Eric: What is up everybody? Welcome to the second episode of Believing a Ted Lasso Rewatch. I'm your host Eric and sitting across from me is my co-host. Not really sitting across from me, but you are sitting. The man who fell out of the lucky tree and hit every branch on the way down and ended up on this podcast and a pile of Sour Patch Kids. Gavin, how are we doing today, man? Gavin: Gavin, I'm sitting. It's funny. I actually just bought some Sour Patch Kids the other day and it's the first time in forever. Well, no, they got their new, Sour Patch creams that I bought, that are very, very good or Sour Patch. I don't know. Whatever. Not a free, no, no free sponsorship with them, but, doing well today and ready to jump into these episodes we have. And I love the intro there with, falling into a pool of Sour Patch Kids cause man, that'd be great. Eric: notes. Yes, it would be. So I hope you enjoy those interests because I'm to have a special one for you every episode. Because you know, last time it was the beard to my Ted or the, you know, was it the Roy to my Jamie or whatever it was I said, but this, know, so we'll do something different every time. Gavin: Okay, I'm here for it. Yeah. I'll, I'll take more of a, I'll take more of a Ted beard than Roy Jamie, cause we've never really hated each other. So. Eric: Depends on what's happening in our games of a ticket ride and then rooks Well in this episode we're talking about podcasting not a game not a game podcasting That you know not the game that I love podcasting we will be discussing Ted Lasso season one episodes four five and six spoiler warning for those who haven't watched What are you waiting for? Gavin: It's all for you, A $ casting. Eric: Go get your free Apple TV trial and start watching, will not be disappointed. In our last episode, we discussed Ted's arrival to Richmond, introductions to Rebecca and her plot against her ex-husband, and Roy and Jamie's adversarial relationship. If the first three episodes were about introducing Ted's weird charm, episodes four and through six are where the show actually finds its beating heart and it punches us right in the emotional gut. And that brings us to this episode's Gavin: Yes. Eric: Big idea. The theme of this episode is vulnerability. Let's go in. We're gonna start with talking about episode four for the children. For the children. It is the annual charity gala. Rebecca hosting the Richmond annual charity gala. We get introduced to Mr. Rupert Mannion and his toxic weight, Good Higgins impression there. Gavin: for the children. BLEH Eric: And of course the birth of one of television's best friendships. We're talking about Roy and Jamie. The big moments from this episode, the Keely and Rebecca era begin. Let's talk about that relationship in general. What do you think when you see, when you think of Keely and Rebecca, especially the origins here? Gavin: Yes. I kind of look at it where it's almost like Rebecca sees Keely as her younger self. And that moment in the bathroom, like, you know, in the first three episodes, they've had some run-ins, they've had some little conversations and things. And here in, for the children, we see where they're in the bathroom and she's like, can I have a sip of your drink? And then Rebecca just, you know, Hey Keely, just so you know that. girl who was bidding on Jamie, that was his real plus one. And where probably she wishes somebody had been that honest with her about Rupert all those years. She's not going to sit idly by while that happens to someone else. And she doesn't tell her what to do or how to respond, but she just gives her that information and lets her move on with it. And. Eric: Hmm. Yes. Gavin: Keely essentially makes the choice to move on now as opposed to sitting for, as Rebecca had mentioned, what, 12 years of that. Instead of sitting for 12 years as Jamie's side puppet while he's off with every other girl on the market, she goes ahead and makes that decision that probably Rebecca wishes she had made years prior. Eric: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yes. And before that scene, you see Keely already trying to pierce that armor, similar to the way Ted does, but Keely hyping up Rebecca during the photo shoot. know, giving her some advice, like remember one step forward, put your hand on your hip, make it a claw shape, that's, you know, that's gonna show your best side. And then going behind the photographers, oh, she's effing fit! And just making Rebecca like completely like, Gavin: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Eric: just break down a little bit in terms of her insecurities and just genuinely smiling for one of the first times you see in the series. I love this relationship that they have. I love the start of it here. I do see the similarities and that you mentioned where Rebecca sees herself in Keely and Keely just ambitious and head strong and then just sees the blind spots that she missed and is like, I'm gonna do something about it. The girl that Jamie brought, that was Bex, wasn't it? That's our introduction to Bex, who, you know, Rebecca 2.0, so to speak, and she meets Rupert on this night. So Jamie Tarrant, in a weird way, in his own toxic way, brings Rupert, his next wife, which is, you know, Gavin: That was Bex because she leaves with her partner. Eric: I don't know what it is, but it is something. Speaking of Rupert, we are introduced to him and Anthony Head, he plays the ultimate wolf in sheep's clothing. Like he shows up, know, RIP Anthony Head passed away a couple