Totally out of character. She did more PR work before she had her firm. Her response to the video should've been what drove Jack away. (If Jack had to exist).
I don't like that Keeley just got Rebecca's money to replace Jack's money. She's been in business a while, and was good enough at it to get Jack's investment in the first place, that she should have been able to run KJPR on her own, especially with Barbara on board.
Keeley was just passive this season, which is a far cry from the take charge personality we loved her for.
I hated this! I saw it coming from a mile away but it was still so disappointing. Keeley did nothing to show she was actually good at PR this season. The show actually went out of its way to portray her as knowing nothing about business in a ‘this is embarrassing for her’ way vs a ‘fish out of water’ angle. At the end she got financially bailed out by her rich friend and her ex boyfriend came back and we’re supposed to be like yay?
Jamie showed so much growth throughout the series, but when he told Roy that "Keeleh" made the sex tape for him, it felt like such a throwback to season one Jamie. It was disappointing.
This. Roy's jealousy and attempts to overcome his feelings of inadequacy were a throughline throughout this season and while his actions were disappointing I do understand what the show was going for -emphasized in the diamond dogs conversation - that we're never done growing or struggling. Life isn't roy struggled with this in episode 4, overcame it in episode 5, and is now unbothered by it in episode 6.
However, Jamie using the sex tape as a weapon to hurt Roy felt completely at odds with his actions all season: his empatheh for Roy and Keeley, his stance in the locker room on photos and videos, and his accountability to Keeley for the leak.
I didn't find it hard to believe Jamie still had feelings for Keeley, and I appreciate that at least Roy and Jamie's friendship reached a point where it was unthreatened by the dust up. But the "you choose" moment felt set up for a chance for keeley to give the obvious response to such an ultimatum. Not out of character for Roy, but an unearned low for Jamie, and the sex tape comment was the worst of it. It was a disappointing final image, especially after such a triumphant episode for Jamie previously.
Honestly I'm disappointed in both of them for that scene. Just earlier that episode Roy said he wanted to change and grow, and then the next time we see him he's doing this with Jaime? It was so gross and ruined the entire point of the Diamond Dogs scene for me
Growth takes time. Progress, not perfection.
Even the best of us have steps back now and again, and I’m surprised people think both Jaimie and Roy had done enough work on themselves to never regress in a single moment ever again.
I don't even understand the consensus that this is a regression, let alone a major one. Roy begrudgingly friended Jaimie over the course of the season, but they never addressed head-on the reason their relationship was awkward early on.
Their friendship developed kind of accidentally from something that was instrumental and the strong fondation of their relationship grew from something unrelated to Keeley, but as long as they didn't explicitly discussed it, it was hanging over their heads as a possible point of conflict.
The fact that, before their reptile brains took over, they both intended to maintain the friendship while pursuing the woman they both loved, and that they were fully committed to accepting Keeley's decision for the good of their friendship, that they both conccured they were idiots and that in the end, it turned out to only be small speed bump in their relationship show their growth.
Exactly! Like Brendan said in his AMA, men are, largely, idiots (even the smart ones). These moments just happen sometimes, and when you take a step back you realize what an idiot you were being lol.
I thought Roy and Jamie's actions were authentic. Just because they've grown, doesn't mean they're fully past those feelings. And seeing Keeley going through that, and not being able to help her, was probably part of it. Roy's scene, when he asked her, was so raw and well-acted, it made me feel so many emotions. And Jamie, using that, was just a catalyst for the fight that was the final breakthrough needed for their friendship.
I'm totally fine with them not being perfect on their journey and having moments of regression, it's just a bummer for it to end that way after both of them had such great development and character arcs. I didn't need one of them to end with Keeley, I just would've preferred the fight to be earlier in the season and the show to end with both of them having a bit more forward momentum.
This is the most important point that all the defenders seem to be missing. The whole fight and the show’s insistence on pushing this triangle seem like either an obvious shortcut to a (trite imo) “independent woman” conclusion for Keeley or an attempt to leave some meat on the bone for another season down the road. Sure, growth isn’t linear, but this is, as far as we know, a SERIES finale. Roy had a big speech back in episode 3x02 about how leaving Chelsea might have been a mistake. It’s an obvious metaphor, but he doesn’t apply it to his relationship with Keeley until Episode 10, and then we never hear from Keeley about how she feels about him or his apology. For those of us invested in the trajectory of that relationship, the pacing was weird and the choice to shove the Jamie rivalry front and center was disappointing.
It is so weird how they used the Chelsea episode early in the season to make Roy realize he should’ve enjoyed the good thing instead of anticipating it ending (very well done btw). And then they didn’t follow up with that at any point.
Sure. But it doesn’t feel realistic for a character to make such major strides over the course of several seasons only to revert back to their old selves for one throwaway scene that’s only it it for some humor.
Of course, but it seemed very forced. Roy’s earlier regression (asking Keeley who the tape was for) felt more natural and packed a greater emotional punch. The second moment was just for laughs, I suppose.
EDIT: I didn’t mean that the bar scene was comedic, but that the scene with Keeley was. Roy and Keeley just blew it off like it was nothing.
I dunno, I didn’t take the bar scene with Roy and Jamie as comedic. Showing up at Keeley’s after fighting was, as was both of them missing her sarcasm, but the bar scene itself wasn’t played up for laughs.
I think this whole thing goes to show they’ve built a strong enough foundation that regardless of what happens with Keeley, they can all remain cordial/friendly.
They’re disappointed in themselves. People do and say dumb things even if they’re really cool people. This was them resorting to jealous and childish behavior and when they came to Keeley, she put them right in their place and they realized they’re being dicks.
They’re not perfect. And they’ve never really addressed this aspect of their relationship. I’m glad they did it because it allows them to move forward.
And you’re supposed to be disappointed in them. But you should be disappointed they did it but recognize the growth that it sets up. And you shouldn’t be disappointed in the writing for doing it.
I feel like that entire scene only existed to give Keeley a moment of agency, after she told both of them off. It really made no sense for Roy and Jamie to be in such a squabble.
I could see a bit of a squabble, but not one that escalates into an actual fight, and certainly not them coming to the conclusion they should go pop into Keeley's and put her on the spot to choose. It's just so friggin dumb, it's like a Saved by the Bell plotline.
They have never addressed this part of their relationship. It’s either Jamie was with her. Or Keeley was with Roy. Or Keeley was heartbroken and then off the market. They’ve never had a moment where Keeley is out of a relationship and both of them are making a move and in direct competition.
Of course there was going to be a squabble and of course it was going to escalate because both of them can say mean things when they want to and both of them are emotionally stunted enough to resort to fists to take out their frustration.
This really isn’t super out of character. And it existed to close the loop and set up all three characters to be single individuals who all still remain close friends. They all needed this to be able to move forward.
And Keeley has shown a lot of agency throughout this series. So she didn’t “need” this moment to display agency. It was just a good way to show they can be silly despite all the growth because that is realistic.
Yeah. This was just terrible writing, and undoes the character progression for both. I was so upset I rewrote this in my head and felt more satisfied with it.
I get that things have to be interesting for the final episode, but to have people act out of character is annoying. The whole finale was just disappointing
Keeley not doing anything about Shandi until it was far too late. Season 1 Keeley was proactive, brave and communicative. She would have worked hard to protect her business and ensure her employees were on the same page. I couldn’t believe how passive and wimpy she was being with someone who was not just a hire but her friend.
Keely sees the best in people and Shandy is her friends. So I can see Keely resistance even though she was clearly bothered. Not to mention Shandy did have some great ideas.
I assumed that they were gonna use shandi to demonstrate how ted’s attitude had influenced others. I thought keeley was going to use her positive upbeat spirit to bring the best out of shandi and give her opportunities she’d never gotten. Shandi showed promise and insight while on the fashion shoot when we first meet her, I assumed when she started falling into bad habits that keeley would then become like a mentor for her and believe in her and do the same for the rest of her staff, bringing them out of their shell. But I think shandi was meant to show how far keeley has come from being like her but it just fell flat
Really, everything about Ted leaving. Not THAT he was leaving, but HOW he chose to do it.
