Recap / Ted Lasso S3E11 "Mom City"

Ted Lasso — Season 3
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Mom City

"All we can do is keep playing."

Story written by: Brendan Hunt and Jason Sudeikis
Teleplay written by: Joe Kelly
Air date: 24 May 2023

They fuck you up, your mom and dad,
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.

— Philip Larkin's "This Be The Verse", via Mae

Ted's mother drops by for a visit and charms the club, despite Ted's discomfort. Isaac, Colin and Will visit A Taste of Athens, where Nate is now working, to recruit him back to Richmond, but Nate refuses the offer after learning that the team has not run the plan by Ted. Roy recruits Keeley for help wrangling Jamie, who has confessed his recent depression to Roy. The team heads to Manchester for an important match that will put them in contention for the Premier League Title. Keeley stresses out Jamie even more by reminding him of the pressures of playing against Man City. After a team watch of You've Got Mail, Keeley and Roy tail Jamie to a house belonging to his affectionate mother Georgie and her partner Simon. Jamie talks to his mother about how his career has been shaped by his desire to prove his father wrong. Roy tells Keeley that he wants to officially get back together, but Jamie interrupts them before Keeley can give Roy an answer.

The match begins. Richmond leads 1-0 going into halftime, but Jamie, who has been taking abuse from the crowd, is injured. Ted elects to play with a man down as Jamie recovers. Jamie admits to Ted that he's freaked out by the fact that his father, who he hasn't seen since their confrontation in the Wembley Stadium locker room, is not in the crowd at the match. Ted tells Jamie that if hating his father is no longer motivating him, he should try forgiving him instead—not because his father has earned it, but as a gift to himself. Jamie returns to the pitch and scores a winning solo goal before being subbed out. Jamie's father is shown in a rehab clinic, tearfully watching Jamie's goal on television with pride.

Nate's boss Derek is blackmailed by Jade into firing Nate because his heart is in coaching. Ted shows Beard the full security camera footage from when Nate ripped the "Believe" sign, which shows that Nate was forced to hide under Ted's desk for hours while the team celebrated. Ted tells Beard that he hopes people are judged not by their weakest moments but by the strength they show when offered a second chance. Beard visits Nate, who has decided to apologize to Ted and ask for his job back. Beard confides in Nate that Ted was the only one who took a chance on Beard after the latter was released from prison, and in honor of this he is willing to forgive Nate.

When Ted gets home, he confronts his mother over her lack of support after his father's death. She accepts this and finally reveals why she really came to visit: to tell him Henry misses him. Bex visits Rebecca for advice, along with Rupert's former assistant/mistress Ms. Kakes. The next day, Rebecca visits Ted's office for their annual "truth bomb", but admits that she can't think of any surprises to drop on him this year. Ted tells Rebecca that he has something to confess instead.

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Tropes featured in "Mom City" include:

• '80s Hair: As revealed by the poster in Jamie's childhood bedroom, Roy used to sport a glorious mullet in his earlier playing career. Truth in Television, as this particular hairstyle has always been popular with footballers, even during eras it wasn't considered fashionable.
• Adam Westing: Pep Guardiola cameos as himself being a Graceful Loser after Richmond defeats Man City in their match. This is in direct contrast to his Real Life personality of being a Competition Freak who hates losing.
• The Atoner: Played With; it's implied that part of the reason Nate isn't finding a job with another team yet is to punish himself for what he's done by keeping himself away from the footballing world he so loves. By the end of the episode, Jade and Beard have shown him that this isn't necessary.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Invoked by Jamie before he completely breaks down into inconsolable tears to Roy in the boot room:
  Jamie: ...I'm just- I'm just tired. But... I can't sleep... and I can't eat... and I wash me hair, but I don't use any conditioner anymore because... what's the fucking point?
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: James Tartt Sr. is shown watching Jamie on TV with pride, even though he had just beaten his beloved Manchester City.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Nate demonstrates this is where his strength lies, since he started figuring out the tricks of running a restaurant within a day of working there.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • It was heavily implied in several previous episodes that Jamie's mother had passed away. This episode reveals that she's actually alive and well living in Manchester with her partner.
  • It’s mentioned multiple times over the course of the episode that Jamie hasn’t had any contact with his father since Wembley, before — as Jamie is substituted from the game — the camera cuts to a pair of City fans talking about how proud Jamie’s dad would be, making the audience think that he had passed away in the intervening year and Jamie didn’t know; cue a Jump Cut to a group watching the game on TV at what appears to be a rehab facility, where James Tartt Sr. is proudly watching Jamie and looks to be in the process of cleaning up his act.
  • Played for Laughs after Richmond's first goal: Rebecca and Keeley are screaming and jumping up and down, but Higgins is frozen and staring at the pitch. The music slows, and the audience thinks Higgins has seen something bad happen off-screen...but it turns out he's simply holding back from celebrating until the end of the match because he can't bear to jinx the match.
• The Benchwarmer: In a throwaway joke, it's revealed that Ted's and Beard's positions during their active college football days were substitute kicker and punter. It should be noted that, while these are the only positions in American football that actually use their feet, special teams guys already don't have much to do during the game, making these positions the butt of many football jokes.
• Big Eater: Played with when Isaac orders 75 kebabs after Nate says he's not coming back to Richmond. Turns out he wanted them for the team.
• Birds of a Feather: Pep Guardiola is shown to share Ted’s philosophy on making his players into the best versions of themselves.
• Blatant Lies: Not realizing that the three strange men who just walked into the restaurant half an hour before it opens ("Would you mind waiting not here?") are there to respond to Nate's apology with love, Jade says "No such man exists." half a second before he appears, broom in hand.
• Book Ends: In Ted's first press conference, Trent Crimm^note The Independent pulled a Let Me Get This Straight... regarding his appointment, prompting Ted to ask if he has a question. Here, in one of Ted's final press conferences, a reporter provides a similar summary of Richmond's current situation, prompting Sam to ask if he has a question in much the same way. The reporter's eventual question is even similar in spirit to Trent's, albeit much more positive: "Am I dreaming?" as opposed to "Is this a fucking joke?"
• Brick Joke: Isaac ordered 75 kebabs to go when he, Colin, and Will went to ask Nate to come back to Richmond. Everyone's eating kebabs in the locker room where Dottie's telling everyone stories from Ted's childhood, even Rebecca.
• Broken Win/Loss Streak: After continually losing to Manchester City in heartbreaking and humiliating fashion throughout the series, Richmond finally defeats them thanks to gutsy performances by Jamie and Van Damme.
• Call-Back:
  • Isaac and Colin, the two players who used to bully Nate, are the ones to invite him back to Richmond; together with Will, the kitman who Nate bullied in turn.
  • Isaac once again manages an impressive punt of the ball down the pitch, this time setting Jamie up for the second goal, proving that Ted's theory about taking him out of his 'box' was correct.
  • Once again Nate asks to headbutted, and Beard is once again happy to do so. However, Nate is now suggesting this as a way making Beard feel better after an emotional conversation, and Beard has forgiven Nate — so instead Nate gets a Headbutt of Love and a hug.
  • Once again, the team ends up collectively sobbing at a movie night while at the hotel for an away match.