of months ago recently. So sad we won't get to see him in the revival, although his story was pretty much complete at the end of season three. But he shows up unexpectedly. Gavin: or update. Eric: tries to hijack the night and humiliate Rebecca like he just keeps wanting to do it over and over. And, you know, he's just, he's so evil, but Ted might be the only other person who sees right through him from the get-go. You know, calls him out, you know, hey, if you're such good friends with Robbie Williams, who was the headliner for that gala and canceled, and you could call him and he'll show up anyway because you called him, you probably. could have called him and told him not to come to begin with and just sees right through his BS. And it's brilliant. And Rupert does not know how to really respond to that. He's like, well, that would make me a piece of crap, it? Cause he knows, I mean, he knows what he's doing, but Ted, the only other person there other than Rebecca who sees Rupert for what he really is. How do you feel about Rupert? What are your thoughts on Rupert here? Gavin: I love that he comes in in the all white, you know, which is not typically associated to the villain character. so he comes in and all white and steals the show immediately. And he comes off as your typical narcissistic, like gazillionaire that makes it all about himself. no matter how much he's hurting the people, but also the way that the people still love him, which, you know, Eric: Mm-hmm. Gavin: whatever that says a lot about our culture in general where you know he's run around on his wife with however many women and yet everybody still adores him. Eric: If you have enough money, you can make problems go away. Gavin: Yep. And that's basically what he's done. And it's basically like, he, he does it in such a way, like, yeah, great. You gave a million pounds to surpass the goal, but you didn't do that out of the goodness of your heart. You didn't do that. You did that more than anything to show up Rebecca. and to make her have to say thank you and to make her have to praise you and all these things. And. Eric: Mm-hmm. In public. Gavin: So, I mean, I think it's the perfect introduction for Rupert with the way that his story develops in his character arcs, but he still sucks. and to see that he goes again to Bex, to new Rebecca, in that moment and how, you know, he, doesn't waste any time he walks out in front of Rebecca with Bex. And that's the beginning of all of these, you know, storylines that we're going to learn about Rupert and the way that he's going to act in the future for the show. But it's, think they set up his introduction perfect with how they, with what you get to know of him based on the news articles and the stories you've heard in the first three episodes. And now for the children, boom, here's Rupert. Eric: for the children. With that, we find Rebecca out crying in the parking lot. Ted goes out there and just gives her a hug, holding her without judgment. Do we think this is the exact moment Rebecca realizes Ted isn't just a simple-minded cartoon, but actually incredibly sharp and protective? Gavin: Yes. Because between that and between when he basically is like, you know, I see two. Eric: Bye, Mrs. Mm-hmm. Gavin: And I think those two moments are where it's just like, I'm not alone. Eric: Yeah. And then let's get to Roy and Jamie's truce, so to speak. Beginning of that episode starts with a locker room fight. Basically, yeah. Call me old one more time. All right. Granddad. And I mean, so Ted. Gavin: Yeah, they're a Bayam Atabaya and Tyler Harrow right now. Granddad. Eric: We already said in our last episode, he's very like, he picks up on things. This is not something that's obvious or like that's not like something he has to pick up. It's very obvious to him that, okay, these two have an issue. He also recognizes that if he's going to get through the team, it's gotta be through Roy. Roy's the captain. Roy's the respected veteran. So he does what any good coach will do. He puts them at the same table with him. You know, what was the phrase he used? what was the, he used a great reference, whenever they found that they were sitting at the same table and I cannot remember what it was. I parent trapped. Yes, that's what it was. I parent trapped y'all. Don't need to figure this out. And Roy realizes that once upon a time, he also was a 23 year old prick and he extends a mutual respect olive branch, to Jamie in that moment. Gavin: I it trapped them. Eric: One of the things I really like about Roy in this episode, he's coming to some realizations, he's seeing himself in other people, but he's also like when Nate comes up to him and wants to thank him for telling Isaac and Colin to stop picking on him, and he's like, why are you so close to my face? Gavin: You Eric: And then he's like and Nate was like well I was gonna hug you but then I chickened out at the last second and then he hugs him anyway and he holds on way too long and Roy's like all right that's enough but he like his again like Rebecca her exterior is like it's so slowly being chipped away because of all the pieces that Ted's putting in his way to kind of truly become the leader that he evolves into throughout the series and then Gavin: wanted to hug you, but I was scared. Eric: with Jamie is taking a little longer, how satisfying was Keely breaking up with Jamie over his lack of accountability? Gavin: That was great because too often again, like somebody would stay in that. And Keely kind of realizing like, Hey, I