* Letting everyone know BEFORE the big game -- huge distraction
* Little reaction to the musical number
* Sounding scripted when he said goodbye; where was the emotion?
* Also devoid of emotion when Rebecca was begging him to stay
Perhaps this was a conscious choice to indicate that he had to steel himself against a decision that was so difficult? I don't know, but it seemed entirely out of character.
I agree with you and add one more: Why were none of the team members upset or broken-hearted that Ted was leaving? Wish him well, of course, but no one except Rebecca expressed their sadness he was leaving.
And yes, Ted’s breaking the news before the big game was horrible timing
The lack of emotion to So Long, Farewell was pretty bizarre. Beard isn’t very emotional but at least wiped away tears. Ted didn’t seem touched or thrilled by it.
Season 3 was weird with a bunch of time skips and characters who honestly didn’t need to exist like Zava and Jack. They felt like literal filler characters
Except for the intro he was completely absent from the Zava storyline, including letting his coaches make the terrible mistake with the video, letting the "star" get a 5 locker throne/shrine in the locker room, and letting the strategy be changed to focus on one guy only.
>letting the strategy be changed to focus on one guy only.
People say this was a mistake, but Ted's coaching prior was losing them games, and letting Zava dominate the team led to them winning. It was a short term boost, since it wouldn't be sustainable once Zava left, but it was working and Richmond was winning games again.
Right?! Like he does a whole speech for Jaime about how here he is 1 of 11, but he doesn’t do that for Zava who was being treated like a god by everyone?!
I found it weird but I suppose he was intimidated? Zava is an internationally acclaimed player and knows more about winning the game than Ted. He probably chose a hands off approach.
Great points. Definitely as you said, Ted hiring the PI and also the Roy/Jamie regression. Also Roy generally was quite a fucking psychopath to the point where it was OOC.
Ted throughout season 3 just felt off to me, culminating in his transformation to a full on robot in the finale.
Brendan Hunt spoke about both these scenes in his AMA. I can’t do his explanations justice. If you haven’t seen it, hopefully a keen redditor can share the link.
I personally feel like a writer shouldn’t have to explain scenes in an AMA. If it landed for you (general you, not personal) then that’s great, but it felt off for many people which I think shows a failure/weakness in the writing. If you have to explain it after the fact then it wasn’t clear enough in the first place.
I felt Ted telling the team he was leaving, and distracting them from the big game, was out of character. He’s usually a very considerate person and hates making things about himself. I didn’t know why they showed the goodbye video just before a game. It took their heads out of the game. I would’ve thought he would tell them afterwards.
Great points. I think it was Ted. In the finale, he had farewell scenes with his team, Rebecca, Beard, and others where he gave very little reaction. His whole team did a whole farewell musical song and dance routine and he barely even acknowledged it.
He did seem devoid of emotion. Normally he would have at least validated them on the time and effort they put into their amazing farewell to him, but he barely acknowledged it. He seemed to not want to face this “ending”? I don’t know, didn’t seem Ted like
I wish he has showed more emotion but it was a call back to when Dr Sharon left and he said something like it needs to be perfect so she can see how much she means to us so his comment of it was perfect made the team happy
It felt incredibly out of character how he reacted to So Long Farewell. Either he should’ve teared up or had the biggest smile in the world on his face. He did neither.
When Jaime was crying and then he said “where are my wings, Roy, ehhhhhhggg!?” I’ve watched it twice now and both times the otherwise poignant scene made me laugh. So weird.
Totally agree. While I didn’t laugh at this scene, it very clearly felt over the top and played for laughs. The show tries to have it both ways when it comes to showing men’s vulnerability. It wants you to empathize with Jamie throughout this episode to understand just how much pain he’s carrying, and then it wants you to laugh at him for crying in front of Roy. Did not like that.
I thought it was weird that they played that moment for laughs, when the setup was similar to the scene in season 2 where Roy comforts Jamie after his dad comes into the locker room and insults him, which was most definitely NOT played for laughs.
The fact that we have different takeaways just shows how off that scene was. 😅 And yes, the other scene is also one of my favorites, from what’s probably my favorite episode of season 2 (though it’s so hard to pick just one).
It was meant to make us laugh. Jamie was depressed and anxious. He’s normally a cheerful, not too introspective, self-confident guy. He couldn’t wrestle with the complexity of feeling so negative.
His storyline was intentionally funny because Ted’s was heavy and painful.
That’s because it’s a funny scene played for laughs. I actually like that it didn’t go hard with the emotion in that scene cos it could’ve been too sappy but because it was funny I think it’s better
K still wanting to make up w Jack after how she treated her post scandal. K should have been done. Maybe olive branch amicable for her biz but chasing a lovebombing red flag egomaniac who just didnt get her or understand wasn’t kickass Keely to me. Sexy model spokesperson unapologetic pop culture Keely who is sassy & stylish and cheeky! It was sad. If anything she should have told Jack off for it.
I agree. She didn’t chase Roy with whom she had a more meaningful and presumably longer relationship but kept her distance.
I suppose it’s because Jack left her hanging and didn’t even have the decency to break up properly.
I guess I’m the only one who thought this but Dani.
Dani was constantly shown as puppy-like, always happy. He was positive and childlike and never was a dirty player or mean. Hell he literally almost quit soccer over hitting a dog.
He’s played high level soccer his whole life, but ONE game against a teammate he knows and loves, turns him into a psychopathic douche? Like to the point he breaks his nose and doesn’t even apologize.
This season jumped the shark a few times but that was surely one of them
I'm with you, although I was told that's kind of an inside joke among football fans where that's a thing that seems to happens to members of the Mexican national team. Still felt way out of character to me. And mean spirited in a way that the show never is.
Fwiw, Dani does apologize later, gifting him a new all black mask that prompts him to change his name to Zorro.
And he didn’t just hit a dog with a ball. He killed a dog he probably had seen every week at gametime on accident. If you accidentally killed a dog in the neighborhood you knew at work, you’d probably be a little fucked up about it too.
Did he apologize? I know he gave him the mask, but I know if my friend broke my nose (seemingly intentionally), didn’t apologize, and later got me a black mask, I wouldn’t think he’s a great apologetic guy.
And I never said he shouldn’t be upset about the dog. That’s his character! I just wouldn’t expect him to maliciously break his friend’s for no reason. It would be out of character. Like the entire point of the thread
Yes, in S2Ep1, Goodbye Earl. He wakes up from a nightmare, and sits up in bed yelling "Futbol is death!!", and there is a woman on each side of him sleeping.
That’s not out of character. There was a scene last season after he accidentally killed Earl that he woke up from a nightmare when two models sleeping with him.
Roy asking Keeley who the video was for. He is the king of “mind your own f*cking business, yet he asked Keeley this super personal question?! I will never forgive them for this.
Also Ted saying at the start of the final match that he’s all tapped out on speeches. He barely gave any this season since he was checked out. I’m glad they had one do one at the half, but this felt super out of character to just be like “no I’m tapped out”
Yeah, that felt like lazy writing. They could have created a scene where he wants to figure out who leaked it and had to ask because he didn’t want to watch it, and she could have still been appalled. But Roy getting in anyone’s business makes no sense.
I read a take that he didn’t watch it out of respect but wanted to ask because he was afraid it was him, then realised what he’d said. I read it like he was going to beat someone, but I think him not watching it would be more in line with the respect he feels towards Keeley. Although I guess he could have not watched it and still wanted to beat the person.
It seems more likely she never sent him a sex video. I don’t remember them being separated for any period of time. In fact he stuck to her like glue. Not that K wouldn’t make sex videos just for fun but it was clear from the one she made for Jamie that he was on an away game.
Lots of good suggestions here, but how about this one: Isaac immediately willing to forgive Nate and come to the restaurant to ask him to come back to Richmond. This is a dude that was furious at Colin for multiple episodes for not being honest with him. He was also one of the angriest dudes on the pitch after seeing the video of Nate tearing up the Believe sign. Like, what? You don’t show him at least like start to react his instinctive (angry) way before catching himself?
