Ted Lasso – International Break

In the latest episode of the season we put some characters’ issues to bed and wrap up their stories in a somewhat surprising but satisfying way. After Nate gave Rupert and his double dates the cold shoulder last week, now he’s suffering the consequences of those actions and instead of wallowing in self-pity, he does what Ted would do, and picks himself up, dust himself off, and starts doing the hard work of redemption for his misdeeds. The show also goes above and beyond to find a redeeming quality in show villain, Rupert, who this week asks Rebecca to join him in a meeting of the football club owners to talk about Edwin Akufu’s plans to create a world league of star soccer players that just happens to leave out Richmond’s top scorer and Rebecca’s former lover, Sam. After Sam refused to leave Richmond for Edwin’s All-Star Nigerian League, the billionaire tycoon has promised to make the football player’s life miserable, and every chance Edwin gets, he proves it by interfering with his career. Also in this episode, Jack delivers a second blow to Keeley after their breakup over the pr Queen’s XXX  data leak. Our favorite quirky dose of sunshine’s heart has taken a beating this season, and everyone is ready to see our girl smile again. It’s a jam-packed episode full of side characters, all-star games, tie-dyed embarrassments, precocious nieces, and inspiring speeches, that sets the scene for the final episodes of America’s favorite kindcore comedy.

The Wonder Kid is Out!

We begin with the sports pundits talking about Richmond’s rise to success which this week seems to solely land on top scorer Sam’s (Toheeb Jimoh) very talented feet.  Through their discussions we start to realize that Nathan (Nick Mohammed), West Ham’s Wonder Kid coach, has left his position and nobody – not the fans or the sportscasters – know why. The football season is heading into a break and the pundits talk about which teammates will represent which countries for their all-star games. Coach Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) announces that during the international break there won’t be any matches for team Richmond since it seems some of their players are going off to represent their home country. Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) will be playing for England, Van Damme (Moe Jeudy-Lamour) will goalie for Canada, Dani Rojas (Cristo Fernández) will take as fast-footed “football is life” skills to Mexico, Bumbercatch (Moe Hashim) is shockingly is heading to Switzerland and newly outed player Colin (Billy Harris) will be representing the country of Wales. The one person who doesn’t seem to be going anywhere is Sam, who wasn’t chosen for the Nigerian team and nobody can believe it. Always the consummate friend, player, and man, Sam is happy for his teammates but the disappointment is written beneath the smile he plasters on his face. Jamie picks up on his mood and checks in with Sam to see if he’s all right. This enemy-to-friends duo seems to have buried the hatchet alongside Jamie’s toxic ego. Now everyone on the team is supportive of each other and none of them can believe one of their top scorers wasn’t asked to take his talents home for the game.

Upstairs in Rebecca’s (Hannah Waddingham) office the boss lady is trying to rope Ted and Trent (James Lance) into a little early-morning girl talk over biscuits. The Nathan situation has dominated the chat but nobody seems to have any details. Rebecca is exhausted by the fact Ted is not really great at gossip; sure, he is excited when it’s a scuttle to butt but he just doesn’t have a whole lot of tea to spill about Nate, but Trent does. The journalist heard a little rumor about inappropriate behaviors over at West Ham and that is just the piping hot gos’ she was looking for. Enter Higgins (Jeremy Swift) with even more juicy information about Edwin Akufu, who is back in town and he wants to talk to her about creating a super league where the best players from teams play each other. It’s an interesting idea but Rebecca can’t help wondering if Rupert’s involved. Speak of the devil…No, literally, that’s what he’s under in her phone calls but she immediately lets him go to voicemail. She has no time for his nonsense today.

Over at Nate’s house we find the newly unemployed coach buried under the covers of his depression bed as Jade (Edyta Budnik) checks in with him before she boards a flight to Poland. She is visiting her family and after seeing the state her boyfriend is in, she offers to bring Nate along. He declines, so when she leaves we watch her push past a small group of reporters who are hungry to find out the details of why West Ham’s top coach bailed on the team. They’re going to have to wait a while because Nate Shelly is not getting out of bed anytime soon.

