In the penultimate episode of Ted Lasso, Beard represents me. Everyone, including Ted, has already forgiven Nate for what he did at the end of season two. All but Coach Beard. I only accept it now because the series is going to end and apparently Nate wrote “sixty pages” asking Ted for forgiveness. But what Nate did is far worse than what is depicted on the show.
Out of jealousy, envy, and cruelty Nate exposed Ted, humiliated and mistreated him, not to mention everything else trying to minimize and even destroy his leadership on the team. Nate also humiliated and mistreated Will for free, because he could. Ted was going through serious personal and psychological problems and Nate – knowing this – chose to be mean to him. Beard knows this and can’t get over it because Ted is honestly a good person and has been deliberately abused for it. HOWEVER, Ted suggests that it’s better to forgive the person for a wrong action and gamble that they’ll get it right a second chance. Beard (and I) know it’s the truth. No one is free from mistakes.
And this is how Ted Lasso prepares to say goodbye to his passionate fans, a positive message to learn to forgive. Forgive yourself, your parents, and friends who inflicted pain, whether by mistake, good intentions, weaknesses, or frailties. Examples abound.
We forgive and root for a vain and flawed Jamie Tartt, now a new person since he was given another chance at AFC Richmond. Jamie has some pardons to earn (from Manchester City fans) and to grant (his father) himself. With Ted’s help, he succeeds.
The love triangle turned into the best friends in the universe – Keeley, Roy, and Jaime – are also laying the groundwork for a healthier relationship. Apparently, Roy wants to propose to Keeley and it looks like she doesn’t want to patch up boyfriends and girlfriends anymore. I was more on the healthy example of an independent woman before the event with Jack, but not with Roy. On the other hand, no more determining eternal happiness only with marriages! Save that for #tedbecca! (Paradoxes!!!!)
Now that Rebecca has forgiven Rupert, also her mother, and is happy, she just needs to realize that she has been living with her soulmate for years. Again #tedbecca’s tips are there, especially when they see You’ve Got Mail. Sam exchanges a look with Rebecca when we hear Meg Ryan‘s line “I wish it was you”, but it applies more to Ted. In Norah Ephron‘s film, Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks fall in love online without knowing who they are, but at the same time become friends in real life. When they discover their identities, they stick together. Ted’s tip that he prefers Sleepless in Seattle only reinforces the fans’ hope, but we’ll talk about that in a moment.
Returning to forgiveness, Beard shares with Nate his story with Ted and it is full of surprises, but above all, it is based on forgiveness. And Ted? He never condemned Nate for anything that happened. Dealing with a surprise visit from his mother, Ted finally faces ghosts from the past, many “Okhalomas” where he takes from his chest all the truths omitted throughout life. And Dottie Lasso delivers the final blow: she says she traveled to London to talk to her son about how much Henry misses his father. For a Ted who was already suffering from this? We already know what he decided.
Rebecca keeps the ‘truth bombs’ ritual with Ted, but in their second year together, there are no more secrets between them. And Ted prepares it, he does have a revelation to make. He loves her. There is! Not yet people, like Sopranos, the credits cut off their conversation.
But it will be his long waited resignation, not the declaration of love that will surprise Rebecca. For the #tedbeccas, let’s remember what Sleepless in Seattle was like. Two people who don’t know each other are “united” by a boy who follows the formula of An Affair to Remember: a couple in love (but still committed to third parties) agree to meet again a year later at the Empire State Building, when and if they are free and still in love. In the original it is a drama, but in Sleepless in Seattle, the beginning of a love story.
Is that a hint? In this case, I want Ted and Rebecca to quote When Harry Met Sally, written by Norah Ephron too: When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.
I believe in Believe.
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