Well, that was the first episode from start to finish that felt like a classic Ted Lasso episode. And it’s curious that so much of the main action of the episode didn’t involve our titular character at all. Keeping the action confined within two main arcs* – the culmination of the Roy and Keeley will they or won’t they romantic reunion and the culmination of the lingering tension between Alice and Gemma – certainly helped keep the story moving forward at a brisk pace. One of the continuing issues with the series over the course of its run has been having too many characters to serve and too many arcs within a single episode. That was certainly not the case here. And while there is absolutely an argument to be made that these resolutions to two of the main season arcs took far too long to reach this point (and it’s one that I’ve made repeatedly throughout my episodic reviews), we finally got here and the payoff has been precisely what I hoped it would be.
*Our third, more minor, arc involved Higgins looking into just who is strong-arming shareholders of the club into selling their shares. Naturally, the assumption is that it’s Rupert – Rebecca’s vengeful ex-husband who was played by the late Anthony Stewart Head (who some fans noticed did not get an “In Memory Of” end title card at any point thus far this season, sparking hope he might make an appearance). Outside of Rupert, the only other option would be Zelda, but despite her being zany and pretty cutthroat when she wants to be, there’s been nothing to indicate that she might be attempting a coup. So, I’m hopeful we’ll get one more chance to see Head appear on screen in these final two episodes.
Let’s tackle the Roy and Keeley bit first. I have to say, after a season of acting completely out of character, it was just lovely to see the strong, focused, intense, girl boss Keeley once more. Not only that, but we got to see the incredible chemistry between Brett Goldstein and Juno Temple finally unleashed. Yes, it was great that Roy learned that he needs to value himself as much as he values Keeley. But it was more important for both of them to just admit that they love each other and that it was stupid it took them so long to do this – which they did, thank god. Even better, Keeley and Dr. Beaumont are still on good terms (because at least she was able to remain an adult while Roy and Keeley were acting like children) so she can help Gemma start her road to recovery.
Speaking of Gemma, while I didn’t predict she would get a potentially season-ending knee injury, I was pretty spot on with the rest of my predictions as to how the much-needed show down between Gemma and Alice would go. Gemma, naturally, was offered the internship. And now that she’s staring down a long recovery, it looks much more enticing than it did a few days earlier. Learning that Gemma is indeed rich (okay, her parents are – considering her dad was a footballer, although her mom was cut-off before we could learn more about him and why Gemma really doesn’t want to talk about him or that) also adds a new wrinkle to her character – she probably doesn’t want to follow in her dad’s footsteps and thought a career in law might let her be her own person.
Of course, Alice finally bearing her soul to Gemma – definitely not yelling, but also definitely speaking pretty forcefully – was also a long time coming. While we didn’t learn anything in that speech we didn’t already know about why Alice resented Gemma – she’s more talented than Alice was, she has the chance at a real career, and Alice desperately wishes she could have that chance again and cannot believe Gemma would squander it* – it was still nice to have it that all out in the open. Alice and Gemma are very different people, but they have that shared love of football that neither one of them wants to admit is central to their life. Gemma, presumably because of her father, and Alice because she got her heart broken by the game and is still coming to terms with how her relationship with the sport has changed now that she’s a coach and not a player. I can’t imagine they’ll ever be friends, but I suspect there’s going to be a détente moving forward.**
*A lot of Alice’s speech felt cribbed from a host of sports movies of the past, but none more than A League of Their Own, when Dottie attempted to quit the team and Jimmy Dugan essentially called her out for walking away because it got too hard. The idea that the game lives within a person, that they can’t do anything but want to play, and that it’s the hard that makes it good were all wrapped up in Alice’s speech. And hey, that speech was good enough to get Dottie to come back in the end, and looks like it was good enough to get Gemma back as well.
**I feel like I have to mention it, but Tanya Reynolds and Abbie Hern have great chemistry. Now, I have gone on the record saying that coaches should never date players and I stand by that. But it’s something to watch – I don’t think the show will go there (and I really hope they don’t), but they have really great chemistry and some of those interactions were definitely borderline flirtatious.
The burying of the hatchet between Gemma and Alice was great, but what was even more important for Alice’s continued growth was her conversation with Rebecca – who actually managed to call her by her first name. This was the first real instance in the series where Alice acted like a head coach, taking the time to talk to the boss about what she knew about a player, to express a worry that could have been detrimental to the team at large (that players who are injured often feel forgotten as the team moves on without them – clearly something that happened to Alice and something that deeply scarred her as a result), and to tip Rebecca off to a faux pas she made regarding that gift basket. For all his good qualities as a coach, this is something Ted never could have done. For one, he doesn’t understand the pain of going through an injury. He also hasn’t taken the time to get to know his new players on a deeper level – which, to be fair, Alice hasn’t shown us this deep knowledge lately either, but she knows Gemma and uses that information to her advantage here.
And kudos to Rebecca, for letting Alice know that it’s all well and good to tell the boss these key things, but she also needs to make sure Gemma hears how much she matters, not only to the team but to Alice. That’s the first time Rebecca has really acted like an owner for the women’s team this season – and the first real appearance of the put together, smart business woman who led Richmond these last few seasons. It was great to see her come to the hospital as well – and to see that Alice presumably called the rest of the team together to support Gemma. Again, as many have deduced, I wouldn’t be shocked if we ended the season with Alice stepping into the role of head coach – although I’m not quite sure she’s totally ready yet or that Ted is ready to walk away. I will say, him sitting next to Alice and just regulating her breathing was the best thing he’s done all season in terms of supporting her – no folksy wisdom, no jokes, just support when she needed it.
So, what a great episode. It was funny, it solved our two longest arcs, and it finally let the legacy characters be normal. We’ve still got some lingering questions – what’s Rupert up to, what’s happening to Beard’s scalp, will Ted walk away at the end of the season and is Alice ready to step in? But this was such a cathartic episode from a character perspective. It took us too long to get here and I’m not convinced every revelation was fully earned as a result, but I’m more than happy we’ve reached this destination.
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