  • When Simon shows Roy and Keeley Jamie’s childhood bedroom, they see his poster of Roy is still on the wall.
  • Apparently the team are still going out to karaoke to celebrate their wins.
  • Roy refers to Marcus Adebayo, the new reporter for The Independent as "Better Trent", a call back to two episodes ago where he referred to him as "New Trent" and declared that he preferred Marcus to Trent Crimm.
  • During the team's watch of You've Got Mail, Sam briefly glances back to Rebecca, acknowledging their own dating history.
  • Rebecca brings back "Oklahoma" to get Ted to tell the truth about how he feels about his mom's surprise visit.
  • At the end of the episode, Ted looks in on Jamie siting with Roy and Keeley sitting together in the treatment room. This moment contrasts with the moment in season one where Ted looks in on Jamie being screamed at by his father.
• The Cameo: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola appears as himself.
• Character Development:
  • In a far cry from how dismissively he used to treat him, the first thing Nate does when the team invite him back to Richmond is check with Will if he's okay with this.
  • Ted's increasing comfort with therapy and emotional vulnerability is showcased in this episode. He's contrasted directly with his mother, who has many of the same unhealthy coping mechanisms that he did when he first arrived in England.
  • An earlier Nate would have responded very differently to his girlfriend getting him fired. Here he accepts it with grace as a pointed shove to not waste his talents on figuring out that bar nuts are salty so people will drink more. He also finally admits that he actually said "Wonder Kid" instead of "wunderkind".
• Cliffhanger: The episode ends as Ted admits that he has something he needs to tell Rebecca.
• Closet Key: Rebecca's father went to art school with Freddie Mercury and maintained Mercury would always insist his greatest artistic skill was flipping straights.
• Cluster F-Bomb: Ted uses more swear words in his rant to his mother than he does in the entire rest of the series combined.
• Comically Missing the Point: With some serious mixed in. After Jade tells Nate he needs to quit being a waiter, he asks if she wants some food. She jokingly asks for nuts (which he'd offered a couple at the restaurant). He then demonstrates that, yes, he's good at analyzing systems and improving them by understanding, after a day at the restaurant, why they serve nuts. 1) Comedy, he completely failed to realize she was having a joke. 2) Drama, he demonstrates that he needs a job that will challenge him in a way that waiting tables and sweeping floors can't do.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Van Damme has to wear a protective face mask because of Dani breaking his nose during the Mexico-Canada match in the previous episode.
  • Mama Lasso also dips her fingers into Ted's jar of peanut butter.
  • Rebecca once again gives Ted an Oklahoma.
  • As Roy and Keeley follow Jamie, the moon can be seen overhead with an unnatural blue tinge, just as it did the last time Richmond played Man City.
• Crossing the Burnt Bridge: Subverted. Nate certainly did burn his bridges when he left Richmond, and this is part of the reason he refuses to return, but by this point the bridge has been fully repaired and everyone is willing to have him back. Only when Coach Beard, the last person left at the club who objected to Nate's return, finally decides to forgive him does Nate agree to return.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Beard is revealed to have done time in prison, in addition to which he abused Ted's trust when the latter tried to help him out after his release.
• A Day in the Limelight: Jamie gets another one, as we see him have a breakdown and retreat to his family for comfort and support. And now Roy and Keeley are part of that family.
• Down to the Last Play: Richmond's victory over Manchester City means that the two teams head into the final game of the season separated by a point — if Richmond win and City don't, they'll be Premier League champions.
• Easily Forgiven:
  • After Nate’s gesture for Will in the previous episode, the entire team decided to forgive him and ask him to return to Richmond. Subverted in the case of Coach Beard, who takes considerably more persuading before forgiving Nate.
  • Played With regarding Jamie and Tartt Sr's relationship. On Ted's advice, Jamie forgives his father, in the sense that he's learning to let go of the anger that's built up towards his abusive father over the years, even though Tartt Sr has never apologised for any of the damage he's caused. However, dialogue implies this doesn't mean a reconciliation is on the cards: Jamie no longer wishes his father ill, but the forgiveness is for his own sake, nor Tartt Sr.
• Epic Fail: Ted shows the extended video of Nate destroying the “Believe” sign. Turns out Nate was unable to leave before everyone else came in the locker room to celebrate so he hid under Ted’s desk. After several hours hiding from the team, and later the cleaning crew, he found himself locked inside and had to escape through the window.
