Let It Go (Ted Lasso S1 E7)

Christian  
Welcome to the dog track greyhounds This is Richmond Til We Die and episode by episode conversation about the Apple TV plus show Ted Lasso, where we explore the characters, their relationships to each other, and how they're able to make us laugh until we can hardly breathe one moment and then feel with the deepest parts of our hearts the next for this episode, our conversation is all about Episode Seven titled make Rebecca great again.

Marisa  
Hell yeah. I'm Marissa and I love being here with you all, especially you Bretty booboo, and Christian honeybear.

Christian  
I'm Christian, and I have pet names for both my favorite soccer teams and my favorite barbecue dishes.

Brett   
I'm Brett and I am really excited to talk about all the songs everyone sings at karaoke today. Christian sweetie pie. Can you please tell me about your fabulous black and hot pink kit you're wearing today?

Christian  
I will. This particular shirt has two features that I love. One is the color and second are the thin pink horizontal stripes. This is an Everton shirt not because I'm rooting against Richmond AFC, this episode, just because I have a sentimental place in my heart for Everton. When I got this shirt back in 2010 when the greatest American superhero Landon Donovan, played 10 games for Everton in the middle of the season. He went out on loan which Ted Lasso fans will now be familiar with due to our discussion about Jamie Tartt's contract status. And in those 10 games, he scored two goals which, at that point in time, there weren't a lot of Americans having success on European soccer teams. So it was a huge stinking deal. Thus, I have this shirt and I'm wearing it today.

Brett   
In honor of true American hero Landon Donovan

Christian  
Landycakes, correct.

Brett   
We love Landy cakes. Alright, y'all, are we ready to tell the people what happened on this episode? Totally.

Christian  
At the beginning of this episode, Ted is video chatting with his son Henry before the team departs for Liverpool. He briefly speaks with Michelle who asked him to sign and return their divorce papers.

Marisa  
The team is in the locker room preparing to leave but they're in a bad mood because they haven't won an away match against Everton in 60 years. As the team bus pulls out dead realizes that Nate is trapped in the luggage compartment.

Brett   
The team gets checked into the hotel as do Keeley and Rebecca, Rebecca shares with Keelye that it's her anniversary weekend, Rebecca's childhood friend Flo arrives at the room to join the girls.

Christian  
The night before the match, the team watches The Iron Giant together and Ted struggles to submit his divorce papers. The next morning, Nate gives an incredible pre match speech and Richmond go on to win the match with a goal from Roy.

Marisa  
After the match, the crew goes out to celebrate at a karaoke bar. Ted has a panic attack and Rebecca checks on him and sends them back to the hotel. There he signs his divorce papers and send Rebecca a text thanking her for her kindness.

Brett   
culion Roy leave the bar together then share an awkward kiss outside her room. Rebecca ends the evening with the handsome server from the hotel Steakhouse. And the episode ends with Flo and biting herself into Ted's room.

Marisa  
Well, we assume Rebecca ends the evening with the handsome server from the hotel bar.

Brett   
And that's all the recap we're gonna give you.

Christian  
I love this episode, because it starts out hair on fire. We get a torn butt joke, we get a Zoroux joke. We get Nate locked in the bottom of a bus joke. Everything was incredible. I couldn't stop laughing

Brett   
it took a really long time to get to the credit like the title sequence in this episode like a lot happens and like you said the jokes just keep coming and even though the mood is really bad in the locker room. Ted's where he's kind of going all like Southern Baptist preacher and saying like God is my witness, your butt will heal O'Brian like it's just a great sequence in the locker room. I love that part.

Marisa  
I also just really want to know why, like beard has broken his butt so many times like I just don't get it playing chess.

Yeah, that sounds weird biting injury.

Christian  
This is one of the few parts in the show where I really wonder if it was even scripted or scripted to the extent that we see because O'Brien to me has the mannerisms of a man who is attempting to not break character so that the take sticks. He just kind of like puts his head down and doesn't know what to do and has a little bit of a chuckle to himself. And my impression is that this was improvised comedic genius from Jason Sudeikis.

Marisa  
Brett and I shared the same idea as we were watching it on this last go round too, we thought That looks like maybe they weren't prepared for that.

Christian  
Yeah. Which, hey, that's the great thing about comedy. I love it. Spontaneous humor. I also love In this episode, how we get people doing things poorly, and how real and authentic it seems. Genuine Juno Temple has a great acting performance in this episode. And so then to see her trying to be like a clunky, bad actress on the Liverpool TV screens, which he doesn't even remember doing

Brett   
what she does.

Christian  
It cracks me up and I gotta say she plays a bad actress really well. Like good job for it's hard for people to act well, poorly.

