The release of The New York Times‘s poll of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century got a lot of people talking, to put it politely.
asserted
lot → get → it
(Ted Lasso came in at no. 75, incidentally.)
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Lasso → come → .
One thing I pondered was how voters came to settle on which long-running series made their ballots.
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series → ponder → ballots
They likely didn’t rewatch every installment of 30 Rock or The Office when they respectively gave those shows the eighth- and 11th-most votes in the pool.
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they → rewatch → pool
Heck, Tina Fey and Robert Carlock put four episodes of 30 Rock into the vault because they depicted blackface!
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they → put → blackface
Things like that clearly didn’t bother participants, because they were voting for the hazily recalled, fondly remembered vibes of those and many other shows on the list.
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they → bother → list
They can’t recall the specifics, because the general energies of those series are what survive, not the physical evidence of their images and sounds, the communicated specifics of their plots and storylines.
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what → recall → plots
Co-showrunners Jason Sudeikis and Jack Burditt, and the rest of the writers and producers, are banking on the audience doing something similar with Ted Lasso’s season 4 finale, “Being Alive.”
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audience → bank → finale
If we actually nail down the things that occur across all 10 episodes, in the order in which they occur, we may not pump our fist at Rebecca and Higgins outfoxing Zelda Southport (Tracey Ullman).
uncertain
Rebecca → nail → Southport
Our hearts may not swell at Ted’s autodemotion and Alice’s ascent to the head coach job of Richmond Ladies.
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hearts → swell → Ladies
If we watch the show, we might not BELIEVE and…oh, you know what, forget it.
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you → watch → it
Shows like Ted Lasso want their sequences to live in isolation of one another while making you think that they all connect into a larger, grander narrative design.
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they → want → design
Mae’s Deep Throat cosplay where she tells Higgins to “follow the anger” in Episode 8 is a funny bit, and it sets up the misdirect that Rupert is buying out Richmond’s shareholders.
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Rupert → tell → shareholders
Zelda wasn’t initiating a hostile takeover out of anger, though.
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Zelda → initiate → anger
Now that we know Zelda’s vaguely articulated motivations for going after Richmond, how are we meant to process Mae’s line?
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we → know → line
It makes no sense.
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It → make → sense
Henry (Grant Feely) may embody something similar.
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Henry → embody → something
In the beginning of Episode 9, Ted apologizes for missing another of Henry’s soccer games.
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Ted → apologize → games
Henry somewhat acidly fires back, “I know, but you were busy coaching a bunch of girls.”
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you → fire → girls
During Mae’s wake, Henry asks Ted what will happen to the pub, and if he and Ted will have to move out of their apartment upstairs.
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he → ask → apartment
Ted tells him that sometimes, life throws “big changes at you in bunches.”
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life → tell → bunches
Henry shoots back, “Yeah, I know.
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I → shoot → ?
I live in London now.”
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I → live → London
In isolation, one might slough these off as passing moments of preadolescent angst, especially at Mae’s wake, where a young kid is taking his first lesson in grief.
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kid → slough → grief
They happen in two consecutive episodes, however.
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They → happen → episodes
They also occur months after Henry was the one to jump all over Ted’s idea to move the family to London in the first place.
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Henry → occur → place
There are also the moments of discordance that I’m fairly sure Sudeikis and co. don’t even understand as such.
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Sudeikis → be → that
Matthijs shows up at Rebecca’s office with a big bouquet of flowers, not too long after Roy, upon informing Rebecca that he’s taking the manager’s job at Chelsea, reminds her that she needs to “take risks.
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she → show → risks
Otherwise, what’s the fucking point?
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point → ’ → ?
I deserve for good things to happen in my life,” quoting Rebecca’s own words back to her.
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things → deserve → her
Suddenly, an entire season of bet-hedging—with Matthijs, with Richmond Ladies, with her own feelings—just washes away, and when Matthijs walks through the door, she proposes.
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she → wash → door
They kiss, they dance, the music swells, the romance washes over all.
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romance → kiss → all
This confirms that the writers saw Rebecca’s actions in Episode 5 as her own fault, her own fear trying to block the happiness she should embrace with Matthijs.
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she → confirm → Matthijs
That scene is anything but, but why should you care?
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you → care → ?
Look at the grand gesture Rebecca is making now!
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Rebecca → look → gesture
Behavioral logic only matters to the scene that’s in front of you, because all you’ll remember is vibes, my guy.
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you → matter → you
Alice Chilton (Tanya Reynolds) marks the biggest case study of all.
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Chilton → mark → all
We can now see that every breadcrumb was laid for Alice to self-actualize, embrace her own vulnerability, and become a great coach in her own right.
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Alice → see → right
There is still more of her root trauma to unlock (she pointedly tells Roy, when looking for advice on how to be a good dad, “don’t disappear when you feel inadequate”), but the dithering Sudeikis and Burditt have taken on this front is patently ridiculous.
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taken → be → front
What are you saving this for?
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you → save → this
…and 53 more, not listed.
The Aporia
