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The latest episode of Ted Lasso is called ‘Man City’ and it’s all about the big game against said Man City team, the same one that sent Richmond down to relegation last season. Of course the Manchester folk are the highly favored team, and our band of scamps have their work cut out for them. But as per usual, the game is really a vehicle for the underlying dramas that have been coming to a boil.
The most controversial (to me) storyline is the resolution of the Sam/Rebecca tease of many episodes as Sam directly asks out his mystery app lady friend. This leads to him getting a fancy haircut from team captain Isaac in a runner that keeps going as we keep hearing people compliment his new haircut. At first, Rebecca immediately wants to leave, recognizing both the ethical issue (that she’s the boss) and kinda iffy issue (he’s only twenty-one and she’s certainly over twice that).
Good on her, but Sam is charming and persuasive enough to get her to lower her guard and actually hang out for a montage dinner of rapport — and she even kisses him before recoiling, saying ‘she has to mean it.’ Right, seems reasonable enough, but then she hears Sam in his post-game chat to the press and either is affected directly or realizes that his speech is entirely meant for her (for of course it is).
Sam is certainly charismatic and charming, even if the actor that portrays him is 24-years old instead of 21 — honestly 21 seems very young, borderline predatory for someone in a position of authority. Although the two are both consenting adults and the episode certainly codes the relationship as a positive thing — at this though, I’m not so sure.
The rest of the episode is about admitting vulnerability and how that can change things for the better. The simplest case is Roy admitting that he maybe, just maybe, curses too much around Phoebe, but it only gets more complicated from there. Another throughline is Jamie’s narrative, starting with his noticing Sam’s great relationship with his father. There’s a subtle Apple supplied reference here, Jamie labels his father ‘Dad’ in quotes but Sam doesn’t use them, of course.
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Jamie then has a pleasant talk with Higgins, who offers that he loves his own father for who he is and forgives him for who he isn’t. But Jamie’s father is a different sort, a real selfish dick, someone who seems to only contact his son to get access to VIP tickets and the locker room. That final scene where he berates Jamie and the Richmond boys is quite something, he admittedly has some cojones to call them all ‘amateurs, no offense!’ right there.
But after continuing to push and push, he eventually literally pushes Jamie, who punches his father in the face. The look of everyone is quite something, even Sam and Nate are shocked — and the episode had several moments of Jamie integrating quite well with the team, even recognizing the holy nature of the Isaac haircut more than Dutch honest boy Jan.
So when it’s Roy who breaks the silence by hugging his onetime rival, it’s quite a powerful moment, and we see Jamie crying in public surrounded by his teammates. It’s the impetus to get Ted to finally get over his own vulnerability hump.
Because the other storyline is Ted and Sharon and how he supports her, albeit in his sort of cheery, often annoying way, after her hospital visit and concussion after getting hit by a car. After getting some great advice from a friend/other therapist(I’m not sure entirely), Sharon is vulnerable with Ted, and he does seem to actually appreciate it. So at the end, Ted reveals the hidden truth many of us have suspected but dared not speak aloud — that his father committed suicide when Ted was only 16.
Father issues run rampant through Ted Lasso in general and this episode in particular — after all, Roy is portrayed here as the father figure toward his niece as her biological father is somewhere else.
Some other notes — the episode seemingly resolves the Cerithium Oil issue by having them barred from drilling in Nigeria, which is something that seems quite significant. I liked seeing a few little subtle touches, like Phoebe saying ‘no’ in a gruff Roy voice, Keeley now sincerely shouting ‘Referee!’ (at real life controversial ref Mike Dean), and Jason Sudekis throwing in some of his SNL impressions to make us and Sharon crack up.
But this was quite a strong, powerful episode, leaving me with a lot of momentum and questions going forward. I mean Nate and his problems are still unresolved too. Who can say what might come next, but this was a very difficult, often very funny episode to set up the rest of the season.
What did you think of this episode? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
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