Goodbye Earl
AFC Richmond's time in the EFL Championship is not off to a great start, with their first seven games all ending in draws. During the eighth match, Dani earns a late-game penalty kick that could deliver the team their first win of the season. However, just as he takes the shot, the team's greyhound mascot Earl breaks free from his leash and leaps in front of the net to catch a bird, inadvertently putting his head directly in the path of the ball. In the press room after the match, Ted tells the gathered journalists a story about how he was afraid of dogs as a child due to being attacked by his neighbor's dog, yet he later adopted that same dog when his neighbor was unable to take care of him. Ted says that he hopes that Richmond has helped Earl "get from one place to a better one." Dani begins suffering from guilt and nightmares about killing Earl. At training the next day, he proves unable to score a single goal. Ted, Beard, Nate, and Higgins gather in the coaches' office to discuss the problem, which Beard identifies as the yips
. Higgins suggests that they bring in a sports psychologist, to which Ted reluctantly agrees.
Since his retirement, Roy has made himself busy coaching Phoebe's soccer team and hanging out with "the yoga mums," a group of women in their sixties with whom he does yoga and watches reality TV. Keeley and Roy go on a double date with Rebecca and John, a man Rebecca has recently started dating. Keeley mentions that Sky Sports has offered Roy a job as a football pundit, which both Rebecca and John say would be the perfect job for Roy. After dinner, Rebecca asks Roy and Keeley what they think of John; Roy says that he's merely fine, while Rebecca deserves "someone who makes you feel like you've been struck by fucking lightning." Keeley concurs. The next day, Rebecca has coffee with John and realizes that she is settling for him because she is afraid of being hurt. She breaks up with John, who is disappointed but understanding.
Over dinner at the pub, Ted admits to Beard that he doesn't like the thought of bringing in a psychologist to help Dani, as he had a bad experience with couples' counseling with his ex-wife Michelle and consequently doesn't trust therapists. Beard tells him to give this new therapist a chance. The next day, Higgins introduces the coaching staff to the psychologist he hired, Dr. Sharon Fieldstone. Ted's usual charm tactics fail to impress Sharon, who quickly proves to be every bit as good as she claims: after a single session, Dani is back to his old self. After training, Ted goes to thank Sharon, only to find that several of the other players have also asked for sessions with her. Ted is bothered by this, but tries not to show it.
That night, Roy and the yoga mums watch a reality dating show called Lust Conquers All. One of the contestants on the show is revealed to be Jamie.
Tropes featured in "Goodbye Earl" include:
- Artistic Licence – Sports:
- While it's possible that Ted brought over the idea of having a live animal mascot for the team from his time working in college football where they are common, the comments made by other characters suggest Earl was a long standing tradition for the club even though professional sports teams in England don't tend to use live animals as mascots.
- If a penalty kick strikes an external object (such as a dog) in the field of play while it is moving forward, it is retaken. However, this episode treats the incident as if the kick was missed. It is, of course, possible that it was retaken, but Dani blasted over the bar as he's seen doing later on.
- Badass Adorable: Phoebe happily tells Keeley that she got sent off in her football game for elbowing another girl in the neck.
- Bilingual Bonus: Dani Rojas' Shower of Angst has him frantically reciting the Ave Maria in Spanish.
- Black Comedy Pet Death: Club mascot Earl getting accidentally killed by Dani is not played for drama.
- Break the Cutie: Dani briefly undergoes this in this episode, when he accidentally kills Earl the greyhound mascot during his penalty kick and is forced to question his "Football is life!" Catchphrase. He gets over it by the end of the episode with the help of Dr. Fieldstone.
- Catapult Nightmare: After Dani has a nightmare about killing a cartoon dog with a penalty kick, he catapults himself up into a sitting position while screaming "Football is DEATH!".
- Cunning Linguist: Doctor Sharon reveals she's perfectly comfortable with Spanish seconds after meeting Dani. Her meeting with Thierry at the end of the episode reveals she's just as fluent in French.Thierry: [in French, clearly delighted] You speak French?!
