Honestly this was my favorite episode yet. All the richmond folks reached a tipping point of emotional growth, setting up a payoff for the slow burn that we've seen from the cast for the entire series. Roy is angry, but has learned to communicate and share his emotions. Jamie has turned from an irredeemable bellend to a genuinely sweet guy. Rebecca is losing her bitterness and dead-set focus on Rupert - learning to focus on the small wonderful encounters and joys in life. Colin has begun his journey with "I'm a strong and capable man," but only now is starting to realize that the mantra he's repeating isn't mutually exclusive with his sexuality - he can be strong, capable, and gay. It's okay. There's no shame there. Ted has spent the entire series spiraling and rebounding about his divorce, and in this episode I finally feel like he's making strides to move forwards - to try something new. Phenomenal episode.
This is EXCELLENT to piggy back - Higgins wanted to tik something off his bucket list but ended up having the best night for him He took a chance and embraced his talent.
Completely agree. This episode is right up there with the Christmas ep for me. Jamie & Roy were painfully adorable together, and I sense that Rebecca’s storyline will wrap up beautifully. ❤️
In the first season during their game in Liverpool, Ted ask his team if they want a cinema night or pillow fight. As they chose cinema night, Ted tells them that one day they’re gonna chose pillow fight.
o m g. i'd totally forgotten about that line. 🤯 just proves how this writing team has left no stone unturned, and these folks're committed to seein the journey through.
Jason Sudeikis, Brendan Hunt, and their friend/producer Joe Kelly all lived in Amsterdam for a few years in their 20s doing comedy. This episode also felt like a love letter to a city that has obviously meant a lot to them.
Higgins and Will’s journey serve as a counter point to Jamie’s experience as a child. Higgins as father figure takes Will to become a man, taking him to the red light district for a jazz experience. Jamie’s dad took him to see a prostitute. Something about that makes me sad for Jamie, but also proud of him. He is clearly doing the work to overcome that upbringing.
I feel that this episode was about everyone getting a glimpse of what they need in life. It's just a single day/night on their holiday, but now that they know, they can pursue it in real life. -) Rebecca needs to let loose, allow herself to fall for someone (if you pardon the pun). -) Ted needs a purpose, an impact on the team so he sees that he is there for a reason (and not skipping on his boy's childhood for idle fancy). -) Roy needs a strong bond that survives all the ups and downs and needs to fight for it (it's like riding a bike, y'know). -) Jamie needs to be the happy good lad his mum always wanted him to be. (Side note: At the bridge, he is mimicing his dads movements and speech patterns right before the punch in "Man City") -) Colin needs to get that burden of a secret off his chest and come out to the whole team. -) The team needs a way to deal with their differences and issues in a manner that doesn't draw others down. Fight each other, but with soft weapons. -) Higgins needs to come out of his shell and realize how amazing he can be. Find confidence in his base (or at least bass). This episode was so warm, because everyone got what they needed. But none of it really lasted. Now they need to get what they need on a more permanent level.
Higgins’ story line is the theme of the episode. It may not move his story forward but it connects everyone else’s stories. The song he plays in the club is Let’s Get Lost. All of the characters do that in different ways.
Also the fact that he has a passion for jazz which is can be known as a random arrangement of instruments that blend together as one. Jazz is one of the most freeing styles of music which goes with the theme of freedom and openness that the show presents this episode. Their isn't a set path and each instrument plays off each other, even some going off in a tangent but still in sync with what is happening around them. The same with the new play strategy and Ted and Beard will try in the next episodes. Each player will be its own instrument and not follow a structure but instead a flow.
Totally agree. His storyline was truly wonderful and hit me like a ton of bricks. "One Pilgrim alone is a zealot, but two, that's a pilgrimage" This show talks so much about found family and here are two characters I think who are often the most removed from that dynamic, so there they were together celebrating that they're on each others teams, even when they ostensibly don't have anything in common, those little bonds you make when you're traveling is so meaningful even if it doesn't necessarily change things.
I agree well put. Also Chet Baker has personal significance for Higgins being someone who got him into jazz, and now he got to play at a place of significance for him personally. Also we don't know how many public performances he actually has under his belt and there is a rush you feel from performing in public.
I think what you're missing about the episode is that it's all about confronting inner conflict. This is where I think Colin's heartbreaking speech touches on all the other stories, because all the characters stand at a crossroads between two conflicting lives, unable to see a way to resolve the conflict. But in typical Ted Lasso fashion, the show wants us to believe that we can find a way to resolve those conflicts without losing essential parts of ourselves. All the characters find a missing piece in their adventure. Ted learns freedom of movement, instead of feeling he has to pick a spot and stay there. Roy learns to be a beginner again, something I think all middle-aged men have to learn. Rebecca learns to look toward the future rather than the past. And Colin puts the life he really wants into words, probably for the first time ever. Even the rest of the Richmond team needed to learn to make their conflicts into something fun they share, instead of something that divides and paralyzes them. Regarding Colin, I didn't actually know that there are no out gay players in premier league football, but that is truly heartbreaking. And it makes me even more proud of this show that it seems to be trying to open a door to the first real life player coming out. I truly hope it helps.
I *loved* this episode. One of my criticisms of how short tv seasons have gotten lately is that you don’t ever get any more episodes to just breathe and exist with the characters. I think it just makes us care about the characters more. I’m more invested, now that I know more about them
I think the episode was about letting go of preconceived narratives and trusting others-- letting go of your "position" and trusting your teammates to fill in the gaps. Rebecca lets go of her position as Rupert's ex; Roy and Jamie continue to learn to trust each other; Ted is beginning to learn to let go of the idea that leaving Richmond would mean failure. I think what he sees in the sunflowers is the temporality of life and beauty, that it's fleeting and what's important is the relationships and the home that you build. I think he's going to have to follow that path through the end of the season and maybe even learn that it's okay to quit sometimes, knowing that someone will be there to fill in the gap when he goes
I didn't think of it that way, thank you so much for sharing this as it has added another layer to what I already thought was a brilliant episode, great insight!!
Great comment, and you really hit something there for me when you said Ted will realise it’s ok to quit sometimes once he knows there will be someone there to fill the gaps behind him.
Roy is "teaching" him something by staying in his life. And by opening up and showing growth in front of him. It's, to me, a pretty bad ass realistic take on a good peer mentor type relationship.
Oh yeah, it's not to say it's without value. It's more the side of me that knows what mentoring in football is really like and want to see them practicing with the ball, or him explaining movements and shape and tactics or something. The whole original point was for Jamie to become better than Zava, you don't become better just by running more. Especially now EP.7 is about, I think they missed a trick not having Roy teach Jamie some of the fundamental of his new playmaker role
Loved this episode. Growing isn’t always moving forward. Sometimes you need to take the time to stop & reflect. Loved that in this episode Colin, Rebecca, and Ted see reflections of themselves in others with similar struggles. Colin & Rebecca were also able to see someone that moved beyond what they are struggling with, and are now living for themselves. I love character episodes. Great vid, as usual. I really love your channel
I think Higgins' subplot just serves to further cement the major theme of the episode explored by Ted (which I think you did a great job explaining). Higgins and Will aren't at a club just to appreciate the art and beauty of music in general, Higgins goes to a club specifically for jazz, an art form defined by freedom and improvisation. Higgins' love for jazz was already established as a character trait back in the first season, but in an episode about being fluid and free, I think that jazz as a through line (Higgins performance even kicks off and scores the montage of the episode) makes a lot of sense. (Update: "Jazz" is actually one of the terms used by Coach Beard when describing Total Football in the following episode)
I also love Higgins and Will’s dynamic in general, I think it ties nicely into the season-they both don’t expect much of the night, but they end up having a great time
I’d like to theorize some things for the ending based on this episode - Richmond will play West Ham with their Total Football style and beat them. This is the hammer blow that shatters both the team and Nate. Nate tries to rally them but the damage is done and Rupert rejects him. However, Richmond then fails to win the League. Probably in a heart breaking loss as the limits of their new strategy and tactics are revealed. The Team though, the team survives it. They have the resiliency to accept the loss as part of the game and look forward to next season as the Contenders they are. Rebecca looks at the situation and decides to step away. She’s had her vengeance and she’s found other things that interest her. So she promotes Higgins, the one person in this whole show who started without any baggage and is finishing without any. Higgins is just a well put together manager and person. Ted leaves Richmond to return home, leaving Beard behind as Beard is where he belongs. However, his final act is to introduce Richmond’s new coach - Nate. The prodigal son returns, understanding the lessons of his mentor and taking the helm of a team that is whole and ready only requiring a true tactical genius to elevate them to the top.
The episode was brilliant, the theme is traumas, being rigid, and cutting the anchors which keeps You in place, all Richmond folks needed to get out of their own backyard, Ted is tormented with family issues (same as Van gogh) and he needed to be proper football coach (even if he reinvented total football), Rebecca needed to forget Rupert, and be cut from business side of richmond (hence loosing the phone), Roy needed to punch Zava, learn to ride a bike and deal with childhood trauma, Jamie needed a surogate dad in Roy and is showing he is forgetting about his abusive father, Colin needed to talk to someone and stop worrying (also he wil come out and it will be a team building moment, potentially with captain punching someone), Leslie needed to stop playing in the shadows, share his love of music and get on stage, and Will needed a threesome, also "dont tell Jan" and "piggy stardust, rashers to rashers oink to oink" is pure comedy gold on its own
IMHO, this episode - 'Sunflowers' - is likely the greatest (and most important) of the entire series... simply... this episode is THE TURN... and from this point, win or lose... everything (and everyone, whether with bounty or bruises)... "everything's gonna be alright, now" Damn... I love this show.