need a little bit better. Like that conversation we alluded to earlier with her and Rebecca in the bathroom. And she's like, here I am. You know, when I was 18, I was dating a 23 year old footballer and here I am almost 30 still dating 23 year old footballers. Eric: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Gavin: And real, like having that moment of realization, like I also need, maybe I need to grow up a little bit too. And the first step in doing that is I've got to get rid of this child. Eric: Mm-hmm. And last but not least, this is like an ongoing thing that maybe we'll do a standalone episode on this, but, and this is just another example of Ted just recognizing someone for who they are. He, one, on the way there, he recognized, he sees the, the musician out on the street playing all the great music. He recognizes there needs to be entertainment. So, calls Higgins over, hey, Gavin: Yeah. Eric: You know, forget about the rest. need the best. I need you to come help me get this guy. And then Rebecca sees this guy and is like, okay, this does not look good for me. But the guy's super talented. Like, he's able to play the drums, guitars, and sing and do all the stuff all at the same time. And puts on a pretty good show, pretty good performance. But I just love the show's use of music. Gavin: Yeah. Eric: and how music is prominently displayed. If you go on Spotify, I know this is an Apple show, so maybe you should go on Apple too. don't know if they have one, but if you go on Spotify, have, someone has put together a playlist of all the music featured in Ted Lasso. And there's so many good songs on there. But just, love their use of music throughout the series. But this episode, watching the street musician go up on stage and just kill it. And once again, kind of as a analogy to Ted, someone who you don't think is going to give you a lot. he, like he says in episode eight, in the dark scene, people underestimated me my entire life. This is just another example of being curious, not judgmental. This guy, Rebecca judged him immediately and was like, oh my goodness. And Ted's like, no. Gavin: delivered. Eric: I know this guy, this, know, I don't know this guy, but I'm curious not to see what he can bring to the table here. And, and it worked out really, really Gavin: Yeah, well, Ted realizes too, like this is better than nothing. Eric: Yep. Great episode. Let's move on to episode five. Tan lines. Ted's family comes to visit. We hear about the Oklahoma rule. Do you ever have like a Oklahoma rule with like your wife or people in your life? Gavin: No, because typically I can, so this is the weird thing where I can usually see if you're telling me the truth or not. So I just pester you until I get it. so thankfully we've never had to get to that point of like the quote unquote safe word, to, get through. also because I feel like, you know, okay, in my marriage, if I'm not telling you the truth or you're not telling me the truth, like something's wrong. Eric: Right. Yeah, thanks. Mm-hmm. Gavin: So that's, think that's part of it too, is we've not had to, friendship's the same way too. Like I don't want to be friends. Yeah. Yeah. If you're not going to tell me the truth, I don't want to be your friend. Eric: Well then thankfully we're brutally honest with each other. Absolutely. and then of course, the, massive coaching gamble. talk about the big moments of the episode. Very beginning of the episode, you, Ted's family shows up and Ted's running across the pitch to meet his family. You know, Nate kind of, yeah. And coach beard mutters metaphor. Ted was willing to do all the work, but his wife Michelle wasn't able to meet him halfway. You know, and that kind of. Gavin: Kind of hoped y'all would meet me halfway. Yeah. Eric: explains why their relationship is falling apart. Ted's the one who across the ocean to give her space and is willing to do all the things he can to keep his family inside and it's just not working. And then Oklahoma, we just mentioned that Michelle, admittedly, she is admitting that she's trying to love him, trying to find that spark. And it just, just, it's not happening. And it's just heartbreaking to see Ted's family and Ted who has it all together on the outside. And you could tell he's just falling apart, trying so hard. And it's just, it's just not working. Gavin: Yeah. Eric: What are your thoughts on the Lasso family? Henry, Michelle and Ted? Gavin: so whenever I watch watching this now and seeing Ted run across the pitch to go give Henry a hug, I was like, boy, that's how I feel. Like whenever I've had to travel for work or something, I've been gone for a few days, like come home and immediate, like there's my kid. that's the first thing I want to do is pick her up and helicopter spin and then like also to hug my wife. And so like, Eric: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Gavin: to see that, to understand that excitement and Ted like, my gosh, they're finally here. But I don't know what it's like to have that expectation of maybe we can make this work. Maybe this weekend will get us on the right track because you get, we catch glimpses of their family doing normal things. Like they are building the Legos together. They fall asleep in the bed together. Eric: Mm-hmm. They go to the pub, order fish and chips. Gavin: Yeah, like they do all these things, but also you can sense from the first moment there's the elephant in the room and you get that. They are also in the putt when they're at maze where they're trying to get Henry to