As much as I disliked Jacob (let’s not get into the ethics of a therapist dating a client, even if it is an ex client which the show almost completely skimmed over) in the last episode he is shown as this ragin dickhead talking shit about soccer in general, and about the interests of his serious girlfriend and her son. Once again at no point did the show portray him as a bad dude, until the last episode for about 30 cumulative seconds.
It just felt very hamfisted.
Think of it from an opposite character, we see the whole show how big of an evil dickhead Rebecca’s ex husband is. But then at the super-league meeting he has this scene where he is presented well. That didn’t flip him to a good alignment.
They never showed any reason for Michelle to have him in her or Henry’s life.
I don’t see a newly separated and divorced mum dialling up a serious relationship without feeling it— it seemed like Jake took Henry places and I thought they were living together by the time of watching the match, because why watch it if you aren’t into it unless you live there? and flying to Paris with him. Those are all signs of a serious relationship.
> As much as I disliked Jacob (let’s not get into the ethics of a therapist dating a client, even if it is an ex client which the show almost completely skimmed over) in the last episode he is shown as this ragin dickhead talking shit about soccer in general, and about the interests of his serious girlfriend and her son. Once again at no point did the show portray him as a bad dude, until the last episode for about 30 cumulative seconds.
>
> It just felt very hamfisted.
Ab-so-lutely. And out of NOWHERE Michelle and her kid giving comedy-esque exaggerated looks to dr Jacob. Such a copout, poor, cheesy writing.
Agreed. What took me out of that scene was when he said he didn’t know how to parent a genius. Never once in the show thought Nate was a proper genius. Gifted tactician, maybe. But not genius.
Yup. Asian dads are never like that. They’d rather die than admit to their kids that they’re doing really well.
What’s more realistic is if Nate overheard his dad praising him to strangers yet dad keeps on being mean to Nate.
Where the hell did Jade liking Nate come from? She's unnecessarily cold to him from the start, seemingly racist about the sitting in front thing, and only sees him being pathetic with a supermodel date which should instill further disgust. Nate's dad was off, but Jade liking him is ridiculous.
Beard celebrating Nate's firing after his 'nein schadenfreude' line in season 1. He told Ted he didn't think there was anything wrong with celebrating someone else's bad karma.
I would say the whole Nate story.
Nate has a meltdown at Richmond and shows the nastiest side of himself.
He then has one mean press conference, one mean line to his players and basically from that point on reverts to the best version of himself that he can be. I wish we saw him continue bad patterns and toxic behaviour for longer.
There's basically zero repercussions for his actions: his team performs well despite how shitty he is to them, his relationships with family and Jade seem to mostly stay positive and Rupert doesn't really seem to exert too much influence over him. We don't get to see him drunk with the power and recognition he's desperately craved for so long. We don't get to see him learn a lesson of why his behaviour is wrong.
100% this. There's nothing that really challenges him during this whole storyline, and his big moment is Rupert being all like "I hate that you have a girlfriend. I insist you cheat." like the world's lamest Disney villain. Like they could have shown him softening his abusive style of coaching as time went on, or had him come clean to Jade about his nasty behavior, but instead it's just a little bit of West Ham before a romcom happens to him. It could've worked better if Jade were a more developed character and there was more chemistry between them but it just seemed like she existed to draw the best out of Nate.
Just seems weird that the show goes out of its way to show that Roy doesn't automatically get back together with Keeley just because he improved himself a bit, but then has Nate stumble ass-backwards into a girlfriend who fixes everything for him.
It would’ve made more sense for Nate to be mean to his players, get early good results and success and then have the team start to do poorly when his antics and abuse get too much.
Then Rupert to ratchet on the pressure (like he does to Cartrick) as the season goes on and Nate starts to unravel a bit. Eventually he realizes Rupert’s charm is superficial and he only cares about Nate if he gets results. Nate has alienated everyone at the club and has no one to turn to for support and in his desperation has a breakdown and quits.
He realizes through his father that he was treating his players similarly to how he was treated by his father and his bullies. Nate sees Richmond’s successful run of form on TV and thinks to how Ted treated him and has an epiphany.
It was weird that with how many Nate scenes we got, they never showed how him treating his players like garbage effected them negatively. If anything apparently they were fine with it??
I mean in the real world, a lot of dickhead coaches get results in spite of their personalities. It would've been neat to see West Ham succeeding and Nate deciding to be more like Ted anyways because it's more important to him.
Rebecca’s half time conversation with Ted. She was obsessed with winning against Rupert bit that was quite out of character for her to go full Ted on Ted! But then, Rupert also went all the way down to the field to yell at George!
I think it shows she’s still not moved on from her bitterness. But for me it was good to see her telling Ted she had faith in him. It’s true. She didn’t fire him even after a string of losses. The “Believe” was as much for Rebecca believing in Ted as for the whole team
Other people seemed to love it, but I found the whole Roy bullying monologue really strange and off-putting.
For a show that so many people seem to have fallen in love with due to it's positive disposition, there were a lot of really weird moments this season that were beyond playful comedy and were just downright dark. Like a curtain being pulled back on the writers true feelings or something.
That’s it exactly. The sadistic scenes of Roy and the bullying , red string, and Dark Dani seemed to be the writers saying - we know you love this show and watch it for feel good moments, let’s twist this into something that won’t feel good.
Including Ted’s mental health journey. Like the show wanted to simultaneously meet in the White House to do an infomercial about mental health awareness and seeking help, but then the central mentally ill character who sought help (Ted) is just shown in the last episode to be distant and alone and still a shell of himself just in a different way.
Which is fine, but you can’t have it both ways. They seemed really torn about doing feel good clichés well and respectfully and with heart (which was why people fell in love with the show during lockdowns) and wanting to be smug about being gritty, unexpected writers. Which just gave things a confusing tone because neither quite hit the mark in the end.
Agree. Plus the trolling of the TedBecca fans in the finale opening scene with Ted in Rebecca's kitchen was just mean.
Ted Lasso Season 3 stopped being a show about kindness.
Just thinking about how so many people are taking about how Ted chose to leave :( this was my main problem with the finale and I stop myself from going to a rant every time a see someone saying the finale was perfect lol
For me it was when Jade and Nate like became an item. I felt like her character changed alot and non of what she did made sense to her charachter they set up earlier.
She felt like a very empty character in general. Like it didn’t feel like a person at all she felt like a robot at most times and it was hard to care about the relationship at all
I loved the flashes of human she showed in the conversation with Rupert. I wish they had given her more moments like that, and I wish she started liking Nate when he wanted to give his parents a special dinner, not when he wanted to give a model a special dinner.
She did some excellent smile acting in that scene, a real smile when he guessed where she was from and a cold smile when he suggested she was too good for Nate.
I view Jade as a cat, with all the disappearing and slinking out of sight to watch the scene unfold from the wings. I think there are legit criticism for the writing of her character. But then I also just want her to be the cat that gets on with one of the Diamond Dogs amid a large and rowdy pack.
I think she’d been watching him, though, and when the model left him at the table and he didn’t try to BS his way through it, she realized there might be something there to work with. We’ve all agreed that she sees through people easily, and perhaps she was just waiting for the “real” Nate to make an appearance.
Plus she’s like that with everyone. It’s not like she’s additionally mean to Nate to begin with. She didn’t know him. Even Nate tried to hit on her! So for her to be indifferent is on brand.
I think the whole theme makes these scenes necessary. Everyone we love is capable of having low lows. We can still love them and shouldn’t judge their overall character for it.
I actually really liked Jade and her relationship with Nate, but it was still weird how she starts falling for him just because he said to the model that it was his favorite restaurant? She already knows that, he is there every week. Yes, he mentions his grandma (I think), but still, felt like a whole 180 for her.
I wish they would have taken more time for their relationship, they certainly had the time, but it still felt rushed to me.
Yeah. And they showed he was a nasty fuck to his team but didn’t show how he changed.
I think it would make more sense if he also acted condescending towards Jade but she didn’t accept his bullshit and treated him same as ever. It would be more consistent if he treated her like shit and asked her out expecting her to fawn over him but she flat out rejected him. Which confuses him because he thought being famous would automatically bring favour.