From a story arc perspective it’s the last chance to really just get to hang out with the characters, before the momentum builds towards the end of the season and perhaps/ likely series finale, and while there were all kinds of small brilliant illuminations for each of the characters that were satisfying from a story perspective, I really loved getting to hang out with them all for a bit and celebrate how far they’ve come already, the way one would with a friend, without their challenges looming large. I loved the intimacy of the two person scenes, and Ted facing his loneliness and homesickness, and the comedy of the team’s relatable struggle. The tulips! 😂 The pillow-fight was so satisfying, and the very subtle Wizard of Oz “no place like home” energy of the team choosing themselves as their own entertainment in the end.
Great analysis! I want to add one hidden theme that stood out to me! The courage to do silly things! That courage leads to freedom and as you said freedom leads to beauty! The courage lead the team to chose pillow fight-which was a reference to the first hotel night and something they despised doing! The courage lead Ted to drink the tea, and going to a low-rated restaurant. The courage to find a windmill lead Jaime to be a mentor to his mentor, and the courage to learning how to ride a bike lead to Roy both honouring his Grandpa and forming a beautiful connection with Jamie; something that he never thought was possible! The courage of going to Red light district lead Higgins to play that beautifully and Lead the boy to explore a pleasure with a couple that were capturing his attention all night!
@@leah_gg1 Yes! Great point! Especially since Rebecca only opens up to the circle of people she already knows and trusts! Hence her struggles when Keeley or Sassy are not around!
I think what we've really learned in this episode is, much like the best episode of Doctor Who, when we need to find meaning in our lives, just go to the Van Gogh Museum and talk with an art docent specializing in the painter. All will be revealed.
I've always wondered if they do just come up to random people in galleries or museums and spout wisdom. It makes me want to stand alone in front of paintings for hours, waiting 😂
I don’t think it was inconsequential at all actually. It was absolutely beautiful. Rebecca let go and found peace. Ted finally found the drive to try the tactical side instead of “just” the mental side. We learn more about Jamie and how crushing his dad was to his growth. We learn so much more about so many of the characters. Colin, Higgins, Trent, Roy. All had character development. Was so wonderful.
I think it kind of was in the sense it's not a plot-driven episode but a character one. Those kind of episodes always have people either loving or hating them. I lean more on the loving side although, when you do consider the runtime, I can see why for so little to develop plotwise in over an hour, I can see the argument for it being inconsequential even if I like it for what it is
@@mylittlethoughttree "Those kind of episodes always have people either loving or hating them." relatively speaking, this episode probably has the fewest haters compared to any other episode in the season. this "people either love or hate this episode" is almost definitely a contrived talking point to make content out of. unless you can actually verify that it legitimately was a divisive "love or hate" episode relative to others, then a lot of this video is just based on a false pretext.
This is the halfway point of the season. Trust me, when the whole season is done, this one will make sense. The only people who hate it, I feel, are those who don’t grasp the idea of an overall arc and require some sort of defined movement in every episode. When it’s all done, this one will be the transition episode, the one that sets up the resolutions for all the different storylines.
For Higgins there was a growth - he would have sat hidden at a back table. Thanks to Will, not only was he seen, but he was encouraged to get up on stage and play in front of others. (When the singer asked if he played bass, Will had to answer for him.) For Will I think it was more the traditional and generic "young man is introduced to new things," but I may have missed something more specific.
I wish this episode had come earlier honestly, its so lovely and reminds the viewer what makes the show special. I hope they continue this energy because it's been missing earlier on in the season.
I took Rebecca's meaning as her way of finding a family. The mysterious guy has a little girl and Rebecca goes into her room briefly. So this is how Rebecca will be a mother. At least this is how I'm taking it.
I hope that is what happens too. I was put off by the man telling her no they didn’t do IT, but then after she left said yes she did. To me that implies women can have sex and not remember doing it?!?! I hope there is a different meaning to what he said than that scenario.
@@donnaw6180 Anybody, male or female, can have sex and not remember it if they were blackout drunk at the time. Rebecca didn't seem blackout drunk during the episode, but I think that was the implication. She doesn't remember the last part of her evening--she just woke up there in the morning.
Great work with the Ted Lasso videos. I really liked this episode. Yes, some plotlines had more advancement than others, but that's normal. Setting it in Amsterdam was perfect, and the whole Total Football connection was a great development, and perfect metaphor for the team's off-field issues.
Yes! Also I thought part of the message was about letting go. In the sense of looking at things from a different angle, finding a way out of a situation or bad thought patterns or something around those lines
Love your videos. Sorry this one wasn’t your cup of tea. But this episode was a revelation for me. It was full of genuine emotion and self discovery. It felt real and unexpected, happy, sad, and full of life… all of the things that made me fall in love with the show. It also felt like Ted finally got unstuck, Rebecca, too. Maybe they all did. I think that was the heart of it, stepping away in order to move forward with purpose.
One of the things I like from this episode is that while Ted wasn't the first to think of that play strategy he thought of it in regards to his team, he created it by thinking in what kind of play his players would be good at. A communal kind of play in which ego has to take a step back and you have to collaborate and support each other so the team as a whole can win. And while he is doing all this thinking the team itself is going through the paces. They are trying to decide what to do with the free night, there are several ideas, and they could've split the team to go to different sites, but the captain want's the team to do something together (perfect captain for the strategy), and while there are people who wants to do other things they stay so they can come to a group activity, which they find in a perfect callback to season 1, and they do end up playing all together. Well, except for 2 teammates, but ironically Jamie is the one team member who has absolute belief in the team they are, and the other one is Colin, and Colin has a good reason to doubt how unconditionally his team truly is, which I think will be part of the story going forward.
We'd already seen it before, but amongst other a lot of great things, this episode really showed Jaimie as a truly likable person. Helping a guy seeing mills, or teaching him to ride a bike for the 1st time without any complaints. It was truly nice to see an overall happy guy all throughout the episode.
Completely agree!! This was the payback for sticking with Season 3 where some episodes appeared weaker, it built up to this which for me as well was the best episode of the entire show and really paid off the slow start of season 3.
Predicting Rebecca is pregnant. Loved the Kansas City barbecue sauce Easter egg too. And that windmill hunt was epic. The power of the placebo/nocebo effect and Ted's mind convincing him of his experience when it was a defective batch. There were so many great storylines in this episode but it all boiled down to shifting the energy, everyone did exactly what they needed to so they can turn the season back on track and give forth what's been holding them back.
The comment about the episode being not as tightly written is instructive. There is a certain beauty to messiness and that extends to stream-of-consciousness writing. This episode wasn't quite that, but I think the writers reveled in the looseness of the episode, making a subtle point about the overall theme of the episode. Freedom - the freedom to write an episode that doesn't take itself too seriously and color outside the lines a bit.
As you mention that's an episode where they deal with the things that get them stuck. For Rebecca, she has to lose her phone to be able to let go of her status, responsibilities and grudges toward others, her past (it's only the man mentioning his past), and meet an adult person who dealt with the sorrow of, and matured beyond, a painful break-up. The fast that she finds "Three Little Birds" depressing at the beginning of the episode and starts the team to sing it by the end of the episode shows this evolution. For Roy, the story with his grandfather comes back quite a bit through the episodes. The fact that he is learning to bicycle through Jamie, his best nemesis for who he was a sort of big brother figure so far, allows him to not wrestle with his past all the time. For Young Will, I think it's fun that while Rebecca could have had an intimate relationship with this Dutch man, that the team was fighting over where to go and see or have intimate relationships...he is the one who leaves Amsterdam on a threesome.
Thank you for your comments on football, art, movement, and beauty. I’d never thought it about it that way before, and I’m a dancer. Thank you for opening my mind on this subject 🌻
Except for Keeley (who made her turn at the end of last episode), the 5-0 loss at the beginning of the episode was the low point in their combined journeys. For most everyone, this episode was their respective turn upwards in their heroic journey. The manifestation of the turn is different for everyone. I am most happy to see Ted do some real coaching. He cannot respect himself, or get real respect from others, if he is just a cheerleader. When I coached my children (in competive youth soccer), I taught them to play a 3-5-2 formation with the idea they would play "total team soccer" where they where encouraged to "tri-the-angle" to move the ball around the other team. (I studied Cruyff's influence on Dutch soccer tactics.) I can say from experience that it is the most joyous way to play!!!! I am impressed the writers nailed this bit of soccer lore. And the refernce to the Chicago Bulls triangle offense is perfect. One of my star players (Jimmy) also played competitive Basketball, and we marvelled at how his ability to :pass and then move" to the open space translated from Basketball to Soccer/Football.
Rebecca is so heavily defined by her job, her public persona, and her connection to Rupert and Richmond, that it's a great way to reveal her character when those roles and expectations can be dropped for a little while
I love you insights !! I thought it was best episode of the whole show, its a metaphor for going on a spiritual , emotional trip and being reborn on the other side Leaving your past baggage and troubles behind you. . . in a canal. They are all Refreshed, stronger, wiser and more focused, to eventually beat Rupert's arse!!! GO RICHARDMOND ! Rebeca and Dutch man with no name, are perfect for each other! Their souls 'harmonise' at this moment in time perfect yin/yang dancing and making love through out the encounter. I liked the Higgins story too thinks there a lot there. Also technically the writing, acting , the edits, the music the settings all the balance between comedy, pathos, drama. Rebeca's response to the song at the beginning and then the call back at the end. All breath taking work.. xx
Oh and BTW Thought Tree Dude - What you might have missed in this episode that made it so great was that every character and the team for once got what they wanted or needed and there was no cost. It was like those rare moments in life where the "flow" happens to you and the universe conspires to deliver, without effort, what you need. Most of us have experienced it at least once or twice in life. In this episode, everyone experienced it on some level. That's true beauty.
