Big Week
After spending the night with Sassy, Ted suggests to her that they take their Friends with Benefits relationship to the next level. Much to his surprise, she says that the two of them can't date because Ted is "a mess," which she recognizes because she was a mess after her divorce too. Roy and Beard struggle to come up with a strategy that could counter Nate's tactical knowledge, but Beard and Higgins still make time for a Diamond Dogs meeting when Ted asks if he's a mess. Beard says that Ted is indeed a mess, because he's in denial about Nate hurting him even with the match against West Ham looming.
As the players prepare themselves for the upcoming match in the locker room, Isaac slaps the "Believe" sign - half of which then falls forward, revealing that it had been torn in half. Everyone is shocked and wants to figure out who is responsible for vandalizing their symbol. At Trent's suggestion, Beard and Roy pull the locker room security camera footage from the final match of the previous season, which shows Nate ripping the "Believe" sign. They suggest showing it to the team to fire them up before the match, but Ted refuses.
Keeley lets Shandy organize her own Bantr promotion, in which she plans to draw in new users with the possibility of dating a celebrity by filming advertisements with all the single players on AFC Richmond saying that they use Bantr. To Rebecca's disappointment, Sam has backed out of the campaign, indicating that he is no longer single. Keeley is more worried about the impending visit of Jack Danvers, the head of the venture capital firm that funds both Bantr and KJPR. Rebecca agrees to let Barbara and Jack sit in her suite at the West Ham match.
At the Richmond vs. West Ham match, Nate tries to apologize to Ted for the way he left Richmond, but is interrupted by Rupert. Keeley meets Jack, who is a woman, and the two hit it off. Richmond and West Ham are evenly matched for most of the first half, but a last-minute new tactic from Nate allows West Ham to score twice just before halftime. Rebecca goes to find Ted and manically tells him that she wants him to forget about beating West Ham and just have fun. Beard and Roy take advantage of Ted being out of the locker room and show the video of Nate tearing the "Believe" sign to the players, enraging them. Instead of helping them play better, however, the Richmond players' aggression merely earns them multiple red cards and a 4-1 loss. Ted goes to shake Nate's hand at the final whistle, but Nate, caught up in the excitement of the win, runs onto the field to celebrate without noticing Ted.
After the game, Beard and Roy apologize to Ted for going against his wishes and hurting the team, which Ted accepts. Zava, who did not participate in the violence on the pitch and scored Richmond's only goal, nevertheless defends the team's passion in a post-game interview. Rebecca sees Rupert kissing his assistant and tells him to stop fucking around because Bex and their daughter deserve better, but Rupert ignores her. Keeley apologizes to Jack for Richmond's poor behavior, and tells Shandy, who has changed Bantr's tagline to "Wanna bang a celebrity?", that she has gone too far and disrespected the company's mission. In his own post-match interview, Nate is asked why he snubbed Ted's handshake, which he hadn't realized he'd done. Nate goes to find Ted to once again try to apologize, but is given pause when he sees Ted talking to Trent Crimm. Rupert takes Nate to Bones and Honey to celebrate West Ham's victory. Ted calls Michelle and admits to her that he's upset that she's dating Dr. Jacob and that they didn't get a chance to talk about it before it started, but also tells her that he loves their family no matter what it looks like.
Tropes featured in "Big Week" include:
- Actor Allusion: Jack is asked whether her name is short for Jacqueline, but it isn't. Her actress Jodi Balfour however previously starred as Jacqueline "Jackie" Kennedy in The Crown.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's left ambiguous as to whether Jade's continued indifferent treatment of Nate is due to her not recognizing Nate is now a Premier League manager leading a top team, or if she is aware of his success but simply doesn't care.
- Awesome McCoolname: Invoked by Zoreaux when he, inspired by Zava, rebrands himself as "Van Damme".
- Bait-and-Switch: After an episode of Beard and Roy saying he needs to share his hurt and his anger over Nate’s betrayal, Ted pulls up his laptop and makes a call, leading the audience to think he’s going to confront Nate. He calls…Michelle, to whom he shares his hurt and his anger over her relationship with their former therapist.