go play darts so that they can talk. And as soon as they start to talk, they get interrupted by Henry. And every time that try, like even at the end, when Michelle is having the hard conversation. And she's crying in the apartment, uh, or excuse me, in the flat, when she's crying in the flat, Henry comes in, you know, ready to go to the match. And it's like, stops their conversation. And so it's also one of those things. It's like, anybody listening, if you have kids and you know, when you have kids, you don't stop working on your marriage either. Eric: Got to use the correct terminology, buddy. Gavin: Like you have to work even harder than because it's so easy to get distracted by your kids. And it makes me wonder like what changed when they had Henry. And is that something that in parenting they lost, they lost themselves in parenting because every time they try to have a hard conversation, like they turned their attention to Henry instead. Eric: Yeah, and I think we see later in the series, there's definitely fault on everybody's side, but we see that Ted has a hard time processing trauma and processing. And so whenever things are getting hard, usually, he drowns it in unrelenting optimism. And in a sense, know, it even says in the episode, Gavin: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Eric: I've never quit anything in my life. Like he refuses to quit anything. And that again goes back to the circumstances with his father committing suicide. He's Ted sees that as a quit and you know, we'll talk about that more. Yeah. And he doesn't want to quit on his marriage. He doesn't want to quit on his family. And so he's he, but he's in a sense, he's lying to himself and lying to himself about the reality of the situation. And Gavin: Nick, that's what he tells Dr. Sharon. Eric: by refusing to see it for what it actually is. Gavin: Yeah. Ted won't, Ted wants to optimize. He, he deflects with the optimism and Michelle deflects with space. Eric: One thing about Yes. and in the pub scene, you, like you said, you see them sitting there at the, at the pub while Henry's playing darts or more accurately throwing darts into, who was the bar regular? threw the darts into his arm. It's Paul, Baz and I forget the third one. But while, yeah, but while they're sitting there, Gavin: And remember, there's Baz. Yeah. I always forget which one is which. Eric: Michelle's even struggling to come up with conversation. Like they're like, do they bring the fish wrapped up in newspaper? And just like, know, but I wish they would. I'd love to learn something while I'm, know, and yeah, just very awkward for people who have known each other for, for so, such a long time and have a kid together and are married. So it's just, heartbreaking to see, but it's also super refreshing to see that the marriage ends not because someone cheated, but because they simply grew up. Gavin: state. Yeah, when Eric: How much? Gavin: I'll be honest, watching it this go round, whenever Ted's like, I, I never, I told myself, I never quit on anything. There was a part of me that wanted Michelle to say, you're not quitting Ted. I Eric: Mm-hmm. Gavin: And because you know there she says, you're not quitting, you're just letting me go. And but I don't think that helps because you know the whole like that whole metaphor visualization of letting go like you quit holding on to in a way like it doesn't meet that. I don't feel like that meets that need for Ted in a way. And so that's my selfish take there is I wish that the language had been a little bit different. Eric: and then moving on to the other part of the episode, Jamie in practice is refusing to make that extra pass. you know, in the, even has the conversation with Ted in the locker room right before the game. I score the goals. You know, everyone's here to see me. I can't wait for them. He, I can't wait to hear them singing on my name. Jamie Tark do do, do, do, do, you know, he ignores Sam's injury whenever Sam's injured on the pitch, which Gavin: introduced to that. Eric: leads to a fight between him and Roy on the pitch. And yep, a yellow card for fighting your own teammate, yes. And then Ted's like, you know what? I've got to send a message here. So he benches him. Go runs up and asks Rebecca for permission first. But yes, she's like, okay, this is great. This is, you know, this is going to play into humiliating Rupert and breaking Rupert's heart all over again. Gavin: Yellow card. And Rebecca's delighted. Eric: And, but Richmond wins without Jamie and you parallel this with Ted's realization that just as the team has to learn to play without Jamie and are even successful without Jamie in that sense, Ted has to also learn to let Michelle go and to play in a sense, play without Michelle. Gavin: Yeah. Cause in his locker and what was it? His halftime locker room speech. And he says like, you know, you got to let her go. they're like, and he goes, mean, lady football and beer. Beards like, good save, good save. But you know, in that, in that locker room scene there too, is one of those things like we see from the very beginning, like when it comes to their journey in the EPL, Ted is not the X's and O's guy. Eric: Mm-hmm. By that, mean Lady football, of course. Yes. Good save. Good save. Gavin: He is, he's the culture setter and it's really on display in this episode where he gives the locker room speech. He's made the move about Jamie and all these things. And then he tells, yeah, slaps to believe. And he tells Beard, he's like, Beard's going to run through the