1x10 The Hope That Kills You

[7.6//10] A nice end to the season. I really admire the choice to have the team lose the big game to avoid relegation,, even when all they needed was a tie. It takes some boldness in a show full of such feel-goodery to end things on a bit of a down note, even as Ted, and the show, try to keep that downness in perspective.

The flow of the game is done well too. Roy takes being benched like a champ and gets a hero’s farewell after his dramatic play to stymie Jamie at a key point in the match. The team using the Lasso Special” to create chaos in the form of an American Football formation to score their leveler is great fun. And the fact that Jamie breaks the AFC Richmond faithful’s hearts, but does so by making the extra pass that Ted always coached him to do, is wonderful poetry. I expected the usual sports movie cliches in this, and they’re certainly present, but also delivered in sharp ways and led to an unexpected conclusion.

Beyond the climax of the episode, there’s just a lot of nice moments at play. Nate gets promoted to coach (before saying another sort of sexist thing, which isn’t great.) Keeley gives Roy a shoulder to cry on when he needs it most. Roy entrusts his teammate with the captaincy and gives him a vote of confidence. Rebecca calls Higgins by his first name and brings his entire family into the owner’s box. Everybody gets these little grace notes to their arcs and signs of growth, which is a really nice way to build an episode that is, by necessity, lighter on story and bigger on stakes.

I especially like what they do with Jamie. His unwillingness to believe that Ted is being genuinely supportive of him, only to realize that his former coach does really believe in him, is a wholesome thing. We see contrast of his shitheel father berating him for making the extra pass rather than being the star, and Ted sending him a note of support and an army man, despite the fact that he effectively delivered a dagger to the team’s fortunes.

There’s the usual dose of triteness here. I’ve never heard the “It’s the hope that kills you” idiom, so Ted trying to slay it with his usual “believe” philosophy comes off a bit like a strawman. And the “be a goldfish” and “be glad we get to be sad together” points are nice enough, but fairly shallow as post-loss wisdom goes. Still, like Ted himself, there’s an earnestness behind it all that puffs some of this up.

As does Rebecca bringing him back for another year. The irony of her succeeding in her mission to capsize the team only to resolve to work with her handpicked ruiner to build it back up again clicks into place nicely.

Overall, I enjoyed this season of television. It’s sort of a goofy sitcom version of Friday Night Lights that succeeds better than that description might portend. I’ll confess, given the raving praise for it, I expected it to knock my socks off, and instead it’s been a roundly pleasant but not overwhelming watch. And yet, I’ve been pleased with it almost the whole way through, which is an achievement I think Ted himself would be quite happy with. On to season 2!