- Bilingual Bonus: Zava's firstborn is called Smigus-dyngus
, which may sound like gibberish, but is actually an obscure Polish Easter celebration. - Book Ends: The episode opens with Roy waking up an unprepared Jamie at 4AM to start their early morning training session. The end of the episode shows Roy at Jamie's house again, but this time he's ready and immediately sets off on a run.
- Brick Joke: Zava notes that he allows his children to choose their own names when they turn seven. At the end of the West Ham match, Arlo descibes Richmond's play in the second half as "angry, dirty, and ugly", and Chris jokes that those are the names of Zava's youngest kids. (Or at least, we assume he's joking.)
- Call-Back:
- Nate goes back to A Taste of Athens, the Greek restaurant he had previously struggled to even get a table at, to pick up an order (and once again, he has trouble opening the door to get in). While the receptionist is still indifferent about him, the restaurant owner turns out to be a huge West Ham fan who immediately gets starstruck by Nate and waives the bill.
- After struggling to outthink Nate tactically, Beard and Roy’s plan to motivate the team (by showing them a video of Nate destroying the “Believe” sign) is an almost direct copy of Nate’s own trick of motivating the team by showing them a video of Jamie rubbishing Ted and Roy to the press. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work as well on the second run.
- Rupert is shown to be a member of Bones and Honey, the posh gentleman's club Beard and the Pub Trio snuck into after Richmond's FA cup loss.
- At the club, Rupert hands Nate a martini, which he awkwardly spits back into the glass as he did at the gala.
- Before meeting her boss, Keeley nervously tells Rebecca she needs to "reapply her lip liner", which she and Rebecca had previously discussed as a euphemism for taking a dump.
- When Rebecca asks Ted if he's alright and Ted tries to downplay what he's going through, Rebecca says "Oklahoma", which Ted mentioned back in "Tan Lines" was the code word he and Michelle would use to encourage each other to be honest about their feelings.
- The Cameo:
- Rebecca Lowe and Jermaine Jenas appear as themselves, previewing the upcoming Richmond/West Ham game.
- Gary Lineker and Thierry Henry can be heard providing analysis of the Richmond/West Ham game, just before Ted video chats with Michelle.
- Character Development
- Discussed; as Keeley describes Jamie to Shandy, she describes Jamie as he was during their relationship at the start of Season 1, but keeps stopping to correct herself by noting his growth since then.
- Nate’s Fatal Flaw is his need for attention and validation. In this episode, he abandons a successful post-match interview to make amends with Ted - although sadly he’s interrupted by Rupert’s assistant before he can speak.
- Complexity Addiction: Beard and Roy's strategy for the West Ham game - they can’t use the False Nine, as that was Nate's idea; so instead they'll use the classic 4-4-2; except Nate'll be expecting that, so they'll play with five players up front instead; but Nate knows they'll do that as he knows they’re trying to outthink him, so instead they'll start thinking like Nate would think they would think if Nate was thinking like they were thinking, and do the last thing he would expect in that situation - play the False Nine. And then Higgins asks if they think Zava will do it, and they realise they're back to square one.
- Continuity Snarl: The security camera footage of Nate destroying the "Believe" is shown to be dated May 8th, 2021; however, Ted’s message history includes messages dated September 2022. This would mean that over a year has passed since Nate left Richmond, and that an entire football season was unaccounted for.
- Death Glare: After learning that Nate destroyed the "Believe" sign, the Richmond players deliver these to Nate as they walk on to the pitch for the second half.
- Didn't Think This Through: After the team gets their confidence shaken in the first half of their match, Beard and Roy show them the video of Nate destroying the "Believe" sign to fire them back up. However, this works a bit too well and enrages the players to the point of getting three red cards and losing the match 4-1. After the first red card, Beard and Roy realize what's happening and are clearly kicking themselves for doing it.
- Disproportionate Retribution: In response to Nate's destroying of the "Believe" sign - a hurtful but ultimately harmless symbolic gesture - the Richmond players spend most of the second half kicking the crap out of the West Ham players, who weren't even involved in the incident. Unsurprisingly, it blows up in their faces.
- Domestic Abuse: Given that Rupert has a history of isolating Rebecca in their relationship to better control her, his repeated interruptions preventing the possibility of a reconciliation between Nate and Ted is probably deliberate.