X's and O's with you. And that's just, that's just good coaching in general, but also knowing your role and knowing that like. Eric: Hmm. Mm-hmm. Gavin: Bearden has learned all these tactical things and understanding that and letting him do his job that he's given while Ted is setting the culture. And so just, I love the dynamic that they have as coaches is so fantastic. Eric: Yeah, you can feel it. You could feel too inexperienced with what I don't know about football. That is the quote. And last before we move on to the next episode, sparks are flying between Keely and Roy. What are your thoughts on Keely and Roy? Gavin: Yeah. Yeah. It makes sense because you see how she's like, you know, I spent all this time dating 23 year old footballers and here I am almost 30. And so she goes for the older man and we don't ever really know how much older Roy is in Keely. but we know this is his last, like ends up being his last year in the league. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like 34, 35. Eric: Mm-hmm. He's probably in his mid thirties, I would guess. Maybe. Yeah. Gavin: And so, but you see like, she's starting to, she sees the changes in Roy where he just says straight up what he actually means. Like at that scene in the bar and for the children when he's like, Hey, I didn't appreciate it when you used me for one of your games. And you can tell in that moment, she's like a man who is emotional. And I think about that moment. Eric: Mm-hmm. Says what he means. Gavin: crossing shows in the office where Kelly Kapoor and Daryl are dating and she's like it's between me or your daughter he's like my daughter and then he's like I'm gonna need you to tone that crazy down just a little bit and she's like who says what they're thinking Eric: Who says exactly what's on their mind? Gavin: Yeah. And, like that's, that's Roy in that moment. He is saying exactly what's on his mind and not leaving anything up for interpretation. And probably before he might not have been able to do that. Like he would have just bottled that up and been, but instead he's like, I don't appreciate what you're doing here. And, and that kind of sparked some of those moments. Eric: Yes. Let's move on to episode six, two aces. Danny Rojas. Yes. Danny Rojas explodes onto the scene. Football is life. His joy is the perfect foil to Jamie's toxic attitude. Jamie's not practicing and, or doesn't want to practice or he gets sent out with the second teamers to start with. Gavin: your play like a seven of clubs. Eric: And then here comes Danny, Danny Rojas, Rojas, Danny Rojas. And he's out there just, and he's good. He's super talented. And then post-practice, you know, this is just Danny's personality. know, Jamie's hitting soccer balls at the crossbar and Danny's like, you did that on purpose, no? He's like, now it's one-one. And he has like this little competition and it starts to break Jamie down just a little bit, little bit, gets him into the competitive mindset. but yeah, love Danny Rojas. Yeah. What is, what are your thoughts on Mr. Rojas here? Gavin: He's no longer the best. Love, love, love Danny Rojas. I think at first, you know, watching this, it's just like, why does a guy running around saying his name all the time? but at the same time, just that joy and that excitement of football is life. And so to see him come in with that breath of fresh air and like, he is, he's a stud. And I also think it's cool. Like knowing, I can't remember the actor's name. What's his name? Christo Fernandez. Eric: Crystal Fernandez Gavin: He was, played for a long time growing up and had chances to, to play some like lower league professional. And then just here recently got into his first professional match. and so like, he's actually a very talented soccer player or excuse football player. and so, but to see Danny come on the scene and just be excited to be there in the midst of a dreadful season. Eric: Football player, get it right. Gavin: I mean, Jamie even, what was it, whenever, right before he's talking to Henry in episode five, when he's like, you know, they're here to see me. This team is dreadful. They're here to see me. Well, now people are going to be there to see Danny Rojas as well. And so it's a breadth of fresh air. Eric: Mm-hmm. Yes. Well, then you see the, you see the parallels there too, where in the previous episode, Jamie, even when he scores that goal, he's like me, me. And he's saying his name in such a arrogance, self-centered way. And then you see Danny Rojas just saying his name over and over, but it's not in an arrogance, you know, selfish way. It's in a joyful, like I'm get, I get the play. Yay. You know, football is like, Gavin: Yeah. Eric: And it's just complete mirror opposites, you know, in the span of two episodes. That leads to Jamie, like you said, realizing, wait, I've got competition and I'm playing with the second teamers. I'm just gonna, you know, I'm injured coach. I can't practice. We're just talking about practice coach. Gavin: Practice? You mean practice? I don't care about the game. The game we literally are- Eric: And when we see Ted doing the, we're talking about practice, shout out to good old Allen Iverson there. And then shortly after Allen Iverson, that rant would have been like in 2002, I think, or 2001, 2002. And it's just, it's really kind of stood the test of time. mean, Gavin: Yeah. What year was that? Yeah. But that's also one of those moments you see where Ted throws in so many Americans, like iconic American sports moments that the team don't, yeah, they