Ted Lasso gives us the match we’ve been waiting for
On "Big Week," Richmond takes on West Ham, and Ted gets off the sidelines
TV Reviews Sharon
We’re four episodes into Ted Lasso’s third and final season, and you may have noticed that our titular mustachioed leading man has been mostly playing on the sidelines. This has given us plenty of time to venture into the lives of the very funny ensemble that surrounds good ol’ Ted. But it was only a matter of time until he came into clearer focus. And what better occasion for that to happen than the big West Ham vs. Richmond game we’ve all been breathlessly anticipating?
And in case you were wondering how he’s been doing, Sassy (Ellie Taylor) sums it up quite simply: “You are a mess.” In fact, she goes one further: “You are such a mess,” she adds as Ted tries to protest her characterization. She’s not wrong—and she delivers the description with such nonchalance (and so little judgment) that it makes sense it would unsettle Ted. Guess it takes one to know one. Because if there’s one thing we know about Sassy is that she’s also a mess, one who at least recognizes the work she’s still doing on herself. Ted, on the other hand, is clearly spiraling and hadn’t quite realized that’s what he was (is?) doing; no surprise given how much he still craves having the guidance of Dr. Sharon. It seems he’s still a bit emotionally adrift.
It also explains why he’s been a tad removed from Richmond and the team’s coming match against West Ham. This has left Coach Beard and Roy (Brendan Hunt and Brett Goldstein) with the bulk of the training decisions. Oh, except this one: Ted does put his foot down and refuses to use security footage showing Nathan (Nick Mohammed) sabotaging the iconic “BELIEVE” poster in the team’s locker room. In true Lasso spirit, Ted is of the mind that anger is no way to motivate anyone (let alone a team high on their recent Zava-fueled wins). That is, while he knows the team would rightfully be irate at seeing Nate’s petty antics, Ted will never be the kind of man/person/coach to use that kind of ammo.
As it turns out, he is correct. Because oh boy do Coach Beard and Roy royally screw it up when they use their mid-game locker room pep talk time to throw Nate under the bus. Richmond plays with such anger and rancor it’s actually surprising they make it through the match in one piece. Again, not one to “told you so,” Ted mostly focuses his energy on looking ahead: You’re only ever as good as your next game, no? But you have to imagine losing and losing like they did—and to Nate, no less!—is going to take a hit on the team.
Speaking of Nate, his story remains the most heartbreaking in the larger Ted Lasso universe. Just as I mentioned in my season three opener recap, this season is clearly wanting us to see Ted and Nate as two competing approaches to life and coaching. Watching Nate tear up the “BELIEVE” sign made that all clear as day, as did those moments when the once wide-eyed “wonderkid” failed to see anything but his win in front of him. At heart, Nate remains a bullied and/or ignored child who wears his insecurities nakedly, and no amount of trying to embiggen himself in his or anyone’s eyes will soothe his fears of never feeling like enough. It’s why that moment where he realizes he left Ted standing as the Richmond coach had hoped to shake his hand and congratulate him struck him so. He’s got his blinders on, and it’s unclear what will get him to realize (like Ted has) that winning may not be the only thing that brings folks like them satisfaction.
Ted recognizes this. He knows hurt people hurt people (cue that “pain is like carbon monoxide” quote!) and all he sees when he watches Nate tear posters or giddily celebrate yet another West Ham goal is someone who hopes he’ll stop hurting once he gets enough validation. (Although, if that celebratory sip of a drink is any indication, Nate doesn’t really have the stamina to be the anti-Lasso he wishes to become.)
Speaking of needlessly focusing on a win as a way to deal with interpersonal relationships, we need to talk about Rebecca (played by the incomparable Hannah Waddingham). Hearing her say, through gritted grinning teeth that she believes in Ted was both hilarious and heartbreaking. Because you see just how much Rupert still has a hold on her own sense of self and self-worth. So much of what these characters (Keeley and Roy included) are learning is that they should really stop triangulating their emotions via their jobs, their wins, their team. The breakthrough moment for Ted this episode was seeing him not swallowing his pride or his anger (at the team, at his ex-wife) but actually getting in touch with his feelings and airing them without a hint of the smiley, happy-go-lucky attitude we’ve come to expect. There may be hope still for this work in “progmess” yet!
Stray observations
- In case you missed it, this episode was dedicated to Grant Wahl, the American sports journalist who died while covering the 2022 FIFA World Cup last year.
- We are now two for two when it comes to bare butts in opening scenes; will next week make it three for three?
