Reviews

Once again the writers and showrunners have abandoned the great first two season of Ted Lasso, and left us with warmed over dreck, political correctness wrapped up in a bow, low quality "Movie of the Week" type stuff.

It was nice to get the guys back on the pitch. Plus, Roy had a nice episode...and not just because they mercifully killed the Jack storyline by sending her to Mars or wherever. Unfortunately, most of the characters are one dimensional, especially the always smiling goofs like Sam and Dani.

But, for the second week in a row, we get a totally cringy locker room scene where blah, blah, blah, politically correct liberal stuff is wrapped up in a bow...AT HALFTIME TO A MATCH. I wonder if they won after servicing the politically correct gods?! What do you think?!

The best part was Rupert testing the morality of Nathan. They certainly are doing their best to humanize Nathan's betrayal, and illustrate his desperate neediness.. It looks like they're actually setting him up to play the Darth Vader role in killing the Emperor. Meh, I don't care. I'm checking out after this season...unless they do something like give Ted cancer.

I think it may be time for the showrunners to be looking for an offramp to end this show. Clearly, the writers have less and less to say...that makes any sense in Ted Lasso World.

Fortunately, this episode was slightly better than the last one, mainly because it had more Ted in it. But, there's been almost no character development. They're speeding over the football stuff that used to take episodes before, speeding over the team clashes, etc. Etc.

Can they please kill the Keely storylines please?! They're becoming so annoying and cringy. Before, her high energy, excessive yapping was a nice comic foil for Roy's laconic, brutish, bulldog grunts. Now that they aren't together, I'm really hating her character. Speaking of excessively happy 1 dimensional characters, Sam and Dani need some upgrading as characters.

Most of the writing is just painfully bad. Last week they tied strings to their penises out on the pitch....only a child would find that funny. This week, the whole team had a big pow-wow about social media and photos on their phones. Awful. Yeah, like the whole team is going to do that with their personal stuff. Then the story gets sillier with the enforcer finding a picture he shouldn't have...oops (yeah, saw that from a mile away). They should bring back the sports psychologist, and they should have Rebecca follow up the Rich Woman/Poor Man (from Amsterdam) thing.

I'm still not quite sure Ted was so fixated on his ex. Wasn't that a season or two ago?! I mean she's sleeping with someone else, and so is he (i.e. Sassy) but we're supposed to believe this is throwing him totally off his axis?! Oh, and why make Ted's kid, and coach Nathan's girlfriend so bland?! I mean they could use cardboard cut-outs for their characters.

Bottom line: The show is running on empty. But we all know they're going to drag it out for another season or two, so Lasso/Rebecca can prevail over Rupert/Nathan. Ugh.

Wow, this show just keeps getting worse and worse. What are they doing?! Politics and weird relationships, yeah, that's what I tune into Ted Lasso for. I don't know, they could just be running out of stories...because the new ones are awful. It was a kindly fish out of water story, now it's this controversial agenda and that controversial agenda....and throw in some weird sex jokes.

They've gone into farce. Maybe they've been there all along and I didn't notice. But when they tie strings to their penises in practice to learn a new strategy...well, I don't know what the heck I'm watching.

I guess I'll long for the days when the story was about Ted. A kind hearted soul in a fish out of water story, surrounded by cynics that he wins over.

I have no idea what they're going for in this series, especially since the beginning of this season. I guess they were worried about getting cancelled so they spent the whole time wrapping up existing stories (badly). Then with all the boring as hell personal soap opera filler. (And a bunch of blather of the regularly ignored Prime Directive.)

It's like a bunch of half written storylines. True Sci-Fi writers would put a bag over their heads if they wrote this pathetic, retread garbage. Seriously, is the dumb, uninteresting, already done android and human relationship really supposed to hold up half this episode?! Are they paying royalties for ripping off the much better Data & Tasha Yar storyline from TNG?! Fortunately, she got killed off so we didn't have to watch this meaningless garbage. (BTW, Data was much more human, and not just because he had a face.)

I'm looking forward to never seeing the Moclans and 1 dimensional Kaylons ever again. Or of any of the truly terrible storylines for Dr. Awful anymore. She wasn't good on DS9 and things have only gotten worse (much) from there. Oh, and the married/divorced co-captain was completely worn out, as was MacFarlane's thimbleful of acting ability (but his other shows are funny).

But, if they do a Malloy spinoff, then I may tune in. He gets 1 extra star for his James Taylor rendition.

Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew, pew. Some solid CGI and action. But, as so many have pointed out, this story is dumber than a box of rocks.

1. The "Union" jumps in and out of wars of annihilation twice before you get out of bed each morning. It's become rather pathetic. Seriously, they snuff out lives by the thousands over half-baked reasons. I get the sense the showrunners know they're living on borrowed time, and so they're trying to wrap up the whole series before they end up being produced by Kazakhstan public access.

1A. These clowns bumble across the galaxy attempting to change every culture they come in contact with. The Prime Directive?! Yeah, these guys never heard of it.

2. Despite various serious wars and threats of annihilation, they dismiss powerful allies and then immediately jump sides to support genocidal opponents that would kill them at the first opportunity. It takes them all of about 15 minutes to make these decisions. So obviously the story and motivations are completely ludicrous. It may be just a few keystrokes in a writers' room, but humans don't act that way.

3. Talk about dumb. The Union has a new superweapon, but you know, we aren't going to teach any Union scientists about it. We're just going to leave it up to a perky helmswoman and an android. Then we're going to put it in a lock-up protected by like 4 people. It is only the thing that keeps all life from annihilation, but we'll give it less less protection than the deed to your house in a safe deposit box. Of course that's pure BS, and any country would have an intensive forced debrief so the knowledge and tech would not be left with two crew who are regularly in jeopardy and none too reliable.

4. Oh, and while this is a smaller issue, anyone remember when they showed us that Malloy was like the world's best pilot?! Yeah, in this one, mediocre at best. It would have been a lot of fun to let him let his inner Maverick out. Maybe they didn't have the CGI budget.

5. Wow, how moronic is it to send you super essential crew in a cloaked ship...only to then surround it with wing of fighters. It's breathtaking. Only slightly dumber is the 20-30 minutes it takes the base they're attacking from turning on its air defenses.

6. Oof, the acting! Dr. Jerald has always been awful (she sucked on DS9 too). It's like she's in a cheesy soap opera. And. It seems MacFarlane took his acting lessons from her. I don't know how many times he goes for the hurt puppy/loaded diaper face to express his abundance of feelings (usually misplaced). Just what you want in a captain who looks like he's about ready to bust into tears at any moment. It's hilarious he's ever attempted to make fun of Shatner for his acting, when Shatner is 1000 times the actor he is.

7. When this show was just about goofy space fun, another funny MacFarlane show, I gave it a break. When it tried to turn into basic Sci-Fi and get all serious, I can't ignore the empty shell it is.

Look, who doesn't like a good time travel yarn. In Star Trek, the early years, they had the rather silly gravity slingshot around the Sun (which wasn't bad for the 60's....and mediocre for the 80"s). But, even that is far better than this silly resolution. While it sounds smart, it is dumber than a box of rocks.

Didn't anyone else notice they found an incredibly simple way of time traveling into the future?! A simple modification of the quantum drive, and they can go thousands of years into the future. That's now "canon." At least before they had to use the MacGuffin. But, now?! These dingleberries can travel to the future whenever they want. Travel far enough you can either get another MacGuffin or some other future tech to...you guessed it...go into the past.

I really have liked some of their pure Sci-Fi stories. Shadow Realms was a good bit of fun, and solid sci-fi...although more explanation might have been better. But this...for all it's situation dramedy....is dumber than a box of rocks. Maybe you guys should watch Rick & Morty for some time travel Sci-Fi tips.

What do you do when the central core of the movie is a dumb decision? Enjoy the bombs, blasts and gunfire I guess. I understand they weren't supposed to shoot civilians, but they should have tied some or all of them up to give them more time. Letting the young man sprint down the mountain was moronic. They also could have taken away their shoes (to slow them down). Do stupid things, win stupid prizes.

Really cool visuals and special effects. But, I'm still getting used to the JJ Abrams flashy style. I get it, it's Hollywood, so why limit the visuals to the original and TNG (and most of the movies)...give the people "the goods" visually even if it makes the ship look PALATIAL by comparison.

But, what is up with these poorly written characters in silly circumstances. I mean don't they have a science advisor? I'm sorry, but the audience KNOWS light does NOT convey any contagion...period, end of story. This fan base knows Neil deGrasse Tyson, so don't insult us. C'mon Trek has done probably dozens of contagion stories, and this is one of the worst...story-wise.

