#Ted Lasso meta

[gnnosis]

anyone else feeling real split on how the finale’s gonna go

[helena-thessaloniki]

Ahh my heart. Rewatched Ted Lasso in need of some post-op comfort binging and noticed that Roy did not pick Isaac as team Captain only ‘cause he broke the TV !!?

Right before Ted starts up his famous Tan Lines speech in the locker room, Roy tells everyone to sit down and listen. But it’s Isaac who remembers to include Nate and invites him to sit as a member of the team. We are even shown Roy watch it happen, since Isaac has to bump Roy to make room and then pats the seat for Nate to join in.

Then in the next episode when the whole team is together for a movie night and watching Iron Giant, Isaac stops another player from scrolling on their phone to make sure they stay present for what is quickly becoming their emotional team-bonding experience. Again, we are shown Roy watching as it happens, this time more deliberately as the camera focus and lightning change to emphasize Roy’s reaction.

The first time I watched the show I adored Isaac but didn’t really connect with why Roy chose him, but now seeing that it was actually a thoughtful choice informed by these quiet moments of care where Isaac shows how mindful he is of the entire team and that he knows how important it is to keep everyone together without being told or asked??

God that’s precious. Makes me appreciate both Roy and Isaac so much more.

[sylvies-chen]

the commentators saying colin “played like a man reborn” actually makes me so feral because the thing about chameleons, as they call him in reference to his playing style, is that chameleons actively blend into their surroundings to avoid detections. like it’s never anyone saying that he’s lacklustre or forgettable, but that he willingly makes himself invisible. previously, it was thought to be for the betterment of the team, but now it’s seen for what it is, which is colin hiding parts of who he actually is. hiding his identity. willful concealment. and when he comes out, immediately something is just UNLEASHED within him. this sigh of relief he feels at the core of his system translates to him playing like a fucking firecracker. it’s amazing, and it is a rebirth in a sense! he’s reborn from someone who bases so much of his identity on the act of hiding to someone who doesn’t need to anymore. he switches from prey in hiding to predator out in the open, able to charge full force through the wild of the pitch in his true form— no colour tricks, no self-preservation methods, just him.

ted lasso, you’ve been having a bit of a shaky final season, but you did this right. you did this so incredibly right.

[marvelling-at-marvel-blog]

I like to imagine that after he retires from football, Dani becomes a match day commentator. Just imagine the pure energy and joy he would bring. I dont think he would be the most insightful, tactiful presenter of the boys from the team who could go on to do this, but he would be the most joyous

It would be the best and most frustrating thing ever. Like the team you loce is down 0-2 and his still so positive. Your lead goal scorer missed the easy goal, but Rojas commentated that his new shoes look amazing and he thinks they bring happiness to the field. He also likes to throw in random facts that he thinks will bring happiness or that someone has told him.

I mean, he chooses this carer because he wants to bring joy and foot all is life.

But there is a rule after the first time that he should not do mexico matches because that brings out a different Dani Rojas and the audiences ears still haven't recovered from the first time.

[melliemd]

No, but the absolute beautiful parallel of Roy realizing that not learning how to ride a bike could be disrespectful to his grandfather’s memory paralleled with Ted finally finding inspiration by embracing things that once gave him pain.

He thinks about his father playing darts in the bar, about that BBQ sauce that always tastes like home, about the basketball games they would watch together. He doesn’t push it away or try to conceal it or stamp down the feelings. He finally opens himself up to them and uses it to grow.

Our past, our pain, it can stop us. Or… It can test us. We can learn, grow, and overcome. We can honour it. We’re about to enter a very incredible era for Ted, and I for one cannot wait.

[tomlinfonda]

Something about queer people going out into a world that is not safe for them. Something about being a professional in a highly homophobic field of work. Something about having to be careful, having to be discreet.

"Everybody knows you've been discreet, but there were so many people you just had to meet without your clothes"

Something about Colin being a shit driver, something about him immediately driving his car into the trashcans on his way out.

