Man City
Dr. Sharon has a phone session with her own therapist wherein she vents about Ted's refusal to be vulnerable in their sessions. Her therapist says that Sharon does the same thing, and that she won't get Ted to open up unless she opens up to him first. As Sharon bikes to work after the session, she is hit by a car. In the weight room, Sam receives a phone call from his father, who informs him that Cerithium Oil has just been ordered to stop operating in Nigeria as a result of the protest Sam led. Instilled with confidence by the phone call, Sam messages his anonymous Bantr match and tells her a time and place to meet him that evening. Rebecca, with Keeley's encouragement, accepts the invitation. Roy is called to Phoebe's school because she has been suspended for swearing at another student, causing him to miss work. Ted also misses work in order to pick up Sharon from the hospital, where she is being treated for a concussion, and walk her home. Ted tells Sharon to call him if she needs anything, but she coolly brushes him off.
That night, Rebecca goes to the restaurant where she and Sam had unknowingly agreed to meet. She and Sam realize that they are each other's Bantr matches. Rebecca tries to leave, but Sam convinces her to stay, saying that they can just have dinner as colleagues. The two of them enjoy each other's company over dinner, although they both agree that they can't go out again. Ted calls Sharon to check in on her concussion. She admits to him that she was scared by the accident and was worried that one of her favorite activities, riding her bicycle, would be ruined for her. Ted begins to give her advice, but she cuts him off and tells him that she doesn't need a pep talk, she just wanted to tell him how she was feeling.
The next morning is the day of the FA Cup semifinal against Manchester City at Wembley Stadium. Jamie's father and his friends come to watch the match, still supporting City despite Jamie now playing for their opponent. Before the game, Ted confesses to Beard, Nate, Roy, and Higgins that the reason he ran out of the quarterfinal against Tottenham was not because of food poisoning, but because he had a panic attack. The others tell him that it's okay and confess secrets of their own. The match proves to be a disaster, with Manchester City crushing Richmond 5-0. In the locker room afterward, the somber mood is worsened by Jamie's father arriving and gloating about City's victory. His gloating quickly turns into him verbally and emotionally abusing Jamie, who finally snaps and punches his father in the face. Jamie's dad tries to hit him back, but Beard drags him away and throws him out of the locker room. Ted is overwhelmed by the scene and rushes out to call Sharon, to whom he tearfully admits that his father killed himself when Ted was 16.
Rebecca returns home from the match and turns on the TV, where she sees a post-game interview with Sam recorded earlier in the day. In the interview, Sam says that while the loss was disappointing, what matters is that they tried their best; although putting your heart out there is scary because you can get hurt, it's better than not trying at all. Rebecca decides to go see Sam, only to find him already standing outside her front door. They kiss and go back into Rebecca's house together.
Tropes featured in "Man City" include:
- Actually Pretty Funny:
- After Rebecca and Sam discover they were each other's Bantr matches, Rebecca is horrified while Sam has a good sense of humor about the situation.
- Dr. Sharon finally starts laughing at Ted's silly jokes, then opens up about how scared she was by her accident and how grateful she is that Ted took care of her.Ted: Oh, so that's what it sounds like when you laugh!
- Audience Surrogate: Rebecca initially takes on this role when she discusses the ethical concerns of dating a 21-year-old subordinate.
- Call-Back: Lust Conquers All is back, this time in an All Stars variants, and it's revealed that Danthony, who Jamie got Voted Off the Island against in his reality TV stint, had won his season.
- The Cameo: Real-life English football referee Mike Dean appears as himself officiating the FA Cup semi-final.
- Central Theme: Sam, Jamie, and Roy to Phoebe; this episode is about dads. Higgins gets in on the action, too, talking about his relationship with his father.
- Continuity Nod:
- The television in Richmond's locker room at Wembley is shown with a broken screen, suggesting Isaac smashed it.
- Ted still doesn't understand the offside rule.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Man City absolutely guts Richmond 5-0. Discussed by the match commentators.
- Doctor's Orders: Dr. Sharon has to allow Ted to take her home since hospital policy doesn't allow her to leave alone.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The haircut sequence plays out like a torero event.
- Don't Try This at Home: Roy has to tell Phoebe not to be like him. He's allowed, even encouraged, to swear because he's a footballer, but she has ambitions for jobs that don't allow that.