I think I'm just constantly baffled by what's happening in each storyline & how it doesn't really make sense, but something clicked in Ted's "getting high" sequence. I just give into the mood of it all and like my own experience of travelling alone in a foreign country; a little lost, but always fascinated. The ending sing "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" was a back to reality moment, where you feel hopeful that something can change, that you could change. That's what this episode feels like. I'm surprised that many people find this to be the best of the season, but I did too!
I like your take on freedom - I think that this episode is exactly that - all characters finding freedom from things that weigh on them. I don’t know if Ted will go back to Kansas or stay by the end of the season. He asks Sassy out; he manages his panic attack once he realises that his son can take care of himself, and he tells his exwife that he loves their family, even though it is a crazy one. In this episode, freedom comes to him the moment he realises he is not in Kansas but he can borrow things from home to create new things. At the last scene, he is scribbling tactical formations at the back of the bus - he is coaching 100% for thr first time in 3 seasons. Rebecca frees herself from the ropes and tropes of her regular life, and finds a chance at love outside of her bubble and the manager role she inherited with the divorce. Colin and Trent are able to share secrets and find freedom through commonground and become “accomplices”. Roy and Jamie deepen their friendship by freeing themselves of inner demons (grandpa and jamies sexually abused as a child). Will, Higgins and Keeley are free from their roles and enjoy experiences that take their development towards more dimensions. Finally, the team is able to find freedom through mutual concessions. They get unstuck and find something to do that all enjoy - the pillowfight.
I do think that everyone in this episode was somehow connecting to their home, or inner child, or childhood. Everyone went to Amsterdam to find themselves: 1) the team: Ted predicted in season 1 ep 7, that they will one day choose a pillow fight over movie night, and they did. they fullfilled his prophecy from season 1 and acted more childish than just watching Iron Giant. 2) Jamie and Roy: both of them revealed childhood memories to each other, connected to beloved parental figures. (Jamie's loss of virginity is also portrayed as sthg negative here bcs of the way it happened and he's repressing that memory,claims he doesn't remember, while all the memories about his mom and Amsterdam are clear.) 3) Ted goes back to a version of his home town, has his childhooh BBQ sauce and moves on professionally to Total Football while somewhat reconnecting with good memories of his childhood 4) Beard travels to some version of 1970s or 1980s, clearly 5) Rebecca goes back to a time when she wasn't rich, or famous, only a beautiful woman being treated well by a guy she randomly met on a vacation 6) Higgins goes to enjoy his passion of playing the bass, something that he does alone and only in his free time, and Will gets to enjoy or maybe even expIore his s uaI Iife after his breakup which he mentioned in ep 2 ..7) Colin gets to be who he really is.
Use the code TREE for 40% off World Anvil with the link worldanvil.com/?c=mltt Or else try it out for free!! What do you think about Rebecca's psychic predictions as a plot point? With her upside down in water this episode, plus the earlier signs, it seems like it's coming true. I never like using psychics as a plot point though. Without some twist, it'd be a little bit of a cliché
Based on her story in this episode, I predict (using my amazing psychic powers) that Rebecca will either find out she actually did have sex with him and is now miraculously pregnant, or that he'll eventually show up in England with his boat or something and they'll be together with his daughter now becoming Rebecca's step daughter. I hope that him saying "yes, we did" doesn't mean they actually had sex but rather that they had a real moment or fell in love or something, because otherwise it makes him kind of a jerk for lying to her and also pretty inconsistent with his character. Either way, it will confirm that the psychic was right and personally I really don't like that. Call it a pet peeve, but it really bugs me when shows that are more or less grounded in reality suddenly introduce supernatural elements and particularly psychics. If the whole premise revolves around a psychic that's fine, but once you introduce a psychic into a show that takes place in the real world (as much as you can say that about Ted Lasso, in many ways, it's sort of a fantasy, but still), you legitimize psychics, and that bugs me. These people are frauds and scammers, and having a skeptic like Rebecca discover that actually she might have been wrong about this, really rubs me the wrong way. I do believe it can have real-life repercussions. There was a similar plotline on Broadchurch that was particularly egregious. Even insinuating that a psychic is "usually" a scammer but suddenly they get a "flash of the real thing" is just as harmful.
@@leah_gg1 yeah, that really doesn't fit with the show's overall message of positive masculinity, which is why that line felt so odd. So I'm guessing they're going to go with the nicer, cornier explanation. It still confirms the psychic was right, but at least Rebecca will get to be happy.
For me this episode represented catharsis. Each group is confronted in some way and by the end of the episode they are released. Colin’s journey into bringing his two lives together has begun. The door of the closet has opened only slightly it is true, but he still got to speak his true feelings to someone in his work environment for the first time. Roy’s repressed emotions turn into anger towards Jamie, but Jamie shows patience and kindness while simultaneously challenging him with learning to ride a bike, allowing Roy to be vulnerable. The team has not been cohesive since Zava breezed in and out of their lives. They have an epic pillow fight and the next day on the bus they are happy and unified. To play total football, every player has to have each other’s back. Post pillow-fight, I feel they are capable of Ted’s plan. Higgins wants to be surrounded by jazz, but from the sidelines. Will puts him close to the stage then gets Higgins on stage to play because everyone sees how much he loves the music. Ted has gone all season feeling untethered. He thought he needed to do something different when what he needed was to go back to his roots. I love how the BBQ sauce is equivalent to a psychedelic drug for Ted! And finally Rebecca, who has the craziest adventure of all. For me, the dress says it all. Rebecca always looks like she was put together by a stylist, even when casually dressed. By contrast, this dress is a frilly, loose fitting, pink print dress. Her usual clothing is so constrained, so much like her life with Rupert. This dress symbolizes new possibilities. The whole episode felt like a turning point for all the characters. I look forward for the episodes to come!
I saw this episode as an opportunity for all of the characters to refocus and reevaluate what they want and an invitation for the audience to go deeper in the connections of them. Higgins and Wills story dont change their characters but its a parallel to what Jamie shares about his father, showing the difference between those relationships. Rebeccas and Colins both show interactions of anonymity with Rebecca benefiting from the distance and Colin finally being able to close some distance by combining his two lives through coming out to someone from work. Issacs speech about the team’s struggles to make a decision allows them to refocus by going back to something ted suggested in the first season, and that reminder even for something as trivial as a pillow fight is impactful.
I think you're pretty on point with your observations. My personal take away from this episode was how focus was moved from being very result orientered (winning, money, having to fire somebody to achieve) to being about the process and finding beauty in the things around the results. Obviously a sports club need to win to sustain itself and be quote unquote successful, but if you play football or basketball or indeed any sport merely to achieve that result, you'll be chasing the ghosts of your ambition all your life. The love of the sport is perhaps a bit too on the nose, but in this episode it felt like we saw Rebecca move on. From Rupert and the trouble of the club to something personal to her. We saw the team find joy in each other as players without Zava, Jamie and Roy find pleasure in friendship and nostalgia (for better and for worse), Colin in a better understanding of his motivations and wants in life and finally Ted. Ted started the episode saying the sport drove him mad, and we were kind of led to believe he felt he didn't really get it. At the end of the episode, it felt like he did get it. Or at least started a journey towards enlightenment. Whether the tea had an effect on him, or he achieved a near delirious state merely through nostalgia of his own, it felt like his understanding of the inner mechanics of the sport was enhanced.
For me, this was the best episode of any of the seasons. The beauty on display for all the characters was unmistakable. I am constantly amazed by the writing on this show and this episode was the ultimate kicker. Well done and I'm going to be very sad when this show concludes unlike say Succession which honestly I'm happy I never have to see those characters ever again.
Seemed to me like each character had an experience that may be looked back on as the moment they got over some kind of hump they were struggling to get over.
It’s this seasons version of after the city game in season 2 … it a breather episode resolving there issues and in some cases just spending time with them all without significant conflict … it’s the sessions turning point ted “creates” total football Jamie and Roy continue to bond with the play off coming probably this week… Collin and Trent opening up … then the teams struggles to decide what to do like they are on the pitch it’s a solid episode overall
Loved, LOVED this episode! I won’t touch on points you yourself have brought forward or what others have done so eloquently and brilliantly in the comments section but what I will say is I was overjoyed that there was a small spotlight on the music of Chet Baker who in my mind is a highly underrated jazz musician….I found him on a random night when I was still in my 20s, still fresh out of the Army and still trying to find myself…I was with friends, one of whom was proudly out as being gay and was actively trying to get me out of my shell….he knew that deep down inside, part of my search for who I was came with the acceptance of my own sexuality, which is being bisexual….in a small moment from a night of many small moments, while we were driving around town he put on Chet Baker more specifically he put on the song featured in this episode “Let’s Get Lost”….I didn’t realize at the time the underlying message he was trying to convey to me, which was to find joy and a measure of peace in getting lost…lost in our perspective identities, lost in the moments that truly matter, and most importantly get lost with the people that matter, if even for only such a small moment in time….the impact of that night on my life is unquantifiable and it came flooding back to me hearing the song in the episode used in the montage of moments for all the characters of the show….my fiancee was even taken aback by the joy evident on my face while also shedding tears of happiness in remembrance of what that song and that artist mean to me…truly, I (if only for a moment) got lost and it reignited joy that I had long left dormant…I am going to be shattered and gutted when this show ends 🥰🥰😭😭😢😢👏👏
I thought this episode was incredibly consequential and important. It went deeper than most episodes and brought everyone together at the end -- which I think is really the point. 🌞♥️👍
The theme of the episode seemed to be all about reaching a point where you are willing to start over, try something new and rethink your previous beliefs and be open to possibilities again. Rebirth.