The End of KJPR

Who did get out of bed was the broken-hearted Keeley (Juno Temple), who after her break up with Jack, holds her head up high and heads into the office only to find out that the board has decided to shut down her company and the whole staff is packing up and walking out the door. Apparently, Jack sent an email to everyone the night before but she forgot, most likely on purpose, to rope Keeley in on the news. Barbara (Katy Wix) is the one who has to break it to her as poor Keeley slaps on a smile in an attempt at covering up the tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

Next, we head to the plane where Van Damme sees Dani Rojas seated across from him as both head to their big international matches. The two learned that not only will they be on different teams, but Canada is slated to meet Mexico and that means the two friends, for now, are enemies on the pitch. Dani takes this very seriously, as the guy with the biggest heart and smile in Richmond warns Van Damme that they are now enemies. Van Damme doesn’t fully believe it until he offers Dani some chips and the Mexican star athlete grabs the bag, smashes all of them, and dumps the contents on the plane’s floor.

Back at Richmond the three coaches Ted, Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt), and Roy (Brett Goldstein) are discussing Sam’s situation and how surprising it was that he wasn’t chosen. Ted tries to make Sam feel a little better but the only thing that seems to put a smile on his face is running into Rebecca outside the locker room. She offers up some sympathy for the Nigerian diss and the two have a subtle and sparky exchange. Rebecca quietly tells Sam that no matter what anyone thinks about him, she knows he’s wonderful. It’s the first time we’ve seen these two flirt since Rebecca broke up with him at her father’s funeral, and with the big question of who she is fated to end up with, we can’t help but notice the fire between these two hasn’t been completely extinguished. After all, we keep getting reminders of Sam’s green matchbook which also happens to always pop up alongside one of Ted’s little green army man, every time Rebecca is reminded of that psychic’s prediction.

Speaking of Ted, he just heard about the Nate news and seems a bit conflicted over how happy Beard is. Apparently, Jane is taking him out to celebrate Nate’s Bad Karma, and Coach Lasso really isn’t about that life. He seems even less thrilled with how his best friend’s personality seems to be changing for the worse thanks to that controlling girlfriend of his, but he keeps those opinions buried beneath a look he shoots Beard that says it all.

Happy Loud and Proud Uncle’s Day!

Rebecca’s happy moment with Sam goes up in Hell’s flames because Rupert (Anthony Head) is strutting around her office unattended and definitely uninvited. Before tossing Rupert out, her ex invites her to a meeting with Edwin Afuko about his new idea for a star league and she agrees to consider it. Before she sends Rupert away, she does try to get the truth out of him about Nathan’s departure, but his response is vague and does nothing but keep her guessing.

While the Greyhounds are on a break for the international games, Roy spends his off time celebrating niece Phoebe’s (Elodie Blomfield) favorite holiday, Uncle’s Day. Sitting at his kitchen table with her mother (Sofia Barclay) we find Roy with a party hat on his grumpy head and a look of surprise on his face as Jamie Tartt shows up carrying a gift and a sheepish smile on his face. Apparently, Phoebe invited him assuming the two are best friends, and why wouldn’t she? The two men are practically inseparable these days, even if Jamie claims Isaac is his bestie. When Roy opens Jamie’s gift it’s a touching reminder that these two have not only come a long way, but Phoebe is right – they are best friends. That’s why Jamie knew that Roy would love his original England kit from the 2014 World Cup emblazoned with his name still on the back. Roy can’t deny his emotions the minute he sees that jersey and he tries but sort of fails to hold them back. He is able to hold back his detest for Phoebe’s gift, which is a brightly colored tie-dye T-shirt in honor of his name. Red, orange and yellow aren’t exactly filling the all-black-on-black options in Roy Kent’s closet, but he loves his niece enough to force out a smile and a promise to wear the fashion fail the following day.

