen by Team Plasma two years ago, and that's enough to send him on a revenge quest, recruiting us to help him in this endeavor and only testing our strength a few times in game to make sure we're still up to snuff. He is RIGHT in the thick of it, their down fall and the rescue of that cat being the only thing this guy cares about. It is kind of admirable and cool on some level, although he definitely isn't as good of a character or rival as Cheren and Bianca. In fact, once he gets the Liepard back, his character kinda halts into just testing your strength. Also, his team isn't really the most fleshed out- he does have some interesting picks like a starter he bred from an egg, a Bouffalant (probably what he's best known for), a FLYGON, an Eelektross- unfortunately, for most of the game, he only really uses his starter, Unfeasant, and a Simi-ape. It reads a bit like he's too tunnel visioned and single-minded to bother training too many Pokemon, being too busy taking out Team Plasma to find that Pokemon.

As a character, I'd give him an 8. As a rival, maybe a 7.

Finally, probably the most complex character from gen 5 and maybe the most complex rival of all time- because he's also a puppet evil team leader, champion, king, and chosen hero of a legendary. Unlike every other rival, N's teams are never the same, basically only being comprised of Pokemon he's locally captured and then released so that he can allow them to be free. As a character, he's the first in the franchise to really bring the question of whether Pokemon battles are even ETHICAL, and he's also the first evil team leader to be a champion, AND the first rival to use a legendary against you. He's a super complex character, believing Pokemon to be inherently abused and misused by humans strictly because his "adoptive" father (green hair adopts green hair? really?) basically manipulated him childhood into only being exposed to abused and neglected Pokemon. Given the information he's working with, it's honestly no surprise he's willing to go so far to save Pokemon, and is kind of admirable to see just how far that conviction takes him. The information fed to him is a lie, but his belief in doing the right thing is real, and that I think makes him one of the best "villains" of the entire series. I especially love that he mellows out after BW 1 and is dedicated to learning how to enjoy Pokemon battles- in BW2, he even has rotating WEATHER teams based on what season it is. He's clearly super smart, just mislead, and when given the opportunity to do right, he's quick to do so once he understands things. As a character, I think he's super cool. 9/10, I sincerely hope we reunite the BW1 protagonist with him canonically (and not in Masters).

Natural Harmonia Gropius, though? Man wha the- that's a fucking 1/10 name. I am so sorry your dad hated you, bro.

On a design level, I think it's a pretty clever one. In BW1, he wears an outfit that pairs pretty decently with the BW1 protagonists, and the hat is a very interesting choice- a call back to Red's in a way, much like how Hilbert and Hilda are gen 1 callbacks to a certain extent, but his hat is black and white- much like the games, and also to sort of flip the original script. The outfit is pretty clean, although I will say, it does not read much like a "king" or "evil team leader" by any means. It does read like someone purposely trying to blend in, though, so that does get points. The green feels like a call to nature in a way, yet his eyes are *empty*, as if lifeless- very unnerving, especially with his super fast text speed (fun fact, it is actually a little faster than the fastest text option, and will play that fast even on the slowest setting) and his ability to talk to Pokemon. It's all pretty evident of a character that's being manipulated or maybe a little insane. He literally is Black and White, a man of both Truth and Ideal. 9/10 on the character design.

Oof. And then next is gen 6.

[tommydidario]

Full interview with Thomas Doherty is out now on my podcast, "I've Never Said This Before." Listen on Apple podcasts and Spotify! It's a podcast where I interview your favorite artists, and in this conversation with Thomas we cover it all: his new role in Tell Me Lies, past fan-favorite roles and work, and so much more.

[honeybeebutch]

Close to Spider Man - Ivan Coyote // ND Stevenson // The Anthropocene Reviewed - John Green

[lovenhya]

I love this movie so much omg

[taylanaracie]

Book Review

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

⭐⭐⭐

Summary (there might be spoilers):

Anastasia (h) is a figure skater and Nathan(H) is a hockey player studying at UCMH. Due to a prank on one the ice rinks they are forced to share a common rink until repair is done. they have a rocky start but soon become friends then lovers. The h is a commitmentphobe so she doesn't want a relationship with H. She later surrenders to her feelings and they start a relationship. The rest of the plot is about their sport, partners, team members, family issues and trust issues.

