things about ted lasso s3e5 “signs” that i can’t get over

whenever rebecca is seeing the psychic’s predictions come true, glimpses of ted are in the shot. the man she used to date wears a united scarf w the TED prominent as she hears the phrase “shite in nineing armor” which i still think is about jamie but that’s another post.

when she looks at the green matchbook in her office the biscuit box is right there as well. when she meets with the doctor he starts off the conversation with a phrase similar to what ted says when he meets her. i’m not necessarily shipping ted and rebecca but i’m obsessed with the hints and signs. i am being convinced through the subtle signs.

and then when they see each other in the hallway and reference psychics and bullies and freak each other out. THE PARALLELS. i love that they greet each other weirdly with “hi coach / hi rebecca” as opposed to their normal which is seen at the end “bye ted, bye boss”

in other storylines, i noticed in keeley’s office you can just barely see her desktop screen in the bottom right of some shots and it’s just the basic Apple background but those colors are bisexual. that has to be on purpose. right ?!!

i think so much about zava stealing jamie’s giving a motivational speech right before he leaves. “you will not win because of me” YEAH cause you leave in the next ten mins😭

ted turning away whenever he goes to talk with his family back home represents him retreating from the team

ted working through his panic attack is good to see but he still barely talked to the team until he was prompted by sam. i’m so interested to see if someone finally confronts him about his lack of energy this season.

jamie’s look of determination to get better even with zava gone and continuing to train with roy. my mind is going brrrrrrrrr rn

"I can diagnose myself in a heartbeat"

god i love the tone shift in the last 15 minutes of this episode. it feels like they were clearing out a lot of the competitive shit that has been swirling as background radiation this whole season. i mean, that had to be there bc of the underlying ted v nate and rebecca v rupert feeling the plot had, but i really like how this episode ended with a sort of re-stating of this show's central premise that is grounded in kindness and human connection and love and respect and belief

fellas that last ted lasso episode. hmm.

listen i'll be real no matter what im gonna be out here gushing abt trent crimm cause he's my special little guy and im obsessed with him, but considering the Literal Paragraphs ive been writing abt all the shit i LIKED about the show, i didn't know how else to process these Less Good emotions than by blurting it all out over like two hours (instead of doing the dishes, lmao).

tldr; s3e2 was such an emotional high point for me, since i really felt like it had something concrete + specific to say about physical violence + social/emotional violence, and how they're BOTH highly valued as masculine ideals. but the episodes since then...

it kind of feels like im watching the result of a long and bloody fight between different writers? writers who, apparently, wanted Very different things from this last season, so now we're getting this. bizarro world mish-mash of two hypothetical shows, where tone + content + themes vary WILDLY and inconsistently from episode to episode - and even scene to scene!

[cw: discussions of sexism + racism, in a doylist context, also s3e5 spoilers]

specifically, i feel really disappointed and hurt that they went that direction with shandy's arc. i understand that we're only half way through the season, and obviously anything could happen between now and then but... really? like, is there some kind of budgeting issue here? we can't afford for there to be more than three (complex, not sexy lamps) women in any given episode? is that why the second jack appears, barbara loses any depth (what happened to that lovely moment of connection with the snow globes????????), and THEN the second SHANDY goes off her head it's. jack time? apparently???? like. this would feel a lot better as a viewer if at this point the show hadn't PRIMED me for jack doing something insanely stupid + cruel for no reason except 'haha Keeley Bad At Her Job'.

like. the first thing we see of shandy fine is her pride in keeley, and genuine appreciation of her hard work and skill. she's CLEARLY not stupid, otherwise why would the rest of her introductory scene be her helping keeley out with filmmaking advice (the extras thing) AND random, life experience shit (knowing how to deal with goat shit)?? she knows her way around a set, and she doesn't make any of the footballers feel judged, even when she's clearly thrown by the clips they're providing her.

so why in the space of like, barely a few weeks, does ALL of that get thrown out the window? 'condoms for balls'??? why are we supposed to just take for granted that she's stupid + overly ambitious (other than the Fucking Obvious!) when the show put NO effort into actually setting that up???? like, if her first scene was her monstrously fucking UP the shoot for keeley, and keeley hired her on pure sympathy then like. sure. whatever. no room for bleeding hearts in business. but that ALSO sucks as a story line for ted lasso, a show that (according to its OWN press releases!) is supposed to be about kindness and human connection and breaking cycles!