Someone commented that in this episode "Will got to have s_ x before Nate." I think that's incorrect bcs Will mentioned he had a girlfriend in season 2, and also bcs even if Nate was a virgin, which I doubt he is, it would hardly be fair to the show to assume that 'getting some' before someone else is some kind of victory. But i think it's an interesting subversion, kind of, that Higgins only wanted to pursue his artistic passion and hobby, while it was Will, as the only character in this episode, who got to enjoy Amsterdam for that one specific cliche.
The "not knowing who you are"-storyline fits the location (Netherlands) perfectly, because Dutch people are very "down to earth" so they don't care who you are or what you do.
I’ve read through many of these comments and not one person commented on the funniest scene this season with Roy learning how to ride a bike😂.. it’s up there with Phoebe’s bad breath
There’s no patience for story telling anymore. Not EVERY episode has to be profoundly action packed and rocket the story forward. Slow burns are good. It makes you want to feel that catharsis.
Rebecca was set FREE by her encounter. ultimately, it doesn't matter whether she ever sees this guy again or not. she knows that there is the possibility of someone, and that's going to allow her to get out of her head. never to be forgotten is that Brandon hunt is a burning man guy, and yes, sport is ephemeral, but part of the burner ethos is being present and enjoying the ride, No matter how imperfectly most burners recognize and realize it
This was a more ''mid'' episode for me, but a Ted Lasso ''mid'' episode is still Ted Lasso so i still had a huge smile by the end of it. I do wish Jamie's training would pay off already. And I don't think Colin needs to become a spokesperson if he does come out, I don't think that should be his cross to bear if he doesn't want it. Also, because I know you answer comments, are you a football fan?
I mean looking back on the seasons of Ted Lasso, whenever Ted let his guys do their thing they succeeded. For example letting Jamie be a prick sometimes, or coming up with trick plays. I feel like mixing the freedom that Ted wants and total football nothing can really stop them. When someone is having fun in sports, I think nothing can get them down. Anyways, I hope AFCR wins the whole f***ing thing!!
It broke my heart when Colin said to Trent "I don't want to be a spokesperson." Especially since coming out to the public, he'd pretty much have no choice BUT to be a spokesperson for LGBT people in professional sport. He has little choice but to continue living his two lives if he doesn't want to become a representative of people who will see him as a role model. EDIT: I wrote this before watching the video and you said the same thing. LOL
I judge if an episode is good or not for me, by if I have a reason to stay for the entirety of the credits, this time I noticed God as being credited to be on the staff of the show, so yeah.
I doubt no one hates this episode and there was plenty happening. Anyone who does think the episode was slow questions if they actually understand the series
You may be imagining criticism of the episode because it's tied for the highest rated episode to date of the entire series with episode 10 of season 1on IMDB. Over 6 thousand votes coming from at least 5 different countries, is a pretty good measure of how the average person probably feels about it.
I think you nailed it on the head (although I loved the episode). I feel it was literally they needed to stop thinking too much and being broken again allowed them to break away from old ideas. The episode was meant to feel a little disjointed, as the bit that matter was Ted getting his groove back, the rest was just to distract us into how disjointed the team had been, and the team included everyone, not just the players and managers. Ted hasn’t been focused on the game, and the the players were manifesting that. Now he’s fully in, the players and everyone else will get their groove back
I think this episode was about healing. Moments of healing for both the characters and the audience, and I loved it. This is not a criticism in any way, just an observation from a layperson. I wonder if part of the reason you seemed to like Episode 5 more was because, as you so eloquently educated us in the previous video, Episode 5 was about breakthroughs that many of the characters had. Episode 6 seemed to be more about those characters also finding opportunities to heal from their issues/traumas. I wonder if, for a clinician, are breakthrough moments maybe more interesting to you than healing moments? I'm just making wild assumptions here about what you may or may not like based on your profession, so I'm probably way off base, but I found it fascinating that my wife and I loved this episode because it felt so healing, and yet it did not seem to resonate with you as much. You talked wonderfully about breakthroughs for Episode 5, but I wonder, from a clinical perspective, what role does healing play in the growth process? Do you need both healing and breakthroughs to grow? Thanks for your great content.
I'm sorry, I know this was a well-thought and insightful discussion of the episode, but I was distracted (in a good way!) by your sponsorship bit near the beginning. I reminded me of a Linus Tech Tips "Segue to our spensor". You still sound nervous before every sponsorship, but you sound at least a little less nervous than you used to be. Keep promoting the hell out of World Anvil, I (for one) am glad they're helping you keep this channel going.
Yeah, I do always feel slightly shy about it. I know it causes some people to click off, based on the analytics but I really like World Anvil and doing a sponsor I'm passionate about helps alot
She walks into a little girls bedroom in the houseboat. My theory is she will end up with him and have a stepchild
Рік тому
@@TheAnnabanana5000 I was intrigued by the last words exchanged by Rebecca and the dutch guy. She asked "did we...?" to which he said "No". Although in the end when she leaves, he says it to himself that they did. I wonder if he means connection or sex? But your theory seems way more likely. :)
I did really like the episode but my one negative is kinda personal I guess. Episodes 5 Believe speech was so impactful especially to me and where I happen to be in life it just came at the perfect moment. I would’ve thought that speech would have the team in a better place but then the episode starts with them getting whooped by Amsterdam. Idk just a nitpick.
This episode was crap the fact Rebecca falls in the water then jumps into the shower of a complete stranger…lasso has lost its shine ah well it was great for 2 seasons
The show has entered a rut for me for a while now. It's not so much that nothing happens or that it's obscure but that what happens or the payoffs are unsubstantial and trite. Beard is a druggie with a consequence free, mysterious double life. They've done that already. Rebecca will get serendipitously pregnant from a chance encounter, fulfilling the fortune teller's story beat, I would have liked this if the mystery man wasn't such a caricature _and_ they would have hinted to the long term implications instead of making Sam sound like a monk in his few lines. The whole subplot of the Crimm and Colin being gay was beyond absurd, like attempting to pretend that it's the 90's and coming out is a hardship for public people, most likely it was just the writers trying to insert the bit about Crimm revealing he had a previous family.
I wouldn't say it's absurd about Collin. This isn't the 90s, no but it can still be really, really difficult. Everyone's experiences and situations are different and, as I stressed. No premier league footballer has EVER come out as gay...which I think suggests there is still some pressure against it in the world of professional football
Also Rebecca and the mystery man had a romantic encounter, but not a sexual one. She’s not gonna get pregnant from him. He was there to show her what a life could look like, the taste of romance with a family. Now she knows how it feels and knows she can have it, she can stop defining herself by her past with Rupert and allow herself to have the future she wants but never allowed herself to believe in.
@@heybudgreatname They got drunk and there's a reaction shot of the guy as Rebecca is leaving that implies that they did have sex. It wasn't even subtle. In the first season, her arc was moving past vengefulness onto forgiveness, the second about moving on at her age with no family and I guess the show is supposed to end with her having a family of her own. It feels like her arc is finishing but the "story" of the show isn't. If she rejected some of her millionaire peers, then Sam but the resolution to her arc is a drunk hook up? It's just sloppy. I think a lot of it has to do with how the guy is portrayed, there are some clever details but it's overall too cliche: old but not too old, divorced with a daughter around the age she stopped seeing sassy's daughter, the ex is sophisticated enough to have a dress (in the same size) as Rebecca but not enough to like it as much as her, etc. The weirdest thing is how often they pushed the trait that he was a foot fetishist, I don't get that. It doesn't seem to convey much information about the guy for the amount of time it was mentioned on screen.
@@mylittlethoughttree It's a truism that pro athletes put it in anything that moves. The second most celebrated footballer in the world right now is "dating" a trans model
Honestly this was my favorite episode yet. All the richmond folks reached a tipping point of emotional growth, setting up a payoff for the slow burn that we've seen from the cast for the entire series. Roy is angry, but has learned to communicate and share his emotions. Jamie has turned from an irredeemable bellend to a genuinely sweet guy. Rebecca is losing her bitterness and dead-set focus on Rupert - learning to focus on the small wonderful encounters and joys in life. Colin has begun his journey with "I'm a strong and capable man," but only now is starting to realize that the mantra he's repeating isn't mutually exclusive with his sexuality - he can be strong, capable, and gay. It's okay. There's no shame there. Ted has spent the entire series spiraling and rebounding about his divorce, and in this episode I finally feel like he's making strides to move forwards - to try something new. Phenomenal episode.
yes! yea! yes!
This is EXCELLENT
to piggy back - Higgins wanted to tik something off his bucket list but ended up having the best night for him
He took a chance and embraced his talent.
Completely agree. This episode is right up there with the Christmas ep for me. Jamie & Roy were painfully adorable together, and I sense that Rebecca’s storyline will wrap up beautifully. ❤️
Matt Boyer who is Rachael?
@@celinelia8127 I’m sure he meant Rebecca
In the first season during their game in Liverpool, Ted ask his team if they want a cinema night or pillow fight. As they chose cinema night, Ted tells them that one day they’re gonna chose pillow fight.
Oh damn, I forgot that, great spot!!
I didn’t remember that until rewatching that 1st season episode.
o m g. i'd totally forgotten about that line. 🤯 just proves how this writing team has left no stone unturned, and these folks're committed to seein the journey through.
@@Oxberger I know, I also only found out yesterday as I was rewatching the series.