Something about him and Michael kissing in an alley so close to the street, exposed by the lights coming from passing cars. Attempting to hide, to be careful, to be safe, but failing, opening themselves to prying eyes, be them Trent's or someone else's.

"And everybody knows that you're in trouble, Everybody knows what you've been through"

Something about Trent not taking pictures, but walking on. Something in his eyes, in his somber expression, tells me he knows exactly what Colin and Michael are going through. And he knows, as well, that they're not safe. That trouble is on its way.

That's how it goes.

Everybody knows.

[devotioncrater]

the way ted's depression is just getting soooooo much fucking worse. like the entire episode it's seeping into everything he does. from the opening shot to the shower to how he views his place in richmond to how he handles the team to how he interacts with rebecca to his self-decrepitating jokes in the press room. and the tone of the show in s3 ep1 reflects that — right down to the color grading.

people are saying it felt off and that's because it is off!! it no longer feels like a comedy because ted's no longer living in a comedy!! yes there are moments of respite from the angst and the sadness (re: the richmond boys being himbos, and even the press room to a degree) but that greyed-out vibe is still there underneath everything.

because that is how chronic depression works. you still get on with your day, you still do what's expected of you, you still crack jokes and laugh, but underneath everything there's this feeling of Why Am I Here? ted even voices that feeling multiple times throughout the episode. he's so preoccupied with it that he walks past his apartment — something uncharacteristic of him to do. i think it also is why he's losing his fighting attitude, so to speak. it's not that he doesn't care about winning, it's that he doesn't feel like he belongs at richmond. that's depression, babes!

one more thing, it's telling that the only time we see him be enthusiastic this episode (like how he was in season 1) is when he's mocking himself to the press. i think he's reaffirming every negative thought he's had or heard about himself, but doing it under the guise of a laugh. Dumb American this or Psychotic that. which is concerning because in the past seasons he has had self-deprecating humor, yes, but never to that extent.

i could dissect this episode and it's chronic depression themes much more in depth, but anyways. ted's depression is worsening

[narniangirl1994]

I did not like Jamie and Roy being weirdly sexist about Keeley and physically fighting one another over her, only to have no real conclusion to that storyline. First of all, they handled their jealousy over Keeley better in previous seasons when the two of them were rivals and had a lot of growing to do... which makes it seem like they randomly regressed in this episode after they've both matured and become friends. Which is just stupid.

And second of all, the dialogue was so sexist and uncomfortable at times, like Jamie using the video Keeley previously made for him as proof they were meant to be together, when that video is irrelevant to the topic at hand and led to her getting hurt earlier this season (which Jamie is well aware of). It's a gross thing to brag about. Or how Roy thought he had any right to tell Jamie to back off and acted like a one night stand was proof he and Keeley would definitely get back together.

Or how the two guys said they would 'let her' decide which of them she wanted to be with, without an ounce of self awareness about how sexist and presumptuous that was until she kicked them out of her house. But then, that was the end of it. No other conversations or conclusions to that conflict other than some vague background moments with no dialogue that may or may not have been a dream sequence.

What was the point of all the buildup of their intertwined relationships throughout the entire show if the payoff was going to be so... empty and unconcluded?

Don't get me wrong, I don't think any of them should have gotten together this soon, since Roy really needs to work on himself emotionally and Keeley needs to have some time to herself and focus on other areas of her life right now. Jamie is arguably in the best place for a relationship, but wouldn't have a partner ready for him in either (or both) of them right now. And I'm glad at least the stupid fight seemed to spark a realization in Roy that he had more growing to do.

But while I didn't need the three of them to declare their love for each other in the finale, I'm disappointed with the weirdly possessive, jealous behavior from Roy and Jamie as well as the lack of any real resolution, and think all of these characters deserved better after everything they've been through together and the growing they've all done.

[transpeculation]

Okay so let’s talk about dramatic irony.

Colin’s big Flaw right now is his inability to be himself. This impacts his relationships with team members and also his football playing.

Ted’s speech from a few eps ago where he says “without shame” and the camera focuses on colin? that is where this flaw ties in with his growth as a football player.