Review:

Ok so I might get a lot of hate for this but this book was a little boring. I loved the characters. I mean NATE? biggest green flag ever. And Anastasia was the perfect girl boss (at least in the beginning). It just felt a little too long and some of the stuff was just unnecessary.

No disrespect to the author because the writing was great and the plot was fine too. I have seen a lot of reviews of people saying that there was no plot but that's not at all true. THERE WAS A PLOT. It was just a little all over the place.

Also there were so many characters that it was hard to keep track especially ones with similar names (Robbie and Bobby). I got confused ALOT.

I think that this story has the potential to be a fabulous rom-com or even a new adult series by tweaking the plot here and there.

Overall it was a fun read. The characters were witty and likeable. My only complaint is that it felt a little too extra and unnecessary.

(for all the smut readers out there... you're gonna love this one)(NATHAN HAWKINS IS THE STANDARD GUYS)

[catherineparrish]

Foo Fighters @ Mt. Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand 20/01/2024

Photo by Danny Clinch.

Cussing and cigarettes, Jack Black, and 35,000 people’s love for rock and roll—Foo Fighters return to Auckland, New Zealand after six long years.

Riding the success of their 10th studio album, Foo Fighters were forced to delay their late 2022 tour to Australia and New Zealand when drummer Taylor Hawkins suddenly passed earlier in the year. There was some speculation that the band might retire after 25 years, but after a year of grieving (particularly for frontman Dave Grohl, whose mother also died in 2022) Foo Fighters announced that step-in drummer Josh Freese (The Vandals, Devo) would permanently be joining the band.

In what was their first show of 2024, Foo Fighters return exclusively to New Zealand and delight fans with one of their most dynamic performances to date. Although the set was evenly paced, sprinkled with new songs from last year’s studio album Here We Are (2023) and old classics to get everyone out of their seats, an almost 3 hour set was bound to have more than just a couple of highlights.

“Who came out and saw us when we played at that old speedway? That show was so loud it caused a seismic event,” said Grohl, referring to the volcanic-like tremor caused by the stamping feet of thousands of fans at Western Springs in 2011. “When I think about New Zealand, I think about an audience that can trigger an earthquake.”

It wasn’t the only time Grohl expressed his fondness for New Zealand, noting that he always has a great time whenever the band tours. Whilst Grohl shared stories with the crowd, the band teased snippets of songs from multiple artists (Metallica, The Ramones, Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails) throughout the set, and even surprised everyone with a special appearance from actor and singer Jack Black for a cover of AC/DC’s Big Balls.

But in amongst the party, there were sombre moments too, like an acoustic stripped back version of My Hero and a tribute for Hawkins that the band perform every night. “This was the first song we wrote together and his favourite,” Grohl told the crowd before performing Aurora. A few times the lights were dimmed and the stadium lit up like stars as the audience held their torches to the sky, providing the perfect atmosphere for the warm summer’s evening soundtrack.

When the crowd weren't swinging their arms in unison over their heads, they were screaming and thrashing their heads at the peak of all the fan favourites, from The Pretender, to Monkey Wrench, to Best of You and their faithful encore Everlong. It's hard not to admire such a resilient act as this band who can seemingly overcome any obstacle thrown their way. Welcome back, legends.

Review by Catherine Parrish.

[vanweezer]

sometimes a friendship is one guy away from his phone while the other guy is infodumping about the bring it on sequels

[bookedandbusyblog]

Made a collage to match the aesthetic of Icebreaker by Hannah Grace 🤩 Read my full review of the book here! 📚🫶🏼

[mfred]

February Wrap-up

23 books in February! Woweee.

I read one Theodora Taylor book, Kayla in Paris, which I did not love because it seemed more like a generic romcom than Taylor's usual over the top, soap opera-esque dramarama fireworks. 3 stars and I really hope she doesn't write more like this one.

And then I went on a biker bender and read 16 of Nicole James' Evil Dead series. All were 3 stars. Not bad, not great, totally took me out of my head and into a make-believe world, so for that I am grateful.

I read 2 Kristen Ashley books, both new to me. Heaven and Hell drove me up a wall and I love/hated it (making it a great Ashley novel) and The Slow Burn-- well, it was ok. 4 stars each.

Priya Guns' Your Driver is Waiting was next and I highly recommend it. Not funny haha, but the blackest comedy and excellent, spot on social commentary. 4 stars.

I also enjoyed the graphic novel, Where Black Stars Rise by Nadia Shammas. It's a riff on a horror novel I had never heard of called The King in Yellow. Surreal and emotional. 4 stars.