When I saw the pillows, I smiled remembering that episode.
Jason Sudeikis, Brendan Hunt, and their friend/producer Joe Kelly all lived in Amsterdam for a few years in their 20s doing comedy. This episode also felt like a love letter to a city that has obviously meant a lot to them.
Higgins and Will’s journey serve as a counter point to Jamie’s experience as a child. Higgins as father figure takes Will to become a man, taking him to the red light district for a jazz experience. Jamie’s dad took him to see a prostitute. Something about that makes me sad for Jamie, but also proud of him. He is clearly doing the work to overcome that upbringing.
Oh my god, a brilliant point. I wish I'd noticed that parallel!
OMG. That was an effing brilliant point! *chef's kiss*
never considered that, i never enjoyed higgins and wills journey but this puts it into a whole new perspective that allows me to appreciate it.
I feel that this episode was about everyone getting a glimpse of what they need in life. It's just a single day/night on their holiday, but now that they know, they can pursue it in real life.
-) Rebecca needs to let loose, allow herself to fall for someone (if you pardon the pun).
-) Ted needs a purpose, an impact on the team so he sees that he is there for a reason (and not skipping on his boy's childhood for idle fancy).
-) Roy needs a strong bond that survives all the ups and downs and needs to fight for it (it's like riding a bike, y'know).
-) Jamie needs to be the happy good lad his mum always wanted him to be. (Side note: At the bridge, he is mimicing his dads movements and speech patterns right before the punch in "Man City")
-) Colin needs to get that burden of a secret off his chest and come out to the whole team.
-) The team needs a way to deal with their differences and issues in a manner that doesn't draw others down. Fight each other, but with soft weapons.
-) Higgins needs to come out of his shell and realize how amazing he can be. Find confidence in his base (or at least bass).
This episode was so warm, because everyone got what they needed. But none of it really lasted. Now they need to get what they need on a more permanent level.
Would you say this episode is ...gezellig?
Higgins’ story line is the theme of the episode. It may not move his story forward but it connects everyone else’s stories. The song he plays in the club is Let’s Get Lost. All of the characters do that in different ways.
Also the fact that he has a passion for jazz which is can be known as a random arrangement of instruments that blend together as one. Jazz is one of the most freeing styles of music which goes with the theme of freedom and openness that the show presents this episode. Their isn't a set path and each instrument plays off each other, even some going off in a tangent but still in sync with what is happening around them. The same with the new play strategy and Ted and Beard will try in the next episodes. Each player will be its own instrument and not follow a structure but instead a flow.
Totally agree. His storyline was truly wonderful and hit me like a ton of bricks. "One Pilgrim alone is a zealot, but two, that's a pilgrimage" This show talks so much about found family and here are two characters I think who are often the most removed from that dynamic, so there they were together celebrating that they're on each others teams, even when they ostensibly don't have anything in common, those little bonds you make when you're traveling is so meaningful even if it doesn't necessarily change things.
I agree well put. Also Chet Baker has personal significance for Higgins being someone who got him into jazz, and now he got to play at a place of significance for him personally. Also we don't know how many public performances he actually has under his belt and there is a rush you feel from performing in public.
I think what you're missing about the episode is that it's all about confronting inner conflict. This is where I think Colin's heartbreaking speech touches on all the other stories, because all the characters stand at a crossroads between two conflicting lives, unable to see a way to resolve the conflict. But in typical Ted Lasso fashion, the show wants us to believe that we can find a way to resolve those conflicts without losing essential parts of ourselves. All the characters find a missing piece in their adventure. Ted learns freedom of movement, instead of feeling he has to pick a spot and stay there. Roy learns to be a beginner again, something I think all middle-aged men have to learn. Rebecca learns to look toward the future rather than the past. And Colin puts the life he really wants into words, probably for the first time ever. Even the rest of the Richmond team needed to learn to make their conflicts into something fun they share, instead of something that divides and paralyzes them.
Regarding Colin, I didn't actually know that there are no out gay players in premier league football, but that is truly heartbreaking. And it makes me even more proud of this show that it seems to be trying to open a door to the first real life player coming out. I truly hope it helps.
I *loved* this episode. One of my criticisms of how short tv seasons have gotten lately is that you don’t ever get any more episodes to just breathe and exist with the characters. I think it just makes us care about the characters more. I’m more invested, now that I know more about them
I think the episode was about letting go of preconceived narratives and trusting others-- letting go of your "position" and trusting your teammates to fill in the gaps. Rebecca lets go of her position as Rupert's ex; Roy and Jamie continue to learn to trust each other; Ted is beginning to learn to let go of the idea that leaving Richmond would mean failure. I think what he sees in the sunflowers is the temporality of life and beauty, that it's fleeting and what's important is the relationships and the home that you build. I think he's going to have to follow that path through the end of the season and maybe even learn that it's okay to quit sometimes, knowing that someone will be there to fill in the gap when he goes
This is exactly it. I think it was great, and I really trust the writers.
I didn't think of it that way, thank you so much for sharing this as it has added another layer to what I already thought was a brilliant episode, great insight!!
Great comment, and you really hit something there for me when you said Ted will realise it’s ok to quit sometimes once he knows there will be someone there to fill the gaps behind him.
Best episode of the season so far, and easily in the Top Five of the entire run. A brilliantly written and acted episode.
The longest, funniest episode. I loved that everyone seemed happy at the end. It’s a lovely surprise.
Roy is "teaching" him something by staying in his life. And by opening up and showing growth in front of him. It's, to me, a pretty bad ass realistic take on a good peer mentor type relationship.
Oh yeah, it's not to say it's without value. It's more the side of me that knows what mentoring in football is really like and want to see them practicing with the ball, or him explaining movements and shape and tactics or something. The whole original point was for Jamie to become better than Zava, you don't become better just by running more. Especially now EP.7 is about, I think they missed a trick not having Roy teach Jamie some of the fundamental of his new playmaker role
Loved this episode. Growing isn’t always moving forward. Sometimes you need to take the time to stop & reflect. Loved that in this episode Colin, Rebecca, and Ted see reflections of themselves in others with similar struggles. Colin & Rebecca were also able to see someone that moved beyond what they are struggling with, and are now living for themselves. I love character episodes.
Great vid, as usual. I really love your channel
I think Higgins' subplot just serves to further cement the major theme of the episode explored by Ted (which I think you did a great job explaining). Higgins and Will aren't at a club just to appreciate the art and beauty of music in general, Higgins goes to a club specifically for jazz, an art form defined by freedom and improvisation. Higgins' love for jazz was already established as a character trait back in the first season, but in an episode about being fluid and free, I think that jazz as a through line (Higgins performance even kicks off and scores the montage of the episode) makes a lot of sense.
(Update: "Jazz" is actually one of the terms used by Coach Beard when describing Total Football in the following episode)
I also love Higgins and Will’s dynamic in general, I think it ties nicely into the season-they both don’t expect much of the night, but they end up having a great time
This episodes is one of my favourite feel good episodes of any tv show ive watched. So much joy it was beautiful.
I’d like to theorize some things for the ending based on this episode -
Richmond will play West Ham with their Total Football style and beat them. This is the hammer blow that shatters both the team and Nate. Nate tries to rally them but the damage is done and Rupert rejects him.
However, Richmond then fails to win the League. Probably in a heart breaking loss as the limits of their new strategy and tactics are revealed.
The Team though, the team survives it. They have the resiliency to accept the loss as part of the game and look forward to next season as the Contenders they are.
Rebecca looks at the situation and decides to step away. She’s had her vengeance and she’s found other things that interest her. So she promotes Higgins, the one person in this whole show who started without any baggage and is finishing without any. Higgins is just a well put together manager and person.
Ted leaves Richmond to return home, leaving Beard behind as Beard is where he belongs. However, his final act is to introduce Richmond’s new coach - Nate.
The prodigal son returns, understanding the lessons of his mentor and taking the helm of a team that is whole and ready only requiring a true tactical genius to elevate them to the top.
Total Football is to sports as Jazz is to music
Oooh perfect point!
The episode was brilliant, the theme is traumas, being rigid, and cutting the anchors which keeps You in place, all Richmond folks needed to get out of their own backyard, Ted is tormented with family issues (same as Van gogh) and he needed to be proper football coach (even if he reinvented total football), Rebecca needed to forget Rupert, and be cut from business side of richmond (hence loosing the phone), Roy needed to punch Zava, learn to ride a bike and deal with childhood trauma, Jamie needed a surogate dad in Roy and is showing he is forgetting about his abusive father, Colin needed to talk to someone and stop worrying (also he wil come out and it will be a team building moment, potentially with captain punching someone), Leslie needed to stop playing in the shadows, share his love of music and get on stage, and Will needed a threesome, also "dont tell Jan" and "piggy stardust, rashers to rashers oink to oink" is pure comedy gold on its own
IMHO, this episode - 'Sunflowers' - is likely the greatest (and most important) of the entire series... simply... this episode is THE TURN... and from this point, win or lose... everything (and everyone, whether with bounty or bruises)... "everything's gonna be alright, now"
Damn... I love this show.
From a story arc perspective it’s the last chance to really just get to hang out with the characters, before the momentum builds towards the end of the season and perhaps/ likely series finale, and while there were all kinds of small brilliant illuminations for each of the characters that were satisfying from a story perspective, I really loved getting to hang out with them all for a bit and celebrate how far they’ve come already, the way one would with a friend, without their challenges looming large. I loved the intimacy of the two person scenes, and Ted facing his loneliness and homesickness, and the comedy of the team’s relatable struggle. The tulips! 😂 The pillow-fight was so satisfying, and the very subtle Wizard of Oz “no place like home” energy of the team choosing themselves as their own entertainment in the end.