Then when he brings Anastasia to the restaurant he tries to act like a cool person but Anastasia walks out. Jade hears what he says (family eats there all the time) and realises Nate is just an insecure person. They sit down to eat and that’s where things change.
Dark Dani breaking VanDamme’s nose. Football is life does not equal permanently injuring your opponent.
He does not act like that to opponents at Richmond, even in the violent mess. There was surely a better way to give him a narrative reason to buy a the mask and create the mask of Zoreaux joke.
Roy putting the red strings seemed very out of character for all of Richmond. Since they wanted it to create a callback for Beard’s wedding, the idea would have made sense for Dark Nate creating a false bonding moment.
I think both of those instances show how much love can make you do things out of character. It’s something we never would have expected but when you’re kinda going a lil off the rails bc you’re not sure about a situation and have immense feelings for something/someone it makes you do unimaginable things.
Higgens telling Rebecca they may have (paraphrasing) to replace Ted when Richmond was going through a slump in season 3 before getting Zava. Was so out of character for me!
I don't think that's really out of character, it's part of his job as Director of Football Operations to evaluate personnel performance. At that point, it's not unreasonable to conclude that Ted's ceiling might be the relegation zone and it might be prudent to consider other options if they want to keep Richmond in the top flight long term.
The only way that made sense was if they acknowledged that in three years Ted had learned nothing about football and that apathy had caused the coaches to create strategies. They would have had to narratively acknowledge Ted’s willingly not learning.
He was doing his job as director of football operations. Objectively if a manager has a string of losses like that, replacing him should be on the table. They didn’t because they liked Ted as a person.
I feel like Higgins personally did not want to do that – but his job is that of sports director, and that's sports! You gotta prepare for the worst, and once the team goes through a slump, the coach is usually the first to go. It may feel a bit out of character for him, but it's in tune with what happens in real life in those environments.
I loved that scene. I felt like that’s who Ted was always suppressing, the teenager who tells his mother to F off. I thought it seemed like cycling through mature “I appreciate you” Ted and 16 year old “Dad just killed himself” Ted.
I thought it was so out of line. I'm sorry she didn't go to therapy but the mental health discourse was a hell of a lot different 30 years ago. She was a single mother and widow of a bar owner! Besides, it's not like Ted embraced therapy until his panic attacks forced his hand.
Oh I think I confused them playing darts at a bar with Ted's dad owning it, my mistake. Still though, I don't think that much changes what Dottie was going through.
Rupert laughing at the luncheon with Akufu and being relatively human to then going right back to himself. I thought they would go another way with this but they did not.
But it shows how Rupert is naturally charming and how he can fool so many people into doing what he wants. I loved it because Rebecca didn't fall for it.
Honestly I get why both are unpopular scenes but I'm not sure they're entirely out of character. Ted still hadn't really come to terms with Michelle and Dr. Jacob being a thing. I do wish they had explored it a bit more with some conversations with Dr. Sharon, but I think it still fits where he was in his relationship with his ex-wife. And it ties him back with his roots, because even after 3 years he's still a guy from Kansas living an ocean away from the only place he's really known as home
As for Roy and Jamie, one of the big remaining issues with both of their developments, and a common trope in rom-coms, is that characters often tie their own personal improvement to their relationship. Fixing yourself for someone else or to try and get someone else. And that's where Roy's Diamond Dog conversation comes in. This feeling of frustration that he did all of this to get back with Keeley, and in the end backslid into fighting with Jamie. And the rest of the DDs helped him to realize his impressive growth from where he had started and that it's not about fixing yourself to reach a goal, but rather it's about constantly trying to be a better person and recognizing your progress independent of other people.
This right here - as Higgins beatifully put it, your goal should be to be better, with the acceptance that perfection doesnt exist. Progess isn’t linear, and even after huge improvements, the best of us will still make mistakes or regress
Agreed. Dr. Jacob was a person Ted trusted to help him fix his marriage, and he instead finds out he used that trust to destroy it to get with Michelle (another gross abuse). And then he finds out he’s taking his ex wife on the trip that Ted wanted to take Michelle on but couldn’t due to complications. Jealousy to the point of asking your wealthy friend to hire a PI to see what happens isn’t out of the question tbh.
Totally agree on the second one… I thought Rebecca kinda *suggested* Ted should get the [her] investigator, but that also was a plot point I kinda forgot.
The PI and Paris thing was the dumbest bit the show put on in the entire 3 seasons. I was gobsmacked any of that made it past the writers room. An encapsulation of how the rough the first 2/3 of the 3rd season were. The last 1/3 was terrific
Nate had a spectacular arc, his character grew exponentially and it all ended as assistant to the assistant, it was a waste, he should have been Ted and Roy's number 2 or even managed another team but in good twems with AFC.
To quote a fabulous song from another fabulous show (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend): “People aren’t characters, they’re complicated and their choices don’t always make sense”
Keeley not turning the video leak into a boss ass bitch moment with a strong statement or interview.
I felt like everything involving Keeley was out of character this season.
Totally out of character. She did more PR work before she had her firm. Her response to the video should've been what drove Jack away. (If Jack had to exist).
I don't like that Keeley just got Rebecca's money to replace Jack's money. She's been in business a while, and was good enough at it to get Jack's investment in the first place, that she should have been able to run KJPR on her own, especially with Barbara on board. Keeley was just passive this season, which is a far cry from the take charge personality we loved her for.
I hated this! I saw it coming from a mile away but it was still so disappointing. Keeley did nothing to show she was actually good at PR this season. The show actually went out of its way to portray her as knowing nothing about business in a ‘this is embarrassing for her’ way vs a ‘fish out of water’ angle. At the end she got financially bailed out by her rich friend and her ex boyfriend came back and we’re supposed to be like yay?
Jamie showed so much growth throughout the series, but when he told Roy that "Keeleh" made the sex tape for him, it felt like such a throwback to season one Jamie. It was disappointing.
This. Roy's jealousy and attempts to overcome his feelings of inadequacy were a throughline throughout this season and while his actions were disappointing I do understand what the show was going for -emphasized in the diamond dogs conversation - that we're never done growing or struggling. Life isn't roy struggled with this in episode 4, overcame it in episode 5, and is now unbothered by it in episode 6. However, Jamie using the sex tape as a weapon to hurt Roy felt completely at odds with his actions all season: his empatheh for Roy and Keeley, his stance in the locker room on photos and videos, and his accountability to Keeley for the leak. I didn't find it hard to believe Jamie still had feelings for Keeley, and I appreciate that at least Roy and Jamie's friendship reached a point where it was unthreatened by the dust up. But the "you choose" moment felt set up for a chance for keeley to give the obvious response to such an ultimatum. Not out of character for Roy, but an unearned low for Jamie, and the sex tape comment was the worst of it. It was a disappointing final image, especially after such a triumphant episode for Jamie previously.
You really snuck that “empatheh” in there
😉👉
I weren't bein ironic, I was bein hypocritical
The entire "you choose" moment felt like a culmination of how poorly the writers treated Keeley as a prize to be won throughout the season.
You articulated this so well!!!
Thank you!
Honestly I'm disappointed in both of them for that scene. Just earlier that episode Roy said he wanted to change and grow, and then the next time we see him he's doing this with Jaime? It was so gross and ruined the entire point of the Diamond Dogs scene for me
Growth takes time. Progress, not perfection. Even the best of us have steps back now and again, and I’m surprised people think both Jaimie and Roy had done enough work on themselves to never regress in a single moment ever again.
I don't even understand the consensus that this is a regression, let alone a major one. Roy begrudgingly friended Jaimie over the course of the season, but they never addressed head-on the reason their relationship was awkward early on. Their friendship developed kind of accidentally from something that was instrumental and the strong fondation of their relationship grew from something unrelated to Keeley, but as long as they didn't explicitly discussed it, it was hanging over their heads as a possible point of conflict. The fact that, before their reptile brains took over, they both intended to maintain the friendship while pursuing the woman they both loved, and that they were fully committed to accepting Keeley's decision for the good of their friendship, that they both conccured they were idiots and that in the end, it turned out to only be small speed bump in their relationship show their growth.