But the real stars of the show were two graphic novels:

A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll

SO GOOD. Amazing, damaging, scary art. A thrilling, twisty plot that I did not see coming. I raced through the final pages. 5 stars.

Girl Juice by Benji Nate

So funny and irreverant. More a series of vignettes and short, interconnected stories than a whole novel. I read it in one afternoon and was delighted. 5 stars.

[funkily]

FUCK DISCUSSION POSTS I NEED TO KILL THEM WITH MY BARE HANDS

UGHHHHHHHHHHH

[purvibez]

Rewatching Gossip Girl

My God. The storylines are next-level ridiculous.

Friends > Lovers > Step-siblings???

A mysterious gossip blogger still stalking you after high school? Just so he can infiltrate the elite? Buddy, have you heard of LinkedIn?

Lmao.

Still obsessed. Still love it.

The new one sucks.

XOXO.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Currently reading

[robinreadscomics]

nimona by nate stevenson

i'm gay & trans every day of the year so i read gay stuff at all times, but i nevertheless think i'm gonna try to be a bit intentional about using pride month as an excuse to actually start making my way through all the queer stuff that's been sitting on the top of my to-read pile for way too long.

i fucking love nate stevenson's work, so it was nice to see where it all started. considering both his own gender journey and his later work, i think it was pretty instructive that his first major work was about a gay male couple and an absolute disaster goblin of questionable gender. just saying.

also in keeping with his later work, the character writing in this was just absolutely ON POINT. like, dr. blitzmeyer was barely in this but she nevertheless COMPLETELY stole the show in her brief appearances.

tl;dr nimona is funny, tragic, epic, gay, and just all-around great. i'm glad i finally got around to reading it!

[arecomicsevengood]

Grixly by Nate McDonough

A central appeal of these is the low price point, at $3 an issue, but McDonough is a very solid storyteller, presenting no bullshit strips usually in one-page format, about the world of hanging out in comic shops finding cheap stuff to flip on Ebay. (His store, holidaycomics, prices things fairly, and I would recommend buying from him.) The one-page, nine-panel format also lends itself to Instagram serialization, so you can read at least some of the strips there. Whether this comic would make sense to a reader not immersed in that specific vantage point, where you are into independent comics because of the the idiosyncratic voices on offer but can also see interest in mainstream comics of the eighties and nineties, if not the current era, I don’t know, maybe? Part of me wants to make the case that, as McDonough moves across the country, selling things online to people around the world, this feels less like a comic about comics and more about America, commerce, and consumerism, told through a specific lens. The landscape is a true working-class one, of small businesses, flea markets, and eccentricities. But at the same time, if I am going to describe the comic and the anecdotes contained there, my mind keeps flashing back to Nate mentioning the character Typhoid Mary, only to have someone respond that they hate her because she raped Deadpool. Politics are rarely explicit, but it’s pretty clear a lot of people that Nate encounters have had their brains cooked by either the backdrop of culture war or deep immersion in fictional worlds, supplanting reality so that friendly engagement with strangers is difficult. Still, Nate recognizes and feels affection for people that just want to burrow through longboxes alongside him in peace, maintaining the largely agreed-upon standards of personal space.

The consistency with which McDonough releases issues makes it feel like a blog or diary, not trying to present a point but to tell a story of his days. Like a more subculturally specific King-Cat, reading Grixly is a way of checking in with a guy with whom the reader will likely find a great deal in common.

[the-one-where-casey-watches-tv]

Ted Lasso episode 3.09 "La Locker Room Aux Folles"

Still from "La Locker Room Aux Folles". Image courtesy of AppleTV+.

I was trying to wait for the series to end before I covered Ted, but this episode really stood out to me. There was so much in it that I found perfect and meticulously executed, and those parts are all the more impressive to me given the problems I have with its central premise.

There are multiple ways to read this episode, and ways that I can make it make sense for myself, but I still just have to say: what the fuck, Isaac? I give the episode some credit because literally everyone immediately said the same thing, and if this is what they were going to do with the episode they handled it as best they could, but something about it just didn’t quite sit right with me.

The episode picks up where the last one left off, with Isaac icing Colin out after grabbing his phone and seeing some gay stuff on there. Just like Trent earlier this season, I never came close to suspecting the worst in Isaac, so I don’t really appreciate this show continuing to play the “is he a homophobe” game with Colin and me. And without really entertaining the question they want me to be asking, it’s just a little weird. What’s his deal?