Next,  we catch up with Sam, who heads to his restaurant only to find his fully booked space empty except for a small party that’s commandeering the attention of his entire staff. Of course, it’s Edwin Akufo (Sam Richardson), who brought a food blogger along to try a little bit of everything from Ola’s menu. After hurling numerous insults at Sam, he finds out that Edwin was behind the decision to block Sam from playing for the Nigerian team. In fact, he paid the Nigerian government handsomely to never invite Sam to play for his country ever again. Before he leaves Sam with his unpaid bill, Edwin tells him that his life’s goal is to destroy him and he’s going to start by opening a Nigerian restaurant across the street that serves all the Nigerian dishes Ola’s makes plus Chicago hot dogs because those are Edwin’s favorite. Sam ticked off one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the world, and now there is no part of his life that Akufo won’t come for.

Checking back in with Nate who spent all day in bed avoiding the press, winds up sneaking out of his house only to sneak into his parents’ house so he can sleep and his childhood bed in peace. While his father is angry his son climbed through their window and bothered them, Nate’s mother is just thrilled to have her boy home. Neither of his parents knows what happened at West Ham because Nate isn’t talking and just wants to be left alone.

Girl Bossing

Meanwhile, Rebecca is trying to figure out if this offer to meet with Akufo is just another tactic in Rupert’s long-standing war against her. She can’t get a hold of Ted or Keeley–who is actively avoiding her now that she’s lost her business and instead goes to Leslie to ask his advice. After juggling a hot cup of tea all over his lap, Higgins encourages her to go and see what Akufo is all about. Later, she winds up reaching for that green matchbook and Ted’s army man falls out like a massive romantic easter egg the fans still can’t decide on. Both trinkets give her the confidence she needed to text Rupert that she will attend the meeting.

Speaking of Rebecca’s soulmate, Keeley keeps ignoring the woman’s phone calls while she’s sitting in Mae’s pub drinking her sorrows away. It doesn’t help that she got a text from Jack claiming she couldn’t do anything about pulling out of KJPR, and it seems more like an excuse than a reason. She has a brief conversation with pub owner Mae (Annette Badland) about the challenges of being a boss because who better to give advice than the woman who’s been running a watering hole for football drunks for decades? Mae might be an inspiration, but Keeley is just not feeling like she’s cut out for the business world, and as her phone keeps ringing with her best friend’s face practically begging her to pick up, she takes another shot and Mae’s advice to eat something to soak up all that depression liquor. It’s too bad she’s at the pub because she could get a mood boost from getting a hysterical look at Roy – who just walked into the Richmond offices wearing Phoebe’s tie-dyed shirt. Every person he passes is desperately trying to control their laughte. Even Trent is at a loss for words and words are his entire gig! There is nothing, not even embarrassing himself in front of his colleagues and friends, that Roy wouldn’t do for his niece. All jokes aside, the coaches and the team are gathering in the locker room to watch Dani and Van Damme’s big match. It’s top teams Mexico versus Canada and right away we see there’s no love loss between the two when the Greyhounds watch Dani kick the ball straight at Van Damme’s face! The ball winds up breaking his nose and leaving Van Damme bloody and a bit afraid of this new version of Rojas. Everyone on team Richmond gasps in horror at how serious Dani is and how his need to win has superseded his friendship with everyone’s favorite goalie.

The following morning finds Rebecca psyching herself up for her encounter with Rupert and Akufo. She stands in front of a mirror but the reflection looking back at her is the little girl version of herself with her hand over her heart. The two reach deep down and in a previously mentioned breathing exercise Rebecca does to build confidence, both versions of her rise up with their arms above their heads and hiss out a quiet growl like she’s an Amazon ready to do battle with a room full of men.

Next up, Uncle Roy drops his niece off at school wearing his tie-dyed shirt and has a run-in with her teacher, Mrs. Bowen (Ruth Bradley). The two have always been flirtatious with one another and now that Roy is single we finally learned the woman’s name is Leann and she’s very observant when it comes to Kent. She notices the ex-footy player seems a bit lighter in mood as if he is no longer tied down to whatever it was keeping him in his feels the last time they met. That truth hits him hard like a ton of bricks right to the head because he realizes why he was in that mood and who has always been the one to pull him out of it. He politely leaves Mrs. Bowen kicking herself for not jumping at the chance to turn their flirtations into something real, but she’s a smart woman and has no interest in cleaning up whatever mess that is Roy’s love life.

Keeley F**king Jones is Back in The Game!