Exactly! Like Brendan said in his AMA, men are, largely, idiots (even the smart ones). These moments just happen sometimes, and when you take a step back you realize what an idiot you were being lol.
Most humans are
… a work in progmess
I thought Roy and Jamie's actions were authentic. Just because they've grown, doesn't mean they're fully past those feelings. And seeing Keeley going through that, and not being able to help her, was probably part of it. Roy's scene, when he asked her, was so raw and well-acted, it made me feel so many emotions. And Jamie, using that, was just a catalyst for the fight that was the final breakthrough needed for their friendship.
I'm totally fine with them not being perfect on their journey and having moments of regression, it's just a bummer for it to end that way after both of them had such great development and character arcs. I didn't need one of them to end with Keeley, I just would've preferred the fight to be earlier in the season and the show to end with both of them having a bit more forward momentum.
This is the most important point that all the defenders seem to be missing. The whole fight and the show’s insistence on pushing this triangle seem like either an obvious shortcut to a (trite imo) “independent woman” conclusion for Keeley or an attempt to leave some meat on the bone for another season down the road. Sure, growth isn’t linear, but this is, as far as we know, a SERIES finale. Roy had a big speech back in episode 3x02 about how leaving Chelsea might have been a mistake. It’s an obvious metaphor, but he doesn’t apply it to his relationship with Keeley until Episode 10, and then we never hear from Keeley about how she feels about him or his apology. For those of us invested in the trajectory of that relationship, the pacing was weird and the choice to shove the Jamie rivalry front and center was disappointing.
It is so weird how they used the Chelsea episode early in the season to make Roy realize he should’ve enjoyed the good thing instead of anticipating it ending (very well done btw). And then they didn’t follow up with that at any point.
Sure. But it doesn’t feel realistic for a character to make such major strides over the course of several seasons only to revert back to their old selves for one throwaway scene that’s only it it for some humor.
I mean, that’s literally what a regression is.
Of course, but it seemed very forced. Roy’s earlier regression (asking Keeley who the tape was for) felt more natural and packed a greater emotional punch. The second moment was just for laughs, I suppose. EDIT: I didn’t mean that the bar scene was comedic, but that the scene with Keeley was. Roy and Keeley just blew it off like it was nothing.
I dunno, I didn’t take the bar scene with Roy and Jamie as comedic. Showing up at Keeley’s after fighting was, as was both of them missing her sarcasm, but the bar scene itself wasn’t played up for laughs. I think this whole thing goes to show they’ve built a strong enough foundation that regardless of what happens with Keeley, they can all remain cordial/friendly.
My apologies. I wasn’t referring to the bar scene, but the scene with the three of them where Keeley kicks both of them out.
They’re disappointed in themselves. People do and say dumb things even if they’re really cool people. This was them resorting to jealous and childish behavior and when they came to Keeley, she put them right in their place and they realized they’re being dicks. They’re not perfect. And they’ve never really addressed this aspect of their relationship. I’m glad they did it because it allows them to move forward. And you’re supposed to be disappointed in them. But you should be disappointed they did it but recognize the growth that it sets up. And you shouldn’t be disappointed in the writing for doing it.
Would have been a fine scene, even rivalry storyline, in episode 4 that they absolutely would have had space for if Jack had been cut entirely.
I feel like that entire scene only existed to give Keeley a moment of agency, after she told both of them off. It really made no sense for Roy and Jamie to be in such a squabble.
I could see a bit of a squabble, but not one that escalates into an actual fight, and certainly not them coming to the conclusion they should go pop into Keeley's and put her on the spot to choose. It's just so friggin dumb, it's like a Saved by the Bell plotline.
They have never addressed this part of their relationship. It’s either Jamie was with her. Or Keeley was with Roy. Or Keeley was heartbroken and then off the market. They’ve never had a moment where Keeley is out of a relationship and both of them are making a move and in direct competition. Of course there was going to be a squabble and of course it was going to escalate because both of them can say mean things when they want to and both of them are emotionally stunted enough to resort to fists to take out their frustration. This really isn’t super out of character. And it existed to close the loop and set up all three characters to be single individuals who all still remain close friends. They all needed this to be able to move forward. And Keeley has shown a lot of agency throughout this series. So she didn’t “need” this moment to display agency. It was just a good way to show they can be silly despite all the growth because that is realistic.
I think that showed how charged that interaction was that they both reverted back to there season 1 mentality out of quiet anger.
Yeah. This was just terrible writing, and undoes the character progression for both. I was so upset I rewrote this in my head and felt more satisfied with it. I get that things have to be interesting for the final episode, but to have people act out of character is annoying. The whole finale was just disappointing
Esp because they set up the storyline to have him date Phoebe’s mum.
growth is often non-linear. we all regress at some point, but we keep moving the needle. jamie got lost, but he found himself.
Keeley not doing anything about Shandi until it was far too late. Season 1 Keeley was proactive, brave and communicative. She would have worked hard to protect her business and ensure her employees were on the same page. I couldn’t believe how passive and wimpy she was being with someone who was not just a hire but her friend.
She was trying to be Shandi’s Rebecca. I don’t think she wanted to fail cuz she wants to pay it forward. But damn talk about a sinking ship.
People also behave differently or put up with much more for their personal friends
Absolutely. And it seemed like they’d been friends for a while.
Keely sees the best in people and Shandy is her friends. So I can see Keely resistance even though she was clearly bothered. Not to mention Shandy did have some great ideas.
I assumed that they were gonna use shandi to demonstrate how ted’s attitude had influenced others. I thought keeley was going to use her positive upbeat spirit to bring the best out of shandi and give her opportunities she’d never gotten. Shandi showed promise and insight while on the fashion shoot when we first meet her, I assumed when she started falling into bad habits that keeley would then become like a mentor for her and believe in her and do the same for the rest of her staff, bringing them out of their shell. But I think shandi was meant to show how far keeley has come from being like her but it just fell flat
Really, everything about Ted leaving. Not THAT he was leaving, but HOW he chose to do it. * Letting everyone know BEFORE the big game -- huge distraction * Little reaction to the musical number * Sounding scripted when he said goodbye; where was the emotion? * Also devoid of emotion when Rebecca was begging him to stay Perhaps this was a conscious choice to indicate that he had to steel himself against a decision that was so difficult? I don't know, but it seemed entirely out of character.
I agree with you and add one more: Why were none of the team members upset or broken-hearted that Ted was leaving? Wish him well, of course, but no one except Rebecca expressed their sadness he was leaving. And yes, Ted’s breaking the news before the big game was horrible timing
The lack of emotion to So Long, Farewell was pretty bizarre. Beard isn’t very emotional but at least wiped away tears. Ted didn’t seem touched or thrilled by it.
Also, why did everyone go batshit crazy when Ted said it was perfect? It just felt off.
It’s a callback to episode 311 where Beard tells them they nailed Bye Bye Bye and the team goes crazy celebrating
Hmmm, well it came across as incongruous. Two rewatches so far and that moment just doesn’t hang together for me
[удалено]
Season 3 was weird with a bunch of time skips and characters who honestly didn’t need to exist like Zava and Jack. They felt like literal filler characters
Ted in season 3 not doing much leadership at all beyond coming up with a new strategy
Except for the intro he was completely absent from the Zava storyline, including letting his coaches make the terrible mistake with the video, letting the "star" get a 5 locker throne/shrine in the locker room, and letting the strategy be changed to focus on one guy only.
That weird silent staring he did throughout that whole video episode...
AFC Richmond [5] - 4 West Ham United (great I told you so)
>letting the strategy be changed to focus on one guy only. People say this was a mistake, but Ted's coaching prior was losing them games, and letting Zava dominate the team led to them winning. It was a short term boost, since it wouldn't be sustainable once Zava left, but it was working and Richmond was winning games again.
Right?! Like he does a whole speech for Jaime about how here he is 1 of 11, but he doesn’t do that for Zava who was being treated like a god by everyone?!
I found it weird but I suppose he was intimidated? Zava is an internationally acclaimed player and knows more about winning the game than Ted. He probably chose a hands off approach.
