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The latest episode of Ted Lasso is called ‘Sunflowers’ and takes place entirely in Amsterdam — but this is no ‘Beard Gone Amuck’ episode, this makes very specific and meaningful choices on the parts of our characters. Some of it, like the Jamie/Roy stuff feels a little lesser in the scheme of things, more a continuation of the same theme of those two and their journey this season. But there are some major moments here.
We join the episode after an exhibition match between Richmond and a Dutch team in Amsterdam where our friends have suffered a morale-crushing loss of 5-0. Jan Maas is there to give some local connection and brutal honesty — his ‘luckily our spirits were already broken’ is exactly what you’d expect to hear from him. No wonder he loved Roy Kent’s overly acerbic response to a polite reporter (Anwar Lachman credited as ‘Anwar the Reporter’ but he is an actor by trade).
I also had to chuckle at the sign of ‘Zava (2013-2013)’ which seems about right about that chaotic individual. Roy’s anger comes directly from Rebecca mentioning Keeley’s new boss and lover Jack flying her off to Norway — some that believe they deserve her, Rebecca says, which we certainly know by now is not how Roy thinks of himself. Later on in a moment of self-reflection, Roy admits he’s being overly mean to Jamie because of his own negative emotions, but yet he also learns how to ride a bike.
It’s the sort of thing one is meant to learn as a child, but there’s a primal joy to figuring it out — even as an adult. Whether or not their search for a real windmill is a Don Quixote ’tilting at windmills’ reference or simply a joy of the little victories, Roy and Jamie are able to share some legitimate bonding time. Jamie even shares with him and us more awful stories of his father and much fonder ones of his mother while in Amsterdam — no wonder he’s memorized a bunch of random trivia about the city.
Rebecca and Ted have two parallel tales of realization, which becomes apparent when both of their worlds change after drinking tea (this is a clear note because of how the scenes directly juxtapose each other). Rebecca falls into a river, which certainly feels like a direct connection to the psychic’s apparently accurate prediction — so I guess we have to now say supernatural stuff (other than Santa) exists in the world of Ted Lasso. What other supernatural stuff could there be?
I don’t know … psychics in TV shows often fall in the realm of ‘magical realism’ which is when things are supernatural without breaking the world, usually things like changing the past, switching bodies, etc. This show has never really been that show, and I’m really conflicted about its inclusion here — I suppose I’ll hold my breath to see if it gets resolved, but I’m certainly not pleased about its inclusion so far.
Rebecca’s intense, flirtatious vibe with a never named Dutch man (Matteo van der Grijn) on his houseboat is an interesting one. The man is charming, even if it’s one of those ‘if it wasn’t on a TV show or movie it’d be problematic and not romantic’ situations. Similar to the Jack/Keeley vibes, which sure do feel inappropriate (boss/employee) despite how the show is coding it as a romantic. It’s an interesting connection to the untranslatable Dutch word of ‘Gezellig’ that is dropped, which is sometimes called the quintessential Dutch word.
There are some interesting musical drops in this episode, starting with Rebecca singing Kenny Rogers’ ‘She Believes in Me’ with the Dutch charmer, or ‘Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head’ when Roy figures his bicycling out. Later we see Higgins jazz out with William Kitman delighting in the audience (not to mention getting propositioned for a threesome, as we find out later in the one of the funnier moments of the episode) to the tunes of ‘Let’s Get Lost’ by the late Chet Baker, who died mysteriously in Amsterdam.
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That tune is used as a montage moment between all of the storylines, including the ‘coming out’ tale of Colin, who is confronted by Trent but in a supportive way. Trent reveals his own coming out story, confirmed a long-running fan theory about his sexuality. Colin meaningfully talks about ‘aching’ to combine his two lives (work life and dating life) into one after meeting with Dr. Sharon. As someone on a major sports team, he is aware of the pitfalls of being a ‘spokesperson’ when he just wants to live his life like the other guys do, just with his own partner. His realization and reconnection is a meaningful one — and hopefully it means that Trent isn’t going to out Colin without permission.
The team ends up having the most comical storyline (aside from the delightfully brief Piggy Stardust moment with Beard) with their inability to decide what to do about anything, definitely something about their lack of coherence. So they end up with a delirious pillow fight, childish in its own way, but a playful togetherness that’s an interesting realization of its own — a way to be a team is to be free in a new way that’s an old way.
This realization comes from Ted too, who suffers from the ‘fake placebo trip’ storyline that I liked a lot more until that ‘dud batch’ joke which was already successfully punctured by Futurama and The Simpsons in ways that should’ve killed this joke. But the rest of Ted’s journey is far more interesting, seeing his pulsing visions of mystery and pondering what it all might mean.
Guesting as voices in his vision (as per the show’s credits) are ‘Marv Albert as Himself’, ‘God as Herself’ and old school voice actor Corey Burton as The True Spirit of Adventure guiding Ted toward realization. Although Beard reveals that the free, open strategy Ted thought he invented was actually invented in Amsterdam decades prior, it’s 100% the sort of idea they should be using for their particular cast of characters.
That it’s Dutch does seem intentional because ‘Total Football’ (or in Dutch ‘totaalvoetbal’) is a real historical concept and feels perfectly aligned with the journey the team is making. And the Yankee Doodle Burger Barn American-style restaurant where he finds it feels delightfully on point. As we hear earlier from a docent in an exhibition of Van Gogh, one should never stop searching for beauty, when you find it, you find inspiration. And that when you know what you’re supposed to be doing, never stop trying.
The episode ends with the familiar Bob Marley song ‘Everything’s Gonna Be Alright’ which does seem to be intentionally setting us up for success, doesn’t it? Makes me wonder how the rest of the season is going to go now that we’ve seen hints of the bottom of the barrel. It’s interesting to see the little micro-storylines here, people learning things on their own, only to join up again as a team. It feels like an episode that means a lot, but there were still a lot of pretty fun and charming moments along the way.
What did you think of this episode? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
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