Christmas Episode! Perfectly timed for the middle of August.
But also sickeningly adorably perfect. Even the Love Actually reference was sweet.
You know what else was lost to Americans (or at least this American)? That the show setting of Richmond is actually in London. When I first saw the first show or two, I assumed this was a separate city.
BTW, I really liked the Christmas episode. Even the Love, Actually homage was fun.
I could have done without that. It wasn’t even an interesting twist on an xmas special. It was straight up vanilla glurge.
Yeah, hated this episode.
I binged the first season last week since I knew season two was coming out and loved it. I think it needs something else because its one trick has lost its effect on me.
Wow, what a rare miss. Just a cookie cutter Christmas episode (in August?). Usually the show puts an interesting twist on cliche plots. Not this time.
I did wonder if Ted’s unbridled optimism would not hit the same way in a world where we haven’t been locked down for months. It was perfect at a time to give us hope when we are all stuck at home and depressed. And granted we may be headed back that way again soon, but the tenor of the country is very different and the optimism may grate.
Maybe a Dubai Air and new sponsor subplot will help this season.
Well, I’m not sure I agree with those of you saying it didn’t work. Even though it was a bit cloying, I was still engaged and entertained.
Yeah, I liked it. Rebecca making sure Ted wouldn’t be sad in his first post-divorce Christmas by joining her in giving gifts to strangers. Roy is always awesome, particularly with his niece. And remember how Higgins mentioned that only a couple of players take his invitation to Christmas at his house? Well, this year, most of the team showed up, which is perhaps because Ted’s friendliness rubbed off on everyone.
Did I mention that I like this show?
BTW, the whiteboard in Ted’s office said
“What’s our record?
Ws: 4
Ls: 4
Ds: 14
Ps: 26”
Given in the last episode we saw, the team ended a long string of draws by a loss, it’s been a long time; three more losses, four wins and more draws. So it’s not clear whether Dubai Air is still the sponsor, but Sam at least wasn’t traded.
Seems to indicate Richmond is in deep trouble if they want to be promoted. They are almost halfway through the season (yes the Championship has a ridiculous 48 game season). They would need to go on a long winning streak to have a good chance of the promotion playoff.
I also thought that there was a missed opportunity in this episode. The therapist was no where to be found. I think it may have been far more impactful (and good) that at Ted’s lowest low, he reached out to her and she invited him over for Christmas and they talked a bit about his demons. And then the rest could be the same (you’d have to come up with something for Rebecca but shouldn’t be that difficult I’d imagine).
Yeah, they basically have to average 2 points a game for the remainder of the season to make the playoffs. To win the league that’d nearly have to win out.
My guess is that they’re planning the show over some number of series/seasons, perhaps three or four, and promotion will be in a later series/season, perhaps winning the Cup in the show finale. And I’m OK that Dr Fieldstone didn’t appear, and that the episode concentrated on the core characters. (Though I’d like to see more about Nate’s family life, and for the show to address how he treats the new kit man.)
BTW, earlier I mentioned the joke about the directness of the Dutch, and bits like that seem to show some awareness of Europeans. From stuff I’ve read in the last day or so, Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt (co-creator and plays Coach Beard) spent time in Amsterdam working for an American improv group, so presumably they had personal experience of this directness. And their football experience is mostly from playing the video game FIFA.
They’ve said it’s only going to be 3 seasons. I think we’ve all been assuming they’d get promoted this season and then “win the whole damn thing” the following (which is fanciful but very sports movie/show ish). Maybe they’re going for more realistic results?
Given how popular it’s turned out to be (heck, I subscribed to Apple+ just because of the show), perhaps they’re rethinking limiting themselves to three seasons?
I believe those are the words of the showrunner. Basically that’s how long his story is.
Hmm, I was thinking it more likely that they win the FA Cup, maybe even without being promoted back. Still wins the club hardware, but in a bit more believable fashion.
I liked this episode well enough, and the Roy & Keeley & Phoebe show continues to be the best part of the show. Overall the show seems to have dipped a bit, and I think part of it is that there isn’t really a central conflict. Season 1 had Ted slowly win everybody over. In this season basically everyone is on Ted’s side. All the players are happy with him, and so is everyone else on the team, even including the therapist, who seemed at first to be setting up as a foil for him. So everyone’s going along more or less happily, snapping a few good jokes and it’s all very good, but not hitting the level that last season did.
This I think is pretty guaranteed. They’re definitely setting up Nate as acting this way on purpose, and I’m sure there’s some payoff for it down the road somewhere.
You know, that’s not a bad idea at all. And then in Ted form he can say when I said win the whole thing I meant the Premier League, but this works too.
This kind of approach to TV seems to be less common than it used to be. Limited Series is how they approach it now, and if they get to continue, they stick by it. Despite the low number of episodes, we are better off for it IMHO.
Yeah, I generally find that if a showrunner has a plan for a X season arc, it’s best to let them do it, as opposed to just trying to extend. It tends to lead to filler seasons or the additional seasons showing a lack of vision.
Just saw the christmas episode, and that was pretty bad, only saved by Roy and company.
I am a bit baffled as to why they needed to make a christmas episode , unless I have been whooshed by something.
Anyways one miss isn’t the end of the world but there still isnt much direction plot wise to this season.
Wild speculation for the season is Roy and Keely end up adopting his neice.
I read someplace that this second season was intended to have ten episodes, but that two were added later, and that this was one of the additional episodes.