We have seen colin make mildly homophobic remarks in the locker room “okay i’ll fuck zava”.

We have seen moments like this increasingly this season as the audience becomes aware of his sexual orientation.

This provides the audience with dramatic irony. The irony is that we know he is saying this to hide as a gay man but the characters in the scene do not.

We also know that what colin is doing is harmful to him. but he is unable to see that. all he is able to do is protect himself.

This episode is the first time (iirc) that we see him say something misogynistic instead of homophobic.

“i know what i’m doing this weekend”

to colin, this is not different. To most of the other players, this is not different.

To us, the audience, this is worse than what he was doing before. He is no longer weaponising homophobia (something he is a victim of) but misogyny (which he is not). you might argue that isnt worse but personally it rubbed me the wrong way and i think a lot of people would agree.

Importantly, some of the players on the team are also opposed to this misogyny.

At this point colin stops joking, and starts defending his real opinion (he shouldn’t have to delete his personal files just because they might be leaked).

This is an issue that some members of the team have beliefs about.

Jamie, Sam, and Isaac, stand up for women by making it clear that keeping nudes when there is a high risk of leaking is not okay.

But colin has skin in this game. Usually, he is never “real” in conversations like this. But this time things are different. He wants to keep the photos.

we see him defend this position by mentioning “memories.” this shows us that his desire is not lustful but sentimental in nature. i’ve seen others point out that this is a facet of his identity (that he is unable to outwardly express!). The photos mean something to him and he is angry at the idea that he is doing something wrong by keeping them.

I don’t think we have ever seen him defend an opinion genuinely before as the audience? In s1 he was pretty much trying to impress jamie. there was one comment about welsh pride but that came across as a joke. (Ted lasso writers make colin more welsh challenge)

And the first time he breaks his facade, the first time he shows his real face, he gets outed.

If he hadn’t cared about the photos he would have stopped arguing, stayed quiet and nodded along. made a joke maybe. something we’ve seen him do many times before. but he was honest about his opinions, so isaac was able to tell he hadn’t deleted anything when everyone else was.

SO: dramatic irony.

The audience knows that he wasn’t being serious with his first comment. “I know what I’m doing this weekend”

We know that that was a joke meant to act as a hyper-masc, homophobic, misogynistic shield in order to disguise his true self.

But the rest of the team do not know that. Issac does not know that. He has probably been making “jokes” like this, off camera, for years.

He leaps straight from a joke about masturbating to leaked nudes, to defending keeping photos that he knows there is a risk of leaking.

We, as the audience, know that he only wants to keep photos.

But Isaac thinks he might as well be defending the leak.

When Colin says “fuck off” to Isaac, he prompts him to take his phone. Isaac is acting the responsible team captain, here.

From what information he has, it just seems like colin is completely out of line. He’s defending misigyny, probably risking the safety and privacy of multiple women, being uncharacteristically rude and angry about it.

He probably has to deal with toxic behaviour from team members all the time. His own captaincy has been a source of growth for him, from the bully he used to be, to someone who tries to make sure everyone is behaving respectfully and as a team.

In any other situation I would want him to take the phone and delete the photos.

But he didn’t know that Colin also needed privacy. And colin was unable to express that to him as someone who is desperately hiding parts of himself.

So Isaac takes the phone. 

I think this all explains Isaac’s reaction. Confusion, nods, leaves.

He is confused because he is learning that this interaction is absolutely not what he thought it was. He nods because he accepts that, bc it’s a totally different situation than he thought, he doesn’t need to delete the photos. then he leaves, because what else is he supposed to do.

And colin is left knowing that his slip-up (the first time we see him express a sincere and deeply held emotion in front of the team) caused the very thing he was so afraid of happening.

EDIT: oh also the irony of how isaac invades colins privacy while trying to protect other people’s because he doesn’t think of colin as someone who needs privacy from him. I allude to that but i meant to make is clearer. EDIT 2: corrected spelling of isaac

[maines]

THE WIZARD OF OZ references in all seasons of TED LASSO

“A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others.”

[scoatneyhall]

WILD. Was anyone else aware that the Ted Lasso team has gone in and made post-production edits on season 3 episodes, sometime in the last year?

I've been rewatching the finale in advance of the one year anniversary of it airing, and straight off, I noticed that the points total on the graphic looked different to how I remembered it - a much closer race. It stuck out because I remembered being annoyed that they didn't celebrate the moment Richmond got confirmed for the Champions League, as the gap was big enough for it to have happened a while ago, offscreen. I still have a screencap from when the episode aired:

However, the current copy on Apple has an updated graphic, making the post-production graphic in line with the numbers on the actual physical whiteboard prop and the script mentioning the win streak. See here:

The corrected copy makes Richmond's points match the whiteboard, but it also puts the teams in 3rd to 5th place much closer to them points-total wise, meaning that now, in the current version of the episode, Richmond only qualified for the UCL in "Mom City," making it make more sense that the start of 3.12 is the first time it gets discussed. Would have been nice to mention that stake in the City match commentary during 3.11, but I genuinely am shocked that they went back in and edited the already-published episodes to clean up the post-production errors. For the record, here's the whiteboard as of 3.08: W10, D9, L6.

Just in case anyone cares, the order of those results was - 1 draw against Chelsea, 6 wins with Zava, 1 loss against West Ham, the rest of the draws and losses occurring between 3.05 and the loss against Arsenal in 3.07, and then the 4 wins mentioned at the start of 3.08. By the start of 3.12, it's mentioned they are on a 16 game win streak, so that's 22 wins overall, 9 draws, 6 losses, going into the final weekend, hence the updated graphic.

I like that they went in and fixed it - no idea when in the past 12 months that occured - but I also kind of can't believe they bothered? Then again, I can't believe the mistake was made in the first place, as they were so specific with details in the prior seasons, so maybe they couldn't live with it being wrong.

I know there were rumours about a ton of issues in terms of getting these episodes posted in time - right down to the wire, still fixing the edit on the airdate - and it's clear that these details were not checked and confirmed by the poor people in post who were not working off the show bible that lives in the writers heads. I don't blame them at all, I blame the people who got the edit to them late, but it did annoy me during the season a LOT. The maths wasn't mathing, and as we know this is a show that has been careful with dates and timelines and stuff like that.

Anyway! The point is, a) this post about my UCL qualification fantasies is now moot, and b) I went back and checked another post production error that had REALLY pissed me off, which was the dates of texts in Ted's phone in 3.04. Phone dates have always given us the timeline quite strictly before - it's how @belmottetower and I started the timeline in our primer, with Ted arriving in London on January 6, 2020 and then following the football seasons from there to place the season 3 finale in May 2022 - but in 3.04, all the cute texts we see to all the characters in his phone were badly misdated, placing the timeline further in the future. This caused arguments or misunderstandings, at the time about the actual timeline of the show, but it seems this was another detail the producers really wanted to fix and tighten up, as they've gone back and had it edited.

It's weird, because the texts Ted was actually going back to - the messages from Doctor Jacob - were dated correctly as late 2019, and there's even a little easter egg in the form of a US rideshare notification picking him up to go to the airport in America, on 5 January 2020. (Even the area code, 316, is apparently correct to Kansas.) That's all correct even in the original version of the episode, but somehow we then skip a year and place his most recent texts, as of 3.04, in late October 2022, when they should only be in late September or early October 2021. (I found this post on Reddit that screenshotted his phone at the time.) Examples:

I had to go back and check this, and sure enough, it's been edited to reflect the established timeline - they didn't just redate the year on each message, they also changed a bunch of the chats to be more recent - so rather than dates, his most recent chats with Henry, the Coaches, etc are from "Yesterday," then the first dated texts are in very late September 2021. This matches up pretty perfectly with where they are in a typical Premier League season - they REALLY cleaned it up. Further back, they do just switch the years on the dates, so he still got a picture from Sassy last Valentines Day, and his last one-on-one contact with Jamie is still set before the events of Wembley in 2.08 (FA Cup semi finals are in April, so a few weeks after the March 2021 date on Jamie's chat.)

