Ted Lasso – Don’t Jump Around Much Anymore Review

This week’s episode of Ted Lasso was a weird one. On the one hand, there were several really lovely sections that went a long way at fleshing out key characters within the season. And on the other, there were moments so outlandish and strange that they went beyond the point of stretching the bounds of believability and made me genuinely want to fast forward (which, on a second watch before writing this review, I ended up doing). I loved the Alice arc (although that last moment with her, Lizzie, and Gemma has me a touch worried, which I’ll get into in a minute), having Jamie back was an utter delight, seeing the team out having fun was nice, and those moments between Ted and Michelle were well-earned and crucial for wherever the series goes from here with both of their characters. But the rest of the stuff on the boat – and the return of the Pub Quiz Bros – were major misses for me, as was the latest installment in the tortured romance of Keeley and Roy, which added yet another bad romance trope to the ever-growing list of bad tropes.

I’ve been pretty clear that Alice is the character I’m most interested in this season out of the slate of newbies on the show, and we got a ton of great moments with her this time around. From meeting her incredibly supportive partner for the first time (yes, the woman in the photo on her desk is her partner – name yet unknown), to seeing just who Alice is when she’s not trying to navigate the world of the Lady Greyhounds, it was great to get a look into who she is as a normal civilian. And that person? She’s great. Yes, she’s anxious, clearly an introvert, and really worried about what other people think about her – so much so that she’s definitely built a wall around herself to prevent everyone from getting too close, lest they see that she’s really just trying to fake it til she makes it as a coach. Super relatable. And that conversation with Gemma, where Alice was finally able to be vulnerable and apologize for her treatment of Gemma, both now and in the past? Great, no notes. And then the writers had to slide in and send Alice back those three steps I talked about last week.

I can wholly understand her frustration with Gemma telling the team about what Alice believed was a personal conversation between the two of them, burying the hatchet and moving forward. And I can also understand that Gemma thought telling the team would be helpful, since she knows they don’t hate Alice and perhaps if they show her that, she’ll feel better about her role there. So, everything there makes sense, particularly with what we learned about Alice at the start of the episode. But it’s just frustrating that we see Alice make progress with her anxiety and her relationship with Gemma and then it all gets tossed away – presumably so that Ted can somehow be involved in whatever ultimate growth she makes before the close of the season. Why can’t this just be the first building block in Alice becoming more sure of herself, trusting her players, and understanding that she doesn’t need to be loved to be respected? But we instead get her running away, hurt, and back to square one. We only have a couple more episodes left this season and that’s not a lot of runway to show us Alice’s growth. So having her make headway with Gemma on a neutral playing field would have been such a smart move to set her on the path the show seems to want her to be on.

The one arc I really loved this episode was that of Ted and Michelle, where we got to see what adults can do when they take the time to work through misconceptions, listen, and accept what they learn. The truth about Michelle’s relationship with their former therapist was interesting to hear – although he still shouldn’t have dated her under any circumstances – and it helps Ted to better understand his misplaced anger. It also tells us that Michelle wasn’t preyed upon or a victim – she made a clear choice, and she did so after her and Ted were truly done. Important information to rehabilitate her image. The reveal that she still loves Ted, albeit platonically, was also great to see – although I wouldn’t be shocked if they tried again at some point down the line. The final revelation, that Michelle was the one behind the famous BELIEVE sign (and that she has made Ted a new one) was also a nice touch. Having Michele become another person Ted can trust, talk to, and have in his corner is huge. He shouldn’t be using his players for that, and Beard is having his own identity crisis at the moment*, so Michelle becoming more of a support is great not only for Ted but for the show.

*While I didn’t care for much that happened at Zelda’s creepy boat party, I was glad to see the show make a point that Beard should not be hooking up with really young women. I know there’s a subset of the fandom hoping for Beard and Lizzie to get together and I hope this is also a sign to folks that Beard should not date any of the younger women in his life – especially the players he is coaching. It’s already a troubling part of women’s sports in real life and we really don’t need that happening here.

And then there was the Keeley and Roy side of things. Yes, Jamie Tartt (the lovely Phil Dunster) coming back was amazing – and he clearly didn’t go to Barcelona because Richmond got a women’s team like some of the press suggested. But having Roy get hurt (in truly hilarious fashion), get drugged, and then tell his girlfriend that he loves Keeley (while thinking he’s talking to Keeley) at the exact moment Keeley has left is just yet another truly awful rom-com trope that this story doesn’t need. Like I said last week, this storyline ending with the pair together isn’t the victory of true love, it’s watching two red flag-addled people jump through stupid hoops of their own creation while making a poor woman think she’s found a great boyfriend only for her to be embarrassed and get dumped. My respect for both Roy and Keeley has really dropped the longer this has gone on.

With that part of the show taking up a good chunk of the story this week (I won’t even get into Rebecca’s desperate attempts to get her truly boring boyfriend to text her back), I was bummed to see two of the show’s cornerstone characters acting so callously to someone who doesn’t deserve it (and yes, I blame Keeley since this whole sham dating thing was her ultimatum). I’m not sure what the show can do to make that particular arc more palatable, but at least it managed to show us some strong relationships that don’t need lies and subterfuge to make them work. And I guess that’s a promising sign – assuming Alice is eventually allowed the chance to start moving forward and staying on that track.