- Dramatic Irony: Shandy, Keeley, and Rebecca discuss Shandy's plan to promote Bantr by having all the single players "like Colin" sign up, unaware that Colin is secretly in a relationship.
- Dueling Works: Commented on In-Universe.Sassy: Friends with benefits. Like Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher.
Ted: Oh, no, no, no. I think you're thinking of 2011's other good-friends-turned-casual-lovers based romcom. No Strings Attached. Friends with Benefits was Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake.
Sassy: Oh, wow. 2011. Friends be fuckin'. - Epic Fail: Nate destroying the "Believe" sign is revealed to have been this. First, he tried several times to reach up and grab it, only to be unable to get it even when jumping. He then grabbed a rolling chair from Ted's office, only to fall flat on his face when he stood on the seat. He finally got the sign on the third try.
- This also applies to Beard's and Roy's attempt to use the video to get Richmond psyched up to play the game. Instead they go out and play a rousing game of hockey and lose horribly.
- Even Evil Has Standards: While he's still enjoying the amenities his boss keeps giving him, Nate is shown to be grossed out by Rupert indiscreetly cheating on his wife in semi public.
- Everyone Has Standards: Zava is clearly disturbed by the vitriol the other Richmond players played with in the second half, and not just because it cost them the match.
- Foreshadowing:
- Jade is just about the only person not impressed by Nate's new job at West Ham. She'll also turn out to be the only healthy presence in his life in the months to come.
- Nate is worried about what he might say to Ted. Nate's not a villain; he still has it in him to be a good man.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: When Ted responds to a message from Michelle on his phone, before he scrolls down to read the old messages from Dr. Jacob, the most recent messages sent to various people and group chats can be seen.
- Friends with Benefits: Discussed by Sassy. She and Ted have been hooking up on a regular basis, but while Ted is considering to take her on an actual date, she is very much pleased with the arrangement as is. She points out that Ted is still so fucked up from his divorce that it couldn't possible work. She's a mess, too, but a mess three years further on. Ted's able to accept this with grace.
- Friendship Moment: Rebecca sees Ted's not okay and gives him an Oklahoma, forcing him to admit he's a "work in prog-mess". He responds by telling her that she doesn't need to worry about beating Rupert's West Ham team; she's already beaten him by cutting him out of her life.
- Gender-Blender Name: Higgins assumes that Jack must be short for Jacqueline, but it turns out Jack's father really wanted a boy.
- Gone Horribly Right: During halftime, Beard and Roy decide to show the team the video of Nate tearing the "Believe" sign to anger them and inspire a comeback. Unfortunately, it angers them too well, and the Richmond players instead spend most of the second half committing fouls against West Ham (with Bumbercatch, Zoreaux, and Richard getting sent off) instead of playing as a unit to win the match. They ultimately lose 4-1.
- Graceful Loser: Ted does not allow Richmond's loss to compromise his integrity, as proven when he goes to shake Nate's hand after the final whistle. Unfortunately, Nate unknowingly snubs him.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Nate tries to apologize to Ted for how he left things, only for Rupert to interrupt them and distract Nate from his turn. He tries again after the match only to miss his chance again.
- History Repeats: Rebecca sees Rupert cheating on Bex with his assistant, showing that he really hasn’t changed his ways.
- I Know You Know I Know: Played for laughs when Roy and Beard try to out-think Nate, ultimately concluding that the tactic he'd least expect would be the False Nine he came up with, because it's so obvious that he'd assume they'd try something else. It all comes to nothing, since Higgins points out that Zava would never play along with such a tactic.
- Ignored Aesop: Subverted as it's more interrupted than ignored. Throughout the episode, Nate begins to have some doubts about how he left Richmond and treated Ted. Unfortunately, every time he has an opportunity to approach Ted and start mending fences, he gets caught up in his own emotions or Rupert steps in to stop it.
- Ignoring by Singing: Roy does this when Ted, Beard and Higgins try to coax him into joining their Diamond Dogs meeting.
- Innocently Insensitive: Contrary to his many malicious acts, it's made clear that Nate genuinely didn't mean to snub Ted's handshake after the match; he got so caught up in the excitement that he completely forgot about it. To his credit, as soon as he's informed of it, he tries to track him down, but Rupert's assistant stalls him too long.