Brett   
Yeah, I've heard that's really hard. I would am not a good actor in the first place. It's easy for me to act badly. No.

Christian  
We also had some poor performances in karaoke. I don't know that all of that was acting. However, that kind of seemed to me, like, maybe they just bought the cast some free drinks, and told them to go at it and shot a reality TV show for a couple hours. And Jason Sudeikis was the only person acting and everybody else was just kicking it.

Brett   
Having fun. That's why he gets paid the big bucks. He's having to do work while everyone else is singing poorly. And drinking. Right?

Marisa  
You know, but that's like, that is exactly what a karaoke scene should be, though. I mean, if everyone was singing just as beautifully as Hannah waddingham. You know, we couldn't really believe that it'd be a Broadway show. Yes, but we're gonna talk about that later.

Brett   
We will. Yes. Something we should talk about now, though, is the little jab that we see Rebecca give Higgins and kind of how their relationship is further deteriorating. Yes. Go ahead. Sorry.

Marisa  
Yes. On our last episode, we said maybe she's not done with punishing Higgins for sort of joining in on the team. Burn barrel. And I think right, we were right.

Christian  
I think it was a blessing in disguise for Higgins. When that happened. I felt like if I were Higgins, I would be relieved because it would be really painful to go on a road trip with the team that was losing all the time, and he thought was probably going to lose again. And he did bounce back. It's never fun to be rejected. But we do see him later in the episode, having fun with his family, which would have been a unique and refreshing experience for him because he would rarely ever get to do it.

Brett   
I would have loved to see Higgins and karaoke. I feel like maybe his heart was hurt a little when he saw everyone's like Snapchat and Instagram stories and they were singing and he wasn't there to sing and dance with them.

Marisa  
You know, he was definitely missing out on the dancing part. We can see that from his other dancing moments in the show. But yes, I do like seeing him with his family. And I do like that he's still committed to the team. We get to see that but I just miss Higgins in this episode.

Christian  
If we're lucky. Someday we'll get to see the deleted scene of Higgins singing Boy George to himself in the shower.

Brett   
Yes. One other small relationship between characters moment I flagged and thought was adorable in this episode was when Rebecca comes back into the karaoke bar to sing her song that sassy and Kelly have put in for her against her knowledge or will she she walks in holding her coat and Sam very politely stands up and like takes her coat from her which I think is an interesting moment to have symbolism because at the end of the previous episode, we see her leaving the pitch from the burn barrel scene and like dropping the her coat and kind of like shedding the team. But she's come back into this space to sing for everyone and Sam is taking her coat and holding it for her. So I just thought that was a nice moment of parallelism there.

Christian  
I don't give Sam too much credit. Like it's nice that he took her coat. But he did a really poor job keeping track of everybody else's clothing in this show, because I noticed that Danny underneath his coat was still shirtless on the streets of Liverpool after karaoke.

Brett   
Christo Fernandez is shirtless when they come in from the match. And then I don't think he has a shirt on again, for this entire episode.

Christian  
He must work out.

Brett   
Yeah, I assume

Marisa  
I can't say that I am upset about any of that.

Christian  
After an auspicious start to the episode, our main man Nate the great takes another step or maybe like two or three in his evolution as a person and a leader. Yeah,

Brett   
we kind of get a lot of growth all at once. Because, you know, he has this kind of foibles at the beginning of the episode getting trapped under the bus, which he's trying to do a nice thing and rearrange the luggage so it'll all fit and people just don't care or notice that he's there coordinate. But when the team has gathered to watch The Iron Giant Ted and beard and Nate are sitting at a table kind of off to the side, chatting softly not distracting anyone from the MOOC from the film. But that's when Ted asked Nate Hey, what do you think you know what you have an idea locked and loaded and ready to go? What do you thinking and they again, There's a really funny sequence where he basically talks about how he thinks that he tells Ted his idea, Ted will hate him, and I'll have to live with his parents and everyone will hate him and his face will melt off. But then later, Nate does push a piece of paper underneath the Ted's hotel door. And though Ted is too angry to read it at the moment, he does read it. And then he gives Nate the opportunity to give the team the pre match speech the next day.

Marisa  
Again, as you know, we haven't talked much about Ted's leadership skills in a while. But again, Ted, being really anxious and upset, obviously, about his divorce papers, snaps at Nate. But the next morning, we see him right away apologize, to Nate. And then give him that opportunity and really encourage him and say, No, this is you've got it right. And they need to hear it from you as to be there your words, and you need to do that. So even though he was upset and dealing with his own stuff, he's still humble enough to own up to that and apologize. And I think that's really awesome.