Great analysis! I want to add one hidden theme that stood out to me! The courage to do silly things!
That courage leads to freedom and as you said freedom leads to beauty! The courage lead the team to chose pillow fight-which was a reference to the first hotel night and something they despised doing! The courage lead Ted to drink the tea, and going to a low-rated restaurant. The courage to find a windmill lead Jaime to be a mentor to his mentor, and the courage to learning how to ride a bike lead to Roy both honouring his Grandpa and forming a beautiful connection with Jamie; something that he never thought was possible! The courage of going to Red light district lead Higgins to play that beautifully and Lead the boy to explore a pleasure with a couple that were capturing his attention all night!
@@leah_gg1 Yes! Great point! Especially since Rebecca only opens up to the circle of people she already knows and trusts! Hence her struggles when Keeley or Sassy are not around!
I think what we've really learned in this episode is, much like the best episode of Doctor Who, when we need to find meaning in our lives, just go to the Van Gogh Museum and talk with an art docent specializing in the painter. All will be revealed.
I've always wondered if they do just come up to random people in galleries or museums and spout wisdom. It makes me want to stand alone in front of paintings for hours, waiting 😂
@@mylittlethoughttree I wish! I’ve actually been to that museum, but no one gave me any life advice. I feel like I somehow missed out!
@@Gleem1313 you should leave a very forceful complaint 😂 what is art without the wisdom of a stranger to go alongside it?
@@mylittlethoughttree oh, no one can complain in that museum nor should they. If I had known it was a thing, I would have flagged down a docent tho.
Yes fantastic episode, I believe the final scene tips the hat to the famous bus scene on “Almost Famous”.
I don’t think it was inconsequential at all actually. It was absolutely beautiful. Rebecca let go and found peace. Ted finally found the drive to try the tactical side instead of “just” the mental side. We learn more about Jamie and how crushing his dad was to his growth. We learn so much more about so many of the characters. Colin, Higgins, Trent, Roy. All had character development. Was so wonderful.
I think it kind of was in the sense it's not a plot-driven episode but a character one. Those kind of episodes always have people either loving or hating them. I lean more on the loving side although, when you do consider the runtime, I can see why for so little to develop plotwise in over an hour, I can see the argument for it being inconsequential even if I like it for what it is
"Ted finally found the drive to try the tactical side instead of “just” the mental side." Very good point.
@@mylittlethoughttree "Those kind of episodes always have people either loving or hating them."
relatively speaking, this episode probably has the fewest haters compared to any other episode in the season. this "people either love or hate this episode" is almost definitely a contrived talking point to make content out of.
unless you can actually verify that it legitimately was a divisive "love or hate" episode relative to others, then a lot of this video is just based on a false pretext.
This is the halfway point of the season. Trust me, when the whole season is done, this one will make sense. The only people who hate it, I feel, are those who don’t grasp the idea of an overall arc and require some sort of defined movement in every episode. When it’s all done, this one will be the transition episode, the one that sets up the resolutions for all the different storylines.
Fully agree. I can understand why it might seem a bit pointless on an isolated viewing but it's 100% not
For Higgins there was a growth - he would have sat hidden at a back table. Thanks to Will, not only was he seen, but he was encouraged to get up on stage and play in front of others. (When the singer asked if he played bass, Will had to answer for him.) For Will I think it was more the traditional and generic "young man is introduced to new things," but I may have missed something more specific.
I wish this episode had come earlier honestly, its so lovely and reminds the viewer what makes the show special. I hope they continue this energy because it's been missing earlier on in the season.
I took Rebecca's meaning as her way of finding a family. The mysterious guy has a little girl and Rebecca goes into her room briefly. So this is how Rebecca will be a mother. At least this is how I'm taking it.
I hope that is what happens too. I was put off by the man telling her no they didn’t do IT, but then after she left said yes she did. To me that implies women can have sex and not remember doing it?!?! I hope there is a different meaning to what he said than that scenario.
@@donnaw6180 Anybody, male or female, can have sex and not remember it if they were blackout drunk at the time. Rebecca didn't seem blackout drunk during the episode, but I think that was the implication. She doesn't remember the last part of her evening--she just woke up there in the morning.
To me this episode was really about everyone getting out of their current headspace.
I saw it as a love note to Amsterdam.
Great work with the Ted Lasso videos. I really liked this episode. Yes, some plotlines had more advancement than others, but that's normal. Setting it in Amsterdam was perfect, and the whole Total Football connection was a great development, and perfect metaphor for the team's off-field issues.
Yes! Also I thought part of the message was about letting go. In the sense of looking at things from a different angle, finding a way out of a situation or bad thought patterns or something around those lines
Love your videos. Sorry this one wasn’t your cup of tea. But this episode was a revelation for me. It was full of genuine emotion and self discovery. It felt real and unexpected, happy, sad, and full of life… all of the things that made me fall in love with the show. It also felt like Ted finally got unstuck, Rebecca, too. Maybe they all did. I think that was the heart of it, stepping away in order to move forward with purpose.
Revelation is a perfect description.
One of the things I like from this episode is that while Ted wasn't the first to think of that play strategy he thought of it in regards to his team, he created it by thinking in what kind of play his players would be good at. A communal kind of play in which ego has to take a step back and you have to collaborate and support each other so the team as a whole can win.
And while he is doing all this thinking the team itself is going through the paces. They are trying to decide what to do with the free night, there are several ideas, and they could've split the team to go to different sites, but the captain want's the team to do something together (perfect captain for the strategy), and while there are people who wants to do other things they stay so they can come to a group activity, which they find in a perfect callback to season 1, and they do end up playing all together.
Well, except for 2 teammates, but ironically Jamie is the one team member who has absolute belief in the team they are, and the other one is Colin, and Colin has a good reason to doubt how unconditionally his team truly is, which I think will be part of the story going forward.
We'd already seen it before, but amongst other a lot of great things, this episode really showed Jaimie as a truly likable person. Helping a guy seeing mills, or teaching him to ride a bike for the 1st time without any complaints. It was truly nice to see an overall happy guy all throughout the episode.
Hands down their best episode of the show. Watch the awards flow
Completely agree!! This was the payback for sticking with Season 3 where some episodes appeared weaker, it built up to this which for me as well was the best episode of the entire show and really paid off the slow start of season 3.
Predicting Rebecca is pregnant. Loved the Kansas City barbecue sauce Easter egg too. And that windmill hunt was epic. The power of the placebo/nocebo effect and Ted's mind convincing him of his experience when it was a defective batch. There were so many great storylines in this episode but it all boiled down to shifting the energy, everyone did exactly what they needed to so they can turn the season back on track and give forth what's been holding them back.
The comment about the episode being not as tightly written is instructive. There is a certain beauty to messiness and that extends to stream-of-consciousness writing. This episode wasn't quite that, but I think the writers reveled in the looseness of the episode, making a subtle point about the overall theme of the episode. Freedom - the freedom to write an episode that doesn't take itself too seriously and color outside the lines a bit.
As you mention that's an episode where they deal with the things that get them stuck. For Rebecca, she has to lose her phone to be able to let go of her status, responsibilities and grudges toward others, her past (it's only the man mentioning his past), and meet an adult person who dealt with the sorrow of, and matured beyond, a painful break-up. The fast that she finds "Three Little Birds" depressing at the beginning of the episode and starts the team to sing it by the end of the episode shows this evolution.
For Roy, the story with his grandfather comes back quite a bit through the episodes. The fact that he is learning to bicycle through Jamie, his best nemesis for who he was a sort of big brother figure so far, allows him to not wrestle with his past all the time.
For Young Will, I think it's fun that while Rebecca could have had an intimate relationship with this Dutch man, that the team was fighting over where to go and see or have intimate relationships...he is the one who leaves Amsterdam on a threesome.
Thank you for your comments on football, art, movement, and beauty. I’d never thought it about it that way before, and I’m a dancer. Thank you for opening my mind on this subject 🌻
Except for Keeley (who made her turn at the end of last episode), the 5-0 loss at the beginning of the episode was the low point in their combined journeys. For most everyone, this episode was their respective turn upwards in their heroic journey. The manifestation of the turn is different for everyone. I am most happy to see Ted do some real coaching. He cannot respect himself, or get real respect from others, if he is just a cheerleader. When I coached my children (in competive youth soccer), I taught them to play a 3-5-2 formation with the idea they would play "total team soccer" where they where encouraged to "tri-the-angle" to move the ball around the other team. (I studied Cruyff's influence on Dutch soccer tactics.) I can say from experience that it is the most joyous way to play!!!! I am impressed the writers nailed this bit of soccer lore. And the refernce to the Chicago Bulls triangle offense is perfect. One of my star players (Jimmy) also played competitive Basketball, and we marvelled at how his ability to :pass and then move" to the open space translated from Basketball to Soccer/Football.
Rebecca is so heavily defined by her job, her public persona, and her connection to Rupert and Richmond, that it's a great way to reveal her character when those roles and expectations can be dropped for a little while
I love you insights !!
I thought it was best episode of the whole show, its a metaphor for going on a spiritual , emotional trip and being reborn on the other side Leaving your past baggage and troubles behind you. . . in a canal. They are all Refreshed, stronger, wiser and more focused, to eventually beat Rupert's arse!!! GO RICHARDMOND !
Rebeca and Dutch man with no name, are perfect for each other! Their souls 'harmonise' at this moment in time perfect yin/yang dancing and making love through out the encounter.
I liked the Higgins story too thinks there a lot there.