On cue, we head to that very person who lifts Roy Kent’s mood, and she is walking into the empty offices of KJPR. She spots Barbara packing up her last box before she bids adieu to the London firm and Keeley hands her a parting gift. It’s a snow globe to go with her collection and the gesture really touches Barbara–who never made any connections to the people she worked with before. Of course, the persnickety woman has some sort of rule about paying for her collectibles herself and hands Keeley money for the thoughtful gift. The two-part on good terms, but they are not the only ones! Shockingly Rupert is being nice to Rebecca as he welcomes her to the meeting with Akufo. He gives her an introduction to his new assistant who just happened to replace that mistress assistant Rebecca caught him sneaking around with. This new woman really isn’t the type to crawl into bed with her boss, nor is she the type that Rupert would chase around a desk, and this new version of her ex-husband surprises Rebecca. Before the meeting starts we briefly check in with Nate whose mother (Neelam Bakshi) and father (Peter Landi) leave for the day to go to the farmers market giving their son the opportunity to head up to the attic and look through some family heirlooms. He finds a photo album from his childhood and his beloved violin that he takes down to his bedroom and starts to play. Heading back into the meeting with Edwin, the tycoon greets all of his guests with a meal of hot dogs and a speech explaining his 5-year plan for a super league. The big catch here is that the star players will fill star-studded teams and the matches will ultimately mean a ticket price hike. Elite fans can watch the most elite players, but his idea takes the game away from the fans and hands it to only those who can afford it. Unsurprisingly, all the club owners are practically drooling at the idea of making more money, but not the lonely female owner at the table. After his spiel, he hands all the club owners a detailed projection of their profits and gives them a few minutes to look it over before they make a decision. The room quiets down as everyone flips through the pages but Rebecca takes a moment to look around the room and all she sees is little boys too big for their britches and too small to carry the wallets they’re hoping to fill, looking back at her. She breaks the silence by insulting all of their intelligence and then launches into a monologue about why football is more about the fans than it will ever be about the money they can make off of them. It’s a touching speech that outside of the Ted Lasso fantasy world would hit the boardroom desk like a thud. Corporate interests are almost always a deciding factor in any business deal and the little people she is speaking up for rarely if ever matter. She goes on to question what these rich men want with more money in their pockets since they’re already billionaires. Then she tells the story of a little boy–spoiler, it’s Rupert, she knew he used to sneak into the Richmond games because his mother couldn’t afford to buy the tickets. After getting roughed up by one of the ticket holders, little Rupert made it his life’s goal to one day come back and buy the team he so desperately wanted to watch play his favorite game, and when he did, he searched out the man who roughed him up and doubled his pay. That rags-to-riches fan-to-owner story is exactly why all the men at the table wanted to buy football teams. Her words strike a chord with all of them but especially Akufo who can barely contain his rage. She manages to convince everyone to decline his offer and keep football a sport enjoyed by everyone. Later we see the outcome of that decision resulted in Edwin throwing a fit and food because everyone is covered in hot dog filth except for the billionaire. Rebecca and Rupert are laughing at the whole scene and the two have a moment where the ex-husband drops his attitude and attempts to reconnect with his former wife with a kiss! It’s at that moment that she stops him realizing that she has spent so much energy trying to defeat him and recapture what she thought he took from her. For the woman who hired an American to destroy her husband’s beloved team, Rebecca is officially calling it quits on their post-marital wars.

Back to Nathan who fills his empty home with the beautiful sounds of music until his father interrupts him and the two finally have a heart-to-heart. Nate is shocked that his father enjoys his music because growing up he never seemed to want to hear the boy play. That’s when Lloyd tells his son that maybe he didn’t know how to be the best parent but what he did know was that his son was a genius and only wanted to make sure Nate had every opportunity to prove it. There was tension between these two for the entire series and Nate did a lot of damage to the people he cared about on his quest to find the acceptance his father never gave him, but clearing the air with the man is the first step in what we soon find out is Nate’s adventure down the road of redemption.