Christian  
It was a proper apology. We live in a world where people make really poor, yet impassioned, non-apologies. And there was no equivocation, there was no, "if this hurt you," Ted knew exactly where he stood. He knew exactly what he had done. And he owned that. And that was, it's not ideal. You don't wish that on somebody, I don't think you intentionally hurt somebody so that you can apologize to them. But it is very powerful, and does bring Nate more into his own. When Ted does that, which is really cool. And Nate's also pulled into his own by the team itself. They view him as more a part of the team than he views himself. He's not sure that he has a voice. And even as he kind of like, starts to tread into these murky and dangerous waters of dragging everybody for Phil, there are still people who are cheering him on.

Marisa  
Yeah, you got this.

Christian  
"Roast Me, Amigo." You just see him blossom before our eyes.

Brett   
Well, going back to when Nate and Ted are having their conversation right before Nate gives his manifesto, Ted realizes that he can achieve multiple goals by allowing Nate to give this speech, he's letting him grow. But then also coming from Nate in this way, someone who's been around the team longer than 10 and beard, someone who knows the organization, the structure, and even though he may just now be noticed by a lot of these folks, like he has been here part of AFC Richmond for longer than most of these people. And so coming from him, I think there's more sort of weight and depth to the words that he's saying. And Ted knows that it will be impactful to the players. But it will also help Nate to, as you said, Christian to blossom in this moment.

Christian  
The one person Nate doesn't really roast is Roy, which isn't to say that he does have harsh words for him. But there's a different tone there. And there's also a different way in which Roy receives what Nate's saying, Roy's anger is his superpower, but he doesn't know how to harness it. Like he keeps it down, or he's not supposed to expose out when it's not supposed to. He gets his mad all over everybody, as we say to our four year old. And the great thing in their relationship is that once again, we see ROI holding a high value on being told the truth. And he is asking for the Truth to be told to him. The problem with Roy is when he leads with anger. What it looks like is he's trying to fight you. But what he really wants is for that moment of authenticity from Nate. And then he gets it. And he responds, it's just a really interesting dance that they have going on there.

Brett   
On this rewatch, I was struck by the thought that Roy has maybe realized what Ted is doing in this moment, he has realized that this is an opportunity for Nate to grow as well. And so yes, he places the high value on honesty, and directness. But I think he also uses his influence in that moment to, to sort of help Nate along as well, like he gets told this hard truth. But I also think that maybe there's a case to be made that he is aligning with Ted in this mission to bring Nate further out of his shell and into a leadership role.

Christian  
It's a turning point for Roy. This is a time then where we see Roy go out and he went to the game, which we don't get to see soccer wise, which is actually pretty great. And then as he comes back in, we see a Roy who is learning to be an inclusive leader instead of the coercive leader that he's been. So instead of pushing people in a direction, what he's learning to do is to bring people in, and he's still not great with it. Like he still really needs Kelly's help to kind of get it done. But that softer side that he's only shown QE so far, is now starting to make itself known to the world large. Hey, y'all,

Marisa  
we should talk about anxious Ted, its main, it's the month of mental health awareness. I think it's important that we talk about how real and nice it is to see someone dealing with anxiety and people, you know, figuring out how to help them.

Brett   
Yeah, there are a lot of factors. At this point, I think playing into Ted's emotional state, the big obvious one is these divorce papers that for some reason, Michelle and her lawyer just like need to have done right away, even though this man is on a four and a half hour road trip to play to do his job. And it just seems like couldn't this wait like a day?

Christian  
I've come around on this a little bit? Okay, because at first, I did think it was wack that Michelle sprung the divorce thing on him before a match. And then she's like pushing him to sign the papers. On a match day. The first one is still her bad. That's still her fault. The second one, it does seem like he's kind of dragging his feet on this. And there's a bit of a self inflicted wound here, where if he would have taken care of it beforehand, maybe it wouldn't have manifested itself here. But certainly, as a narrative tool, we are creating some tension here.

Marisa  
I think you all are haters, because who knows how long he's had those papers. And it's not the day before him. I mean, he's had them like before, then. And, you know, lawyers are expensive. So the more time that he takes to fill that out, she's probably having to pay her lawyer to like, you know, sit around doing stupid things that lawyers get paid for, even though they're not doing anything. So I don't think it's Michelle's fault. I think it's just this is real life and divorces are stupid. So no, don't, don't hang on Michelle, she's still she's still watching his game, they're gonna cheer him on. She's still supporting Ted in a healthy way, especially in front of her son. So I gotta go with Michelle on this one to take care of it.

Christian  
It could be another example of how there's not anger in their relationship. But there is a lot of hurt because Ted's dragging his feet, doesn't feel like it's retribution, or malicious in any way. But yeah, it's taking too long for him to kind of do what he knows he should do, because he talked about it in a speech to the team, which is to let her go

Brett   
away. Lady football was about Michelle.