• Everyone Can See It: A non-romantic example. It takes about five seconds for people to realize Dottie is Ted's mother.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: When the audience sees James Tarrt Sr. watching the match on TV at what's implied to be a rehab center, he's shown with his hair and beard neatly trimmed, signifying that he's finally getting his act together.
• Failed a Spot Check: Roy and Keeley follow Jamie out the hotel when he ducks out and he doesn't notice the absolutely shit job Keeley is doing at being sneaky (Roy is just walking). Except he does notice and ducks into one of Manchester's infamous tunnels so he can confront them.^note Manchester is a "designer" city, and it was built with underground walkways so people would be protected from the weather and could go for walks whenever wherever, but quickly built up drifts of leaves and garbage and the lights always need replacing (like in this scene) so they're just kind of creepy and gross, good intentions notwithstanding.
• Forgiveness: The running theme of the episode.
  • Ted encourages Jamie to try to forgive his father, not for his father's sake but for his own. At the end of the episode, Jamie eventually sends his father a text message, asking if he is okay.
  • The Manchester City fans are still furious with Jamie over his exit from the club, but the manner of his performance against them causes them to eventually forgive him, even applauding him when he finally leaves the pitch.
  • Beard is persuaded to forgive Nate for his actions, and give him a second chance, after being reminded of how Ted did the same thing for him.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: In addition to the posters of Roy and Keeley, there is also a poster of Keeley Hazell (a co-writer of the show in addition to being the actress who plays Bex) from her glamour modelling days on Jamie's bedroom wall.
• Friendship Moment:
  • As the rest of the team leaves to celebrate their win, Jamie stays behind for treatment of his injury; but as Colin leaves, Jamie congratulates him on how well he played.
  • Roy and Keeley choose to celebrate Richmond's victory in the training room, with the injured Jamie.
  • Beard shows up on Nate's doorstep to share My Greatest Failure, then forgives him, offers him a job, and gives him a hug.
• Good Stepmother: Jamie’s mother’s partner Simon is shown to be a very kind and supportive man whom Jamie gets along well with.
• Happiness in Minimum Wage: Nate has taken a wait staff job at A Taste of Athens and enjoys it. However, Jade convinces Derek to fire him because she knows his heart lies in coaching.
• Headbutt of Love: After Beard confronts him, Nate asks that Beard headbutt him to release the last of the tension between them. Instead, Beard gently places their foreheads together before pulling Nate in for a hug.
• A Hero to His Hometown: Inverted with native Mancunian Jamie, who spends the bulk of the episode getting a boatload of hate from the hometown fans of Man City.
• I Can Still Fight!: Jamie gets injured during the match, but after getting a pep talk from Ted (plus painkillers and a couple minutes' rest) he plays through it long enough to score a goal before being taken off.
• Identity Breakdown: Jamie struggles and has multiple mental breakdowns because he used to act out to rebel against his father and now that he doesn’t care about him anymore, Jamie doesn't know who he is.
• I Hate Past Me:
  • Beard's fury with Nate is given more depth in this episode — not only did Nate hurt someone he loved, but his betrayal of Ted reminded Beard of his own betrayal years ago.
  • Ted's reactions to his mother's behavior in London reveals a deep embarrassment about his previous unfamiliarity with English culture and his previous Stepford Smiler tendencies.
• Inelegant Blubbering: Jamie, oh so very much, when he breaks down in front of Roy in the boot room.
• Innocently Insensitive: Dottie gifts Ted a collection of newspaper clippings about him, which is a sweet gesture, but at the top of the stack is a clipping about Ted's public panic attack. It's implied later that it was meant to open the door for the two of them to talk about it if he needed it, but all it does is crash his already low mood.
• It's All My Fault: Nate is reluctant to return to Richmond because he recognizes that it was his fault that things between him and Ted ended so badly.
• Lampshade Hanging:
  • Roy acknowledges Will's habit of being in the kit room for important conversations when he walks in on Jamie crying on Roy's shoulder.
    Roy: Will. You missed a good one.
    Will: [leaves with an expression that screams, "God dammit"]
  • Both Nate and Beard acknowledge that Beard's story of how Ted saved him from being sent back to prison is just like Jean Valjean and the Bishop in Les Misérables.
    Beard: I went to prison for stealing a loaf of meth.
  • Rebecca comes to Ted for a meeting and admits that this season she doesn't actually have a major truth bomb to drop on him before the final match. Ted assures her it's fine, because this time he has one for her...
• Lower-Class Lout: Jamie's mum's a proper chav, with a boisterous personality and slightly tacky dress sense. However, she's also shown to be loving, insightful, and in a healthy relationship with a gender-confident partner.
• Manly Tears:
  • Most of the squad are seen cyring during the ending scene of You've Got Mail. Even Roy is crying.
  • Beard sheds a few after confessing his greatest shame to Nate.
    Beard: I stole a loaf of meth, and then I stole from my friend, who forgave me and gave me a job and a life. So to honor that, I forgive you. I offer you a job. The life part's up to you.
• Meta Twist: Instead of Rebecca having a major truth bomb to drop on Ted in the penultimate episode like in the previous seasons, Ted has one to drop on Rebecca.
• The Missus and the Ex: Near the end of the episode, Bex and Ms. Kakes show up at Rebecca's door and Rupert's ex-wife, current wife and most recent mistress have an off-screen chat. Unlike almost every depiction of the trope, no one gives a damn about the dude's opinion. The entire focus is on harmed women coming together and supporting each other.
• My Greatest Failure: Beard shares his with Nate. He went to prison on drug offenses and everyone in his life cut him off, except Ted, and Beard stole his car and would have gone back to prison if Ted hadn't come down the police station and lied for him. Then Ted gave him a job and a life. Beard's shame for his betrayal leaves him in tears as he pays it forward and forgives Nate and asks him to come back to Nelson Road.
• Never Accepted in His Hometown: Manchester City’s fans resent Jamie for leaving the club for Lust Conquers All then Richmond and make their feelings known to him. However, his play during the match winds up earning the crowd’s respect.
• Noodle Incident:
  • Jade threatened the owner of A Taste of Athens with... something.
    Derek: Jade threatened to report me to... well, I can't tell you, because then you'd know what I'd done.
  • Dottie mentions several surrounding Ted. Among other things, he got up on stage with Courtney Cox, nearly became the drummer for Coldplay, and once ate a candy bar made of poop.
  • Higgins mentions that the club was once "briefly" owned by Freddie Mercury. Why Freddie bought Richmond, and why his stint as owner was so brief, is never explained — in fact, the only thing we learn about his ownership of the club is that he unsuccessfully tried to get the team to run out to "Fat Bottomed Girls" at home games. Arguably, this is a Shout-Out to Elton John, who used to own Watford (and who has previously been mentioned on this show, in the context of being friends with Rebecca).
• Odd Friendship: Just like with Ted, Beard gets along wonderfully with Dottie.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Roy is shocked when Jamie breaks down sobbing in the boot room.
  • Nate is startled and terrified when Beard shows up, complete with a Scare Chord.
    Nate: Are you here to kill me?
• Once More, with Clarity: We once again see the security footage of Nate ripping up the "BELIEVE" sign, only this time we see that Nate had to hide from the team and cleaning crew for five hours and then climb out the window to get out.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Jamie has gone way past being a good teammate and is into surprisingly depressive "I don't deserve my team, I'm such a piece of shit" territory. Roy pulls him aside to give him a stern "Roy Kent Tough Love Talking To" only for Jamie to break down in tears and go into a long, depressive episode ramble that leaves Roy completely at a loss for how to proceed.
    • In-Universe, the team agrees. When Zoreaux puts on his mask, he sarcastically asks if Jamie has something to say. Jamie's "I think it's more important to be safe than to look cool" gets the entire team and Roy to stare at him in disbelief, prompting this story thread.
    • When Jamie breaks down crying during Roy's tirade, Roy is so shocked he stops his usual yelling and just asks if Jamie is okay, followed by a hug.
  • Near the end of the episode, Ted finally talks straight with his mother, telling her how much he loves the good things she did for him and how much he hates the ways she hurt him.
    Ted: Well, thank you for cooking dinner. Both of 'em.
    Dottie: Oh, you're welcome.
    Ted: And fuck you for not wanting to talk.
    Dottie: Excuse me?
    Ted: Thank you for flying all the way here to come see me, and fuck you for not telling me you were coming. Thank you for all the small, silly, little things you did for me as a kid, you know? Like hiding notes in my lunch box or putting googly eyes on the fruit at the supermarket just to make me laugh. And fuck you for not working on yourself or seeking help after we lost dad. And for not talking to me about it either. Just glossing over the whole thing and acting like everything was all right.
    Dottie: I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do, Ted. So I pretended I was okay.
    Ted: Okay. Well, thank you for the apology. And fuck you for making me think I had to pretend, too.
    Dottie: I appreciate you sharing all this with me. I just wish you hadn't carried it around for so long.
• Out of Focus: Jamie's character revelations during the Man City game completely overshadow the amazing game Van Damme had, making save after save and posting a shutout against one of the Premier League's top teams even when Richmond are a man down for several minutes.
• Paying It Forward: Ted forgave Beard for betraying his kindness, so Beard does the same for Nate.