- Internal Reveal: Beard, Roy, Trent, and all of the players learn that Nate destroyed the "Believe" sign before leaving Richmond after Ted had kept it a secret from everyone.
- It's All About Me: After Jamie hits the crossbar with a shot, Zava is seen admonishing him for not passing to him instead.
- It's All My Fault: After the disastrous second half, Beard and Roy accept full responsibility for showing the team the video in the first place and apologize to Ted.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While Rupert is an abusive bastard who is clearly trying to manipulate Nate, he's not wholly wrong that Nate shouldn't be expected to stay as an assistant coach all his career and that he's at liberty to make professional choices that are right for him. If Nate had left under better conditions to a different team, it's likely that Ted would have said the exact same thing and all of Richmond would have supported him.
- Jerkass Realization: Downplayed. Throughout the season, Rebecca has had something of an It's All About Me attitude in regards to Rupert's ownership of West Ham and was obsessed with beating him so he wouldn't be able to humiliate her. Seeing him cheating on Bex with his assistant causes her to realize that she's not the only person Rupert has been hurting with his actions, and when Rupert arrives to gloat about West Ham's win, she instead lashes out at him about his infidelity rather than the loss.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Given how dirty the team played in the second half, it's hard to argue that Richmond didn't deserve to lose the match.
- Meaningful Background Event:
- As Nate marches onto the field celebrating his victory, the camera pans around to the reactions of Ted and all of the other Richmond characters reacting to the loss. In the background of several shots, the viewer can see that while all of the West Ham United players are celebrating, none of them are doing so alongside Nate.
- Colin notes that "Zava is mine", and Trent Crimm raises an eyebrow.
- Misplaced Retribution: After learning it was Nate who destroyed the "Believe" sign, the Richmond players take out their anger on the West Ham players, even though they had nothing to do with it.
- No Hero to His Valet: Nate's recent success fails to impress Jade the hostess even as her boss begins praising Nate and instructs her to give him whatever he needs. She continues to just give him an unimpressed face.
- No Periods, Period: Averted as Keeley is shown in the restroom, scrambling to find a tampon.
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No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: Keeley is horrified to learn that Shandy changed Bantr's slogan to something much Ruder and Cruder without consulting her, but Shandy defends it by claiming that the site's subscription rate has tripled in the hour since she did so. - Not Hyperbole: Jamie learns the hard way that Roy was not kidding about the 4:00 AM start time for his new training regimen after the latter wakes him up at that very time.
- Not So Above It All: When Ted calls for a meeting of the Diamond Dogs, Roy quickly makes his way into the next office because he doesn't want to be involved - only to shout "Bullshit!" after Ted denies that he was hurt by Nate, revealing he was listening in the entire time.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- Whether it's Roy and Beard sniggering over Nate's falling off the rolling chair in the coach's office, or the Greyhounds (including normally amicable guys like Sam and Dani) playing with genuine violence against West Ham, Nate's betrayal has brought out an uncharacteristically nasty side from some of the Richmond team.
- Fame-hungry Nate abandons a triumphant interview to (unsuccessfully) make amends to Ted.
- Oh, Crap!:
- The team freaks out when Isaac slaps Ted's "Believe" sign and it falls in half.
- Nate seems to have a moment of this, overlapping with Jerkass Realization, when the interviewer points out that he snubbed Ted's handshake at the end of the match.
- Pants-Free: After being woken by Roy at four in the morning, Jamie conducts an argument wearing only a shirt… and nothing else. This is only revealed to the viewer when he turns around to get dressed for practice.
- P.O.V. Cam: Used with great effect during the Richmond vs. West Ham game. The brawls happening in the second half are largely shown through the perspective of several players from both teams, pulling the viewer into the embarrassing chaos.
- Relationship Upgrade: Ted tries this with Sassy, only for her to point out, correctly, that any attempt to be other than friends with benefits would be a terrible idea until Ted gets his head straight about his divorce.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: While Ted was ultimately right that it was a bad idea to show the team the video of Nate destroying the "Believe" sign, it was more because he wanted to protect Nate rather than because he felt it was a poor motivation tactic that would cause the players to play poorly.
