Does Ted Cruz have DNA?
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NRA.
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Case in point:
Mild Spoiler for Season 1 and Wild, Uninformed Speculation on Season 2
In Ep 3, during his interview with Trent Crimm (of The Independent), Ted comments on how hard it is for the players to grow up without someone believing in them. In Ep 8, we get the famous darts match when - in the process of humiliating the odious Rupert Mannion - Ted reveals that his father died when he was 16.
These two small lines of dialog - buried in scenes where the focus is on curry and darts respectively, and separated by almost the entire season of episodes - informs Ted’s entire character motivation. Just like his half-time team talk after benching Jamie is not about the game but his marriage, these two statements are about him, and he is trying to save the players from whatever as yet unknown struggles he endured as a kid.
It explains his drive to mentor the players, his focus on taking the positive from every situation, his empathy (especially towards Sam and Jamie who are separated from their parents for different reasons), his need to hold his marriage together (and thus his panic attack when it was breaking apart)
and his ability to forgive Rebecca so easily (see below).
The writing of this show is beyond genius. I can’t imagine that they can keep it up at this level for Seasons 2 and 3, but I am really looking forward to seeing them try. One other fact about this show is that it is written by a team that includes Coach Lasso, Coach Beard and Roy Kent. The latter of whom is a stand-up comic who pushed for himself to be cast in the role only after writing for it.
One thing I am now expecting to see is an exploration of Ted’s relationship with his mother, who has thus far gone unremarked. The line about growing up without anyone believing in you suggests that it was not good. Something there may explain why he was moved to forgive Rebecca, because maybe there is something left unresolved with his mother and he did not want that again.
This also might shed light on his suffocating efforts to hold his marriage together that he was only able to let go once his wife gave him permission. It’s notable that his panic attack was triggered when Rebecca sang “Let It Go”, the lyrics (known word-for-word by Roy Kent) of which say:
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn’t keep it in, heaven knows I’ve tried
Don’t let them in, don’t let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know
Well, now they know
In context, that’s some heavy shit.
I am also steeling myself for a revelation that Ted’s father’s death was somehow supremely traumatic; perhaps suicide after Ted’s mother left them, leaving Ted with no one to believe in him. I am hoping that we also get more of an insight into Roy Kent’s background because - having been dispatched to Sunderland when he was 9 by his somewhat racist father - he and Ted may have a lot in common that has yet to be explored.
I am way too fucking obsessed by this show.
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Yes, but it’s not human.
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Haven’t gotten into this docuseries yet, but I’ll add that David Fincher’s “Zodiac” is a great and very rewatchable movie, and Donovan’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man” playing over the end credits is perfect (and creepy as hell)
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The writing, to me, can even summed up in Rebecca. She starts off as a seeming clone of the owner in Major League, to the extent I had real concerns about that plot. But the writing across the episodes totally sells her arc.
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Run, don’t walk from the Amazon doc. It’s a joke. In the end, a dude breaks the “unbreakable” Z340 code by noticing that 13 letters, half the alphabet, are themselves. The super-computer that occupies about 1/3rd of the run time does fuck all. The name hidden in the code - suggested by Zodiac to be his real name - is “Richard Nixon”.
They get a DNA sample off a victim that it human and not that of the victim. They test it, but end the season without saying who it is.
No apologies for the spoilers here. The above is the only truly revelatory facts to come out of 5 fucking episodes, and one of those two is held over for Season 2.
Fuck those guys. You’re welcome.
Everyone starts out as a caricature and ends up as a rounded, deep, layered character.
Except Dani Rojas.
Spoiler
Did you catch what I believe to be Lasso’s only use of profanity in the entire show? When he and Rebecca resolve to come back from relegation, just before he spits up in her face, Ted says (and join in if you know the words):
“There’s only one thing to do: win the whole fucking thing.”
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It’s absolutely his only use of profanity.
You worry about too much meticulous bullshit. Just watch the show.
And Ted is absolutely right about tea.
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As I said, I am obsessed. Usually, I watch entertainment shows with my brain in neutral and just let them take me wherever they’re going. But I’ve watched this so much that I see the detail, craft and nuance in their art, and I can help but want to celebrate it.
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I think he meant the Zodiac stuff, not Ted Lasso.
Anyone badmouthing the love of Ted Lasso can step right up to get punched.
Oops. Yes, my experience with that Zodiac bollocks was the complete opposite of Lasso. I was moved to write because it (Zodiac nonsense) pissed me off so much.
Absolutely the Zodiac stuff, and I was talking about being so aware of meticulous detail mistakes, criticism of them could override enjoyment of an otherwise ok show.
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Dear god, what a fucking calamity.
The Lasso Way
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To get ready for Ted Lasso season 2, we rewatched season 1. It’s better the second time. It was great the first time.
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A solid first episode that caught us up on the original characters now that they’re one league lower in the Championship, introduced a couple of new characters who came in strong, showed us some characters only referenced previously (namely Roy’s yoga class) and gave us at least two classic moments.
Also, they broke an unwritten rule of movies and TV, and strayed into territory so dangerous that, previously, the only person brave enough to go there was John Wick.
And, also, this happened:
Nate seems to have gained a hard edge to him this season. They laid that on pretty thick so I’m sure this will have an impact on the plot as the season progresses. Probably sooner, rather than later, otherwise they would’ve built to it a little more slowly, I think.
Wild Plot Speculation
It’s been reported that the actual story of Crystal Palace FC has had some influence on the creators of the show. If you’ve seen “When Eagles Dare” (and, if not, why not?), a high-profile coaching defection from CPFC to a promotion rival tossed a massive wrench into the works and added an edge to that promotion fight…
“Did we really make Michael Jordan cry?”
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