Christian  
It was like a YouTube song. It was about the goddess football, and a real woman.

Brett   
All roads lead back to you to

Christian  
for someone who's been super intentional and effective. Ted hurts are really like bubbling toward the top in a lot of ways. So now we've seen his anger manifest a couple of different times, we see just a general disheveled this, I noticed whenever he's in a bad spot, and he's by himself and kind of like lost in his own bad thoughts. One of the visual cues that we get of that is his hair gets really messed up and it just gives him an entirely different look and countenance and then we also see his anxiety manifesting itself and there have been cues and clues of this before not because he was necessarily hurting but we've seen him him kind of wring his hands or have that numbness that tingling in his hands before during the press conference. And then a couple other times throughout the season so far. And in this episode, everything really is kind of closing in on him. And between the outside world crumbling in his inside world like crumbling, it just starts to be too much in any number of ways.

Marisa  
I mean, we get to see this all just kind of literally explode at the karaoke bar. While Rebecca is seeing let it go, poignant and meaningful, I think so. But he can't it's like so bottled up and he just, you know, he has this panic attack. And then we see Rebecca go and comfort him and like she's, she sees him. She sees how he's hurting. She sees that he's having a panic attack. She tells him to breathe, you know? And he says, am I going crazy? Am I crazy? And she says no more than anyone else. And I just think to me, like I love that moment that Rebecca shares with him on the sidewalk and mirrors a lot of what Rebecca or what head does with Rebecca. During the gala, right? Yep. But she's just so honest about that statement. There's nothing, there's nothing that's like, there's no ulterior motives to her going out there and just supporting him and checking on him, you can just I think, see the real Rebecca and that in that moment. And then, you know, Ted goes and takes care of his business with his divorce and all that other stuff. But I like that statement, I think it's one that we should share more with one another. As someone who deals with anxiety, and, you know, takes medicine for that. I tell my students, I work at a college and you know, if you don't know, college students, they're dealing with all sorts of really hard things in life. I think they deal with harder things than we did when we were in college. And that's one thing I tell them all the time is like, you don't need to feel like you're going crazy, not any more than any, any of us Also, check in on your friends and your family.

Christian  
That might be the realest moment in the show. There are a lot of people who do suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, who have noted how that moment like speaks to them, and reflects their experience in ways that they just don't usually see on TV and in movies. You know, I have people close to me that have had anxiety and panic attacks. And it took me a while to like understand that, and to be able to understand partially, you know, what they were feeling but from what they've expressed and what my wife has kind of explained to me medically that's going on, they really did kind of nail the experience and even how they, they even how they expressed Ted's understanding of time of him leaving, and then not having a lot of memory of what happens and then coming back to have somebody calm him, like my understanding is, that's pretty much how he goes, you know, you can know that you're having a panic attack. And that can kind of start a cycle then have more panic. And then that panic overtakes you and overwhelms you. And then when you're able to like, come back and remember things, there's kind of a space there, right. And it's a space that you need to recover from, but a space nonetheless. And I think they dealt with it very authentically and compassionately and in a way that can help us empathize with people who have panic attacks, and also where people who have panic attacks and anxiety feels seen.

Marisa  
Something I really appreciate in this episode is the way that they portray women in friendships. This could be something right away that like, as I'm watching it, I started to feel some anxiety about Flo sassy, kind of just appearing for this weekend where Kaylee and Rebecca are gonna be hanging out right, trying to cheer themselves up. And usually what happens especially in a sitcom sort of scenario is there's three's a crowd right? Literally. So you have Flo stepping in and it feels like it's something going to happen. Is there going to be some conflict between flow and Keeley and Rebecca?

Brett   
Yeah, I we see Rebecca's face at one point and when there's a break in their initial introduction, and I think that look is a little bit of anxiety and fear from her of like, Oh, no, is Kelly gonna be jealous of my old friends here is Flo going to be weirded out and jealous that I brought like a new friend with me on this trip and now she's like, Here seeing this. And even though she has that fear, and you see a kind of flash across her face, that never happens, because flow and Kelly are both just such strong, you know, characters and they they understand the situation and they don't make it about them. Like they both understand that they're here for Rebecca because Rebecca has shared with Kaylee you know right before this, that it would have been her anniversary weekend and Kelly's on board with making it a good weekend for her and we find out later that this is why Flo has shown up she has come to be with Rebecca because she knows that it was going to be her her anniversary weekend and she comes to be with her and to care for her.

Marisa  
Well it's just nice to see three women who are secure enough and who they are. And again wanting to be there for one another and it doesn't become this sort of superficial or stereotypes thing about women how they can be catty, or or jealous or whatever. And it reminds me of and I'm going to share a couple because I don't care. I get to a couple quotes from one of my favorite people Glennon Doyle. And she says something here about women. Alright, are you ready for this gentleman?