go right over the team's head because they don't get the references. And, you know, as the fans of the show were watching and we're like, Allen Iverson, even when Ted references the New York jets later in the series. and so like, but But it's one of those fun moments where Ted's able to go on that ramp because of the cultural differences and have his Allen Iverson moment. Eric: Yes. I love the lore of the treatment room, the curse of the treatment room and the World War I history. They all gather at the pub to talk about the curse. that leads to, you know, Danny's injured, you know, because he went into the treatment room and Nate's like, it's my fault. I shouldn't, I should have stopped him. And that leads to the team coming together and Ted. Gavin: Yeah. Eric: asking everyone who's part of the team, including Higgins, including Nate, who's the kitman, including Rebecca, the owner, to show up to this sacrificial ritual. Not as a way to break the curse or whatever, but as a way to bring the team together, to break this curse. And we see Jamie be vulnerable for the first time. Gavin: Yeah. Eric: So we're seeing, you know, again, the theme of these group of episodes to me is vulnerability. We've seen the vulnerability with Rebecca in the fourth episode when she's vulnerable with Keely in the bathroom and then with Ted out in the parking lot. see Ted and Michelle's vulnerability towards each other as the relationship comes to an end. And now we see Jamie sharing how his father's verbal abuse molded his toxic shield. And it's just... It's so good to see. What were your favorite parts of that ritual that they did? Gavin: think one of my favorite pieces is going back pre-ritual where Sam goes to see Rebecca and invite her. And he's like, you know, as the African guy, they expect me to know all about curses and Rebecca is expecting him to be like, but I don't, but he's like, but I do. He's like, believe in all of this. so in a sense, because there is such a cultural diversity in that locker room, there is a lot of experience with, Eric: Mm-hmm. Yes. Yes. Gavin: like cultures that have like lean heavy into curse lore and things like that. And so to, but to bring that together too, because yes, it's a way to bring the players together more than anything, but also like these guys who have experience in this in their lives can kind of lead the ship as well. And so, but I really love, it makes me sad about Roy, like, gosh. I always get sad when he explains that blanket because like yeah these football academies they do get kids at a really young age and so for me like that makes me a little bit sad that he gets rid of that but also understanding like his time as a footballer is coming to an end and he's getting rid of it. And then Colin throwing the keys to his Lamborghini. Eric: Mm-hmm. The keys, yes. Yes. One thing I forgot to mention in the last episode was kind of the pre-version of the Diamond Dogs coming together in a sense. And I bring that up now because Higgins talking about his relationship with his wife, he mentions we've been married for X amount of years, five. Gavin: How are gonna get a home mate? Yeah, yep, yep. Eric: five boys, one tiny house, and a cat whose death will emotionally wreck me, whose impending death will emotionally wreck me. And then one of the items, the item that he throws in is her collar, Cindy Crawford's collar, showing that she did end up passing away between those episodes or whatever. There's lots of great moments there where we kind of see, More of the rest of the team's characters kind of come in or their personalities come in. You've got Roy's blanket, like you mentioned, Sam's Nigerian team photo where, you know, he wants to make the Nigerian national team. A pin, the only pin Isaac could write his name with really well. Sand from, from Richard, sleeping with the super model. Gavin: Yeah. sleeping with the supermodel. Eric: What was Jamie's item? his first pair of boots and then Rebecca throwing in that. Gavin: his first pair of boots. No, no, no, no, no, they weren't, they weren't his first pair of boots. But he goes on to tell the story of how his mom got him into football to begin with. And that's what he has this breakdown. Eric: Mm-hmm. And then Rebecca throws in the newspaper article that day that is, that has another story about Rupert and her. And, it's just incredibly well done. I love when, Ted's like, let's light this puppy up and beers like, maybe we should do this part outside. Yes. Good thinking. It just again, highlights Beards role, not just on the team, but in Ted's life, you know, he's going to. Gavin: Good thinking, good thinking. Eric: steer him clear of, you he's the logistics guy. He's going to make sure that all the stuff is taken care of, even, you know, stuff that like this. Yep. And Beard, he's the details guy, you know, he's always reading day to day. Yep. And then they go out there, obviously Ted, you know, he, he hears that from Higgins that Danny's okay. He, Danny's about to roll through. You know, he, Gavin: That's a big picture. Thanks for day to day. Eric: calls for a sign from the spirits and you hear Danny Rojas Rojas football is life and everyone's so ecstatic inside. The curse has broken and the team is finally bonded together. it's the scene that, Richmond, they truly become a brotherhood. They're passing around, Danny's tequila around Mezcal. Yes. And, and then you see Rebecca walk off to make a phone call. Gavin: Mezcal. Mezcal. Eric: and you find out that she made that call to Man City, who owned