- Door-Closes Ending: The episode ends with the door closing behind Sam and Rebecca passionately kissing.
- Double-Meaning Title: “Man City” refers to the Manchester City game, of course, but it also refers to the way the episode explores how the characters deal with masculinity.
- Embarrassing Voicemail: Sharon left a whole bunch of these to Ted when she was high on painkillers, and he plays them to her with glee.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Rebecca is immediately put off when she realizes Sam is her mystery date - not because there's anything wrong with Sam himself, but because he's far too young for her. It takes a lot of convincing from him for her to give it a chance.
- Even Roy and Nate, who make it clear repeatedly that they don't like Jamie, are horrified by the way he's treated by his father. Roy even hugs him in front of the entire team after seeing the abuse first hand.
- Foil: Sam serves as one to Jamie when it comes to dads. When James calls Jamie early in the episode, Jamie rejects the call and looks hurt. Immediately after, Sam gets a call from his dad and is delighted to take it; the elder Obisanya congratulates his son for Nigeria banning Cerithium oil from operating in the country, and calls him "the butterfly whose wings caused this".
- Informed Attractiveness: Sam's haircut, which was objectively just a neat trim, gets several compliments from Rebecca and even the match commentators.
- Innocently Insensitive: Higgins certainly means well when he counsels Jamie on his relationship with his father. The problem is he doesn't understand just how much of a selfish, abusive prick James Tartt is and that his behavior towards his son is not an example of Parents as People.
- Internal Reveal:
- Rebecca and Sam find out they're each other's mystery matches.
- Ted reveals that he has been having panic attacks.
- The other players learn about Jamie's Freudian Excuse, which previously only Ted knew about.
- I Resemble That Remark!: When Dr. Fieldstone complains to her therapist about Ted's constant deflections:Therapist: Sharon, you do the same thing. He uses humor to deflect, you use your intelligence.Dr. Fieldstone: Please. I do not harness my savantish nature to alienate people and isolate myself. ...Okay, I hear that.
- Jerkass: Jamie’s dad. After using his son to blag free tickets for him and his mates, he loudly cheers for the opposition and then comes into the Richmond dressing room to rub it in after their heavy defeat. That punch in the face from his son is well-deserved.
- Man Hug: Roy gives a big one to Jamie after seeing what his abusive father is like.
- Manly Tears: Jamie is absolutely shattered after punching his prick of a dad and bursts into tears when Roy hugs him. Ted walks out of the room to call Dr. Sharon and cries himself, telling her his dad killed himself when he was a kid.
- Meaningful Background Event: After Rebecca ends her and Sam's "not date" and closes the door, she leans back against it on the inside to try to mentally recover. Through the opaque glass, Sam can clearly be seen giving her a moment before walking away.
- Mundane Made Awesome: Isaac has a whole ritual when preparing to give a teammate a haircut, then getting to work on it with grandiose movements. The rest of the team treats him as a legend in this field. Jan Maas doesn't quite get it.
- Noodle Incident:
- As Ted is walking Dr. Sharon home, he's telling her a story about how a friend somehow made someone else eat a Vaseline sandwich as a prank.
- As the staff takes turns making confessions after Ted reveals the truth about his panic attack, Coach Beard reveals he accidentally got himself high on mushrooms before a match. Roy correctly guesses it was the match against Port Vale F.C., but the audience never learns exactly what Beard was doing to make Roy realize he was high.
- Not So Above It All: Dr. Sharon is shown watching Lust Conquers All (specifically the "All Star" season) while recovering from her concussion.
- "Not So Different" Remark: When Sharon complains to her own therapist that Ted uses humor and pop culture references to deflect genuine emotion, her therapist points out that Sharon does the same thing with her intelligence.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Seeing Jamie withdrawn and submissive in the presence of his abusive father is shocking in itself; the shitty and abusive behavior of James Sr. is just the icing.
- Oh, Crap!: Rebecca has an appropriate freakout when she realizes her Bantr date is Sam, her employee who is less than half her age.
