#oops didnt know i had this many thoughts about the 2nd act lol

[stevespookington]

Signs: With their season in a tailspin, Richmond try to right the ship against mighty Manchester City. Off the pitch, everyone faces their own setbacks.

Sunflowers: A friendly match takes the team to Amsterdam, where one night out unlocks truths for many.

Boxes: The Greyhounds try a new strategy that has everyone thinking outside the box. Sam prepares to host a VIP guest at Ola’s.

The second act of season 3 of Ted Lasso is about taking that belief, the belief that they have been treating as a passive thing, and extending it. It's been a sign, something they could literally point to, but they hadn't quite gotten it yet.

They made it back to the Premier League, it was a miracle of the power of belief. And then everyone was doubting them and they were struggling to ignore that doubt, struggling to shrug it off. But they were trying, trying to just "let it flow."

But then they had Zava, they could believe in him instead. It was another miracle. They were going to win.

And then that belief was shaken when they realized that Nate hadn't just left them, but had tried to destroy the idea of Believe on his way out. And it rattled them.

And they started to lose.

They started to lose and then Zava left. Zava left and they lost again. And then, when Ted told them they just needed each other the sign fell down. It was a sign. Belief wouldn't save them. They were clinging to the idea of belief, it had brought them together. It united them. And now it was gone.

It is a sign. I agree. Yeah. In fact this, it’s just a sign. All right, guys, listen to me. Belief doesn’t just happen ‘cause you hang something up on a wall. All right? It comes from in here. You know? And up here? Down here. Only problem is, we all got so much junk floating through us, a lot of times we end up getting in our own way. You know, crap like envy or fear, shame. I don’t wanna mess around with that shit anymore. You know what I mean? Do you? Well, do you know what I wanna mess around with? The belief that I matter, you know? Regardless of what I do or don’t achieve. Or the belief that we all deserve to be loved, whether we’ve been hurt or maybe we’ve hurt somebody else. Or what about the belief of hope? Yeah? That’s what I wanna mess with. Believing that things can get better. That I can get better. That we will get better. Oh, man. To believe in yourself? To believe in one another. Man, that’s fundamental to being alive. And look. Yo, hey. If you can do that, if each of you can truly do that… can’t nobody rip that apart.

And this? This was something new. They had taken the idea of belief and thought it was something they had to see. Ted believed in them. They had the sign to prove it.

But then Nate tore up that sign.

And Ted took it down and he didn't replace it. Instead he told the team what they needed to hear. What Ted needed to hear.

It was okay to be a mess. Nothing had to be perfect. You can fail and keep trying. The belief of hope.

Things can get better. Ted can get better. He can recognize his past and embrace it, instead of trying to become perfect. You can be a mess and still have hope.

The players need to believe in themselves, believe that they will have one another's backs.

And then in Sunflowers we see the team bond. They have been unstable for so long, leaning on Zava instead. Following Zava. Getting the ball to Zava.

Not one another. Zava.

And so Issac doesn't let them split up. They have to bond again. Relearn that belief in one another.

But not everyone is there.

Colin is still struggling with the idea of making those two lives of his one. He doesn't want to be a spokesperson. He wants to trust his team, trust them not to care. He wants to believe in them. But he can't yet. He's been in survival mode for too long. He hadn't had anyone who really got it. What it would mean, to be the first out one.

Until he sat down and talked with Trent. Trent who has been in the press rooms. Trent who has torn down players. Trent who knows what that must feel like.

Until he could say, I have two lives and it is fucking hard. He has two lives, he has been compartmentalizing. Putting his lives in two separate boxes.

But Sunflowers ends on a higher note. Everyone has gone out and done something that they needed to do. A new experience, something to give them hope. Something to strengthen that tenuous belief.

The way I see it, we’ve been playing too rigid, you know? Our guys need freedom. Go wherever they wanna go. Follow their guts, their hearts. As long as they remember to fill in the space that someone left behind. They gotta have one another’s backs, that’s for sure. But, you know, it’s just constant, nonstop motion. Just going from position to position until positions don’t really even exist anymore. It’s fast, fluid, free. With full support.

They have been too structured, too rigid. They need to be faster, have more freedom.

They have been constricted by the expectations of others. The expectations of the pundits and everyone putting them to finish last.

The expectations of society to do things a certain way. To love a certain way. To have their brains work a certain way. To play fucking football a certain way.

They need something new, something different. They need to approach it all from a different angle.

Instead of putting things in a box, all tidy and neat. Boxes can be useful, make things easy to think about. But they can also be a fucking cage.

Once you start confronting one thing, once you break out of one box. It is easier to see the other boxes. The other cages.

"Well, if I was wrong about this, what else?"

"What has been compartmentalized that shouldn't be?"

"We turned this box into triangles, what else?"

But it isn't easy to confront things like that. Things that have been ingrained. Rigidity can be useful, it can make things strong. But too much of anything is a bad thing. Even too much belief if they do it wrong. Belief in a sign is blind faith.

To believe in yourself? To believe in one another. Man, that’s fundamental to being alive. And look. Yo, hey. If you can do that, if each of you can truly do that… can’t nobody rip that apart.

It has always been about breaking free of boxes, breaking free of cages. Challenging societies expectations of what defines masculinity, what defines a leader, what defines a family, what defines belief.

What other cages are there for our characters to break out of? Expectations of how to succeed in their worklife, how to succeed as a boss, a friend, a player, a partner.

One doesn't expect to get from life what one has already learned it cannot give, rather, one begins to see that life is a kind of sowing time and the harvest is not yet here. He was just a humble preacher's son. And yes, he had his demons, but they never stopped him from searching for beauty. Because when you find beauty, you find inspiration. If, that is, you stay as determined as Vincent. Never stop, no matter how many failures. When you know you're doing what you're meant to do, you have to try.

When you know you're doing what you're meant to do, you have to try.

As viewers we always have expectations too, when we watch a show, how do we break out of those? How do we break out of our own boxes and challenge what we think should happen based on what we know about other shows plots and stories.

Maybe we do know how it ends, maybe we don't.

A lot can change in six episodes, think of how far we've come already.

The second arc of season three is all about belief and being trapped in boxes and needing the freedom to get free.

But once they figure their way out of their boxes? Their cages? Once each of the players on can really and truly be themselves? Be free? Skies the limit.

The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.

It won't be easy, there will be communication issues and they probably will step on toes, literally, along the way. But they will be there for each other.

They will be there for each other with their new found belief in each other, not in a sign.