- Ted having a photo of Bryant’s Barbecue on his desktop feels very on brand, no? Him knowing the plots of 2011 films like No Strings Attached and Friends With Benefits? Jury’s out. Mostly because, in what we see of Ted he’s so rarely actually consuming pop culture—it’s those jokes that feel more driven by what the (very funny) writers’ room can come up with than what a middle-aged football-turned-soccer coach would actually dabble in.
- You gotta love Keeley and the way Juno Temple has slowly turned this footballer bimbo girlfriend into a well-rounded character who’s striving to become the version of herself she’d never allowed herself to envision. Much of that has been due to her friendship with Rebecca, so seeing her needing to navigate relationships (work and otherwise) with the likes of Shandy, Barbara, and now Jack is putting into clearer focus not just where she’s been but where she’s headed. (Also, can we talk about that Keeley/Jack meeting? Best period humor we’ve seen in the show yet.)
- “It’s short for my dad wanted a boy” is the line that made me hope we get plenty more of Jack this season.
- Oh, Shandy (Ambreen Razia)… e worried you might be a decision Keeley would come to regret and, well, we were all right. (That said, I am very here for more Barbara/Keeley content. They make for such a wild odd couple that I’m eager to see what they can each learn from one another should they choose to really bond.)
- The less we talk about the physical reaction I had to hearing Brett Goldstein saying “Get dressed or I’ll start flicking your balls,” the better for all of us.
- Zava and his platitudes (“Dream big and you may never wake up”) may start to wear thin. Can a team really rally only around one person? Might Jamie be the one teammate who realizes this before everyone else does?
90 Comments
Does it make me a bad person that I took such joy out of the nonplussed reaction Jade had for Nate? Especially since he was feeling himself after the restaurants manager made such a big deal about him. Her “ I don’t give two shits about you” facial expression as she looked him dead in the eyes was fantastic.
I wonder if Jade will form a part of Nate’s redemption arc?
Assuming that Nate tries again in his feeble attempts to (apparently) ask her out, she could be the one who sparks a moment of realisation about how toxic working with Rupert is.
Although I’m not entirely sure how that would come about, but it’s feasible I suppose.
It was obvious – and glorious – that Jade had Nate’s number from day one. She sees right through him and was absolutely unimpressed. I would love love love it if Nate comes to his own epiphany about where he’s going and who he is, and in one of the final shots goes to ask Jade out and she acquiesces.
I feel like Jade’s expression changed slightly as Nate left and wondered if she was coming around to his advances, even if it was only to manipulate him and use him for his fame or because she was intrigued.
I think potentially in a good way (she sees through things) or in a bad way (she’s ready to use him and his lil’ heart gets broken). Nate presumably needs to hit rock bottom if he’s going to be redeemed.
I hope he hits those rocks hard enough to break every bone in his body.
I only want Nate redeemed if he finds that redemption while roasting in a bonfire while snakes eat his balls.
Are you Nate’s dad? 😃
No, his dad can eat a frog’s dick too. That entire fucking family can die by murder squirrel.
The mom seems nice… you don’t though.
God fans of this show suck
“he was feeling himself after the restaurants manager made such a big deal about him”Nate may has started there but only 5 seconds of it and he was deeply uncomfortable with it. He turned back to Jade to get some normal human indifference.
Over on GQ UK they’re railing about the character of Ted being the weak link in this show, and that this season brings a promising new turn in his relative devaluation. Looks to me like the writers already knew this and adjusted accordingly. GQ UK is just late to the meeting. But, taking it further, Ted wasn’t supposed to be the focus of this program, hence the almost immediate onslaught of a club full of colorful characters in Season 1. Substandard Internet reviews aside, this installment just shows the writers’ and producers’ interests in openness and branching out. And a willingness to show a heart on a folded sleeve. New characters compliment rather than excoriate. Storylines connect like a funny and incomplete Dot-To-Dot, with coloring coming later. I like this season. The show hasn’t lost steam rounding the turn. My bets are on Richmond, the pensmen, and the actors involved. That’s where the match is won.
I am fine with a bare ass to open every episode.
I realize the writer of this post may not be familiar with sportzball terms or, you know … math, but if you are in the third episode and something has happened twice, then you are 2 for 3. It may be two in a row, going for three, but like Roy frowning vs. not smiling, that’s completely different.
