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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I wonder if one thing they are exploring this season is about how it's not so much about a person's individual intentions, or their inherent "goodness" or "badness". It's about power dynamics and how they can disrupt healthy relationships and lead to bad unintended consequences. Just a few of the very uneven power dynamics at play this season:

- Jake dating Michelle after being Michelle/Ted's marriage counselor. It's a really uneasy situation because Ted feels (rightfully) so exposed by it. he no doubt confided sensitive things in therapy that now his ex-wife's boyfriend knows. And this guy is hanging around his son, too. Not to mention of course that what Michelle confided in him during therapy is now a tool he can use in their relationship. That's so exploitative.

- Nat's relationship with Rupert, where Rupert is clearly just using Nate to exact revenge on Rebecca and Richmond. And at first Nate is also angry at Richmond and is totally on board. And Rupert's money and gifts feel empowering to Nate at first (like the car Rupert gave him). But now we are seeing how being indebted to Rupert in this way is disrupting Nate's ability to repair his relationship with Ted, and become a more balanced, healthy individual. Rupert's money and position over Nate, his power over him, is stunting him. Whereas neither Rebecca nor Ted ever penned Nate in like that, even though he was employed by them as well.

- Keeley's relationship with Jack, who is her investor and mentor. Plus even if she wasn't, Jack is much wealthier than Keeley and is used to using her wealth to maintain power in relationships (as we saw with the "love bombing" and we even saw how Rebecca drew parallels between Jack and Rupert in this respect). And then we saw that come to a head when Jack used her position of authority in their relationship to try and get Keeley to do something she was very uncomfortable with, and when Keeley said no, Jack left. You can paint that as Jack simply trying to help, but the very uneven power dynamics in their relationship make it more nefarious than that (and makes me admire Keeley's strength in standing up to it, in a way Nate was unable to with Rupert in the last episode).

- And all of this is paralleled by the team. First with the introduction of a super player who upends the team dynamics and becomes the overwhelming center of the team, and now with the introduction of a style of play in which NO ONE is the star or clear center of the team, and instead the designated leader (Jaime) is facilitating the success of teammates by using his skills to make them succeed, and thus making the enter team successful. Which is basically the Ted Lasso Way, right? Ted is the classic leader as facilitator, setting aside his ego to help others achieve their goals, and in so doing successfully leading.

This season has felt scattered at times but thinking of it this way, I am starting to see how it all comes together and plays into themes that have been present on the show since the start. The show is not really about being "nice" and corny, though Ted comes off this way. It's really about what it really means to have mutually respectful and empowered relationships, instead of hierarchical relationships based on fear. How by respecting each other and sharing power and authority, we can achieve more success than by controlling one another. It's actually a kind of radical philosophy.[/quote]

I already commented re how great I think the above comment is.  Just want to note that I also think this series is about how to work on a team.  Obviously there's the sports analogy, but it carries over into regular jobs and even into families.  Most people start out in their jobs wanting to be a star, but a lot of the time the longer you work the more you realize that the real superstars are the ones who facilitate EVERYONE's success, not just their own.  I'm sure it's like that at SNL, or on movie sets, or at our regular jobs.  It's funny that a lot of shows have focused on workplaces or friends groups but not many have looked at things from this perspective.  Sudekas said something like he didn't want another show that sat back and delivered a lot of jaded snark, and he certainly followed through on that.[/quote]

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