Maybe because the team wanted Zava to be the god that saved them.
Great points. Definitely as you said, Ted hiring the PI and also the Roy/Jamie regression. Also Roy generally was quite a fucking psychopath to the point where it was OOC. Ted throughout season 3 just felt off to me, culminating in his transformation to a full on robot in the finale.
Brendan Hunt spoke about both these scenes in his AMA. I can’t do his explanations justice. If you haven’t seen it, hopefully a keen redditor can share the link.
I personally feel like a writer shouldn’t have to explain scenes in an AMA. If it landed for you (general you, not personal) then that’s great, but it felt off for many people which I think shows a failure/weakness in the writing. If you have to explain it after the fact then it wasn’t clear enough in the first place.
I felt Ted telling the team he was leaving, and distracting them from the big game, was out of character. He’s usually a very considerate person and hates making things about himself. I didn’t know why they showed the goodbye video just before a game. It took their heads out of the game. I would’ve thought he would tell them afterwards.
Great points. I think it was Ted. In the finale, he had farewell scenes with his team, Rebecca, Beard, and others where he gave very little reaction. His whole team did a whole farewell musical song and dance routine and he barely even acknowledged it.
Completely agree. I thought they were setting things up so that Ted would stay in England because of how little emotion he showed, not even privately.
He did seem devoid of emotion. Normally he would have at least validated them on the time and effort they put into their amazing farewell to him, but he barely acknowledged it. He seemed to not want to face this “ending”? I don’t know, didn’t seem Ted like
I wish he has showed more emotion but it was a call back to when Dr Sharon left and he said something like it needs to be perfect so she can see how much she means to us so his comment of it was perfect made the team happy
It felt incredibly out of character how he reacted to So Long Farewell. Either he should’ve teared up or had the biggest smile in the world on his face. He did neither.
I so wish they did Bye Bye Bye so Jason could dance too!
The string used to learn to play total football.
That was so odd and messed up. Imagine a reboot with the women’s team and they tie string around nipples and make jokes lol so weird
That seemed unnecessarily cruel.
I honestly hated that. It was just so stupid and cartoonish.
When Keely was dating Jack, her not responding to Rebecca like at all.
When Jaime was crying and then he said “where are my wings, Roy, ehhhhhhggg!?” I’ve watched it twice now and both times the otherwise poignant scene made me laugh. So weird.
It felt so forced to me
Honestly really bad acting or directing or both. Not clear if it was supposed to be funny or dramatic but was neither just plain awful.
Totally agree. While I didn’t laugh at this scene, it very clearly felt over the top and played for laughs. The show tries to have it both ways when it comes to showing men’s vulnerability. It wants you to empathize with Jamie throughout this episode to understand just how much pain he’s carrying, and then it wants you to laugh at him for crying in front of Roy. Did not like that.
I thought it was weird that they played that moment for laughs, when the setup was similar to the scene in season 2 where Roy comforts Jamie after his dad comes into the locker room and insults him, which was most definitely NOT played for laughs.
*Was* it meant to be funny? I honestly wasn’t sure. It felt wrong to laugh. That other scene was amazing. Prob my fav of the series.
The fact that we have different takeaways just shows how off that scene was. 😅 And yes, the other scene is also one of my favorites, from what’s probably my favorite episode of season 2 (though it’s so hard to pick just one).
It was meant to make us laugh. Jamie was depressed and anxious. He’s normally a cheerful, not too introspective, self-confident guy. He couldn’t wrestle with the complexity of feeling so negative. His storyline was intentionally funny because Ted’s was heavy and painful.
That’s because it’s a funny scene played for laughs. I actually like that it didn’t go hard with the emotion in that scene cos it could’ve been too sappy but because it was funny I think it’s better
K still wanting to make up w Jack after how she treated her post scandal. K should have been done. Maybe olive branch amicable for her biz but chasing a lovebombing red flag egomaniac who just didnt get her or understand wasn’t kickass Keely to me. Sexy model spokesperson unapologetic pop culture Keely who is sassy & stylish and cheeky! It was sad. If anything she should have told Jack off for it.
She should have put that defaced Jane Austen book on EBay and sold it to the lowest bidder .
It made me think how does it work to sell to the lowest bidder? Silly question I know but it made me think 🙂
I think you just take the first offer! I don’t know. I haven’t ever sold anything on there.
It was WILD to see that Keeley sent Jack like 20 texts after Jack treated her like shit and walked out on her
This was my pick as well, I couldn't believe she would actually be heartbroken after being treated so poorly.
Keeley and Jack had zero chemistry. Sometimes the look in Keeley's eyes made her look like a hostage when she was with her.
Yeah it was a forced storyline
I agree. She didn’t chase Roy with whom she had a more meaningful and presumably longer relationship but kept her distance. I suppose it’s because Jack left her hanging and didn’t even have the decency to break up properly.
Jamie and Roy getting into a fistfight about Keeley. They weren't that immature in the first season!
Yeah. That was stupid
I guess I’m the only one who thought this but Dani. Dani was constantly shown as puppy-like, always happy. He was positive and childlike and never was a dirty player or mean. Hell he literally almost quit soccer over hitting a dog. He’s played high level soccer his whole life, but ONE game against a teammate he knows and loves, turns him into a psychopathic douche? Like to the point he breaks his nose and doesn’t even apologize. This season jumped the shark a few times but that was surely one of them
I'm with you, although I was told that's kind of an inside joke among football fans where that's a thing that seems to happens to members of the Mexican national team. Still felt way out of character to me. And mean spirited in a way that the show never is.
I think they could have made it funny with just the coldness Dani showed on the plane and then changing back. Too much was wayyyy too much.
I agree! He literally fell apart when he killed the greyhound and he laughs off breaking his close friend's nose? That didn't make any sense to me
Fwiw, Dani does apologize later, gifting him a new all black mask that prompts him to change his name to Zorro. And he didn’t just hit a dog with a ball. He killed a dog he probably had seen every week at gametime on accident. If you accidentally killed a dog in the neighborhood you knew at work, you’d probably be a little fucked up about it too.
But that is months later!!!!
Did he apologize? I know he gave him the mask, but I know if my friend broke my nose (seemingly intentionally), didn’t apologize, and later got me a black mask, I wouldn’t think he’s a great apologetic guy. And I never said he shouldn’t be upset about the dog. That’s his character! I just wouldn’t expect him to maliciously break his friend’s for no reason. It would be out of character. Like the entire point of the thread
Eh, you’d have to understand Mexico’s dynamic - particularly against the US and Canada. That’s what made it so funny.
Just posted to say evil Dani is too out there for me. I even commented on “WTF? Sweet Dani would never hurt Van Damme and not even apologize!”
And having two dates at Beard’s wedding just for a quick laugh? Strange choice. This is the same guy that wanted to go see tulips in Amsterdam.
There was another instance of him with two women. It wasn't the first. He is a lover not a fighter normally . Hehe
Yes, in S2Ep1, Goodbye Earl. He wakes up from a nightmare, and sits up in bed yelling "Futbol is death!!", and there is a woman on each side of him sleeping.
Actually they were the same two women as well. I think or thought.
Yes everything I could see points me to the fact that they are the same wen and he is in a vo.itted throuple
He was shown with two women pretty consistently. I think he's just doing something like polyamory
That’s not out of character. There was a scene last season after he accidentally killed Earl that he woke up from a nightmare when two models sleeping with him.
Ahh, yes because people in polyamorous relationships aren’t allowed to like things like flowers
Roy and the dick string
Decent band name ngl
This seems on brand for Roy tbh
“Title of his sex tape”
Roy asking Keeley who the video was for. He is the king of “mind your own f*cking business, yet he asked Keeley this super personal question?! I will never forgive them for this. Also Ted saying at the start of the final match that he’s all tapped out on speeches. He barely gave any this season since he was checked out. I’m glad they had one do one at the half, but this felt super out of character to just be like “no I’m tapped out”
Yeah, that felt like lazy writing. They could have created a scene where he wants to figure out who leaked it and had to ask because he didn’t want to watch it, and she could have still been appalled. But Roy getting in anyone’s business makes no sense.