Brett   
Yes. Okay.

Marisa  
"If you're standing with other women in a circle and there's a woman standing alone in your circles vicinity, the thing to do is notice her smile at her move over a bit and say hi, come join us. Even if she decides not to join your circle, even if she looks at you. Like you're crazy, inviting her is still the thing to do. widen your circles all the time. Also, horseshoes are better than circles leave space. Always leave space. horseshoes a friends are greater than circles of friends. Life can be lonely stand in horse shoes,"

Brett   
I like that. Thanks Glennon.

Marisa  
Thank you Glennon, I just think that's a beautiful way to put it that we often think that, you know, we have to have these circles of friends, which sounds like a really happy and healthy thing. But if we're actually being open to people and keeping our eyes out for those who need to be included, I like this. I also think it's a very Ted like thing to think about that he would be probably open to this idea of horseshoes rather than circles.

Christian  
Totally, we do get one little blip just to let us know that this is based in reality and not totally mamby pamby land, when, when Flo and Rebecca are talking outside of the karaoke bar. And Kelly just gets a little like nervous, little panicky that she's been ditched. And I love how there the relationship between the three of them is portrayed. But then I also love that they threw that little wrinkle in there just to texture everything and still like give it that taste of reality because it does stink to be left out or to fear that you're being left out even if you aren't.

Marisa  
We also see that Flo and Kelly kind of help Rebecca in different ways, right? And flow is is able to give us this backstory, this history, this understanding of who Rebecca was. And I really enjoy that moment where Rebecca has gone off and Flo and Keeley are chatting and she says, if you like Rebecca, you'll love like the actual Rebecca, right, right. This isn't her. You don't know her. She's softer. She's she she loves life. She's energetic and enthusiastic. And she loves to sing and and so I think we get to see that through flow. But then we also get to see like how Kelly is able to sort of rescue her rescue Rebecca out of those moments of self doubt and scary kind of tabloid vibes. And let her just kind of be free and be fun in the now. I'm sorry, did you say that you wanted another quote from Glennon Doyle? Was that what you said?

Brett   
Please? That may have been what you heard.

Marisa  
Good. Well, you know, I like that Flo. And Kelly are both kind of silly women, right? They're there. They like they're, like, fun personality have similar vibes. Yes. So here's a quote from Glennon Doyle that I think is just really helpful to think about how Rebecca needs these type. These types of women in her life, bless it are those brave enough to make things awkward for they wake us up and move us forward?

Christian  
When you guys were talking earlier about Rebecca's nervousness, when flow comes back into the picture, there's a chance that a big piece of that is Rebecca's shame over Rupert's hold over her. And we see Flo and Rebecca talking outside of the bar. And Flo is really honest with Rebecca, number one to be empathetic. And to say, you know, this guy like he locked you in into a tower, he separated you from everybody else in your life. In the in the gala episode, we mentioned about, like how that is a form of abuse, that is one thing that abusers do. There's also However, this hurt that she has. And I think the hurt isn't necessarily that Rebecca didn't call her anymore, but she's hurting because her daughter was hurting because her daughter doesn't understand right? how these things work. And so when Rebecca disappeared, that made her life more difficult. And you know, Rebecca, at this point, at least, outwardly has been empowered, and maybe flow coming back in makes her feel like some of that empowerment is going away, because some of that facade is going to be seen through.

Brett   
Right. I found it interesting that in Keeley and Rebecca's discussion, right before we meet flow in this episode, Rebecca tells Keeley this weekend is about leaving the past and the past. And then immediately there's a knock on the door. interflow. And to me that read is like yes, there is importance and value and moving on from the past, but you can never really just absolve yourself of that entire experience. Like there's always a piece of the past with you and the way that you sort of deal with that and move on from that and use it to grow is important and not to say that bad things happen so that you can grow from them. That's a terrible outlook. But you know, what has happened has happened and you have to that's all part of who you are and who you will become.

Marisa  
You need some closure, right? She needs to deal with these things and at least acknowledge her part in that with flow and so I think that's really important. But yeah, they need machines to also move on in a healthy way. I like that these strong, independent ladies all leave the bar and do their own thing.

Brett   
Yeah, that is another moment where in any other sitcom, one thing would have happened, you know, there would have been some drama that occurred because someone didn't want to do this thing or they thought we were going to do this with each other or like that was the man I wanted to go home with. And that just doesn't happen it's just like in karaoke where you know after the after Rebecca dedicates the song to sassy. The camera immediately cuts to Healy and, you know, in another show, we might expect for her to be either you know, jealous or even annoyed, at least and she's not she looks happy. She's laughing. She's joyful. She's she loves this moment.