My brain is itching because I swear there was a screen of Nate and Ted's text chat at some point too? With Ted reaching out about his new job, on a date that deeply did not work with the timeline? But maybe I imagined it. There's no record of Nate's number in his phone at all now, and the texts date back to before Nate left, so I guess in this version of events, Ted deleted Nate's number and message history.

Anyway, I'm aware that basically no one is going to care about this, but I suspect that the three people who will actually care will REALLY FUCKING CARE. Has anyone else noticed it? Does anyone know when it may have happened? Does anyone know what else might have been changed or fixed? I love details and I love the fact that there is no longer conflicting data about what football seasons the show is covering - it's mid 19/20 to the end of 21/22, end of story - but what a fucking mess the production of season 3 must have been, to end up at this point!

[lunar-years]

Okay. Let's talk Jamie and Roy getting beers and being idiots.

I know we are all still processing that whirlwind of a finale. I'm understanding that a lot of people hate the Roy & Jamie scene because it is 1) backslide-y (true) 2) they treat Keeley like a prize to be won (true) and 3) it's OOC (I actually disagree with this one, but I can understand why it's complicated). I want to start off by saying I completely see where this opinion is coming from and I respect everyone who just hates the scene because it shows normally kind characters being very unkind to each other etc. This is less me arguing against that as it is me trying to articulate (at great length, sorry) why it not only worked for me, but I genuinely liked it.

I like to think I strike a balance between loving everything the show has done and hating overwhelmingly on a show I claim to enjoy, but sure, you could definitely argue that I'm just giving my favorite characters the benefit of the doubt, or making excuses for them, because they're my favorite characters. I'll admit I'm historically very forgiving of all the main characters' many fuck-ups on Ted Lasso, but that's because I think the show works best when it emphasizes how kindness, forgiveness, friendship and love can still operate between imperfect, flawed people. I like seeing them make realistic mistakes much more than I like everyone handling everything perfectly, I'll bite.

So, back to Jamie and Roy. I enjoyed their finale plot because despite them making a world of mistakes, the regression felt very, very human. I don't agree at all with the take that this somehow erased all the progress they've made this season or the friendship the show has lovingly crafted between them. In fact, I think this actively reiterated it! (Note: I am operating with my ot3 goggles on at all times, so I'm going to write this with that at least partially in mind, but I think the gist of it works even if you ignore the bits that get a little shippy.)

For both Jamie and Roy, Keeley and their love for her is a major beacon guiding them. I think that is the crisp, clear thing in both of their heads this episode: Keeley is the love of my life. And they both believe that wholeheartedly, and they both want to be with her. (and it's goofy to pretend this came out of nowhere for Jamie/since when is Jamie still in love with her/etc. because he literally told her and us this last season and nothing that has happened since has indicated otherwise, btw.) But there's also something else now, which is their relationship with each other, battling with their Keeley thoughts. It's like, in Roy's head, for instance, I imagine there are two wolves: on the one hand he loves Keeley, and wants to be with her, and plans to win back her heart. On the other hand, there's his love and care for Jamie Tartt, which is much less defined and inarticulate and maybe still a little repressed, but just as overpowering. His love for Keeley feels so simple and clear in comparison, while his love for Jamie is something complicated and unsure, and in this episode, he's leaning hard into the first to avoid unpacking the second.

So Roy starts off strong. He sees Jamie with Keeley in the hallway and he doesn't flip out!! Instead, he approaches Jamie calmly, and invites him out for beers. Think about how different this is from his reaction to Jamie's love confession to Keeley in season 2. This is Roy's growth in action, and it's a resounding sign of just how important Jamie is to Roy now. Even when he is feeling jealous of the woman he loves potentially leaving him behind for a man he loves (a completely natural reaction, let's be so real, if not a "good" one), he also knows that for as much as he wants to be with Keeley, he doesn't want to lose his friendship with Jamie.

