Season 2 was a disappointing letdown compared to S1, so it is appropriate that the season finale was very much a letdown as well.
It is important to discount the usual avalanche of 10/10 reviews posted by hyper-fans, who overlook the flaws and missteps. There have been no episodes this season deserving of an objective 10 score in my opinion, unlike S1 which was brilliant. But scores aside, this episode personifies where S2 went off the rails. There was very little clever humour, though I did get a smile out of the biscuits made with salt and Rebecca's reaction, and Roy's postgame greeting for Jamie. But otherwise it was all quite serious. And of course Ted is still torturing himself over his divorce.
As predicted by others, Rupert did reappear as a team owner, and his whispered conversation last episode with Nate now makes more sense. The cliffhanger last episode regarding Keeley and Roy resolved itself only for another to be created at the last minute, almost as an afterthought, and quite clumsily at that. As for Nate, his speech to Ted near the end made no sense to me and made me think I had missed something. His reactions were very unrealistic and really stretched credibility. For that matter, so were Ted's after Nate spewed his vitriol. In any other world he would have been escorted out of the facility.
All in all, a disappointing close to a disappointing season, one that saw the series change from a warm, uplifting show to a largely unfunny soap opera trying to deliver rather heavy-handed messages. One hopes Sudekis and the writers will take the honest criticisms of how S2 went wrong and right the ship in S3, and not be deceived by the can-do-no-wrong opinions of the show offered by the superfans.
It is important to discount the usual avalanche of 10/10 reviews posted by hyper-fans, who overlook the flaws and missteps. There have been no episodes this season deserving of an objective 10 score in my opinion, unlike S1 which was brilliant. But scores aside, this episode personifies where S2 went off the rails. There was very little clever humour, though I did get a smile out of the biscuits made with salt and Rebecca's reaction, and Roy's postgame greeting for Jamie. But otherwise it was all quite serious. And of course Ted is still torturing himself over his divorce.
As predicted by others, Rupert did reappear as a team owner, and his whispered conversation last episode with Nate now makes more sense. The cliffhanger last episode regarding Keeley and Roy resolved itself only for another to be created at the last minute, almost as an afterthought, and quite clumsily at that. As for Nate, his speech to Ted near the end made no sense to me and made me think I had missed something. His reactions were very unrealistic and really stretched credibility. For that matter, so were Ted's after Nate spewed his vitriol. In any other world he would have been escorted out of the facility.
All in all, a disappointing close to a disappointing season, one that saw the series change from a warm, uplifting show to a largely unfunny soap opera trying to deliver rather heavy-handed messages. One hopes Sudekis and the writers will take the honest criticisms of how S2 went wrong and right the ship in S3, and not be deceived by the can-do-no-wrong opinions of the show offered by the superfans.