Marisa  
And Roy is singing along by the way,

Christian  
it's not a surprise that Roy can't fully like let himself get into that moment, is not the only moment that we can't see him like let himself get into later and it is incredible the scene where he is walking with Keeley in the hallway, and they get to a room and they share that kiss. And as they kind of ease away from each other Juno Temple, the actress has this look of complete smoothness and admiration on her face. That is the sweetest thing ever. And she does an incredible job of turning that on a dime. When Roy doesn't know what to do, pulls the ejack cord bails on the situation. And she has the look of utter confusion on her face.

Brett   
Or you look up WTF on urban dictionary, it is her face in that moment.

Christian  
That's it and her ability to go from one to the other was chef's kiss.

Marisa  
She's gonna hold on to that for a little bit, I think. Yeah, we'll see.

Brett   
So Christian, earlier in this episode, you said that the karaoke night kind of seemed like reality TV, and it seemed like they were just the cast was bought drinks and told Hey, we're just gonna roll camera this whole time y'all do you? And so what did y'all think about the song we talked a little bit about? How about singing? What did y'all think about the song selection for karaoke night?

Marisa  
It felt very authentic for karaoke night. I mean, someone's got to do Lady Gaga, right?

Brett   
Yeah, someone did.

Marisa  
Someone's got to do Wonderwall. Right?

Brett   
I'm just surprised it wasn't a white dude with a guitar. But yes,

Christian  
well, Sam is subversive like that. He likes to switch things up. And so that was good. I thought, Bad Romance for Beard, like that was very on brand because he can't do romance. So good job him.

Brett   
I really thought all of the songs were applicable to the storyline like it we only get a few measures of each one really, but like the this the lyric that Sam is singing from Wonderwall as maybe you're gonna be the one that saves me which is from the chorus right and i think that's that really is like a vibe for this whole show and especially the back half of this season like a lot of people are caring for each other in different ways and saving me might be a little bit of an overstatement but in a way Yeah, that's that's what's happening a lot. It also has an interesting soccer connection because it's a team song of the Minnesota United FC and is played after all Manchester City FC home games. So there's that and yeah, I think bad romance like you said, Christian it. We know beards philosophy on that he doesn't like to spend more than five minutes on one or else it loses its flavor. But I also think bad romance can apply to you know, Ted's relationship right now it can apply to Rebecca's former relationship, pretty much any relationship and apply a little bit. So what Kelly and Roy are going through, they're in a confusing romance, or at least to Kelly is Roy knows exactly what he's doing. It seems like I think opposite. But okay. Yeah. And then, of course, we already talked about it a little bit, there's let it go from the frozen soundtrack. And that obviously applies to several characters in this scene, and in this episode, there's an interesting story about the use of this song in this episode is that they almost didn't get to use it, because, as you might guess, The Walt Disney Company is very persnickety with who they allow to use their music and for good reason. context matters, the performance of the song matters. And originally, this was given a red light for this production, Disney said no, you can't use let it go pick something else. And they were like, wait, wait, give us another chance. So Tony Vaughn purview one of the music supervisors has a good relationship at Disney. He took it back to them after they had filmed the scene and kind of said, Look, this is Hannah waddingham she's an amazing Western performer. She's singing the song earnestly is good and it is it is portrayed well please let us do it and they change their Mind they said yes. So then we get this amazing moment of Disney music on the show.

Christian  
Marisa, You're the professional vocalist here. I could tell Hannah Wattingham could sing. Obviously, that's a big No Duh. No auto tune anywhere to be found. Like what are though credentials and chops, if you will.

Marisa  
I mean, yes, she's got pipes. She is a West End actress and also Broadway. One of the things that people might know her from would be Spam A Lot. She originated the role of Lady in the Lake, the West End production and then she also played it on Broadway as well. If, I mean, it's a great role, it's like pretty much the only role for a woman in that show. But it's hilarious and it takes like, it's so difficult to sing that role because it's just like the range and the the types and genres that you have to sing to get through. And you have to be really funny. So she also starred in A Little Night Music and Kiss Me Kate and Wizard of Oz and Into the Woods. I mean, so she's, she's a talented performer who's been nominated for many Olivier ords, basically the the Tonys, but in England, and she, she's legit. We hear that in her just a little bit that we get of her singing this, and I wish we had a little bit more.

Brett   
I love how immediately when she starts singing in that scene, everyone is captivated by her voice and they're just like, they're waiting for the chorus because this is a hard song to sing.