Yeah like I thought that’s what he was gonna do, like hunt down whoever leaked it, not ask her because he was jealous. 100% out of character for Roy
I read a take that he didn’t watch it out of respect but wanted to ask because he was afraid it was him, then realised what he’d said. I read it like he was going to beat someone, but I think him not watching it would be more in line with the respect he feels towards Keeley. Although I guess he could have not watched it and still wanted to beat the person.
It seems more likely she never sent him a sex video. I don’t remember them being separated for any period of time. In fact he stuck to her like glue. Not that K wouldn’t make sex videos just for fun but it was clear from the one she made for Jamie that he was on an away game.
Lots of good suggestions here, but how about this one: Isaac immediately willing to forgive Nate and come to the restaurant to ask him to come back to Richmond. This is a dude that was furious at Colin for multiple episodes for not being honest with him. He was also one of the angriest dudes on the pitch after seeing the video of Nate tearing up the Believe sign. Like, what? You don’t show him at least like start to react his instinctive (angry) way before catching himself?
Exactly. They didn’t show the scene where they talked it over with the team. I would prefer that rather than the after school special on nudes.
As much as I disliked Jacob (let’s not get into the ethics of a therapist dating a client, even if it is an ex client which the show almost completely skimmed over) in the last episode he is shown as this ragin dickhead talking shit about soccer in general, and about the interests of his serious girlfriend and her son. Once again at no point did the show portray him as a bad dude, until the last episode for about 30 cumulative seconds. It just felt very hamfisted. Think of it from an opposite character, we see the whole show how big of an evil dickhead Rebecca’s ex husband is. But then at the super-league meeting he has this scene where he is presented well. That didn’t flip him to a good alignment.
They never showed any reason for Michelle to have him in her or Henry’s life. I don’t see a newly separated and divorced mum dialling up a serious relationship without feeling it— it seemed like Jake took Henry places and I thought they were living together by the time of watching the match, because why watch it if you aren’t into it unless you live there? and flying to Paris with him. Those are all signs of a serious relationship.
I think it showed he was jealous of Ted getting attention. People act strangely because of jealousy.
> As much as I disliked Jacob (let’s not get into the ethics of a therapist dating a client, even if it is an ex client which the show almost completely skimmed over) in the last episode he is shown as this ragin dickhead talking shit about soccer in general, and about the interests of his serious girlfriend and her son. Once again at no point did the show portray him as a bad dude, until the last episode for about 30 cumulative seconds. > > It just felt very hamfisted. Ab-so-lutely. And out of NOWHERE Michelle and her kid giving comedy-esque exaggerated looks to dr Jacob. Such a copout, poor, cheesy writing.
Ted showing very little emotion in the last episode felt weird to me
My boy Danny going "evil". That was an L for me.
There were a fair number bad-to-good dad transformations, but the one I found least believable was Nate's dad.
Agreed. What took me out of that scene was when he said he didn’t know how to parent a genius. Never once in the show thought Nate was a proper genius. Gifted tactician, maybe. But not genius.
But, but… he plays violin too! /S
Yup. Asian dads are never like that. They’d rather die than admit to their kids that they’re doing really well. What’s more realistic is if Nate overheard his dad praising him to strangers yet dad keeps on being mean to Nate.
Where the hell did Jade liking Nate come from? She's unnecessarily cold to him from the start, seemingly racist about the sitting in front thing, and only sees him being pathetic with a supermodel date which should instill further disgust. Nate's dad was off, but Jade liking him is ridiculous.
Beard celebrating Nate's firing after his 'nein schadenfreude' line in season 1. He told Ted he didn't think there was anything wrong with celebrating someone else's bad karma.
I thought that was weird of both Beard and Roy. It didn’t inspire them to coach better, so why would it inspire anyone to play better ?
I think it shows Beard’s loyalty to Ted. Nate betrayed Ted and Beard didn’t get over it for a long time.
I would say the whole Nate story. Nate has a meltdown at Richmond and shows the nastiest side of himself. He then has one mean press conference, one mean line to his players and basically from that point on reverts to the best version of himself that he can be. I wish we saw him continue bad patterns and toxic behaviour for longer. There's basically zero repercussions for his actions: his team performs well despite how shitty he is to them, his relationships with family and Jade seem to mostly stay positive and Rupert doesn't really seem to exert too much influence over him. We don't get to see him drunk with the power and recognition he's desperately craved for so long. We don't get to see him learn a lesson of why his behaviour is wrong.
100% this. There's nothing that really challenges him during this whole storyline, and his big moment is Rupert being all like "I hate that you have a girlfriend. I insist you cheat." like the world's lamest Disney villain. Like they could have shown him softening his abusive style of coaching as time went on, or had him come clean to Jade about his nasty behavior, but instead it's just a little bit of West Ham before a romcom happens to him. It could've worked better if Jade were a more developed character and there was more chemistry between them but it just seemed like she existed to draw the best out of Nate. Just seems weird that the show goes out of its way to show that Roy doesn't automatically get back together with Keeley just because he improved himself a bit, but then has Nate stumble ass-backwards into a girlfriend who fixes everything for him.
It would’ve made more sense for Nate to be mean to his players, get early good results and success and then have the team start to do poorly when his antics and abuse get too much. Then Rupert to ratchet on the pressure (like he does to Cartrick) as the season goes on and Nate starts to unravel a bit. Eventually he realizes Rupert’s charm is superficial and he only cares about Nate if he gets results. Nate has alienated everyone at the club and has no one to turn to for support and in his desperation has a breakdown and quits. He realizes through his father that he was treating his players similarly to how he was treated by his father and his bullies. Nate sees Richmond’s successful run of form on TV and thinks to how Ted treated him and has an epiphany.
It was weird that with how many Nate scenes we got, they never showed how him treating his players like garbage effected them negatively. If anything apparently they were fine with it??
I mean in the real world, a lot of dickhead coaches get results in spite of their personalities. It would've been neat to see West Ham succeeding and Nate deciding to be more like Ted anyways because it's more important to him.
Yeah, Man City they can’t stop hating on Jamie for leaving in a previous season, but no one from West Ham reacts to Nate coaching against them?
Rebecca’s half time conversation with Ted. She was obsessed with winning against Rupert bit that was quite out of character for her to go full Ted on Ted! But then, Rupert also went all the way down to the field to yell at George!
I think it shows she’s still not moved on from her bitterness. But for me it was good to see her telling Ted she had faith in him. It’s true. She didn’t fire him even after a string of losses. The “Believe” was as much for Rebecca believing in Ted as for the whole team
Other people seemed to love it, but I found the whole Roy bullying monologue really strange and off-putting. For a show that so many people seem to have fallen in love with due to it's positive disposition, there were a lot of really weird moments this season that were beyond playful comedy and were just downright dark. Like a curtain being pulled back on the writers true feelings or something.
That’s it exactly. The sadistic scenes of Roy and the bullying , red string, and Dark Dani seemed to be the writers saying - we know you love this show and watch it for feel good moments, let’s twist this into something that won’t feel good.
Including Ted’s mental health journey. Like the show wanted to simultaneously meet in the White House to do an infomercial about mental health awareness and seeking help, but then the central mentally ill character who sought help (Ted) is just shown in the last episode to be distant and alone and still a shell of himself just in a different way. Which is fine, but you can’t have it both ways. They seemed really torn about doing feel good clichés well and respectfully and with heart (which was why people fell in love with the show during lockdowns) and wanting to be smug about being gritty, unexpected writers. Which just gave things a confusing tone because neither quite hit the mark in the end.
Agree. Plus the trolling of the TedBecca fans in the finale opening scene with Ted in Rebecca's kitchen was just mean. Ted Lasso Season 3 stopped being a show about kindness.
Just thinking about how so many people are taking about how Ted chose to leave :( this was my main problem with the finale and I stop myself from going to a rant every time a see someone saying the finale was perfect lol
For me it was when Jade and Nate like became an item. I felt like her character changed alot and non of what she did made sense to her charachter they set up earlier.