- Description Cut: Dani Rojas accidentally kills the team mascot with a penalty kick. Ted says in a press interview that he hasn't checked on him yet but he hopes Dani's doing fine. Cut to Dani standing in the shower fully clothed, mumbling desperate prayers to God.
- Easily Forgiven: Sam explains that Jan Maas isn't being rude, he's just Dutch, and everyone nods along.
- Establishing Character Moment: Jan Maas' Brutal Honesty and Comically Serious characterization is established when he asks about Ted calling the team "goldfish". After Colin explains how it means they all must move on and not dwell on their mistakes, Jan confusedly points out he didn't make any and Colin was the one who played badly.
- Foreshadowing: Nate starts to show some of the harsh cruelty that will come to define his coaching style.Will: It's just it's my mum's 50th birthday...
Nate: And what position does your mum play on the team? - Funny Background Event: When Roy swears in front of Phoebe, she notes it and he tells her to "put it on my tab". She pulls out her journal and starts writing, and keeps writing and writing as Roy keeps swearing.
- Gender-Blender Name: Leslie's oldest son is named Lindsay.
- Gilligan Cut: Ted hopes Dani isn't being too hard on himself; cut to Dani praying, fully clothed in the shower, trying to "wash the death off of me".
- Heartbeat Soundtrack: A heartbeat can be heard in the background as Dani prepares to take a corner kick in his first training session after getting over his trauma. An unusual example in that, if anything, it serves to highlight how calm Dani
- He's Back!: If Dani racing onto the training pitch while singing his chant doesn't prove that he's back to his old self, then him scoring directly from a corner kick does.
- Irony: Ted points out how ironic it is that they wanted a draw during the final match of the last season and they didn't get it. Now they want wins and all they're getting is draws.
- I Fight for the Strongest Side!: Rebecca's date states that he alternates between supporting Manchester United and Manchester City, depending on which club is currently more successful. Roy is visibly silently judging him.
- I Need a Freaking Drink:
- Roy repeatedly asks for more drinks during his double date, and is ignored. The third time round he actually seizes the server's arm and tells him to get him a drink instead of asking.
- At the end of the episode, Roy promptly asks for more rosé when his yoga friends start swooning over Jamie on Lust Conquers All.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": Everyone at Richmond Road is horrified when Dani's penalty kick kills Earl.
- Not What It Looks Like: An offscreen example occurred in Ted's past when he once attended a Planned Parenthood fundraiser and happened to be wearing a red baseball cap.
- Roger Rabbit Effect: After the penalty incident, Dani Rojas has a dream where he is playing football, and the goalie is a cartoon anthropomorphic dog.
- The Scottish Trope: Both Beard and Ted refuse to say the phrase "the yips" out loud and panic when other characters do so, believing it to be bad luck. Ted even compares doing so to the Trope Namer.
- Serious Business: Roy's team of little girls are as hardcore about football as he is.
- Shower of Angst: After accidentally killing the team mascot, Dani Rojas stares straight into the shower fully clothed, desperately praying to God.
- Skewed Priorities: Colin is less concerned about Dani having a mental breakdown in the shower and more about the fact that he's going to use all the hot water.
- So Proud of You: Roy when Phoebe tells Keeley that she got a red card in her game for elbowing another girl in the neck.
- Sound-Only Death: Earl's death isn't shown; instead, the camera focuses on everyone's horrified reactions as we hear a thud and whimper from offscreen.
- Subverted Catchphrase: Dani wakes up from his nightmare screaming "Football is DEATH!" instead of the usual "Football is life".
- The Swear Jar: While there's no physical jar, it's established that Roy owes Phoebe £1 for every time he swears in front of her. After he lets loose a Cluster F-Bomb at the thought of working for Sky Sports, Phoebe cheerfully updates his tab, which is now at well over £1,000.
- A Threesome Is Hot: When Dani wakes up from his nightmare about killing Earl, he is revealed to be sleeping between two women.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Earl, the club's greyhound mascot, was neither seen nor mentioned in the first season. At the start of the second series, he is tragically killed when he gets in the way of Dani's penalty kick.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Roy demands that Rebecca not settle for someone who's just "fine". She deserves someone who makes her "feel like you've been struck by fucking lightning".