- Rule of Symbolism: Every time Nate tries to talk with Ted, Rupert intervenes, either in-person or via an intermediary.
- Samus Is a Girl: Jack, the financier of KJPR, visits Richmond to check up on Keeley. The sheer stress of meeting her new boss sends Keeley to the restroom with an early period. She ends up accepting a tampon from a mysterious stranger with fabulous shoes… who turns out to be Jack.
- Sarcastic Confession: Colin makes a joke about dating a male sports commentator which only Trent takes note of.
- Serious Business: Deconstructed. Richmond are furious when they learn that Nate tore the "Believe" sign, but this anger causes them to completely self-destruct - they spend the entire second half assaulting West Ham's players, who have done nothing wrong, earning three red cards in the process and leading to a 4-1 blowout.
- Sex God: Ted's skills in the bedroom are once again mentioned, with Sassy noting that they were able to climax simultaneously during their most recent encounter.
- Training from Hell: Roy shows up at Jamie's house at four in the morning. Despite them agreeing on the time earlier, Jamie admits he thought Roy was joking. When he points out he'll be training in the dark, Roy produces a headlamp. Jamie ends up vomiting, but also shows he's entirely willing to put in the work at the end of the episode.
- Turn the Other Cheek: Ted continues to do this in regards to Nate, even as other characters question whether doing so is really emotionally healthy.
- Unnecessary Roughness: It's Richmond who winds up playing dirty in the second half, with three players earning red cards and even more being lucky that they didn't.
- Unstoppable Rage: Deconstructed. Beard and Roy decide to show the team the video of Nate tearing the "Believe" sign, hoping that doing so will anger them and inspire them to come back and win. However, the rest of the players aren't like Roy, who knew how to channel his rage in a constructive way that improved his play on the pitch. Their anger instead causes them to lose all form and play violently against West Ham, which results in the team getting carded for several fouls and turning a manageable 2-0 deficit into a 4-1 blowout.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
- Isaac slapping the "Believe" sign causes one side of the sign to flop forward and reveal it had been torn in half, setting off a chain of events that culminates with West Ham's victory.
- Rebecca, in an effort to get the team to turn things around at the half, goes down to the visitors' locker room and take Ted aside to give him a pep talk. Ted's absence gives Beard and Roy the opportunity to show the players the footage of Nate destroying the "Believe" sign, which leads to another poor half and the loss.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Roy pushes Jamie so hard that the latter pukes at the park.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- The Diamond Dogs (and Roy) call out Ted for continuing to act as though Nate didn't hurt him with his actions.
- As Nate gives his post-match interview, the reporter points out that Nate snubbed Ted's congratulatory handshake after the final whistle.
- The episode ends with Ted calling out Michelle for keeping her new relationship with Dr. Jacob a secret from him, pointing out that even if they're no longer together, he's still Henry's father and needs to be aware of any major life decisions that may affect his son.
- Rebecca spots Rupert sneaking off for a snog with his assistant. She calls him out in a quiet moment, telling him that he has a responsibility not just to Bex, but to his daughter.
- Keeley is appalled at Shandy for changing Bantr's slogan to "Wanna shag a celebrity?", pointing out that it's totally against the spirit of the app and ordering her to change it back.
- Inverted with Roy and Beard; they hope Ted will chew them out, but he's as magnanimous as ever, calmly pointing out that they tried something new, it didn't work, and they have plenty of matches left to go in order to rescue the situation. Roy and Beard are visibly annoyed with him for not chewing them out.
- What You Are in the Dark: When Nate is acting out the West Ham v Richmond match alone in his apartment, he accidentally knocks the toy figurine of Ted off the table. After momentarily getting some satisfaction from it, he quickly picks it up and puts 'Ted' back, implying that without the malign influence of Rupert or his own issues clouding his judgment, Nate still cares about Ted deep down.
- Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Thanks to Zava's unconventional naming philosophy, his firstborn is called Smigus-Dyngus (referring to a Polish Easter celebration), which visibly weirds Jamie out. The game commenters also make a joke about his youngest children being called Angry, Dirty and Ugly, which might just be a joke about their silly names or literally true.
