Ted Lasso – Richmond’s Got Talent

First things first: I find it hard to believe that someone like Ted Lasso had never heard of Susan Boyle. Her success on Britain’s Got Talent was one of the biggest stories around both the UK and US when it happened and even someone who is as offline as Ted surely would have heard of that feel good story? Right? Either way, loved that through line throughout the episode – even if some of the story just didn’t work for me.

Now, I know that while some of the actors on the team claim to have played football growing up in various interviews they’ve given thus far, that display of football in the game was pretty awful. And that’s taking into account how you have to slow down the pace of the game to film. While the football sequences in the first three seasons were never great (and when the play looked especially good, it was largely thanks to CGI sweetening of the passes and movement), they certainly looked a lot better than this. If the goal of the overarching story of the season is to show us how good and interesting women’s football can be – and to presumably show the whole of Richmond slowly realizing how good the team can be and rallying around them – we need to get more inspired sequences than that. Yes, the team is second league, so they aren’t going to be really good, but we need to believe they deserve to be out there. So we need to see some skills.

Speaking of skills, we added a few new players to the team. First up, Shannon, the young women who used to juggle in the city square and see Ted back in the early seasons is now a Greyhound – despite both Beard and Alice saying she’s not ready yet. While I love a happy ending, I have to agree with both of them. Women’s football isn’t a charity, and if you’re not good enough, you’re taking time and money away from the rest of the team. And that’s not how you build a great roster. The addition of Lizzie works a bit better – and as soon as I saw Faye Marsay (most recently of Andor and Adolescence) was playing the part, I knew she was sticking around. Although she’s already turning into the mother of the team, keeping the squabbling twins in check. I suspect (and I hope) there’s an arc coming later in the season where that gets addressed, since it’s not fair to expect Lizzie to parent her teammates while away from her son.

And then there’s Gemma (Abbie Hern). We know precious little about Alice at this stage of things, and her relationship – or lack thereof – with Gemma is already shaping up to be a major plot point as the season goes on. I don’t think there’s a romantic element there – and I really hope there doesn’t end up being one – but the fact that she was incredibly hard on Gemma when they were teammates despite thinking she’s the best striker she’s played with says something. I really want to better understand Alice, her prickly nature, her antagonistic relationship with Gemma, and why she has such high standards for those around her. Sure, she likely held herself to an unreasonably high standard when she played and is still broken up over how her career ended so abruptly, but she’s both dismissive of the talent on the Greyhounds and pushing them to be more than she seems to think they can be. It’s a strange combination and I want to know more.

This is the second week in a row where we see Rebecca trying to figure out how to present the Lady Greyhounds, both to herself and to the outside investors. It’s a hard sell, especially now that Higgins’ report is out and public. But it’s interesting to me that after an episode and a half of Rebecca flailing at the thought she might be perceived as a misogynist for not offering a full-throated backing of the team, all it took was a single conversation with a sponsor to really understand the benefits of having a women’s team. This team was never just for female fans – and no women’s sport is. Women’s sports should be appreciated and watched by everyone. They offer a different take on familiar games that can inspire young girls, sure, but also show young boys just what women are capable of.

So, a bit of a mixed bag. I suspect the relationship between Rebecca and Matthijs is heading for some more bumps – she doesn’t seem to have much time and he’s accommodating to a point. But how much longer can that work? Keeley and Roy are also at a standstill. It was lovely to see Phoebe once more, and Roy’s idea to have her and her friends make the uniforms was adorable, but we’re three episodes in and haven’t addressed the state of their relationship. Roy clearly wants more, Keeley doesn’t for reasons unknown to us. But, I laughed, I had fun, and I’m particularly intrigued by the addition of Gemma to the series.