As for Jamie, I know some people took his reaction and subsequent response to Nate's question as like, shock at the realization that he and Roy are actually friends now, which I agree is something that had to have come earlier in the timeline (what was Mom City if not that) and would seem very out of place at this point. What I saw it as instead was Jamie's brain more just. sort of short-circuiting? Because: holy shit isn't this the best day ever? First Keeley agreed to go to Brazil with me and now Roy is asking me on a date for beers? this is so sound. This invite is out of place behavior from Roy even within the parameters of their friendship, because they still have a match to win and Roy has banned Jamie from beers as part of his training and despite them being close now I find it hard to believe that Roy often comes up to him right there in dressing room to ask him to grab a beer with no pretense.

Therefore, they're already walking into that bar in completely different head-spaces. Jamie isn't planning to discuss Keeley, and for Roy that is his major intention behind the evening. Jamie is nervous and downing his beer, and Roy is internally panicking, I'm imagining, over when and how to bring Keeley up. I think Roy is thinking: Well, I don't intend to stop pursuing Keeley, I genuinely don't want Jamie's feelings to be hurt when I get back together with her (and yes, it is a huge presumption for him to assume Keeley's going to eventually take him back. But I think it's also an understandable one), so I've got to tell Jamie I care about him, and that I'm going to keep going after Keeley, and he needs to be okay with that so that this won't get in the way of our friendship, which I also desperately need and am unwilling to give up. In his mind, Jamie is of course going to accept all of this, because Roy and Keeley are soulmates, which Jamie will clearly recognize deep down because it is so obvious and right and anyway, Jamie always does what Roy tells him to do (again, this is all misguided thinking. But we can see how Roy's anxious little brain that's bad at processing feelings and holding space for emotions could get himself here, can't we?).

So again, we start off strong with Roy saying he's proud of Jamie and them both thanking one another. But then Roy's blurting out nonsense about how Jamie just needs to pull himself out of the running and just let Roy be with Keeley. Which is obviously not on. And Jamie responds, simply, with No. I'd argue this is also a huge step for Jamie. Jamie really doesn't tell Roy no anymore, he doesn't tell anyone no. Jamie has spent so much of his time since coming back to Richmond working to be the person everyone around him wants and expects him to be. This is him fighting for something he wants for once, doing what is best for him. It was a fabulous progression to see. In the moment, boy does it work Roy up, because why is Jamie not agreeing with me, Jamie always agrees with me? but obviously at this point, Jamie is in the right. His relationship with Keeley was no less meaningful than Roy's just because Roy says it was, Roy doesn't have any claim on her, and there's no real reason Jamie should not try and shoot his shot with Keeley if Roy is going to do the same.

Here's where things start to spiral. Established flaws we know about Roy: he's competitive. He's bad at voicing his feelings productively. And he is territorial about the people he loves, a category that safely includes both Jamie and Keeley at this point in time, for better and sometimes worse. Yes, his next actions are grossly possessive over Keeley, yes Roy has made a lot of effort over the past year to do and be better than that, to break free of that cycle. But look, it's not a linear process. He's going to still mess up, and he does here. In fact he's downright mean, weaponizing Keeley against Jamie and throwing having sex with Keeley a month ago into Jamie's face, bragging about it, boasting. Same old cycle, same old patterns of ego-driven, prideful mistakes.

Which promptly prompts Jamie to also fuck up by bringing up the leak. It's a concentrated response intended to get a suitable rise out of Roy, because Roy has really, genuinely hurt him here, and Jamie knows bringing up that video is the one thing that will hurt Roy just as much in turn. It's not the right thing to do, obviously, but again, it's such a human thing to do. Hurt the person who's hurt you right back, even if you're hurting someone else (Keeley) by extension. Mind you, Jamie came here expecting a hangout (/date) with Roy over a rare beer, and instead he got Roy being a complete asshole and lecturing nonsense at him out of seemingly nowhere. He reacts to this change-up, well, not greatly. There is something so messy and emotionally complicated happening here and it hinges on how very much Jamie and Roy care about each other, not negates it.