it just. it hurts? in a way where its like, i don't believe even a little bit that this was what the writers were aiming for with those scenes, and it frightens me that there could be such a wide gulf between intent and result. especially when bonding about The Shandy Incident is what got keeley and jack together (which i am trying... So hard to feel positive about, because explicitly confirming keeley's bisexuality is amazing, least of all bc it makes her jokes with rebecca feel a lot less mean-spirited on the writers' parts, retroactively)... like how am i supposed to be enjoying their moments together when i feel like the show's whole premise has been betrayed???

and really? the one moment nate gets to feel good in this WHOLE season, it's bc the server at the restaurant who previously could not care if he dropped dead right in front of him showed him some affection + validation?????

like, sure, i GUESS im happy that this random excuse for an arc has lead to a slightly more sympathetic female character existing at least in the PERIPHERY of the show's main storyline, except no im fucking not? i don't care about this fucking restaurant, and even though ive been DESPERATELY trying not to hate jade (even though the writers themselves can't seem to decide if she's Literally Racist or just a depressed service worker) NATE shouldn't care about jade! the ONLY way i can see this being an actually interesting arc for nathan is if its another exploration of his inability to leave behind the things + people that have hurt him, combined with years of conditioning where he's never allowed to express being annoyed/upset at anyone (which richmond!!! contributed to!!!!!! 'if you're mad, count to ten. if that doesn't work, count again'??? cool speedrun tips for resentment ted!). like, an arc where we see that distance away from richmond hasn't helped nate as much as it's removed some of the worst triggers, so a taste of athens ends up in the same awful pit of resentment + loathing as ted did. which nate clearly hates! he doesn't LIKE being that person! he apologised to a PAINTED DOLL of ted!!!! but when he doesn't have the framework or tools or SUPPORT to do anything else...

like. where is his team? obviously im not expecting the show to start being about a bunch of football players that AREN'T from richmond but? even just a small moment of appreciation? or hell! maybe they hate him! if we could see LITERALLY ANYTHING abt the sport which nathan has dedicated his life to, and how his Actual Coaching style is positively or negatively impacted by the lessons he learned at richmond? this is a show ABOUT football!!!!!

i just. a taste of athens? again? a-fucking-gain?????

and honestly, the worst part is that i REALLY liked the little monologue that nate got to give about how important the restaurant was to him! as much as it showed that nate is still just as passionate + earnestly defensive of the things he loves, it ALSO shows that he 1. spends that energy explaining his passion to people who don't deserve it/won't care, and 2. gets attached to things that really fucking hurt him! and like. i am on my hands and KNEES for that to be the 'point' of this arc but at this point i feel like that's me being naive! but if fucking JADE from fucking ATHENS is the civilising white gf who FINALLY talks nate down from him ~ ignorant, vengeful crusade ~ against the absolute ~ matyrs ~ of goodness at afc richmond, i just. like. what are we even DOING here gang?

i don't know. it hurts that sam's gone from being an almost principal character in s2 to only getting passing lines in s3. it hurts that rebecca's off in her own world, talking to strangers, having life-changing revelations on her own, surrounded by sets we're never going to see again, where every scene she DOES get to spend w one of the richmond members feels hasty and rushed, like the episode wants to get a few characters obligatory appearances out of the way asap. it hurts that all the chekov's guns around zava's arc (jamie's resentment, ted's lack of guidance, dani being 'demoted' + colin being benched) were apparently all just blanks, to be hastily plastered over with one big long speech about... ted wanting everyone to have higher self esteem, or something?

and listen, more the fool me if another episode comes out next week that i completely adore, and i spend like five days singing its praises. im mostly writing this so i can go INTO the next ep without feeling resentful + upset! i'll be STOKED if i was wrong and all of those little details ARE actually important, and these arcs have more to them than this! but for now im just sad and annoyed :(

🔥Sinful Sunday🔥 Fever

Fandom: Ted Lasso Ships: Trent/Roy, established Trent/Ted Rating: Explicit-sexual content🔞🔞🔞 Tags: s3e5-Signs, Trent has a pain kink, and a Roy has a rope kink, Dom roy kent, Bottom trent crimm, BDSM elements, bdsm club, spanking, whipping, rough play, cumming untouched, ted/trent established relationship, polyamory relationships, queer relationships, one shot Preview:

“Trent Crimm. What a fucking surprise.”

“Could say the same about you, I’ve never seen you in here before.” Trent mentally berated himself on the slip. 