Also technically the writing, acting , the edits, the music the settings all the balance between comedy, pathos, drama. Rebeca's response to the song at the beginning and then the call back at the end. All breath taking work.. xx
Oh and BTW Thought Tree Dude - What you might have missed in this episode that made it so great was that every character and the team for once got what they wanted or needed and there was no cost. It was like those rare moments in life where the "flow" happens to you and the universe conspires to deliver, without effort, what you need. Most of us have experienced it at least once or twice in life. In this episode, everyone experienced it on some level. That's true beauty.
I think I'm just constantly baffled by what's happening in each storyline & how it doesn't really make sense, but something clicked in Ted's "getting high" sequence. I just give into the mood of it all and like my own experience of travelling alone in a foreign country; a little lost, but always fascinated. The ending sing "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" was a back to reality moment, where you feel hopeful that something can change, that you could change. That's what this episode feels like. I'm surprised that many people find this to be the best of the season, but I did too!
I like your take on freedom - I think that this episode is exactly that - all characters finding freedom from things that weigh on them.
I don’t know if Ted will go back to Kansas or stay by the end of the season. He asks Sassy out; he manages his panic attack once he realises that his son can take care of himself, and he tells his exwife that he loves their family, even though it is a crazy one.
In this episode, freedom comes to him the moment he realises he is not in Kansas but he can borrow things from home to create new things. At the last scene, he is scribbling tactical formations at the back of the bus - he is coaching 100% for thr first time in 3 seasons.
Rebecca frees herself from the ropes and tropes of her regular life, and finds a chance at love outside of her bubble and the manager role she inherited with the divorce.
Colin and Trent are able to share secrets and find freedom through commonground and become “accomplices”.
Roy and Jamie deepen their friendship by freeing themselves of inner demons (grandpa and jamies sexually abused as a child).
Will, Higgins and Keeley are free from their roles and enjoy experiences that take their development towards more dimensions.
Finally, the team is able to find freedom through mutual concessions. They get unstuck and find something to do that all enjoy - the pillowfight.
I do think that everyone in this episode was somehow connecting to their home,
or inner child, or childhood. Everyone went to Amsterdam to find themselves: 1) the team: Ted predicted in season 1 ep 7, that they will one day choose a pillow fight over movie night, and they did. they fullfilled his prophecy from season 1 and acted more childish than just watching Iron Giant. 2) Jamie
and Roy: both of them revealed childhood memories to each other, connected to beloved parental figures. (Jamie's loss of virginity is also portrayed as sthg negative here bcs of the way it happened and he's repressing that memory,claims he doesn't remember, while all the memories about his mom and Amsterdam are
clear.) 3) Ted
goes back to a version of his home town, has his childhooh BBQ sauce and moves on professionally to Total Football while somewhat reconnecting with good memories of his childhood 4) Beard travels to some version of 1970s or 1980s, clearly 5) Rebecca goes back to a time when she wasn't rich, or famous, only a beautiful woman being treated well by a guy she randomly met on a vacation 6) Higgins
goes to enjoy his passion of playing the bass, something that he does alone and only in his free time, and Will gets to enjoy or maybe even expIore his s uaI Iife after his breakup which he mentioned in ep 2 ..7) Colin gets
to be who he really is.
Love this, and I think you’re right on. Roy healing from the pain of losing his grandfather by riding a bike was a beautiful example of this.
Spot on about Jamie's experience losing virginity as well. I wished I'd talked about that
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What do you think about Rebecca's psychic predictions as a plot point? With her upside down in water this episode, plus the earlier signs, it seems like it's coming true. I never like using psychics as a plot point though. Without some twist, it'd be a little bit of a cliché
Based on her story in this episode, I predict (using my amazing psychic powers) that Rebecca will either find out she actually did have sex with him and is now miraculously pregnant, or that he'll eventually show up in England with his boat or something and they'll be together with his daughter now becoming Rebecca's step daughter. I hope that him saying "yes, we did" doesn't mean they actually had sex but rather that they had a real moment or fell in love or something, because otherwise it makes him kind of a jerk for lying to her and also pretty inconsistent with his character.
Either way, it will confirm that the psychic was right and personally I really don't like that. Call it a pet peeve, but it really bugs me when shows that are more or less grounded in reality suddenly introduce supernatural elements and particularly psychics. If the whole premise revolves around a psychic that's fine, but once you introduce a psychic into a show that takes place in the real world (as much as you can say that about Ted Lasso, in many ways, it's sort of a fantasy, but still), you legitimize psychics, and that bugs me. These people are frauds and scammers, and having a skeptic like Rebecca discover that actually she might have been wrong about this, really rubs me the wrong way. I do believe it can have real-life repercussions.
There was a similar plotline on Broadchurch that was particularly egregious. Even insinuating that a psychic is "usually" a scammer but suddenly they get a "flash of the real thing" is just as harmful.
@@leah_gg1 yeah, that really doesn't fit with the show's overall message of positive masculinity, which is why that line felt so odd. So I'm guessing they're going to go with the nicer, cornier explanation.
It still confirms the psychic was right, but at least Rebecca will get to be happy.
For me this episode represented catharsis. Each group is confronted in some way and by the end of the episode they are released. Colin’s journey into bringing his two lives together has begun. The door of the closet has opened only slightly it is true, but he still got to speak his true feelings to someone in his work environment for the first time. Roy’s repressed emotions turn into anger towards Jamie, but Jamie shows patience and kindness while simultaneously challenging him with learning to ride a bike, allowing Roy to be vulnerable. The team has not been cohesive since Zava breezed in and out of their lives. They have an epic pillow fight and the next day on the bus they are happy and unified. To play total football, every player has to have each other’s back. Post pillow-fight, I feel they are capable of Ted’s plan. Higgins wants to be surrounded by jazz, but from the sidelines. Will puts him close to the stage then gets Higgins on stage to play because everyone sees how much he loves the music. Ted has gone all season feeling untethered. He thought he needed to do something different when what he needed was to go back to his roots. I love how the BBQ sauce is equivalent to a psychedelic drug for Ted! And finally Rebecca, who has the craziest adventure of all. For me, the dress says it all. Rebecca always looks like she was put together by a stylist, even when casually dressed. By contrast, this dress is a frilly, loose fitting, pink print dress. Her usual clothing is so constrained, so much like her life with Rupert. This dress symbolizes new possibilities. The whole episode felt like a turning point for all the characters. I look forward for the episodes to come!
I saw this episode as an opportunity for all of the characters to refocus and reevaluate what they want and an invitation for the audience to go deeper in the connections of them. Higgins and Wills story dont change their characters but its a parallel to what Jamie shares about his father, showing the difference between those relationships. Rebeccas and Colins both show interactions of anonymity with Rebecca benefiting from the distance and Colin finally being able to close some distance by combining his two lives through coming out to someone from work. Issacs speech about the team’s struggles to make a decision allows them to refocus by going back to something ted suggested in the first season, and that reminder even for something as trivial as a pillow fight is impactful.
I think you're pretty on point with your observations. My personal take away from this episode was how focus was moved from being very result orientered (winning, money, having to fire somebody to achieve) to being about the process and finding beauty in the things around the results. Obviously a sports club need to win to sustain itself and be quote unquote successful, but if you play football or basketball or indeed any sport merely to achieve that result, you'll be chasing the ghosts of your ambition all your life. The love of the sport is perhaps a bit too on the nose, but in this episode it felt like we saw Rebecca move on. From Rupert and the trouble of the club to something personal to her. We saw the team find joy in each other as players without Zava, Jamie and Roy find pleasure in friendship and nostalgia (for better and for worse), Colin in a better understanding of his motivations and wants in life and finally Ted. Ted started the episode saying the sport drove him mad, and we were kind of led to believe he felt he didn't really get it. At the end of the episode, it felt like he did get it. Or at least started a journey towards enlightenment. Whether the tea had an effect on him, or he achieved a near delirious state merely through nostalgia of his own, it felt like his understanding of the inner mechanics of the sport was enhanced.
For me, this was the best episode of any of the seasons. The beauty on display for all the characters was unmistakable. I am constantly amazed by the writing on this show and this episode was the ultimate kicker. Well done and I'm going to be very sad when this show concludes unlike say Succession which honestly I'm happy I never have to see those characters ever again.
I liked that the episode took a break and let the characters let loose.
Seemed to me like each character had an experience that may be looked back on as the moment they got over some kind of hump they were struggling to get over.
I kept thinking Rebecca should go back and find that guy. He made her smile and forget to be tense.
I liked that it was an unrelentingly positive episode, a literal vacation from the series of heavier episodes so far this season.
I thought this episode was wonderful and beautiful and best episode of season 3 so far....can't wait ti watch rest of season
It’s this seasons version of after the city game in season 2 … it a breather episode resolving there issues and in some cases just spending time with them all without significant conflict … it’s the sessions turning point ted “creates” total football Jamie and Roy continue to bond with the play off coming probably this week… Collin and Trent opening up … then the teams struggles to decide what to do like they are on the pitch it’s a solid episode overall
Loved, LOVED this episode! I won’t touch on points you yourself have brought forward or what others have done so eloquently and brilliantly in the comments section but what I will say is I was overjoyed that there was a small spotlight on the music of Chet Baker who in my mind is a highly underrated jazz musician….I found him on a random night when I was still in my 20s, still fresh out of the Army and still trying to find myself…I was with friends, one of whom was proudly out as being gay and was actively trying to get me out of my shell….he knew that deep down inside, part of my search for who I was came with the acceptance of my own sexuality, which is being bisexual….in a small moment from a night of many small moments, while we were driving around town he put on Chet Baker more specifically he put on the song featured in this episode “Let’s Get Lost”….I didn’t realize at the time the underlying message he was trying to convey to me, which was to find joy and a measure of peace in getting lost…lost in our perspective identities, lost in the moments that truly matter, and most importantly get lost with the people that matter, if even for only such a small moment in time….the impact of that night on my life is unquantifiable and it came flooding back to me hearing the song in the episode used in the montage of moments for all the characters of the show….my fiancee was even taken aback by the joy evident on my face while also shedding tears of happiness in remembrance of what that song and that artist mean to me…truly, I (if only for a moment) got lost and it reignited joy that I had long left dormant…I am going to be shattered and gutted when this show ends 🥰🥰😭😭😢😢👏👏
I thought this episode was incredibly consequential and important. It went deeper than most episodes and brought everyone together at the end -- which I think is really the point. 🌞♥️👍
The theme of the episode seemed to be all about reaching a point where you are willing to start over, try something new and rethink your previous beliefs and be open to possibilities again. Rebirth.