Jamie's contract and had him on loan. And she's like, you can call Jamie back because he's not gonna play. How painful was it to watch Rebecca make that call to Man City right as she was starting to melt just a little bit. Gavin: that year. I think going back, like doing a rewatch of it is like knowing what she's doing when she walks off. It's like, screw you. First go around watching it. excuse me. First go around watching it. know, you don't really know what, what she's doing. It just looks like she's mad because Higgins has turned his back against Rebecca in the siding with Ted. And it's really one of the first moments where Higgins sticks up for himself. Eric: Mm-hmm. Gavin: by telling Ted this news and it's almost like she lets Higgins go whenever she's like, go on now and tells him to go join the party. And she's like, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to have to do this by myself. And then like the dropping of the, when she throws her code off, it's like that villainous moment of throwing the, throwing the code off and, going to really fully step into that role. Eric: Mm-hmm. Gavin: Because you also see in that moment where Jamie leads the Richmond till we die chant. And it's the first time we hear the Richmond till we die and gets the whole team in that. And as they're passing around the mezcal, I love that Roy's like, no, no, no, the spirits don't want this wasted. They want us to pass this around and then we'll throw the empty bottle. Eric: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes, that's right. And then we see Ted's reaction. This is the first time we see Ted kind of lose it a little bit. The frustration finally comes out. He's like, I was finally getting to him. You saw it. I was finally getting to him. I'm so gosh darn mad. of course, he's like, hear your bits because I hope they taste terrible. But they're the best dang batch. I finally cracked the recipe. And he's just so mad. and Rebecca having to kind of live. One, think she, that's the first realization that Ted's actually making these biscuits for her each day. Because she had sent Higgins to try to find the, whoever was making them, the bakery that was making them, where he was picking them up. And that's the first time she hears that Ted's the one actually making these biscuits for her, taking time out of his day and his morning to make her biscuits every day personally. Gavin: Yeah. Yeah, think that helps crack the code of Rebecca a little bit too, cause where she was able to, you know, keep the wall up just enough to make the Jamie move. It's like now all of sudden, bam, like this happens again. Eric: So major theme of these, this trio of episodes, vulnerability, but vulnerability is not a weakness. Every major breakthrough in these three episodes came from someone laying down their armor, Roy to Jamie, Rebecca to Ted and Keely, Ted to Michelle, Jamie to the team. All these major breakthroughs come from someone being vulnerable and that molds those relationships even closer together. Let's move on to Gavin: No. Eric: our awards. Every episode we give out three awards to the episodes. The first award is the Biscuits with the Bals award which goes to the absolute best moment of unexpected kindness or connection. What is your nominee for this award? Gavin: think I have two. My first one is going to be Ted buying Nata suits. Eric: Yes, that was one of mine. And that's a suit that he would wear over and over until his insecurities about his relationship with Ted soured that relationship. Gavin: Yeah. And, but just that moment of like, Hey man, like, because I've been one to wear a jacket that was way too big. Like when I was a teenager and in my early twenties, like not knowing how you're supposed to buy these things, but knowing I've got to dress up for an event and JC Penney's or Belks is the closest thing nearby. So let me go buy the first one that fits. and so to see Ted do that for him, but Eric: Mm-hmm. Gavin: I think my favorite moment in what is this, give me back to back episodes of giving my award to Roy, where Roy tells Sam to stay down on the pitch. And as he's, as he's over top of him, he's like, Hey, tells him the piece, like, you know, stay down. This is exactly what you're going to do. Let them chant your name. You're going to limp off and you're going to clap and you're going to like, just, you're going to tell them everything's okay. Eric: you Gavin: So that moment where Roy passes his wisdom down to Sam, I think it was beautiful. Eric: I agree 100%. I also had two, one you just mentioned was Ted buying Nate a suit. But the other one's also Nate centered. It's a very small detail and I don't think I've called it on a lot of rewatches, but I definitely called it the last time I rewatched this episode. In episode five, when Ted is giving the speech, Isaac clears off and slides over and gives a little bit of space. for Nate to sit down and knowing that in the previous episodes, Isaac was one of the tormentors of Nate. But now Isaac has, without even saying a word, made space for Nate to fit in. So to me, that was one of the best moments of unexpected kindness. Barbecue sauce award for the best quote. Gavin: Yeah. Yeah. Eric: What do you have? Gavin: I've got like one for each episode. all right. So for the children, I think, well, I have two off of this. I've got an honorable mention that I'll give second. but my main one, and it goes to my biscuits with the boss award with Roy, when Ted says youth is wasted on the young, don't let the wisdom of age be