Christian  
It is an impossible song to sing and look people let this be a warning to you. Do not try to sing Let It Go at karaoke. I'm generally of the opinion that it's okay to sing bad karaoke. Like, you know, Sam didn't sing Wonderwall very well, but he butchered it in a low key. Mere Mortals cannot reach the notes that Hannah Waddingham could reach in Let It Go. So just put this one on the shelf for professionals, along with Sweet Sweet Fantasy Baby by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston's rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. And let's enjoy those in the karaoke Smithsonian. And we will butcher songs that are intended for far less accomplished vocalists

Brett   
is the karaoke Smithsonian, a real museum?

Christian  
Yes,

Brett   
perfect. Would you please take me there

Christian  
on vacation? Absolutely.

Brett   
I'm so excited.

Marisa  
As someone who studies voice and teaches voice and works with singers all the time, I think that this is such a perfect way for us to see Authentic Rebecca because singers I think more than any other musicians or instrumentalists know that some of the hardest work you do is that you are your instrument, right? So the facts that flow tells us Oh, Rebecca sings she has a beautiful voice. To me. That's like that's saying something about who Rebecca is. And like her spirit and her, her personality and just who she is. And so being able to be vulnerable enough to share that with the team to sing something that's difficult for us to see that happen. I think in a way where everyone's supporting her. I just think it's a really scary and vulnerable thing to do is to sing in front of people even if you are really good. And so I think that this is one way that we start to see Rebecca getting her groove back.

Christian  
My question for you guys, all three of us with young children in our homes, are incredibly familiar with the entire Frozen catalogue. The corpus of music in frozen it slaps It's really good. We may get tired of it because our kids watch it. ad nauseum. But it is amazing music. If you guys could sing any song from the frozen universe not called let it go at karaoke? which one would it be?

Brett   
I hesitate to say it because it's the duet with the bad guy but I would love to sing love as an open door with you Marissa

Marisa  
vom Oh gosh, that's good. I wouldn't have to go with the Kristoff song from Frozen to the like hardcore 80s rock ballad that I love so much lost in the woods.

Christian  
My wife feels the same way about that as she does about my Allen Iverson speech jokes. So don't do that when you come over to dinner.

Marisa  
Okay, I'll stick that one right back. Okay. No, no. Wow, man hates it.

Brett   
What about you, Christian? What frozen song are you bringing to the karaoke party?

Christian  
I'm gonna go with the sweeps and the swoons of The Next Right Thing from Frozen. To have that song so good. 

And the animated feature films that have no musical numbers category for this episode, we see the Iron Giant makes a prominent appearance.

Brett   
Yeah, he does. That's the movie that I probably haven't seen since, like Middle School. But I really enjoyed the reference in this episode. Because I think even though we don't actually see much of the film, and it's, it just happens in a very short scene, there are a lot of interesting parallels to draw between some of the themes of that movie and what's happening in this episode. And, and just the themes of the show in general.

Christian  
I saw it two months ago, our family was on vacation in this age of COVID, one of the things that you could do was rent out an entire movie theater incredibly cheaply, especially if you have seven people in your family. Because, yeah, I mean, it's like less than 100 bucks. So for some people, like that's not too bad. And like the quote unquote, kids movie that they had on offer was The Iron Giant. And it was really good. And I was interested in seeing it because it was in total, so not so much a kids movie.

Brett   
Yeah, no, it's about as much of a kid's movie as The Incredibles is a kid's movie. And that's because it is directed by Brad Bird and that they, they're animated. And they're fun. And they're colorful. But yeah, they deal with some serious themes, like The Iron Giant talks about nuclear war.

Christian  
Yeah, so it was really good. My kids didn't dig it. And I don't blame them. But it did end up especially in the way that dealt with complex human relationships. Yeah. Really dovetails nicely into the Ted Lasso world. And the giant robot, just really trying to figure out who he is how to deal with, like his own brokenness, reassembling himself. There's, there's a lot of great stuff in there. And yeah, like, watch it with your adult friends.

Marisa  
I like the tiny moments. Well, it's adorable seeing all the grown men crying, obviously, but that we get to see Isaac taking on a leadership role by just shaking his head, like put your phone away to the guy next to him. And then we see Roy behind him like, Yeah, man, that's what it's all about step up.

Brett   
The other thing that struck me about the use of this film reference in this episode was that at the end of this episode, we see Ted, he signs his divorce paper. And then he looks up into the mirror and he he takes a beat, and then he smiles at himself. And to me, that really mirrored what happens at the end of the film, The Iron Giant, where we see that his head has crashed landed in some other country, but then, you know, kind of zooms out, figuratively speaking, and we see that the giant is reassembling himself, all the pieces and parts are coming back together. And so I was just struck by the fact that this felt like a moment where Ted was making an effort to reassemble himself now that he has closed this chapter essentially, and he's beginning to move on.

As he's looking in the mirror, we see in his reflection that he is wearing a special shirt that may or may not contain barbecue.