Keeley, queen that she is, rejects them both out of hand and kicks them out not the curb immediately because they're both being complete idiots, acting like they're so gracious in giving her the honor and privilege of choosing between them. Not to mention they've clearly got something going on between them they haven't worked through and that sure as shit isn't her problem, is it? Keeley (presumably, and I wish we had seen this) calls them out their shit and tosses them right back out the door.

Which leaves Jamie and Roy to lament how they've let their egos get away from them, they've been idiots (which they acknowledge immediately) and decide that now they should go for kebabs, presumably to actually hangout this time, not to interrupt themselves with inflated talk about who "deserves" Keeley more. They both screwed up, they acknowledge it, and all they can do is try again tomorrow, and in the meantime, go on that kebab date.

I guess....I can just see where both of them are coming from? it's not mature behavior, obviously, it's maybe not what we would have liked to have seen from them in the finale episode of the show. But it was regression that I didn't feel impeded their overall progress. Roy in particular was being a complete dick about it, but that's why the very next morning he's finally knocking on the Diamond Dogs' door. And honestly, that conversation was heartbreaking. When Roy admitted he'd expected, after a year of putting in the work, to be a whole new person...god. This is a man who still completely hates himself, to the point where he can't quite grasp that he can be better where he's at now, that he doesn't have to transform magically into someone new in order to do right by himself and others. And so he has to consciously determine, once again, to do better, be better.

The message is: change isn't linear, you're going to fuck-up, and fall back into old patterns. What matters is trying every day to do better together, and be better for one another, than you were the day before. That is the meeting point all three sides of the royjamiekeeley triangle were heading towards by the end of the episode.

So yes, it was rushed, because no one gets much screen time in a finale (and the overarching issue with this season anyway is god awful pacing. The last three episodes could've easily been the second half of the season, while the first half of the season was stretched out and largely extraneous). And yes, I would've liked a more thoughtful follow-up conversation between Roy and Keeley or all three of them. My biggest issue was that we didn't get to hear Keeley's voice hardly at all. I would at the very least have liked to have seen her setting them straight at her kitchen table, because turning both of them down signifies very important growth in her, too, and I would've liked exploring that more explicitly. So it wasn't perfect. But I still liked it, I really did.

[sylvies-chen]

my mother said something really interesting about this episode (yes, she also watches the show and is a huge fan of dani rojas just like me) and it’s been stuck in my head ever since. she said: “it seems to me like this whole episode was about intimacy”

and like… yeah! that’s exactly it! the amsterdam trip set the perfect scene for it too, because people are normally a little more lax on vacation, a little more adventurous, a little more lenient and able to put themselves out there.

you have the pretty obvious contenders for this point: rebecca having her little fling with that nameless bald man and learning to open herself up to real connection and intimacy again, to be able to envision for herself a life and a love that is unmoored to her past with rupert and is able to exist in its own little intimate pocket. you’ve got jamie and roy learning to trust in each other, to be intimate and vulnerable about their pasts and about their present situations too (especially for roy, who is still right now a man who would rather break up with the woman he loves that admit, that he doesn’t think he’s good enough for her). and you also have, of course, the true soul of the episode, which was colin and trent’s discussion, and how colin feels that ache to be able to show the more intimate parts of him to the world the way heterosexual couples do, to be able to merge his intimate personal life with his fun if not a little reserved professional life. how to achieve a balance between intimacy and privacy.

and then you have the less obvious ones maybe, like higgins and will going to the jazz club— which isn’t really that hard to decipher when you think about it. it is, after all, where higgins opens up about an intimate detail of his love for jazz, and then gets to share his previously very intimate and private activity of playing the bass with the crowd. he even starts the night complaining of how exposed their seats feel, and ends up standing on the stage by the end of it. and, of course, will potentially had a threesome. so there’s a kind of intimacy for you. the one that truly isn’t obvious is the team pillow fight which honestly, I think is just a way of showing that sometimes a more intimate, fun yet indoor activity makes for better memories than something like a sex show or a club, which are both very grand and exciting yet impersonal and detached kinds of activities.