It all comes to a head at halftime when Isaac’s inexplicable pent up anger leaves Richmond down 0-1 at the half. As they shuffle into the locker room, a belligerent fan shouts down that the team is playing like f**s, and that’s the straw that breaks the mysterious camel’s back. Colin and Sam both hear it too and avoid engaging, but Isaac leaps into the stands and starts pummeling the guy, with Roy of all people being the one to break it up.

Again, the thing that makes a character’s bizarre behavior work is when the show acknowledges that it is indeed bizarre. Isaac is rightfully red carded and Richmond is down a player for the rest of the game, and the dude comes in shaking. Everyone just looks at him, and finally Ted breaks the silence with “okay, no one’s gonna say anything? I’ll say somethin’. What just happened?” This just sends Isaac hurling his captain band across the room and storming off into a closet with an aggressive shout of “what if one of us was gay?!” But when Ted tries to go after him, Roy says he’s got it.

Kola Bokinni in "La Locker Room Aux Folles". Image courtesy of AppleTV+.

While Roy ambiguously talks him down, with little Will’s help, we’re not given much more insight into what’s really bothering him. Roy’s utter respect for people and willingness to mind his own business is a really great perspective to add to this episode’s conversation, and I really appreciate him here. Later, at the post-game press conference, I’ll appreciate him even more.

While he tells Isaac to handle whatever he’s “really mad about”, the rest of the team speculates on what in the world has gotten into him. Colin stays quiet, but Sam mentions that he heard what the fan said that got that reaction. The pacing in this locker room sequence is perfect. The comedic beats keep this from getting more serious than it needs to be (coming out is a big deal, but this isn’t a melodrama, nor does it need to be when it’s all love, as we know it will be). So Sam tells the team that the fan said the F-word, which is met with choruses of:

“Fuck?”

“No, the other F-word”

“ohh fuck…”

The team reaches the inevitable conclusion that Isaac must be gay. Finally, Colin admits that Isaac isn’t gay. He is. We don’t actually see him come out, though, which is an interesting choice that I actually think is really classy. I know Colin isn’t a real guy, but a big theme in this episode is giving people their privacy, and I like that the episode itself found a way to let him have this moment with the team in private without us feeling like we’re missing any plot points.

There’s a really nice moment after this that we do get to see, that adds to the impressive, thoughtful storytelling here. The team of course is quick to douse Colin in love, with Jamie saying, “you got us, we got you”, among some other choruses of “yeah bruv, we don’t care”. But something about that last part doesn’t sit right with Ted. He tells a little story about a friend of his who was a Denver Broncos’ fan in a place where that was not a popular team. He didn’t write off his friend the way everyone else in his town did, because he ‘didn’t care’, but he found out later that his friend spent two consecutive super bowls alone because Ted ‘didn’t care’, which also meant that he didn’t think that friend might need some special attention.

Jason Sudeikis in "La Locker Room Aux Folles". Image courtesy of AppleTV+.

During this really sweet monologue, Sam and Jamie have a silent conversation over who should wear Isaac’s captain band for the rest of the game. Sam caught it when Isaac flung it off, and Jamie is gesturing for Sam to give it to him. Sam instead flips him off and puts it on. It breaks up the moment without detracting from it, and it was perfectly on brand for the two of them.

When Ted’s story ends, Colin asks if he just compared being gay to being a Denver Broncos’ fan, and Jamie asks what the fuck a Denver Bronco is. Ted’s anecdote here is such a great choice for this episode in a few ways. First, as a viewer, I found that to be a powerful comparison, and the point Ted is trying to make is well taken. But that story is for us, the viewers, not the team. It reached us, but not his intended audience right in front of him, and his tripping over himself within the story continues to serve the scene. It’s another comedic break, and I appreciate the show’s acknowledgement that straight people don’t always nail it when people come out, despite their best intentions. But Ted sums it up for everyone: “the point is, Colin, we don’t ‘not care’. We care very much. We care about who you are and what you must’ve been going through”.

So ultimately, Ted did nail it. Colin flies back onto the field, weightless, telling Trent jokingly that the only way it could’ve gone better is if the entire team came out too. This was all so sweet, but there was nothing like Colin’s guttural, euphoric “YEESS!!!” on the field after carrying the team to victory. I’m tearing up a little just thinking about it.

