Damn, just two episodes left at this point, time flies. As we reach into the final quarter of the season. I feel like this episode might have had deleted scenes that could have helped it some, but as usual, spoilers and guesses below:
Nate quit West Ham! Right off the bat this episode dropped that bombshell after what he witnessed last episode (and perhaps a private conversation with Jade post-episode) we start off with a soccer Saturday segment about this bombshell as Nate hides himself from the paparazzi that are now camped outside his house. Jade says goodbye to him in his apartment as she heads to Poland as the paparazzi & reports try to get a story out of her. But this lead to a moment where he snuck back into his parents house and started sleeping in his old bedroom just to get away from everything. Finding an old album from his childhood and picking up and playing his old violin again, something his father always loved to see him play. During a convo between the two, the reconcile and his father admits that not only is Nate a genius for his ability to see things no one else can but in his own failings as a parent for not knowing how to parent someone like that. It was both heartfelt and to me a bit out of nowhere as where was any of this prior? But anyway, it was nice to hear as the show tries to wrap up it’s loose ends before the finale. Ted seemed to be the only one who cares about Nate so that reconnection is sure to happen soon. However it’s clear Nate is trying to make amends for the wrongs he’s committed at AFC Richmond, as he used his connections to sneak his way in to surprise Will with both an apology note and doing some of his work for him, surprising his replacement in both instances. I’m looking forward to seeing more of this with Nate hopefully next episode.
Meanwhile in the football/soccer world a ton is going on. AFC Richmond’s winning streak now sits at 10 as total football is clearly the solution. The teams are going on an international break with Jamie, Dani, Van Damme and Colin are playing for England, Mexico, Canada & Wales respectively. Left off the international roster however was Sam, who surprisingly was not selected to play for his home Nigeria. We’ll get to that one in a minute but Jamie, in a display of awesomeness, chose to wear Sam’s number 24 while playing for England. This bond between the two has been a great side story since the tape moment from season 2, personally I love it. Weirdly the normally pleasant and fun-loving Dani became hostile to Van Damme as they were on opposite ends of the ball, going so far in their match as accidentally (???) breaking Van Damme’s nose with a high powered kick to the French Canadians face and crushing his Doritos into powder when he was offered some. Afterwards Dani was back to his pleasant self, so either I missed something this season to see this side of the Dani Rojas we knew or there’s a deleted scene somewhere that flushed this out. Slightly confused but also wonder if this will flesh itself out in the remaining two episodes.
Onto Roy. There’s videos on YT about the growing bromance between Roy & Jamie, which was made all the funnier when his niece Phoebe hosted “Uncle Roy Day” and invited in her mind Roy’s best & only friend Jamie. Jamie once again stepped up by giving Roy a present that was his old Jersey from his time on the 2014 national team. I still find this bromance odd and struggle to get behind it a bit (due to the Keeley aspect) but I’d rather this than butting heads. Roy also got another present……..a bright red, orange and yellow shirt that he’s now forced to wear to keep his niece happy. “Red, Orange, Yellow, ROY!” Seeing the reactions around the clubhouse when the normally head to toe black wearing Roy came in clearly angry being forced to wear it was priceless, but also goes to show the lengths he’s willing to go for his niece. I did get the feeling there was a deleted scene or two that further showed the reactions people had to it, but no matter.
Onto Reeley (or Koy), called it! As did pretty much 99.5% of viewers. Yes Roy & Keeley are back together. After Jack’s company pulled funding for KJPR Keeley (which at the end of the episode is now being funded by Rebecca, much to Keeley’s delight on several levels) Roy wrote her a letter opening up his heart to her and admitting he loves her, being forced to read it while wearing the bright shirt. This didn’t hit me in the feels like I suspected it would, but again, need to tie up loose ends before the finale. Even Barbara, the all business CFO that was often the foil to Keeley asked to come back, having quit working for Jack to stay working with Keeley. Good days all around.
Lastly, we had an unexpected revisit from last season. as Edwin Akufo has returned! The petty grudge-holder that went off on Sam last season for opting to not play for him has returned with the proposal of the Super League, the real life proposal that would take the best teams in Europe and have them battle it out. After Rupert personally invited Rebecca to come to Akufo’s meeting about the league she ultimately did go after a persuasive argument from Leslie (“You have a seat at the table”) we got a revisit to the lion face as she ended up in a group of crotchety old men. After Akufo’s proposal about “how you all will make a lot of money” and how the fans will protest but learn to deal with it, Rebecca told a story about how there was a young boy who would sneak into Richmond matches as a child until one day he was busted by a security guard who he promptly kicked in the junk. Years later, that same boy, now a man purchased the team and without saying a word, gave the man a pay raise. That man was Rupert, and in a surprising move by the series, put the normally villainous Rupert in a positive light and reminded even Rebecca herself that football is not about the money, it’s about the fans to which Rupert agrees with. If you remember how Akufo responds when he doesn’t get what he wants, yes we see that again and an unexpectedly sweet moment of friendship between Rebecca and Rupert occurs. Until Rupert tries to kiss her and ruins it. I got the sense by the look on his face afterwards that he realizes the mistake he made in letting her go, seeing the power that she has and the person she’s become. Akufo isn’t done with the series yet, as this may make a return and his desire to ruin Sam (now by opening a Nigerian restaurant on the same block as Sam) continues. Maybe Rebecca or even Rupert will figure out a way to foil Akufo, it’s certainly possible at this point.
Overall, a bit of an up and down episode but by no means a bad one. I get the sense that maybe there’s too many plot threads and not enough time to resolve them all so they’re in a small writer’s rush. With only two episodes left and hopefully long ones at that, it blows my mind that we’re nearly done with this series. I’ll be back next week with the next one so thanks for reading, and as always, stay awesome.
RATING: 7
About the author – Scott Churchson has been an actor in every way for the past 13 years, from BG to stand in to stunts and principal, a sports writer for the past 4 and is one of the people that created Stream Punk Entertainment. He’s married to a veterinarian, has a cat with three working legs, a mother-in-law who just moved in and is just a simple man trying to make his way in the universe.
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