Speaking of redeemed characters, Jamie heads out on the pitch for team England and when the cameras capture his kit it’s not his number he’s wearing but his teammate Sam Obasanya’s. From the Greyhounds’ locker room Sam smiles because even though Edwin kept him off the international pitches, Jamie always knew his teammate deserved to be there. These two have come a long way from season one, and the heavy lifting of change came from Jamie – who shelved his ego to be a working member of a team.

As the episode draws to a close we finally see someone dry Keeley’s tears and fans of this show couldn’t be more thrilled. She’s been walking all over London trying to make sense of what went wrong with Jack and her business and all the while she’s been ignoring her best friend’s phone calls who could and would save the day. When she finally makes her way home she spots Roy slipping a letter under her door and confronts the man about what’s written inside of it. Ignoring his pleas to wait to read it until he’s gone, she opens the letter and hands it back to him because his handwriting is illegible. He begrudgingly reads his heartfelt apology for making her feel like the end of their relationship was her fault. He was working through things and instead of tackling them together, he pushed her away. He ends the letter with a reminder that she has always been, “Keely f**king Jones,” and that’s exactly what she needed to hear. He gave her a much-needed boost in her confidence and it doesn’t hurt that Roy ended the speech by telling her he loves her.

It’s not long before Rebecca shows up also imbued with newfound confidence and one million questions for Keeley about where she ran off to. It’s not like her to stay incommunicado from her bestie and Rebecca was really worried. Keeley eventually comes clean explaining what happened to KJPR and how she was too embarrassed to tell Rebecca about it. That’s ridiculous because out of all the relationships on this show, Rebecca and Keeley’s is built on love and support. She is both angry for Keeley and kind of insulted that she didn’t come to her over these finances but the amount of money, according to her friend, that Jack pulled out of the firm is way too much to even discuss. Rebecca scoffs at that and demands she give her a number and after a few drinks Keeley finally writes the price down on a piece of paper. Rebecca laughs like the amount is pocket change and promises to save Keeley’s company and her failed dreams of corporate success. At that very moment, wrapped in Keeley’s pink robe, Roy makes his way out of the bedroom and Rebecca can’t help but smile knowing these two are back together. The two salute each other like the captain of keeping ship Keely afloat always do. It’s teamwork keeping their girl happy, and both are up for the challenge.

Over at Nate’s house he’s officially left his bedroom and after a game of cards with his family we find out he’s been very busy. At Richmond, Will the Kitman wanders into the locker room and sees everything is perfectly washed, folded, and set up for the day. He finds a note addressed to him with a sprig of lavender taped to it in honor of the laundry scents Nate mocked him for. Inside the message reads,“ I’m sorry. From the Wonder Kid.”  But Nate isn’t the only one returning to his former place of employment, we see Barbra walk into the empty offices of KJPR which is back up and running thanks to Rebecca and her very generous wallet. It seems that the gesture of friendship over the snow globe really touched Barbara enough to want her to stay on as the CFO. She tells her new boss that she put in her resignation with Jack and now she’s going to be full-time pulling Keeley’s receipts and questioning her delighted boss’s every move.

All the teammates are back in Richmond after their International break, and Dani’s friendly demeanor came along with them. He even goes as far as asking how Van Dam’s broken nose is because now that they’re not competitors Rojas is back to being everyone’s friend. Speaking of friends, after seeing his numbers grace the pitch for team England, Sam has moved on from his disappointment about the Nigerian team. In fact, he hangs the 1994 Nigerian World Cup photo in his locker again, as a reminder of why he loves the sport of football but more importantly where that love came from.

Upstairs in her office Rebecca hangs up a Dave Hockney painting she got from Rupert like a peace agreement gift, and sits down for biscuits and tea with her pal Coach Lasso. She tells Ted she’s moved on from her feelings of divorce retribution and she really doesn’t care about beating Rupert anymore. It’s not that she doesn’t want Ted and the Greyhounds to win, she does, she just doesn’t care if it’s at Rupert’s expense. Ted is with her on this, he also wants the Greyhounds to win, and to seal the deal Rebecca takes a large sip of her tea and in a revisit from the season 1 finale spits it right in Ted’s face! It’s the good luck spew these two might need to finish out the season as champions and maybe finally figure out what all those matchbook and army men clues mean for this friendship.