Billy Harris in "La Locker Room Aux Folles". Image courtesy of AppleTV+.

That night, Isaac knocks on Colin’s door, wanting to know what about him made Colin feel like he needed to keep his sexuality a secret from him. To be honest, I’m getting a little tired of this being normalized as an ‘acceptable’ reason to react badly to people coming out. Isaac apologized, and Colin made the good point that he kept the secret his whole life and only lasted a month after Isaac knew. But the show had the option to have not made this a plot point at all. Everything else in this episode was so perfect, that I feel like I can tell that Isaac’s reaction was an unfortunately necessary vehicle to bring the story to this point.

Nonetheless, the two make up and play video games together and it’s all very nice, so I’m willing to let it go, especially with the rest of the episode’s events and themes in mind. I couldn’t help but think throughout this episode that Keeley’s coming out was not at all this belabored and serious, which I thought was normal and great. But now Jack is moving to Argentina for several months because Keeley was hacked and had her nudes leaked…? That revelation was a footnote of this episode at best, but combined with Isaac’s behavior, perhaps the takeaway to all this is just that sometimes people don’t always do the right thing.

I guess we’ll find out what to make of Jack later, but the culmination of everything this episode is trying to say has me leaving my heart open for her to redeem herself. Roy tells a great anecdote of his own at a press conference after the game that really sums up this takeaway- Rebecca had asked him to attend a press conference in Ted’s place earlier in the episode and he had sent Beard instead. Rebecca then laid into Roy, telling him to stop “ordering shit sandwiches and complaining about the portions”. This was a perfectly timed criticism because, especially with Brett Goldstein’s recent appearances on Sesame Street, Roy was starting to become a bit of a caricature of himself. It was very appropriate and self-aware of the show to show him being challenged and in the vulnerable position of having a boss.

So, Roy heeded her advice (or orders, depending on how you look at it) and went to the post-match press conference, despite Ted being available to do it himself. His commanding presence was the right choice, given that the press room was frothing at the mouth to ask what the hell had gotten into Isaac. The first question Roy takes is if Richmond condones Isaac’s behavior, to which Roy grunts “what a stupid fucking question. Course we don’t. What Isaac did was awful. He was lucky he only got a red card.” The natural follow up question is “then why’d he do it?”

Instead of answering, Roy tells an uncharacteristically vulnerable story from his past. When he was a young player, he had a teammate whose wife was expecting their first baby. One day at training, Roy made a joke that statistically, he was just as likely to be the father as his teammate. Not a great joke, but it didn’t warrant the guy breaking three of his ribs. The teammate was expelled from the team, and no other team wanted him after that. Roy ran into him at a pub months later, and took the opportunity to apologize for his joke. The teammate then told him that his wife had lost the baby a month before the incident, and never told anyone. “So for Isaac to do what he did today, even though it was wrong, I give him love. And as for why he did what he did, that’s none of my fucking business. Next question.”

Brett Goldstein in "La Locker Room Aux Folles". Image courtesy of AppleTV+.

If Isaac’s poor behavior was just a plot device to bring out the best in both Roy and Ted- and have them convince me to forgive Isaac in the process- I’ll allow it. Ted Lasso is love, and acceptance, and respect, even in moments that we don’t relate to or understand. I could watch Sam’s hands-in chant of “I love you guys so very much!” every day.

Finally, I would be remiss not to mention Nate. I hate to see him on the dark side, but I think he’s doing something uniquely challenging by choosing goodness in a space where it’s met with so much opposition. The last few episodes have convinced me that he really is cute and charming and I want so bad for him to reach his own potential. He said himself that he owes a lot to Rupert, so taking the initiative to leave the “guy’s night” that turned out to involve Rupert setting him up with hookers took courage (a guy’s night that Rupert never tried to initiate before finding out that Nate had a girlfriend). His showing up at Jade’s door and wrapping her in a big hug made me so proud. I know Richmond will be waiting for him with open arms when he’s ready to come back, and even though we all know it’s coming, I will love seeing it happen.

How do you guys think Ted Lasso is going to wrap up its final episodes? What’s going on with the now promiscuous and mysteriously absent Doc Shannon? Is Rebecca going to have babies or what (with Sam…?)? Do you really want to eat at Ola’s or is that just me? What do you make of this being a British show built for an American audience?