#ted lasso meta

[gnnosis]

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

[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.

[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.

[hilsoncrater]

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.”

[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.

[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. 

[singaroundelay]

If this isn't a man who is so many shades of excited to meet his boyfriend's gaffer's mum and pump her for every single embarrassing story he can about Ted, I will eat my tinfoil hat.

ALSO. Can we note that his notebooks are closed? This isn't for the book.

This is completely for his own edification.

Plus Ted was worried about his mom staying home during the Manchester game because he knew Trent would spend time with her. He has no clue what stories she'll tell him now.

The rom-communism of getting to meet your partner's mum.

[jamiesfootball]

Considering the potential ripple effects of Jamie and Roy in Amsterdam.

Of Roy finally opening up to someone about this promise from his granddad that never came true, and how to young Roy it probably seemed such an insignificant thing to complain about — his granddad’s dead, and he’s complaining about how he never learned to ride a bike?

But grief always hides in these small injustices, and Roy was little, and his granddad died, and no one ever taught him how to ride a bike.

And out of pain and frustration, he spits this at Jamie, who takes it in strides and turns it into something tangible and fixable. Jamie who was already willing to offer Roy comfort earlier in the season, who listens when Roy is struggling and gives him this alternative- you don’t want to talk about what’s bothering you. We’ll do this instead, yeah?

Then the very next episode, Roy has a bike. Roy went out and bought himself a bike.

But then there’s Phoebe. Did she know how to ride a bike? Now that Roy knows how, does he teach her? I have to imagine if she already knew how to ride a bike, she would have insisted that Roy learn too, so they could ride bikes together. This makes me think that maybe she also didn’t know how to ride a bike.

So Uncle Roy buys her a bike and spends the weekend teacher her- uh oh, what’s this? Phoebe’s mum also doesn’t know how to ride a bike? Because at the end of the day, she is also Roy’s sister, so if no one taught him then well there’s a chance no one taught her either.

So he buys a third bike. And a helmet, a bright purple one that matches Phoebe’s bright pink one, because they need to make sure Phoebe has good role models when it comes to safety. Then him and Phoebe spend another weekend teaching her how to ride a bike too.

She tells him to piss off when he laughs at her falling into the grass again, but she can’t help but ask, “What’s gotten into you, anyways? What made you decide to up and learn how to ride a bike?”

What a lovely consequence of Roy sharing a drop of the grief that’s burdened him since he was nine.

What an amazing ripple effect of Jamie Tartt staring down his own trauma and trying to be a nicer person despite it all.

That’s three people who might’ve learned how to ride a bike because of him.

[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.

[schreibfederlaerm]

i've seen a few posts now about how uncle's day might be a replacement for father's day for Phoebe (since her dad is 'a living piece of shit') and I absolutely love that idea

but also if it's actually happening on the same day as father's day. can you think of anyone else whose dad can also be described as a living piece of shit and who clearly didn't hesitate for a second to join uncle's day? almost as if he too was thrilled to have an excuse not to think about fathers that day? (someone whose not-best-friend talks about him a lot, maybe enough for his niece to have overheard that they both lack fathers worth celebrating? who might have gotten a glittery uncle's day invitation the next day?) yeah <3

[gnnosis]

[ ted lasso 3x10 / east of eden, john steinbeck ]

[hilsoncrater]

I am once again going to queer analyze the fuck out of Ted Lasso, specifically the scene with Trent and Ted in the hallway at the end of Season 3, Episode 7.

Trent swoops in as the door is closing behind Ted, calls out, “TED!”, and then he runs towards Ted, who is walking away from him. Ted turns, bewildered, because here is Trent -- cool, calm, awkward Trent -- completely out of his shell like never before. There’s a spark to Trent. He’s excited, he’s rambling, he’s so close to Ted. He’s vulnerable, too, because he is laying everything he’s thinking and feeling out in the open. (“It’s going to work!” “And I’ll tell you why -- The Lasso Way!” “You haven’t switched tactics in a week!”)

Chemistry goes both ways. It’s a feedback loop, in a sense, because Ted is taking in what Trent is giving. He turns fully to face Trent, even turning when Trent leaves; actively engages by asking questions (“Great! What is?” “Why?” “I haven’t?”); and the more this interaction goes on, the more Ted’s face goes from bewildered to fond. Is he humoring Trent by letting him ramble? Yeah, he is, because he finds it endearing.

The way it’s shot plays a massive role, too. We the audience know that Roy and Beard are there all along. However, we temporarily forget their presence because the camera is equally close on both Trent and Ted. And the intensity of Trent’s rambling distracts us. It’s not until their little conversation is over that the angle is zoomed out and we’re reminded they aren’t alone. It’s intentionally done like that as an insight onto how Ted feels. He’s tuned in on what Trent has to say, and everything else falls away to the background.

In a heavy rom-com episode, this is the love interest’s confesional to the main character.

Trent was sparking. So much so I’ve seen people say they expected the two to kiss. And that thought doesn’t just pop up out of nowhere. You don’t arrive to that conclusion baseless. Which means:

1) The simmering three-season-long groundwork put into their relationship is rock solid.

2) The romcom beats -- which have gotten more frequent -- are subconciously hitting the audience and therefore priming us to expect a follow through (re: a kiss)

3) Characters do not get that close unless it’s to kiss, fight, or scheme. Clearly they aren’t fighting or scheming, so what other expectation is there?

Now hold onto your hat, cowboy. This is where it gets fun.

This hallway scene is a direct parallel to Rebecca and Ted in the West Ham hallway. It’s at an away game; Rebecca and Trent are both potential love interests with an air of manic energy; and, again, it takes place in a hallway with the team in the locker room. 

Only this time, with Trent, everything is subverted. 

Ted walks to Rebecca vs Trent runs to Ted.

Rebecca touches Ted vs Trent doesn’t physically engage.

Ted being uncomfortable the entire interaction vs Ted leaning into the interaction.

Beard and Roy not being present vs Beard and Roy being there.

This subversion also applies to where Rebecca and Trent’s respective manic energy stem from. Their energy levels are foils of one another. 

Rebecca’s stems from negative external factors outside of Richmond (re: Rupert) and the fact the team is losing the match/things are not working.

Trent’s stems from positive internal factors within Richmond (re: belief in The Lasso Way) and the fact things are going to work despite the team losing the match.

Let’s get queer up in here and extrapolate those subversions to sexuality:

Ted slowly approaches heterosexuality (Rebecca), alone (without community) and is uncomfortable by the external pressures placed upon him, the way heterosexuality imposes its touch on him. He visibly looks/feels worse after the interaction.

vs

Queerness (Trent) running up behind Ted with a warning shout (hitting Ted when he doesn’t expect it) and while Ted is surrounded by others (with community). And at first Ted is confused by it, but as soon as he hears it out, gives it a chance, he grows fond of what it has to say. It does not impose its touch on him, and the pressure is an excited internal one. Ted visibly looks/feels better after the interaction.

In Trent’s words, it’s going to work.