“Probably cos I know how to keep a low profile.”

Trent smirks just a little. 

“Not tonight though.” Trent assumes.

“No, not tonight.” Roy confirms. 

Which drove Trent crazy. Because what did that mean? Did it mean Roy has seen him before but just not said anything? Was he out in the open because he wanted Trent specifically to find him? Was their meeting coincidental or intentional? There were too many possibilities and it was driving the journalist crazy. 

“I’m surprised, by your color choice. Roy said, raising his red Dom bracelet. “Assumed we’d match.” 

Trent nods.

“Normally, we would. But, after your little,” he clears his throat, “performance today, I'm ‘staycationing’ in submission for the night.”

Roy’s eyebrow raises at the highly American phrase and shakes his head amusedly. 

“I hate what he’s done to us,” Roy says. 

Trent laughs. 

“No, you don’t.”

Roy pumps his eyebrows in agreement but rolls his eyes nonetheless before taking another long sip from his pilsner bottle. 

“So,” Roy says, in a no-nonsense tone that has Trent’s immediate attention. “You want me to hurt you? That it?”

Trent’s smile now turns wicked. 

“Only a little.”

Roy, looks Trent up and down once more. 

“Okay. I could be into that, yeah.”

Ted Lasso S3E5 Thoughts- This Episode Made me Cry (w Joy) *SPOILERS*

-Did not expect Hamilton stan John Wingsnight to make another appearance.. tbh I forgot he existed.

-Interesting how the psychic’s prediction about the ‘shite in nining armour’ played out.

-Hmm the way Jack and Keeley are looking at each other… and going to get lunch.. hmmmm.. It’ll never happen though.

-“My wife Christina is the only woman I see with clarity. Every other woman is a smudge”. So on brand Zava.

-“I can’t believe that our white whale has the same name as the strip club I danced at while in college.” Somehow not unexpected. The Beard lore continues.

-Ted comparing Trent to a ‘sadistic nature documentarian’ sent meee…

-Roy crossing the line from gruff and angry man to serial killer.. ‘4:00 a.m is the hour people are least prepared to defend themselves’. Then Shandy calling about that business deal at 4 am. And Roy picking Jamie’s training time as 4 am..

-My hope for Colin or Trent content is fading like Zava’s vision when he looks at women other than his wife.

-What is in Barbara’s drawer? More snow globes? Murder weapons???

-Ted Lasso Drinking Game: drink every time someone says ‘father’.

-The roller coaster of emotions before Jack and Keeley kissed.. I went from despair that they’ll probably never get together to crying with joy.. pls i did not expect that! Finally a win for the Gays..

-KEELEY AND JACK!!!

-Jade is being nice??

-Ted canonically plays both Roblox and possibly Fortnite. Concerning.

this is me trying

by bartonbones

“I’ve got to go to her,” Jamie says. “It’s...it’s my fault. Sorry. I have to go, coach.”

Roy nods his head to the first part before he registers the second, but by then it’s too late, and he’s no idea how to say that it isn’t without reminding Jamie whose fault that it actually is, and the idea of doing that—acknowledging, in front of everyone, now, that this is his fault, that Jamie or his Mum would get hurt, that they would lose this fucking match, all because of the decision that Roy made—makes the acid in his throat threaten to eat a hole straight out of it.

It’s a compromise, in the end, something that soothes both his guilt and his shame.

“Alright,” he says, firmly, “But I’m coming with you.”

OR: When Jamie's worried about how his father's presence will affect his playing at the Man City match, Roy has the bright idea to keep him out of the stadium entirely. Things get personal anyway.

Words: 5421, Chapters: 1/3, Language: English

Fandoms: Ted Lasso (TV)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Gen

Characters: Jamie Tartt, Roy Kent, Keeley Jones, Jamie Tartt's Mother

Relationships: Roy Kent & Jamie Tartt, Keeley Jones & Jamie Tartt

Additional Tags: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Angst, could be read as pre-ot3 could be read as gen honestly idk what's going on w them, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, probably? written pre s3e5, WHY ARE KEELEY AND ROY IN JAMIE'S CHILDHOOD BEDROOM, Jamie's Childhood Poster of Roy Kent

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/46382110

Ted Lasso

Ted Lasso - Signs (S3E5)

I keep having to pause this episode bc the second hand embarrassment is too strong (i love it but yikes)

i thought the Zava speech was bad, but Nate's date is so terribly embarrassing, i think i astral projected into another plane of existence