Ted Lasso 3x11 Edited & Full

@Juliette - Sorry I haven't commented in a while. I'm trying to catch up to your current releases and this episode requires a response. First off, they didn't have any plans to make more episodes after ep 12 of season 3. It is only because the characters wouldn't leave Jason's head alone and he needed to get them on the screen that they went back to make season 4. I'm sure that Apple giving them boatloads of cash had nothing to do with it. I love this episode for many reasons. The main reason is Ted's talk with his mom. I like how he spent the episode poking and prodding her to see how best to confront her with his truth. For example, he asked her if she ever explored talking to a therapist herself. I like how he took the template that Jamie gave him to make the world's weirdest compliment sandwich to express himself. Ted's experience when he was 16 y/o shaped the course of his life. He was traumatized by finding his father and having to deal with (or not, in his case) that loss. Mental health in the mid 1990s was so stigmatized and under appreciated that it's not surprising at all that he wasn't able to get the care that he needed. He also grew up in the Midwest which is known culturally for its stoicism and keep-your-troubles-to-yourself mentality. A kid would have had a tough/impossible time seeking appropriate help without a parent advocating for them. Dottie was deep in her own grief and unable to be that parent for young Ted. Unfortunately, he hasn't had people in his life that were able to get underneath his constant optimism and see that he really needs help. Finally, I want to highlight the song, "Fought and Lost" by Sam Ryder. It played after Ted and Dottie's kitchen conversation. It is an excellent song and a must listen for any sports fan and/or anyone who has lost in life. There is a version that Ryder features Bryan May (guitarist from Queen) that, if you squint, sounds like a vintage Queen song. I think it is amazing knowing that Bryan is tangentially associated with Ted Lasso as the writers are obviously huge fans given the number of times that the band is featured in the dialogue and soundtrack.

In a book about Awe (written by Dacher Keltner), it talks about how we experience awe in so many ways -- in nature and art and more -- but that the thing that moves us to awe the most is witnessing people practicing acts of "moral beauty". Witnessing an act of forgiveness can be that and even what might seem like simple acts of kindness can do it too, I think. I wonder if that isn't the source of this show's emotional impact and why it resonates with so many.

"This Be the Verse" (They fuck you up...) is by Phillip Larkin. I used to use it to teach meter & rhythm in poetry. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48419/this-be-the-verse

Well you did say recently that you know it was a good episode when you have a completely wet tissue ;) Ted's mother was fun, as was seeing Nate try his hand as waiter. It was a nice call back to season 1 to see a poster of Roy on Jamie's bedroom wall just as he said he had.