My favorite episode yet
Someone commented that in this episode "Will got to have s_ x before Nate." I think that's incorrect bcs Will mentioned he had a girlfriend in season 2, and also bcs even if Nate was a virgin, which I doubt he is, it would
hardly be fair to the show to assume that 'getting some' before someone else is some kind of victory. But i think it's an interesting subversion, kind of, that Higgins only wanted to pursue his artistic passion and hobby, while
it was Will, as the only character in this episode, who got to enjoy Amsterdam for that
one specific cliche.
The "not knowing who you are"-storyline fits the location (Netherlands) perfectly, because Dutch people are very "down to earth" so they don't care who you are or what you do.
A great example of this is when Rebecca brings up her work and the Dutchman completely ignores that.
Such a amazing episode I love it
I’ve read through many of these comments and not one person commented on the funniest scene this season with Roy learning how to ride a bike😂.. it’s up there with Phoebe’s bad breath
Don't worry bout a thing, every little thing is gonna be alright.
There’s no patience for story telling anymore. Not EVERY episode has to be profoundly action packed and rocket the story forward. Slow burns are good. It makes you want to feel that catharsis.
Rebecca was set FREE by her encounter. ultimately, it doesn't matter whether she ever sees this guy again or not. she knows that there is the possibility of someone, and that's going to allow her to get out of her head.
never to be forgotten is that Brandon hunt is a burning man guy, and yes, sport is ephemeral, but part of the burner ethos is being present and enjoying the ride, No matter how imperfectly most burners recognize and realize it
Favorite episode of the season
UGH. The dude from Amsterdam will be her babies daddy. Don't you remember the psychic's words? "She will have a family."
This was a more ''mid'' episode for me, but a Ted Lasso ''mid'' episode is still Ted Lasso so i still had a huge smile by the end of it. I do wish Jamie's training would pay off already. And I don't think Colin needs to become a spokesperson if he does come out, I don't think that should be his cross to bear if he doesn't want it.
Also, because I know you answer comments, are you a football fan?
I mean looking back on the seasons of Ted Lasso, whenever Ted let his guys do their thing they succeeded. For example letting Jamie be a prick sometimes, or coming up with trick plays. I feel like mixing the freedom that Ted wants and total football nothing can really stop them. When someone is having fun in sports, I think nothing can get them down. Anyways, I hope AFCR wins the whole f***ing thing!!
It broke my heart when Colin said to Trent "I don't want to be a spokesperson." Especially since coming out to the public, he'd pretty much have no choice BUT to be a spokesperson for LGBT people in professional sport. He has little choice but to continue living his two lives if he doesn't want to become a representative of people who will see him as a role model.
EDIT: I wrote this before watching the video and you said the same thing. LOL
I judge if an episode is good or not for me, by if I have a reason to stay for the entirety of the credits, this time I noticed God as being credited to be on the staff of the show, so yeah.
Ahaha good spot!
I doubt no one hates this episode and there was plenty happening. Anyone who does think the episode was slow questions if they actually understand the series
You may be imagining criticism of the episode because it's tied for the highest rated episode to date of the entire series with episode 10 of season 1on IMDB. Over 6 thousand votes coming from at least 5 different countries, is a pretty good measure of how the average person probably feels about it.
easily my favorite episode - 9.1 IMDB rating seems to support that opinion (highest rating epiaode)
I think you nailed it on the head (although I loved the episode). I feel it was literally they needed to stop thinking too much and being broken again allowed them to break away from old ideas. The episode was meant to feel a little disjointed, as the bit that matter was Ted getting his groove back, the rest was just to distract us into how disjointed the team had been, and the team included everyone, not just the players and managers. Ted hasn’t been focused on the game, and the the players were manifesting that. Now he’s fully in, the players and everyone else will get their groove back
I think this episode was about healing. Moments of healing for both the characters and the audience, and I loved it. This is not a criticism in any way, just an observation from a layperson. I wonder if part of the reason you seemed to like Episode 5 more was because, as you so eloquently educated us in the previous video, Episode 5 was about breakthroughs that many of the characters had. Episode 6 seemed to be more about those characters also finding opportunities to heal from their issues/traumas. I wonder if, for a clinician, are breakthrough moments maybe more interesting to you than healing moments? I'm just making wild assumptions here about what you may or may not like based on your profession, so I'm probably way off base, but I found it fascinating that my wife and I loved this episode because it felt so healing, and yet it did not seem to resonate with you as much. You talked wonderfully about breakthroughs for Episode 5, but I wonder, from a clinical perspective, what role does healing play in the growth process? Do you need both healing and breakthroughs to grow? Thanks for your great content.
not at all, it was a fantastic episode, the best of the whole series, actually.
Theon greyjoy vid ? Just a suggestion.
Best episode ever!
Wait a minute... Zava 2013 - 2013???
I'm sorry, I know this was a well-thought and insightful discussion of the episode, but I was distracted (in a good way!) by your sponsorship bit near the beginning. I reminded me of a Linus Tech Tips "Segue to our spensor". You still sound nervous before every sponsorship, but you sound at least a little less nervous than you used to be. Keep promoting the hell out of World Anvil, I (for one) am glad they're helping you keep this channel going.
Yeah, I do always feel slightly shy about it. I know it causes some people to click off, based on the analytics but I really like World Anvil and doing a sponsor I'm passionate about helps alot
What if Rebecca is miraculously pregnant? 😎
She walks into a little girls bedroom in the houseboat. My theory is she will end up with him and have a stepchild
@@TheAnnabanana5000 I was intrigued by the last words exchanged by Rebecca and the dutch guy. She asked "did we...?" to which he said "No". Although in the end when she leaves, he says it to himself that they did. I wonder if he means connection or sex? But your theory seems way more likely. :)
Best Episode
The mispronunciation of “Van Gogh” hurt more than you’ll know.
Honestly I kind of enjoyed this episode because it felt simple.
I did really like the episode but my one negative is kinda personal I guess. Episodes 5 Believe speech was so impactful especially to me and where I happen to be in life it just came at the perfect moment. I would’ve thought that speech would have the team in a better place but then the episode starts with them getting whooped by Amsterdam. Idk just a nitpick.
What should be looked at is. Will the Military Guy go find Rebecca's phone at the bottom of the canal and return it to her?
This episode was crap the fact Rebecca falls in the water then jumps into the shower of a complete stranger…lasso has lost its shine ah well it was great for 2 seasons
The show has entered a rut for me for a while now. It's not so much that nothing happens or that it's obscure but that what happens or the payoffs are unsubstantial and trite.
Beard is a druggie with a consequence free, mysterious double life. They've done that already. Rebecca will get serendipitously pregnant from a chance encounter, fulfilling the fortune teller's story beat, I would have liked this if the mystery man wasn't such a caricature _and_ they would have hinted to the long term implications instead of making Sam sound like a monk in his few lines. The whole subplot of the Crimm and Colin being gay was beyond absurd, like attempting to pretend that it's the 90's and coming out is a hardship for public people, most likely it was just the writers trying to insert the bit about Crimm revealing he had a previous family.
That's harsh, believe in magic you Muggle
I wouldn't say it's absurd about Collin. This isn't the 90s, no but it can still be really, really difficult. Everyone's experiences and situations are different and, as I stressed. No premier league footballer has EVER come out as gay...which I think suggests there is still some pressure against it in the world of professional football
Also Rebecca and the mystery man had a romantic encounter, but not a sexual one. She’s not gonna get pregnant from him. He was there to show her what a life could look like, the taste of romance with a family. Now she knows how it feels and knows she can have it, she can stop defining herself by her past with Rupert and allow herself to have the future she wants but never allowed herself to believe in.
@@heybudgreatname
They got drunk and there's a reaction shot of the guy as Rebecca is leaving that implies that they did have sex. It wasn't even subtle.
In the first season, her arc was moving past vengefulness onto forgiveness, the second about moving on at her age with no family and I guess the show is supposed to end with her having a family of her own. It feels like her arc is finishing but the "story" of the show isn't. If she rejected some of her millionaire peers, then Sam but the resolution to her arc is a drunk hook up? It's just sloppy. I think a lot of it has to do with how the guy is portrayed, there are some clever details but it's overall too cliche: old but not too old, divorced with a daughter around the age she stopped seeing sassy's daughter, the ex is sophisticated enough to have a dress (in the same size) as Rebecca but not enough to like it as much as her, etc. The weirdest thing is how often they pushed the trait that he was a foot fetishist, I don't get that. It doesn't seem to convey much information about the guy for the amount of time it was mentioned on screen.
@@mylittlethoughttree
It's a truism that pro athletes put it in anything that moves. The second most celebrated footballer in the world right now is "dating" a trans model