• Pet the Dog: Two of the Man City supporters who cheer for Jamie at the end of the match are Jamie's father's friends Denbo and Bug, who praise him for the grit he showed during the match and acknowledge that James Sr. would be proud of him even though he just beat Man City.
• Precision F-Strike: Ted drops some intense f-bombs on his mother to show just how much weight he'd been carrying around since his father's death.
• The Reveal: We finally learn why Coach Beard is so loyal to Ted. After being friends during their time playing college football, Coach Beard drifted into a life of crime following graduation and wound up imprisoned. Once he was released, he came to Ted for assistance because no one else wanted to help him. When Beard betrayed Ted’s kindness by secretly stealing his car at night, Ted lied to the police officers who caught him by claiming he lent Beard the car to save him from being sent back to jail.
  Nate: Just like in Les Mis.
  Beard: Our story is very similar to Les Mis, yes.
• Shipper on Deck: Even though they insist that they're just friends, Dani is delighted to see Roy and Keeley sitting together at movie night.
• Shout-Out: The episode has several references to The Wizard of Oz: the pinball machine at the Crown & Anchor is Wizard of Oz–themed; "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Home" (from The Wiz) are both on the episode soundtrack; and Ted's mom is named "Dottie" (i.e., Dorothy). The thematic resonance is that The Wizard of Oz is about someone who wants to return to Kansas.
• So Much for Stealth: Roy and Keeley decide to follow Jamie after he sneaks away from the hotel, but he catches them in the act thanks to Keeley doing a poor job of staying hidden, keeping her distance, and not making any noise (her bright pink clothes definitely did her no favor either).
• So Proud of You: Jamie’s mother admits that she wept in pride when Jamie made his England debut.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Jade pulls a few of these on Nate when he's not paying attention, making him look like a kid with a Canadian girlfriend.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Dottie is the source of a lot of Ted's mannerisms, down to a blink-and-you'll-miss-it dipping her finger into his open jar of peanut butter.
  Dottie: Still running around making sure everyone's okay and not accepting any help for himself?
  Beard: What about you, Dottie?
  Dottie: Oh, don't worry your head about me.
• Stealth Pun: Van Damme is forced to wear a mask to protect his broken nose; it’s the mask of Zoreaux.
• Stunned Silence: The sight of Jamie curled up on the couch cuddling up with his mother causes Roy to completely blue screen, freezing with food halfway to his mouth staring with a dropped jaw. Keeley has to shove him to get him to act like a human again.
• Take That!: When Ted corrects one of Dottie's stories about him, Rebecca remarks that the truth often gets in the way of a good story. Ted replies that, with that attitude, she should be a writer for the Daily Mail.
• Tempting Fate: Lampshaded. As everyone else celebrates Richmond's opening goal, Higgins remains frozen in place, refusing to celebrate too early (or even move at all) in case he jinxes it. He only celebrates once Jamie makes it 2-0 to guarantee victory.
• The Unreveal: Ted tells Rebecca that, reversing the trend, he has a truth bomb for her this year, but we don't hear what it is.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Understated with Jade, until it isn't. When Will, Colin, and Isaac come into the restaurant asking about him, her response is just to deny he even exists in the hopes they'll go away. However, when it becomes clear that Nate's newfound Character Development is standing in the way of further Character Development and Career Development, she goes Defcon One on her boss (and technically also Nate's boss) to force her boyfriend out of his comfort zone and back onto the football pitch.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Jade confronts Nate over hiding at A Taste of Athens instead of going back to coaching. He's just not ready, though, recognizing that his behavior there was terrible. It takes a confrontation with Beard for Nate to finally go back to Nelson Road.
  • Ted finally confronts his mother for being a Stepford Smiler following Ted's father's suicide and points out that her acting as though everything was all right when it actually wasn't contributed to a lot of Ted's mental health issues.
• Worthy Opponent:
  • Pep Guardiola considers Ted to be one as he gives him a sincere congratulations after Richmond’s win.
  • The Manchester City fans give Jamie a lot of abuse throughout the episode, but after he plays on in spite of his injury and scores a breathtaking solo goal against them, he impresses them enough that when he's finally substituted, they give him a standing ovation.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Jade calls Nate out for being a waiter when he 1) is really good as a coach and 2) has shown such genuine improvement that Richmond wants him back. Part of Nate's growth is that he acknowledges both of those points. Part of the growth he still needs to do is that he still can't accept them.

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