Also, how about a Trek advisor. I don't mind crew members going crazy and doing overrides, but c'mon, do it right. You shouldn't be able to go straight to "destroy the ship" without setting off more alarms and going thru more protocols....it simply violates canon. And, what is with the Una character just strolling around when the ship is facing destruction? Do they not run in the future? I mean we're getting to Galaxy Quest style silliness here.

Also, the kumbaya, there is no hierarchy, few rules/duty, we're all just one big happy crew/ensemble doing whatever we FEEL in the moment must be some sort of millennial pandering because that too is completely anti-canon and ruins a few of the traditional dynamics and tensions in every other Trek series. It used to be only Kirk who didn't follow the rules...OCCASIONALY...but it seems it's every captain, which again, undermines canon. BTW, it isn't like I'm protecting canon for canon's sake. But any make believe universe needs common rules and understanding, otherwise it devolves into childish nonsense (as opposed to adult "what if" sci-fi fantasy).

The acting...is INERT! The only one mildly interesting at this point is Aenar engineer. But, that might be because he gets the sharper lines because of his grumpy disposition.

The story for this dumpster fire has been dumb as hell from the very first episode, so it was foolish to expect any change. But, that's the problem with Star Wars fans...there's always Hope...perhaps a New Hope. (Yeah, sorry for the pun...sort of.) I know Jimmy Smit's character is dumb too (Disney), but is he really so stupid as to send a voicemail will all the info to find the "secret child"...Senator Dumbarse it is?!

Reva is such a Mary Sue she oughta have a sound track sung by Buddy Holly. Of course her surviving a second stabbing by Vader was totally moronic. Maybe we should start calling this stuff "Disney Dumb"?! So Mary Sue Riva shows off her force powers and finds him in a a few hours? Seriously?! Mary Sue Reva's fight scene with Owen was pathetic. Is she weak, is she not, can she knock around Owen like a piñata with the force or can't she? (BTW, gotta love how stupid Owen & wife are yelling into the sand when Obi-wan shows up. Uh, how far can a little kid run away to in a few minutes?!) Anyway, Mary Sue Reva's story arc was completely predictable once we found out she was a youngling.

Obi-Wan's flattering a 10 yr old Leia made we want to vomit. She's "wise and discerning" eh....maybe you should rewatch the series Obi-Dummy...that's your punishment. Oh, and then crossing a desert to tell Owen a secret...yeah, keep doing what you've been doing, you don't need me." WTF?! The logic of the space chase scenes are awful. The Star Destroyers in orbit always seem to disappear when someone makes a run from it from a planet their near. (Oh, and Obi-Wan and Vader have gotten a MAJOR force power upgrade from the other films...more than we've seen even from Yoda). Qui-Gon showing up at the end was also idiotic. They've got a "ways to go"?! What, to sit in a cave for the next 30 years? Or does Obi-wan go swashbuckling around the Galaxy and leave his cherished charge defenseless for like the 100th time?! He's already stronger than Ben in the New Hope. (Technically, I guess he could teach him about dying and becoming a force spirit, meh).

Here are some other observations from other commenters: "Why would Kenobi suddenly get his full force power back because of a Leia flashback? Luke running away from someone with a lightsaber, yet no memory of that event in A New Hope? How can Vader feel Kenobi flying off in a ship in the middle of space, but can't feel him creeping up behind him on a deserted planet?"

Many people have pointed out the huge plot holes and dumb writing. While I knew people survived lightsaber severing injuries (e.g. Luke), this show is making a mockery of a light saber as a weapon. How many people need to get skewered in the chest/gut...with their internal organs severed and cooked, and spine severed/burned before they actually die?! The Reva/3rd Sister skewers the Grand Inquisitor, and he's doing better than ever. The super dangerous Darth Vader can't seem to kill Reva/3rd Sister no matter how many times he stabs her (once as a youngling and now). This is getting pathetic. I don't know where this Mary Sue got her plot armor, but the writers should take it back.

This, among other things, is why this series is so bad. Vader and Obi-Wan, great...lot of fun when they're chewing up scenery and you don't think too much. Everything else is pretty badly written. I mean with all the main characters having plot armor (Obi-wan, Vader, Luke, and Leia)...they should be dropping characters added to this series all the time (and introducing new ones.). They shouldn't be handing out more plot armor to every dang character. Without real danger, where is the drama? The only character they seem to have killed is actually one of the few decent actors (Tala). But who knows, maybe there's a bacta tank.

Children's programming. Disney sucks.