wasted on you. And he's like, I just made that last part up. Eric: Give it to us. Gavin: But you see that he, he gets that moment with Sam to not waste his wisdom. and in that one, my honorable mention is Sam, when he walks up to the gallon, he's like, thank you all for taking my picture. What is your, what are your names? But you see his youthful innocence in that moment of just enjoying being there. and then in tan lines with also like post-match. Eric: Mm-hmm. Yes, so good. Gavin: You see Roy come up to Ted and he said that took balls and Ted goes, that's all we got is balls, Roy. That's all we got. Eric: Mm-hmm. Balls are all we have. Gavin: And I love the way that in episode six, when he starts the press conference and this goes kind of back a little bit to the Trent Krimm, the independent episode three, when he says, you can outscore your opponent and still lose just like you can score less than them and win. And he's alluding to like, you know, pulling what he did with Jamie. said, but last week we definitely won, which is pretty darn fun. Eric: Yeah, I like that a lot. I'm gonna go with a just silly, silly quote, but I laugh every time because it's so ridiculously silly, where Ted, in reference to all the things regarding the treatment room, Ted says, hey, that's enough. One more person says something that me and Beard don't understand. I'm gonna have one of my son's classic temper tantrums. It's basically him calling me a bunch of silly names, you know, like, I don't know, Dummy Head or Pooh-Poo Face or Pooh-Poo Dummy or I don't know, what am I missing? Pee-pee fingers, pee-pee fingers. And it's just the way he is able to inject levity while also trying to get information, just, I don't know, it's really great. And then our last award, the Greyhounds Golden Boot. Gavin: Yeah. Eric: who won the episodes? You only get to pick one here. So if you have multiple people, you're gonna have to narrow it down, buddy. Who won the episode? Who made the biggest impact across these three episodes? Gavin: I'm gonna be- I'm gonna be cliche and go Ted. I feel like, like, cause as you alluded to at the beginning, like we're starting to get to the meat of how things are set up and the way that characters are being broken down and really falling in love with these, with Ted and with the characters. But the way that he sets the culture in the room, I feel like he has the greatest impact from putting Roy and Jamie at the table together. Eric: Okay. Gavin: to what he does with the team in the halftime speech and then there whenever they're getting ready to do their sacrifice. And he says, when they're in that room there at the pub, which is really cool because when we were there, they had pictures of the team up on the wall there like to honor the Ted Lasso cast and everybody. And when they're in that room, Ted's like, you know, we can't change the past, but we can honor it. And so they're able to honor those that went before them, but also, you know, come together as a team. I just, Ted really masterfully crafted the culture and the team together. Eric: As Rebecca would say, maybe it was a master stroke of genius. And Ted responds with, I don't know, for a lot of the talk like that work. So you went with a guy who kind of ran the A plots. I'm going with someone who kind of ran the B plots of the episodes. Going with Keely F. and Jones. She kickstarts her relationship with Rebecca by being super encouraging, breaks up with Jamie while trying to hold him accountable. Gavin: Yes. Yeah, yeah. Eric: and goes beyond the idea of being sort of famous for almost being famous by showcasing her great marketing skills. And then we continue to see some sparks from her and Roy. Maybe that sounds like a winner winner. Was it winner winner chicken dinner or BL Skinner or whatever the line is. Gavin: Well, and because of that, Kaylee gets offered her job working with Rich. Eric: Yes, absolutely. And then that just brings so many great things to come. And speaking of things to come, that is the final whistle for episode two. Next episode, we've got your scouting report ready. We're going to be breaking down episodes seven and eight, only two episodes in our next podcast. Make sure you watch along so you can dive into the analysis with us. And if you'd love the show today, do us a massive favor. Hit that subscribe button, leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Follow us on the socials, What the What Media on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and check out all the other stuff that's offered on our main channel, the What the What Variety Show where we post episodes monthly about the world of pop culture. And let us know, and maybe this is a good question for us to end on, what would you have sacrificed to break the Richmond curse? Gavin: that's tough. Eric: Maybe we open with that next episode. Let's think about that. I don't have something off the top of my head. So. Gavin: Do you have something right now? Yeah, yeah, that's tough because I'm, I'm sitting here like we're in the process of, throwing out a bunch of junk in our house as we transitioned, you know, the new nursery. And so there's a lot of sentimental things I've thrown away, but there's a, some major sentimental things I've held onto. Eric: Yeah. So, listeners, yeah, let us know what would you have sacrificed to break the Richmond curse until next time I'm and we appreciate you. Bye. We'll work on the timing next time. See ya. Gavin: That's a good opening, I'm Gavin. We appreciate it. We ain't got that time.