then of course you have ted, who is sort of lacking what my mother called an intimacy with himself. he’s been feeling a little lost, a little “stuck” as he put it. and I don’t think he understood why until this episode, until this adventure he went on with the museum and the american themed restaurant. it was a way for him to spend quality time with himself, to be alone with his thoughts while still not totally unable to absorb his surroundings and learn something. and in exploring his more intimate thoughts he was able to think of something really good! something that will make him a better coach!

and yeah, when it’s framed in this way I think this episode was sooooo killer. I love seeing people open up a little bit, to show these deep and intimate parts of their being. it’s so so so good.

[marvelling-at-marvel-blog]

I know it was meant to be a joke, but it kind of breaks my heart that S2 Jamie thinks the best way to make friends is to buy all his teammates PS5s. The way his logoc

Like he really thinks his likeability is tied to his talent, money and looks. The way he says what better thing to spend money on than love just screams to me low self value.

I really think he struggled to make friends his whole life and most of the people who came in his life like him for his talent, star potential and what he could do for them.

Which means when Zava comes along in season 3 he probably legit thought he was going to lose all his friends. Now, they didn't need him on the pitch. So now I just want to give him a great big hug.

His S3 storyline really helps him learn what true friendship is.

[highlyillogicalandroid]

Jamie antagonizing Ted and Ted almost snapping but then Henry runs in and Jamie freezes because he doesn’t know how to process a father putting AWAY his anger for the sake of a son and then Jamie looks to Ted before he signs Henry’s shirt like he’s asking permission because a child is asking him to be kind and how can he be when no man was ever kind to him just kill me honestly

[wistfulcynic]

as an American who’s spent the past 15 years in the UK it’s always been both interesting and clear to me that Ted Lasso, while set and filmed in the UK with mostly non-American actors, is a show made for Americans. The language choices, the references--even many of those made by non-American characters--are all chosen for maximum impact on an American audience. 

never has that been clearer than in this latest episode. Isaac, who we know was raised in London, hears a fan call his best friend what the team later refers to as “the other f-word.” His temper snaps and he leaps into the stands to confront the fan in Colin’s defence. 

it’s a powerful scene and--with an American audience in mind--it does make sense that the writers would choose that word as the one to set Isaac off. It’s a word some Youths have been reclaiming recently, but for American-grown people my age (not coincidentally also Jason Sudeikis’ age), we grew up knowing it as a vicious slur and have a visceral reaction to hearing it. 

British people don’t. They use it casually, in reference to a cigarette. In its longer form it means meatballs. People here are broadly aware that it’s a slur in American English but they don’t feel the impact of that, not the way Americans do. It was years before i stopped flinching every time my coworkers went out for a cigarette. I’ve had gay coworkers who used it (to mean cigarette) without a twitch. Both Isaac and that fan would have grown up hearing it, would be completely inured to it as a word that carries a powerful message of hate. It’s unlikely both that the fan would use the word as a slur and that Isaac would have such a deeply felt reaction to it. 

and honestly? That did take me out of the scene a little bit. Similar to the S1 episode where Keeley teases Roy about meeting in a “parking lot.” 

however, unlike parking lot which has no place in that dialogue, i fully understand the choice of “the other f-word” over a British slur. The aim of the scene was to provoke a visceral response from viewers, to make them want to get up in that fan’s face the way Isaac did. No British word, however more authentic to the setting and characters, would provoke the necessary reaction from American viewers. Call it linguistic licence, i guess. 

it’s very interesting though how Ted Lasso is set firmly in Britain when it wants to be a fish-out-of-water comedy but can’t be so British that it confuses American viewers. A delicate balance. Jokes about biscuits and tea are a-okay but car park goes a step too far. There’s a linguistics dissertation lurking in there somewhere. 

someone else can write it.