Get ready for Leslie’s next week
I found this to be one of the lesser episodes of Ted Lasso. I just could not see the value of introducing yet another new character with Jack. I also thought the scenario that the team would fall apart as they did after the video was shown really a stretch. Where was Zava, the sign would meant to him almost nothing and not impact his play. A lot of this episode felt forced or shoe-horned in. While I see what the writers were aiming for with Rebecca’s “motivation” speech to Ted, it was just way to broadly played. Also back again to mustache twirling with Rebecca’s ex and I am tired of Nate. They should have busted his ass for unlawful entry.That said, I am all in on the training by Roy with Jaimie . When Roy ask about him sleeping in a shirt and no pants “Because I get cold upstairs and hot downstairs,”. And then the LED headband payoff at the end, that was terrific. More please.
I also thought the scenario that the team would fall apart as they did
after the video was shown really a stretch. Where was Zava, the sign
would meant to him almost nothing and not impact his play.
Ordinarily I’d agree with you if there hadn’t been an FA Cup match two weeks ago in which Fulham completely lost the plot (also receiving three reds – though one was for their coach).
Football players lose their heads all the time and can put in shoddy performances.
Liverpool 7 Man United 0 springs to mind too.
2-0 turns into 6-0 in about 15 minutes. When it goes wrong, it can go very wrong, very quickly.
Back in 2015, the infamous Red Card wedding in a US Open Cup match between the Sounders and Timbers saw 4 players sent off before time, including one over-the-top moment where Clint Dempsey stole the referee’s notebook and cards from his pocket, and then proceeded to dramatically rip them up in front of the ref’s face. Shit gets personal in these things.
I thought the second half of the game was a bit cartoony – not that football matches haven’t historically descended into that kind of madness before, but that Richmond would have taken it to Wile E. Coyote levels of altercation. But there is certainly precedent in real life.But I get what it was trying to show, particularly with Ted not intervening at all through the whole mess. I was sitting there screaming inside my head, “TED! SAY SOMETHING! DO SOMETHING!” and knowing that he wouldn’t because he wanted the team (and his coaching staff) to realize for themselves that they dug their own hole and had to climb out themselves.The stuff with Rebecca may not have been the most subtle, either, but I liked how the episode built and built Rebecca’s inner tension until she let it fly in the hallway with Ted (presaging the same type of moment, albeit more quiet and subdued, at the end between Ted and Michelle), because it makes Rebecca’s pivot at the end when she realizes that Bex is next up in the Rupert Betrayal Circus and understands that losing the match was far lower on her hierarchy of importance and relevance than she had believed.As for Jack, I love Jodi Balfour and it was nice to see her in a change of pace from For All Mankind. I’m interested to see how Jack changes the dynamic between Keeley and Barbara – we already saw how it has affected Keeley and Shandy. I’m willing to give it some more time/space to develop (as I’ve had to several times in previous Ted Lasso seasons).
“I love Jodi Balfour and it was nice to see her in a change of pace from For All Mankind.” But . . . was this a change of pace? Jack felt like President Wilson in sparklier shoes to me.
Yeah, but Ted Lasso is a different ambience than For All Mankind, no?
The value of Jack is how different she is from Barbara or Shandy and what that will represent to Keely. Jack is like no other in Kelly’s orbit, she is obviously successful and will likely be a significant influence on her evolution.Jack appeared to spend most of her screen time observing and making mental notes. I would not be surprised if Kack’s next appearance included advice (wanted or not).
I just could not see the value of introducing yet another new character with Jack.The value is in the KJPR spinoff, my dude. Coming to AppleTV+ 2024
The announcers mention that Zava was the only one who didn’t lose the plot, and instead managed a great goal!Also…when do you think Nate committed “Unlawful Entry,” haha? He tore the sign when he left in the S2 finale.
Wow, I didn’t remember that.
There’s no unlawful entry on Nate’s part. That was footage from months ago when he ripped up the sign while still working there. Ted put the sign back together and didn’t tell anyone so they wouldn’t react the way they eventually did.
Remember how they said, “it’s just like Italy?” On Tuesday, there was a massive fight in the Milan vs Juventus game where there were three red cards after a massive fight resulting from a nasty foul and penalty and all kinds of diving, fouling, and ugly racism from the crowds.
So yeah, that kind of falling apart into ugly, nasty, fighting, morass with the manager not saying or doing anything happens a lot in soccer.
I use to watch middle-age men get into physical fights while playing in a Friday night, “for-fun” indoor league. I saw wives get into fights in the stands for that same league….and there would be maybe 10 people watching each game. Emotions run high in sports, they run REALLY high in soccer/football.
Well I guess that’s better than knocking over fruit stands or road rages!
What do you mean unlawful entry? Nate was very much part of the Richmond team when he tore up the poster.
I’m ok with it. Essentially it’s a sitcom with some drama but the characters are cartoons. I’m not looking for Sopranos sophistication as long as it’s not tropetastic. Rebecca’s speech was hilarious; she was juicing Ted to be the best Ted Ted can be but had gone full blown Spinal Tap up-to-11. And it failed which it was always going to. The broken sign was a metaphor; Nate the heartbreaker. Again they got it right; they weren’t motivated, instead they became spiteful and cruel like Nate and his venomous spit. The only real bugbear I have is when it gets a bit preachy like Rebecca’s “bex and your daughter deserve better” despite knowing exactly who and what Rupert is for 3 seasons. It has a detachment from reality that is essential for the show to work so I’m not looking too hard at it beyond the feels it gives me.It’s like that joke they made about geopolitical obscenities being fertile ground for young female songwriters who are bound to fix everything through the power of their songs. Laughing through the tears.
From a tactical perspective, that second half has to be partially on Ted. Of course, Beard and Roy got the boys riled up with the video stretch, but as a manager you gotta get the boys to focus that anger into being productive instead of just beating the other team into the ground as much as possible. Pitiful tactics by Lasso there.That being said, this was an episode that had a lot of hype to live up, and didn’t disappoint. It wasn’t an outstanding one, but I felt there was a lot of good parts (the meeting of Keeley and Jack comes to mind, I feel like that could be a good relationship compared to Keeley and Barbara, as they seem to click). The fact Ted’s working on actually being ok with not being chipper all the time seems like the show is going to hit some good spots.Obviously, the whole Colin subplot from last week didn’t need to come up this week with all the other storylines, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried that would just be abandoned or shoehorned into the season finale in an awkward way.
Trent gave a knowing look when Keeley listed the single players being used for the Bantr promo and Colin’s name came up.I think the show will sprinkle bits of Colin’s storyline throughout the season, probably with a big reveal/turning point before the season finale. Which will almost certainly feature the return fixture between Richmond and West Ham.
Colin also told Isaac that the announcer who likes them to win was “His,” haha!
Trent gave a knowing look when Keeley listed the single players being used for the Bantr promo and Colin’s name came up.He also gave a look when Colin made a “gay” remark in the locker room.
Feel like Ted’s plan was very much to let it play out – there was no stopping that train, and he felt that letting them embarrass themselves would make his next message drive home.
Yeah, if he tried to get in front of their feelings at that point, he might lose them. Let them flop and then they’ll listen. Ted may not know how to coach soccer, but I think he knows how to lead people.
just scrolling through this recap and I’m wondering: does this show have jokes? or is it just strictly moron-level psychology lessons?
Best period humor we’ve seen in the show yet. And when should be expect a slide show of the top 10 Ted Lasso period jokes or has it really only happened this one time?
it’s a show where sometimes women talk to each other, it’s a safe bet there’s been at least one period joke
Manuel Betancourt, your emotional intelligence and observation of the human condition is better than the episode itself. More, please!
This seemed like a weird episode to introduce Jack. She had a great surprise bathroom introduction with Keeley but then never really did anything else the entire episode.
She took a back seat and watched everything unfolding around her. I thought it was a subtle portrayal of a successful investor that was checking up on how her investment is going. She was the only one that didn’t have a true personal stake in any of the happenings, but was seriously examining all of the players in her investment in every shot she appeared in.
Love interest for Keely seems pretty evident.
Ted telling his ex-wife his feelings without being judgmental towards her made me punch the air. That felt like such a huge breakthrough for him to be able to get it out in the open but in a way that made his comments about loving her, Henry, and their family in whatever form it takes feel true and earned.
Meh… I still want him to file an ethics complaint on Dr. Raper.
You saw Michelle smile, too – first thing we heard about her was that she had told Ted his “constant positivity could be exhausting.”
Hannah W. gave an interview somewhere (It’s on the Lasso Wiki, so grains of salt) about how she thinks Michelle is a toxic person. That makes me wonder if she knows what’s coming, or if there was another thing coming…
Or if she has her own thoughts on Olivia Wilde…
Michele should have told him, “Yeah,, while we’re being “honest”, fuk your feelings, you fled our kid 1/2 a world away during one of the most crucial times in his developing young life, ADD the little detail of immense confusion of our separation and now..you… feel… the need to ‘clear the air’ on a zoom call an ocean away? Lol. fuk you. Yeah maybe get yer sheet together in time before these supposed grandkids come.” Yeah, that’s how any half sane person would want Michelle respond to Ted’s pathetic ‘sharing’.
Roy training Jamie was my favorite part of this. I loved Jamie in the course of one day going from not thinking it was really happening to being all in, with headlight and everything. Also screw Zava, Jamie had a good shot Good Rebecca episode, I felt for her all episode and was glad for her eventually getting the upper hand & realizing her ex was not worth her continued feelings of needing to beat him. Pretty worried about Keeley & how she will deal with Shandy’s apparent mutiny & Barbara’s continued hostility. I hope that Jack will be supportive but I could equally see that going the other way tooI am starting to feel more sympathy for Nate & am angry at the show because I don’t want to
Hold strong, my brother. Nate is worth nothing.
Nate’s always been a sad, insecure little man – even when we liked him in S1.
I think it was more than just Rebecca getting the upper hand on Rupert. Seeing him cheating on Bex with his assistant helped her realize that Ted was right – she’s already won by getting rid of him. I think she realizes now that she doesn’t have to win a soccer game against him. It won’t change the fact that he is a womanizer always looking for the next conquest, and losing won’t change the fact that he isn’t her problem anymore.
Yes definitely agree
Also, the fact that she was able to convey that in about 2 seconds without saying a word is just very good acting and directing.
Honestly just casting Hannah Waddingham as Rebecca accounts for so much of the success of the show IMO
Loved the multiple occasions when she was visibly tickled by Bex taking the piss out of Rupert.
This episode and the previous quickly showed that Rebecca actually gets along with Bex and I expect that relationship to go somewhere.
When Barbara made her comments about Shandy, Keely took them to actually be about herself (because they were also true about her origins) so Keely felt like she had to defend Shandy to defend herself. But if Keely wants to actually run the business she will have to learn the difference between her employees like her and respecting her.When you start to feel sympathy for Nate, just remember that he willfully dug that hole for himself. Redemption doesn’t start until he stops digging.
Him knowing the plots of 2011 films like No Strings Attached and Friends With Benefits? Jury’s out.Yeah, but those sure seem like the sorts of movies that his ex-wife probably would have liked and Ted is surely the kind of significant other who has a surprisingly deep knowledge about his partners wants and likes, right?I’m mostly kidding, but I would buy that he saw those movies with his ex.
Also, he doesn’t “know the plots.” He just knows which set of actors is in which.
Aren’t the plots basically the same? Two fuckbuddies catch feelings?
No mention of Jason seeming to put his feelings about Olivia Wilde’s relationship with Harry Styles in Ted’s mouth?
I’ve thought this throughout the entire 3rd season. Jason is using the show to work out his feelings about Olivia. And it’s not just the conversation with Michelle, it’s also Nate’s betrayal of a sort. Leaving Richmond & Ted, saying embarrassing things about Ted (Jason) in the press, etc.
You know there’s like 6 writers right?Of course there might be some of it sprinkled in but “Ted Lasso” isn’t the “Sudekis Therapy Hour”. The path of this show was planned out 4 years ago before they started filming (or so it’s been reported)
Not only did they dedicate the episode to Grant Wahl, but Coach Beard is seen holding Grant’s book, “The Beckham Experiment”. Also, Ted’s computer background is Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque, one of the KC institutions in BBQ. Ted receives their sauce in a care package in the first season. Jason having lived in KC, knows the scene well I imagine.
Speaking of Nate, his story remains the most heartbreaking in the larger Ted Lasso universe.
No, it really isn’t. Nate’s just a selfish asshole.
At heart, Nate remains a bullied and/or ignored child who wears his
insecurities nakedly, and no amount of trying to embiggen himself in his
or anyone’s eyes will soothe his fears of never feeling like enough.
That’s true, but that doesn’t entitle Nate to be a bully & take his insecurities out on others.
the way Juno Temple has slowly turned this footballer bimbo girlfriend
She was never the bimbo girlfriend, though. She was a model with a successful career.
If anyone it was Jamie that was the bimbo.
The himbo. Keeley was never a bimbo. She’s shown from the start as a smart, confident, funny, and successful woman. Judging her on her looks is entirely on you.
“Judging her on her looks is entirely on you.”I will thank you to note that I did not judge her on her looks ANYWHERE in the comment you replied to.
Two random observations I had:1) Beard was reading “The Beckham Experiment” which was written by Grant Wahl. I was wondering if that was a subtle nod to him. I suppose it was since by the end, they did a not to subtle nod by dedicating the episode to him. It was a nice touch.
2) During the second half of the game, they played “Fist Fight!” which was a song written by Fred Armisen for an SNL skit. I don’t think I ever expected to hear it in other media so it was an unexpected surprise. It is a banger.
OMG, that SNL skit was fantastic, had never seen it! Dave Grohl!! Thanks for sharing.
My local college radio station opens every episode of their punk/hardcore show with the 2011 reissue of the original. It’s Crisis of Conformity from the 80s, and I hear it in my sleep because it plays every Tuesday on my ride home from work
https://www.dragcity.com/artists/crisis-of-conformity
COC! great band, saw them a lot in the city in the late 80’s during the NYHC time.
The restaurant hostess has had Nate nailed spot on since her first appearance.
2 very weird scenes took me out of the show;that really weird scene of Rebecca speaking to Ted at half-time and going bonkers shouting at him. it was soooo tonally weird. felt like something from the later epiosdes of Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisoner.and then the team being violent was so jarring. add in the POV camera shot, it just seemed like bad writing for both scenes.Plus Shandy is bad writing and Jade is annoying.Also, Nate purposely ignored Ted and full-time. i don’t fall for his “oh, i didn’t realise” routine.last thing, instead of being a 47mins episodes. This show would be better if they made two 23 and a half mins episodes instead. the show loses it’s energy being so long.
Keeley’s reevaluating Jamie, it should be mentioned.
Yes, and it’s nice to see since he is maturing and becoming a better man.
Nate sucks. There was no defensible reason for him lashing out at Ted and continuing to be vicious towards him. There is even less defense for how he treated the kit man who replaced him last season after being treated so terribly himself. Whatever experiences he’s had being unappreciated by his parents and bullied by colleagues before Ted doesn’t justify any of it.
Again, fuck Nate and the undeserved redemption his toxic ass will likely get. He’s the Jose Mourinho of the Ben Shapiros.
Rebecca catching Rupert was important, and I hope she is reaching the epiphany that I saw there. What he did to her wasn’t personal. None of it is. He is simply a narcissist continually seeking to feed his ego. There will always be another woman. There will always be ways to belittle others. Again, nothing personal. He’s just empty inside.
The thing that bugs me about this show in general is that I don’t understand if I, as the viewer, am expected to believe that Ted Lasso is a good coach or not. He seems—still!—to barely understand the rules and mechanics of the game, so I guess if I’m to believe he is, in fact, a good coach, he must be bringing some other knowledge or abilities to the table. Of course, the premise of the show, that interpersonal relationships and understanding are critical to everyone’s success—right?That’s why this episode annoyed me. It seems like one thing a Coach Lasso ought to be able to achieve is to convince a star player to suppress his preening self-absorbtion for just one game, in order to wrong-foot the other team. But he didn’t even try.
So, Shandy is to Keely what Nate is to Ted.
Keely Jones is heavily based on model/actress Keeley Hazell, who is now a staff writer on the third season of the show in addition to playing Rupert’s new wife Bex. I wonder if there is a real life analogue to the character of Jack that inspired the character.
Nate is not great but everyone deserves redemption if they put in the work and earn it. He certainly hasn’t yet.
So, the jokes feel more like what the writers come up with “than what a middle-aged football-turned-soccer coach would actually dabble in” lol, that applies to everything, from every spoken line to the entire premise of the middle aged lead character of this farce. The only thing remotely real about Ted, which fans willfully ignore, is his abandoning Henry half a world away..zoom calls and summers and drone presents..get real..pathetic that those are portrayed as a sav for not being there, at least in the same frickin timezone for Henry. ..The shows core premise of the Ted action of fleeing 1/2 a world away is that of a wounded,, selfish, prick..the worse kind…blind. Michelle should have told him to go pound sand, ‘You lecture me!! On a zoon call an ocean away, fly boy!! Stop it you’re giving me hysterics!’
I don’t quite get why the coaches made such a fuss about Oooh-Ooooh Zava won’t like this formation and then… nothing. Perhaps I missed something, perhaps it was resolved in a deleted scene of an already long episode. It seems like a missed opportunity, though.
This episode hit me in the feels for some reason. I think just seeing how sad Nate actually was at the end of it. I still dislike him and the way that he turned on Ted though.