- Once More, with Clarity: When Sam is interviewed after the match, he takes a moment to watch Rebecca walk past before beginning to answer. His words fade out as the camera cuts to the dressing room, but at the end of the episode, Rebecca turns on the TV and we get to see his answer in full, leading to—
- One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Sam's interview answer, about how it's okay to fail at something as long as you try your best and put in some effort, is as much about his budding relationship with Rebecca as it is about the defeat to Manchester City.
- Overly Long Gag: Ted takes a realistic amount of time to down a glass of water at Doc. Sharon's place, complete with gulpy noises.
- Pet the Dog: Roy, of all people, is the one to hug Jamie in the wake of his father's abuse. It's implied that he's realised why Jamie was such a Jerkass before and feels guilty about having been so rude to him about it.
- "Ray of Hope" Ending: As a whole the episode is a major downer — Richmond are brutally knocked out of the FA Cup by Man City, Jamie's dad drives him to tears, Ted confesses that his father killed himself, and Beard heads into the city alone. However, Roy comes to comfort Jamie, Ted opens up to Doctor Sharon, and Rebecca and Sam decide to give their relationship a try.
- Refuge in Audacity: Played for Drama. The only reason Jamie's dad gets away with his boorish behavior in the locker room before Jamie punches him is because everyone else is just so stunned by what they're witnessing that they are too shell-shocked to do anything.
- The Reveal: As has been hinted at a few times earlier, Ted reveals that his father killed himself when Ted was 16.
- Rousing Speech: Subverted. Ted's pre-game speech gets undercut by the rest of the staff correcting his factual errors, and then afterward Richmond gets its ass kicked by City.
- Rule of Three: Jamie asks his father three times "Don't speak to me like that.".
- Scare Quotes: Jamie has his father’s contact saved as “Dad” due to his father’s abusive behavior towards him.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After seeing Jamie get abused by his father and standing up to him, with Beard pulling the man out and Roy giving Jamie a much needed hug, Ted has to run away and call Dr. Sharon to admit his father died by suicide when Ted was sixteen.
- Serious Business: Isaac only gives his teammates one haircut per season, and the team treats it as a borderline religious ceremony. Jan Maas immediately gets shushed when he doesn't understand the fuss.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: Ted and Dr. Sharon's reaction to the hospital staff referring to them as husband and wife.
- Shout-Out: The Jaws theme plays right before Richmond faces off Manchester City.
- Subtext: Black haircuts are serious business. Their hair has special needs that white barbers aren't always trained in, and there's a long history of treating black people and their needs as shit. Black salons and barber shops are special places, so Isaac giving his teammates a haircut is special; he's sharing something with them. Jan Maas doesn't get it, but the rest of the team does.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Ted gives the team a Rousing Speech, even partially inspired by the speech from Hoosiers. The speech fails because Ted has some of the details wrong, and then a full strength Man City kicks their ass.
- Swear Word Plot: Roy and Phoebe's subplot. He gets called in to her school because his foul mouth has rubbed off on her, and the teacher asks him to use his influence on her judiciously. At the end of the episode Phoebe resolves to stop swearing.
- Talking Down the Suicidal: Downplayed, as there is no evidence that Beard actually feels suicidal. Ted’s conversation with him at the end of the episode however has shades of this, especially with the reveal that Ted’s own father committed suicide. Ted notices that Beard feels down and finds it odd that Beard prefers to walk. He is visibly concerned, tells him to take care of himself, and reminds him of the coffee at the game film the following day as if to remind Beard that there are people he is important to.
- Therapist in Therapy: The first scene of the episode reveals that Sharon has regular appointments with a therapist, showing how despite being an accomplished psychologist herself, she still has her own issues to deal with.
- Truth-Telling Session: After Ted reveals that he has been having panic attacks, Higgins, Roy, Beard and Nate all share something personal as well - Higgins messed up a time zone on a form and cost them a Brazilian player, Roy doesn't read any of the group's scouting reports, Nate pretends to come up with ideas in the moment when he's actually had them for months, and Beard accidentally attended a previous game that season high on mushrooms.Nate: "Accidentally"?
Beard: I had been at Jane's house and I drank tea from the wrong pot. - Unexpectedly Dark Episode: Features Sharon getting hit by a car, Roy worrying about being a bad influence on Phoebe, Richmond getting flattened by Man City, Jamie being abused by his father in front of the entire team, and Ted admitting that his father killed himself.