Christian  
Ted does love to sleep in those shirts from the company Three KC, they are the ones who originated those Joe Arthur shirts. So if you're going to get one, make sure you learn from them and not one of the knock offs across the internet these days. And then barbecue citing when Ted has his computer open. His desktop picture is the actual Arthur Bryant's restaurant in Kansas City down near 18th, Street and Vine. And one of the things that I love about that there has been kind of a gentrification of barbecue in pop culture, especially over the last like 10 to 15 years. And in Kansas City, like most of the bedrock places, were started by black people. And when you think about the history of barbecue, a lot of it comes out of like African culture and out of the culture in Central and South America, of people cooking over long periods of time in the ground. And in you know, like with slavery taking parts of animals that have been cast aside or review were viewed as undesirable, and then turning them into delicacies. And now, a lot of that stuff like you know, like oxtail in brisket is super difficult to find and really expensive. But it's just cool to see Jason Sudeikis like giving a shout out to those old school KC places and very visible ways.

Marisa  
What were some of the most and least convincing soccer things that you notice in this episode, I gave

Christian  
Shout out to everybody involved with the show in the last episode for making the soccer match itself look amazing and convincing. They decided to not show any soccer in this episode, which I thought like is a good call because it is difficult and expensive to pull that stuff off. And so do it well when you can and then save your energy for later. most convincing soccer thing. They have a warp on the team bus to make it like an actual authentic like bus that a soccer team would drive around a football team would drive around to away matches. And so that is a big, little detail. That was really cool and lended a sense of authenticity to them traveling up to Liverpool. Least soccer anything least convincing soccer thing in the show. I did think it was fairly unreasonable that the entire team could move around Liverpool without anybody bothering them. Nobody like seeking autographs or No papparazzi in the hotel, you're gonna tell me that, you know, even though they're not a great team that an entire team full of soccer players is going to leave and go back to the hotel with nary a groupie? I don't think so. Man, some they're gonna have some some tagalongs out of the karaoke bar. But nonetheless, overall, I still give it thumbs up for soccer representation in this episode.

Marisa  
Say anyone have any favorite quotes from this episode? I know you do.

Brett   
For my quote, as someone who loves both musical references and pop culture references, I was really pleased when Ted comes into the locker room and asks beard, why is everyone so down in the dumps? "Did Beyonce dumped Jay Z or something?" And I just love that Ted is so invested in the love lives of Beyonce Knowles and Jay Z.

Marisa  
Mine's got to be for my girl, Keeley. "If I'm going to dip my toe back in the lady pool, I can't think of a finer body of water to do with than you."

Brett   
I love that moment too. And I thought it stuck out to me because it feels like the first real moment of anyone expressing queerness in this show. And I know it's it is a funny scene. And it's meant to make us laugh. But there's something about the way that Juno Temple plays that as Kelly that, you know, makes it it's like, is she joking? And how much is she joking? And it's obviously not meant to be disrespectful at all, but it's kind of like, How serious is she being right now? And how much is she really just messing with Rebecca and it's, it's, it's really funny.

Marisa  
She can't get those beautiful breasts I never mind that is true.

Christian  
Mine comes from the scene where Ted is trying to track down a fax machine, and he's at the front desk of the hotel. I love how that scene is written. That's like, unrealistic squad goals for me is to be able to have that many one liners to two different people. While I'm distracted by somebody else. I'm just gonna have to give up on that dream just like I've given up on the dream of having the perfect Barbie doll body because it doesn't exist in real life. But Ted does a great job when he clips back to the dude at the front desk. "I'm just gonna hit this manicurist nearby that has carrier pigeons." Loved it..

Brett   
It's really on Ted though for like trying to find a fax machine like it's not 2020

Christian  
Yeah, dude, get with the program. Okay, everybody, that's our show. We will be back on the dog track in two weeks with our conversation about episode eight titled The Diamond Dogs. You can check out the show notes for links to all the cool things and interesting stuff we mentioned on this episode. And you can keep the conversation going on Twitter and Instagram. Our handle is @TedLassoPod. It's a great way for us to connect with each other. And for y'all to share your insights on the show.

Brett   
This episode of Richmond Til We Die is brought to you by Gin and Kerosene Productions. It was produced by me, Brett, me, Marisa and me, Christian. Me Brett also edited, mixed and composed music for this episode. And if you enjoyed this conversation, we ask that you please take a moment to subscribe to Richmond till we die on whatever app you're using to listen to this episode. It helps us a ton.

Marisa  
And wherever you're listening to Richmond till we die, we appreciate you. We'd love it. If you'd head over to the Apple podcast app and give us a quick five star review. It'll help more people find in here our show. I'm Marissa signing off for Christian and Brett, thank you so much for listening and until next time, cheers, y'all.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai