#jason sudeikis i am in your walls

[spookynstarbuck]

I’m like, genuinely so sad about that ending. Why spend so much time gaining the trust of your audience in regards to ensuring that you will treat your characters with love and kindness, only to do such a disservice to so many of them? Why make a show whose entire premise is based on relationships and character development, only to undo so much of it in the last ten minutes? Why start your show with a character being asked to leave by his ex-wife, only to end up ignoring the pleas to stay from someone who loves him? Why establish a home and found family, and a solution to include his son in this new life, just to undo all of it?

Why have your female lead whose journey has been in part about deeply yearning for a meaningful “thunder and lightning” romantic relationship end up with a nameless character with no discernible personality that has 5-10 minutes of screen time in one episode halfway through the last season? Why center season 3 on the development of Jamie and his relationship w Roy only to have them get into a physical fight over a girl, whom neither of them ends up with definitively anyways? Why have him make that gross and mean comment about the leaked video? Why show him building a new friendship w Keely only to reveal that he actually is still trying to fuck her?

I get the idea of Ted being a Mary Poppins, but that doesn’t work so well when many of the characters don’t really get happy endings, and he returns to a life without a majority of the relationships that have been the center of the show being intact. Also, this concept is undermined by the fact that he did not have to leave! Mary Poppins leaves bc she is a magical being and she has to! A completely feasible solution was offered to Ted to stay and he didn’t even consider it. Also, why did he seem so hollow and checked out for so much of the episode? His lack of emotional response to any of his goodbyes felt so strange. Also, he wasn’t even at Beard’s shitty green screen wedding? Also, Beard left Ted to marry his lowkey abusive girlfriend?

And WHY bring Nora Ephron and soulmates into all of it for exactly zero payoff? You don’t get to say “rom-communism” and not have one single well-explored and established romantic journey with a happy ending. The magic of Nora Ephron is that soulmates are real and endings are happy; that when she shows you two people are meant for each other, that is exactly what you can expect to see. So like, literally why bother bringing those concepts into this show and highlighting them so often only to completely abandon them?

[spectrestardust]

[roamwithahungryheart]

when Jack said 'oy, I could use a drink' I felt that...we're gonna be in for an emotional roller-coaster in the last half of the season aren't we

[d-dormant]

turns out the writers should've been hannah and juno all along

[saltyoaktree]

I need Ted and Trent to engage in some loser, swagless middle aged gay flirting

[v0idwraith]

jason sudeikis i am in your fucking walls tell us what happens with colin and trent i swear to god

[gaytedlasso]

Daniel Jason Sudeikis I am in your walls

[britney-rosberg06]

JASON SUDEIKIS I AM IN YOUR WALLS

[truthdarespinbottles]

Jason Sudeikis I am in your walls

[aion-rsa]

How Ted Lasso Sneakily Crafted its Empire Strikes Back Season

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This article contains Ted Lasso spoilers through season 2 episode 8.

Perhaps you’ve heard, but Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso was the subject of some dreaded Discourse recently. 

Since the Internet is infinite and we privileged few in the media have nothing but time, a handful of features came out weeks ago essentially questioning what Ted Lasso season 2 was even all about. Many of these features were well-written, well-argued, and fair, but when filtered through Twitter’s anti-nuance machine (i.e. Twitter itself), every feature boiled down to the same reductive take: Ted Lasso season 2 doesn’t have a conflict. 

In some respects, this take was the inevitable reaction to the metanarrative surrounding Ted Lasso in the first place. Despite drawing its inspiration from a series of somewhat cynical NBC Sports Premier League commercials, the first season of Ted Lasso was all about the transformative power of kindness. 

Or at least that’s what we critics declared it to be. And I don’t blame us. Awash in a flood of screeners about antiheroes, dystopias, and the end of the world, the simple kindness of Ted Lasso seemed revolutionary. They made a TV show about a guy who is…nice? They can do that? But the inherent goodness of its lead character was always Ted Lasso’s elevator pitch, not its thesis. 

There’s been a darkness at the center of Ted Lasso since its very first moment, when an American man got on a flight to London in a doomed attempt to save his marriage. And, as season 2’s brilliant eighth episode rolls around, it’s become clear that that darkness is what the show has really been “about” this whole time. 

Season 2 episode 8 “Man City” (the title is referring to AFC Richmond’s FA Cup match against opponent Manchester City but also stealthily reveals that this installment will be all about men and their respective traumas) is quite simply the best episode of Ted Lasso yet. It also might be the best episode of television this year. Near the episode’s end, right before AFC Richmond plays a crucial FA Cup match against the mighty Manchester City, coach Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) finally comes clean with his coaching staff. He’s been suffering from panic attacks of late. His assistant coaches hear him, accept him, and then head off to the pitch where Man City absolutely obliterates their team.

Man City destroys AFC Richmond. They annihilate them. Embarrass them. Stuff them into a locker and steal their lunch money. The final score is 4-0 but it might as well be 400-0. The coaching staff is rattled but the players are hit even harder. Richmond’s star striker and former Man City player Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) is forced to endure watching his scumbag father cheer for his hometown team from the Wembley Stadium stands at the expense of his son. 

After the game, Jamie’s father, James (Kieran O’Brien), enters the locker room where he drunkenly accosts him for being a loser and demands that Jamie grant access to the Wembley Stadium pitch for him and his scumbag friends to run around on. When Jamie refuses, his father pushes him, so Jamie reflexively punches him right in the face. James is dragged out of the locker room by Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt), leading a stunned and traumatized Jamie Tartt standing in the middle of the room, as if in a spotlight of pure pain, surrounded by teammates too afraid to even approach him. And then something amazing happens…

Here’s the dirty secret about television: there’s a lot of it. Due to the sheer number of TV shows released each year, even the best of them are destined to become little more than memories long-term. Sometimes all you can ask from multiple episodes and seasons of television is to provide you with one moment, one line, or one warm feeling to carry with you into the future. I don’t know how much I’ll remember from Ted Lasso 30-40 years from now when I’m immobile and reclined in my floating entertainment unit, Wall-E style. But I know I’ll at least remember the moment that Roy hugs Jamie.

The great Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) – a character so disconnected from his own emotions that some fans are convinced he’s CGI – embraces the one person in the world he is least likely to embrace. As Roy and Jamie wordlessly hug, it’s hard to tell which man is more shocked by the moment. Ultimately, however, it might be Ted Lasso himself who is hit hardest. Shortly after seeing Roy play father to the younger Jamie, Ted quickly exits the locker room and calls sports psychologist Dr. Sharon Fieldstone (Sarah Niles) on his Apple TV+-apporved iPhone. 

“My father killed himself when I was 16. That happened. To me and to my mom,” Ted says, weeping. 

And that, my friends, is what Ted Lasso is all about. Pain. And dads. But mostly pain. 

None of us can say that Ted Lasso didn’t warn us it was coming. To go back to the discourse of it all real quick – I don’t blame anyone for not picking up on the direction that this show was so clearly heading in. Ted Lasso is, first and foremost, a sitcom. The beauty of sitcoms is that you welcome them into your home to watch at your own pace and your own terms. If having Ted Lasso on in the background so you can occasionally see the handsome mustache man who smiles while you fold your laundry is the way you’ve chosen to engage with the show, then great! Just know that season 2 has been operating on a deeper level this whole time as well.

Let’s take things all the way back to the beginning – back to before season 2 even began. You’ve likely heard the old philosophical thought experiment “if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Well Jason Sudeikis’s interviews leading up the season 2 premiere beg an equally as interesting hypothetical “how many times can one man mention The Empire Strikes Back before someone notices??”

Sudeikis referred to Ted Lasso season 2 as the show’s “Empire Strikes Back” multiple times before the premiere including in his local Kansas City Star and his technically local USA Today. The show even explicitly mentions the second Star Wars film in this season’s first episode when Richmond general manager Higgins (Jeremy Swyft) tells Ted that his kids are watching the trilogy for the first time. Sudeikis (who co-created and produces the show) and showrunner Bill Lawrence clearly want us to take the idea that Ted Lasso season 2 is The Empire Strikes Back seriously. And why would that be? 

Think of how ESB differs from its two Star Wars siblings in the original trilogy. This is the story that features arguably the series most iconic moment when Luke Skywalker discovers his dad is a dick on a literal universal level. It also has the only unambiguously downer ending of any original trilogy Star Wars film. Luke is thoroughly defeated in this installment. Having one’s hand chopped off by their father and barely escaping with their life is definitely the Star Wars version of a 4-0 defeat. 

The Empire Strikes Back can safely be boiled down into two concepts: 

Dads are complicated.

Everything sucks.

When viewed through those two conceptual prisms, so much of Ted Lasso season 2 begins to make more sense.

Episode 1 opens with the death of a dog and then leads into a classic Ted Lasso speech that could serve as this season’s mission statemetn. After recounting the story of how he cared for his sick neighbor’s dog, Ted concludes with: “It’s funny to think about the things in your life that can make you cry knowing that they existed then become the same thing that can make you cry knowing that they’re now gone. Those things come into our lives to help us get from one place to a better one.”

Things like…a father who you didn’t have nearly enough time with? Following episode 1 (and following just about every episode this season), Bill Lawrence took to Twitter to assuage viewers’ fears about a lack of central conflict this season. He had this to say about Ted’s big speech.

Look, Merrill. It was thought out, but the speech he gives after (Written by Jason himself – I loved it) is the core of the season, but we knew some people might bum out.

— Bill Lawrence (@VDOOZER) July 27, 2021

Sorry, truly. Ted’s speech after (which I love, but am obviously biased) is a big part of the season. But it sounds like you had a crappy thing happen recently.

— Bill Lawrence (@VDOOZER) July 28, 2021

It’s not. But Ted’s speech has big relevance. Stick around!

— Bill Lawrence (@VDOOZER) July 26, 2021

He also had this to say about dads.

Effin Dads, man. Love mine so, but he’s struggling a bit.

— Bill Lawrence (@VDOOZER) July 27, 2021

“Effin dads” and our complicated relationships with them are all over Ted Lasso season 2. In the very next episode, Sam Obisanya (Toheeb Jimoh) tells Ted “You know, my father says that every time you’re on TV, he’s very happy that I’m here. That I’m in safe hands with you.”

Ted smiles at this bit of info but not as warmly as you might expect. Because to Ted, a dad isn’t a reassuring presence but rather someone you love who will just leave when you need him the most. That’s why he’s been trying to be the perfect father figure this whole time. That’s why he did something as extreme as leaving his family behind in Kansas while he heads off to London. If giving his wife space was the only way to preserve the family and remain a good dad, then he was going to give her a whole ocean of space.

Moreover, Ted hasn’t just been trying to serve as a father figure to his son this whole time but to everyone else as well. Sam’s comment to Ted reminds him that not everyone has a good dad, which encourages him to bring Jamie into the fold in the first place.

As time goes on, however, the stress of being the consummate father to everyone in his orbit begins to wear on Ted. Throughout the entirety of this season, Ted Lasso appears to be trying to be Ted Lasso just a bit too hard. His energy levels are too high. His jokes go on too long. The same life lessons that worked last year aren’t working this year. AFC Richmond opens with an embarrassing streak of draws before Jamie’s immense talents set things straight.

It all culminates in this season’s sixth episode when Ted has his second panic attack in as many years. This time it’s in public during an important game. The experience sends Ted running through the concourse of the stadium until he somehow ends up in the dark on Dr. Fieldstone’s couch, instinctively, like a wounded animal. 

It’s certainly no coincidence that this panic attack occurs on the same day that Ted received a call from his son’s school asking him to pick him up, not realizing that he’s an ocean away. In that moment, Ted can’t help but remember what it’s like to be left behind by his own father and subconsciously wonder if he’s doing the same. 

Though the shallow waters of Ted Lasso season 2 may have appeared consequence free for half its run, beneath the surface was a tidal wave of conflict. Just because the conflict wasn’t taking place between a happy-go-lucky football coach and a villainous owner doesn’t mean it wasn’t there.

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Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin is terrible at meeting deadlines but great at writing. According to him (and William Faulkner, from whom he borrows the quote), the only conflict worth writing about is that of the human heart with itself. That’s something that The Empire Strikes Back understood. And it’s something that Ted Lasso season 2 does as well.

The post How Ted Lasso Sneakily Crafted its Empire Strikes Back Season appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[allthefilmsiveseenforfree]

Booksmart

I’m not even going to be coy about it to draw you in - GO SEE THIS MOVIE. Maybe that’s terrible self-promotion on my part, but I like to think of this blog as a public service rather than self-aggrandizement and the best public service I can offer is to make sure you know just how excellent, hilarious, and game-changing this movie is. Still not convinced? Well...

Following in the footsteps of other madcap end-of-high-school teen movies like Superbad, Can’t Hardly Wait, and American Pie, this is the graduation story for a new generation and it’s fucking fantastic. Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Katilyn Dever) are BFFs who have been working their asses off and staying on the straight and narrow to achieve academic greatness and get into the prestigious colleges of their dreams so they can change the world with some good old fashioned girl power. Think RBG rather than THC. However, on the last day of senior year, Molly discovers that all the jocks and drama nerds and party girls she’s been looking down on for not taking school seriously ALSO got into those prestigious colleges which is a real blow to her conception of the world. She demands that she and Amy have a night of blowout high school partying so that they can experience all the fun their classmates have been having this entire time - if they get to have the best of both worlds, then dammit, Molly and Amy do too. As you can imagine, their quest to get to the biggest, best party of the night turns into a series of misadventures involving an empty boat party, a murder mystery dinner, accidental drug taking, a pizza delivery robbery gone wrong, and some huge love and drama as they both try to hook up with their respective crushes. 

Some thoughts:

First thing’s first, I love love LOVE that this isn’t a coming out story for Amy. She’s out. She’s so fucking out, to her friends, her parents, even her principal. I’m not dinging coming out stories - last year’s Blockers was a sweet and unexpected surprise and I was so happy it was included in the major release of a typical teen sex comedy - but like Ariel I want more and now I have it!

The supporting cast of adults is just wall-to-wall perfection. Jason Sudeikis is pitch-perfect as the long-suffering principal who is happy to see Molly and Amy get out of his hair; Jessica Williams is the cool teacher who Molly and Amy idolize, and she plays every note perfectly; and Lisa Kudrow and Will Forte are Amy’s uber-supportive and endearingly awkward parents. 

Side note: I’m pretty sure Jason Sudeikis improved his entire Lyft scene and it’s fantastic. 

Do schools really allow silly string, confetti, and condom water balloons on the last day? All I remember is wandering around the halls and getting people to sign my yearbook. There may or may not have been a cookie cake.

The details in production design are just *chef kiss* perfect. Amy’s room with the sign “A room of one’s own,” the posters in both their rooms of famous inspirational women, the bumper stickers, the labels on Amy’s drawers listing the interior contents(!) - each tiny detail adds up to such a rich character portrait of these girls and their friendship.

They have a friendship CODE WORD (it’s “Malala”) god it’s so good. I know I’m belaboring the point, but seeing a friendship like this, that’s based on unwavering support and love and tenderness, feels revolutionary. It reminds me so much of me and my best friend in sophomore and junior year, the secret language of girls who love each other deeply and are maybe slightly codependent because the world is huge and scary and does not take kindly to young women who love themselves. I may or may not have teared up when Molly says something self-disparaging and Amy slaps her, saying “Don’t talk about my best friend that way.” 

The supporting cast of teens is made up of diverse, interesting, and well-realized characters. Gigi (Billie Lourd) is so over-the-top iconic, she’s easily the standout, living easily up to the legacy her grandmother Debbie Reynolds and her mother Carrie Fisher left. 

I just have never felt more seen as a dorky queer woman. I am not Molly, nor am I Amy, but god I’ve been both of them so many times I can’t even count. When Molly talking to Nick and he pegs her Hogwarts house exactly? My knees went weak. Amy playing the game of “Is she queer or is she just a countercultural straight girl” is so real I started having acid flashbacks of going to my first gay bar. These incredible, honest characters are the core of the film and every choice that director Olivia Wilde made in creating them was the right one. 

I also love that the only sex scene in the film is a queer sex scene - it’s so important to represent and normalize, and show queer teens that their stories can also be awkward and funny and that whether you’re queer or straight, nothing gets solved or fixed with sex at a teenage party.

Do people graduate in the morning? How? Don’t their parents have to work?

It’s evident the movie owes a debt to all the teen movies that came before and clearly influenced it, the most obvious being Superbad. In many ways the two films hit all the same major beats and feature many of the same character archetypes, but I would argue that this is the superior version. The character anxieties and dependencies can still be explored without the misogyny or homophobia - it’s the best of both worlds, and it doesn’t come at the expense of anyone else. 

Did I Cry? Of course I did, at the very end when Molly and Amy have to say goodbye to each other. 

These are my favorite credits I’ve seen in recent memory for sure. 

Do yourself a favor and go enjoy the funniest comedy I’ve seen this year. Your inner dorky girl needs this.

If you liked this review, please consider reblogging or subscribing to my Patreon! For as low as $1, you can access bonus content and movie reviews, or even request that I review any movie of your choice.

[roamwithahungryheart]

the way the camera flits between all the love connections past and present and Keeley toasts to the unknown future and Ted & Rebecca are wearing matching shades of burgundy JASON SUDEIKIS I AM IN YOUR WALLS

[roamwithahungryheart]

JASON SUDEIKIS I AM IN YOUR WALLS PHIL DUNSTER I AM LOOKING IN YOUR WINDOW BRENDAN HUNT I AM IN THE BUSHES TELL ME YOUR SECRETS NOW