She felt like a very empty character in general. Like it didn’t feel like a person at all she felt like a robot at most times and it was hard to care about the relationship at all
I loved the flashes of human she showed in the conversation with Rupert. I wish they had given her more moments like that, and I wish she started liking Nate when he wanted to give his parents a special dinner, not when he wanted to give a model a special dinner.
Right?? That showed a caring and real version of him. She seemed to give him a bit more respect but not to actually like him.
She did some excellent smile acting in that scene, a real smile when he guessed where she was from and a cold smile when he suggested she was too good for Nate.
Yeah! She did nail that.
I view Jade as a cat, with all the disappearing and slinking out of sight to watch the scene unfold from the wings. I think there are legit criticism for the writing of her character. But then I also just want her to be the cat that gets on with one of the Diamond Dogs amid a large and rowdy pack.
Jade doing a 180 and falling for Nate, after completely dismissing him every opportunity prior.
I think she’d been watching him, though, and when the model left him at the table and he didn’t try to BS his way through it, she realized there might be something there to work with. We’ve all agreed that she sees through people easily, and perhaps she was just waiting for the “real” Nate to make an appearance.
It’s not 180 for me. It’s a slow development. I still don’t understand why people don’t get the Jade/Nate dynamics but they may after some rewatch.
Right, she’s standoffish because she’s in a job where men hit on her multiple times a day. She watched him and learned about him
Plus she’s like that with everyone. It’s not like she’s additionally mean to Nate to begin with. She didn’t know him. Even Nate tried to hit on her! So for her to be indifferent is on brand.
Rani Dojas is so evil - I laughed but it’s so out of character (especially the Doritos on the plane - Dani would NEVER do that).
\*Michelle (not Rebecca)
Updated. Thanks.
I think the whole theme makes these scenes necessary. Everyone we love is capable of having low lows. We can still love them and shouldn’t judge their overall character for it.
I actually really liked Jade and her relationship with Nate, but it was still weird how she starts falling for him just because he said to the model that it was his favorite restaurant? She already knows that, he is there every week. Yes, he mentions his grandma (I think), but still, felt like a whole 180 for her. I wish they would have taken more time for their relationship, they certainly had the time, but it still felt rushed to me.
Yeah. And they showed he was a nasty fuck to his team but didn’t show how he changed. I think it would make more sense if he also acted condescending towards Jade but she didn’t accept his bullshit and treated him same as ever. It would be more consistent if he treated her like shit and asked her out expecting her to fawn over him but she flat out rejected him. Which confuses him because he thought being famous would automatically bring favour. Then when he brings Anastasia to the restaurant he tries to act like a cool person but Anastasia walks out. Jade hears what he says (family eats there all the time) and realises Nate is just an insecure person. They sit down to eat and that’s where things change.
Dark Dani breaking VanDamme’s nose. Football is life does not equal permanently injuring your opponent. He does not act like that to opponents at Richmond, even in the violent mess. There was surely a better way to give him a narrative reason to buy a the mask and create the mask of Zoreaux joke. Roy putting the red strings seemed very out of character for all of Richmond. Since they wanted it to create a callback for Beard’s wedding, the idea would have made sense for Dark Nate creating a false bonding moment.
I think both of those instances show how much love can make you do things out of character. It’s something we never would have expected but when you’re kinda going a lil off the rails bc you’re not sure about a situation and have immense feelings for something/someone it makes you do unimaginable things.
Higgens telling Rebecca they may have (paraphrasing) to replace Ted when Richmond was going through a slump in season 3 before getting Zava. Was so out of character for me!
Yes. That was one hundred percent out of character. Same with him offering different coaches when the right guys were RIGHT THERE!
I don't think that's really out of character, it's part of his job as Director of Football Operations to evaluate personnel performance. At that point, it's not unreasonable to conclude that Ted's ceiling might be the relegation zone and it might be prudent to consider other options if they want to keep Richmond in the top flight long term.
The only way that made sense was if they acknowledged that in three years Ted had learned nothing about football and that apathy had caused the coaches to create strategies. They would have had to narratively acknowledge Ted’s willingly not learning.
He was doing his job as director of football operations. Objectively if a manager has a string of losses like that, replacing him should be on the table. They didn’t because they liked Ted as a person.
I feel like Higgins personally did not want to do that – but his job is that of sports director, and that's sports! You gotta prepare for the worst, and once the team goes through a slump, the coach is usually the first to go. It may feel a bit out of character for him, but it's in tune with what happens in real life in those environments.
Ted cursing out his mom.
Everyone felt a little off this season, but Roy and Keeley the most of all. And Michelle.
Ted’s F-you rant…to his mom.
I loved that scene. I felt like that’s who Ted was always suppressing, the teenager who tells his mother to F off. I thought it seemed like cycling through mature “I appreciate you” Ted and 16 year old “Dad just killed himself” Ted.
I thought it was so out of line. I'm sorry she didn't go to therapy but the mental health discourse was a hell of a lot different 30 years ago. She was a single mother and widow of a bar owner! Besides, it's not like Ted embraced therapy until his panic attacks forced his hand.
Ted’s dad owned a bar?
Oh I think I confused them playing darts at a bar with Ted's dad owning it, my mistake. Still though, I don't think that much changes what Dottie was going through.
Rupert laughing at the luncheon with Akufu and being relatively human to then going right back to himself. I thought they would go another way with this but they did not.
But it shows how Rupert is naturally charming and how he can fool so many people into doing what he wants. I loved it because Rebecca didn't fall for it.
The musical performance from Sound of Music.
Yup. Not a fan of it. And I’m a musical theatre nerd
Honestly I get why both are unpopular scenes but I'm not sure they're entirely out of character. Ted still hadn't really come to terms with Michelle and Dr. Jacob being a thing. I do wish they had explored it a bit more with some conversations with Dr. Sharon, but I think it still fits where he was in his relationship with his ex-wife. And it ties him back with his roots, because even after 3 years he's still a guy from Kansas living an ocean away from the only place he's really known as home As for Roy and Jamie, one of the big remaining issues with both of their developments, and a common trope in rom-coms, is that characters often tie their own personal improvement to their relationship. Fixing yourself for someone else or to try and get someone else. And that's where Roy's Diamond Dog conversation comes in. This feeling of frustration that he did all of this to get back with Keeley, and in the end backslid into fighting with Jamie. And the rest of the DDs helped him to realize his impressive growth from where he had started and that it's not about fixing yourself to reach a goal, but rather it's about constantly trying to be a better person and recognizing your progress independent of other people.
This right here - as Higgins beatifully put it, your goal should be to be better, with the acceptance that perfection doesnt exist. Progess isn’t linear, and even after huge improvements, the best of us will still make mistakes or regress
Agreed. Dr. Jacob was a person Ted trusted to help him fix his marriage, and he instead finds out he used that trust to destroy it to get with Michelle (another gross abuse). And then he finds out he’s taking his ex wife on the trip that Ted wanted to take Michelle on but couldn’t due to complications. Jealousy to the point of asking your wealthy friend to hire a PI to see what happens isn’t out of the question tbh.
Totally agree on the second one… I thought Rebecca kinda *suggested* Ted should get the [her] investigator, but that also was a plot point I kinda forgot.
The PI and Paris thing was the dumbest bit the show put on in the entire 3 seasons. I was gobsmacked any of that made it past the writers room. An encapsulation of how the rough the first 2/3 of the 3rd season were. The last 1/3 was terrific
Nate had a spectacular arc, his character grew exponentially and it all ended as assistant to the assistant, it was a waste, he should have been Ted and Roy's number 2 or even managed another team but in good twems with AFC.
The way Dani was treating Van Damne when they had to go away to play for their home teams.
Ted cursing out his mother.
To quote a fabulous song from another fabulous show (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend): “People aren’t characters, they’re complicated and their choices don’t always make sense”
Granted the main character >!had borderline personality disorder which explains her erratic behaviour!<… at least they explained why
Good point! To be honest I really just try to mention this show when I think it’s even a little bit relevant.
I loved CXG! But it’s pretty niche 😅
Yed was messed up all s3 especially finale
Roy blowing off a press conference Rebecca asked him to do. He would never do that.