Ted Lasso Recap: Sam Refuses to 'Shut Up and Dribble' in Episode 7 — Plus, Find Out Who Plays His Dad!
Warning: The following contains spoilers about Season 3, Episode 7 of Ted Lasso.
Sam’s dad is a sight for sore eyes when he finally arrives in Wednesday’s Ted Lasso — an episode that sees Sam’s sunny disposition challenged like never before.
The midfielder barely bats an eye when Simi fills him in on Brinda Barot’s anti-refugee rhetoric. He suggests that “someone could try and speak to the the better angels of this clearly misguided person” and get her to see the error of her ways. But when he engages the home secretary on Twitter, he’s met with an especially dismissive response. “Just shut up and dribble,” she writes.
Initially, Sam refuses to stoop to Barot’s level. He asks, once more, that she reconsider her position on refugees. That’s when she suggests that he “worry less about the safety of our nation and worry more about being a mediocre player on a mediocre team” — what a troll! In turn, Sam writes that he’d rather be a “mediocre footballer than a world-class bigot,” a sentiment that doesn’t sit well with the politician’s base. Come Friday, he arrives at Ola’s to discover that someone broke in and vandalized his restaurant, just hours before his father’s arrival. From there, Sam heads to Nelson Road and lashes out in front of his teammates.
“The world is full of evil people who do s—y things,” he yells. “But I can’t deal with that because I have to kick a little ball around — which those same people love me for! That is, until I f–k up, or I miss a penalty, or I decide to fight back, and they’re just gonna wanna ship me back wherever I f–king came from.”
Right at that moment, Mr. Obisanya appears — and he’s played by a familiar face, Nonso Anozie, whose myriad credits include CBS’ Zoo, HBO’s Game of Thrones and Netflix’s Sweet Tooth. He embraces his son, then tells him not to be discouraged by Barot or her cowardice supporters. “If you really want to piss off the people who did this, forgive them,” he says. “Don’t fight back. Fight forward.”
Despite the damage, Mr. Obisanya asks to see the restaurant. When father and son arrive, they discover that Sam’s fellow Greyhounds have already started cleaning up. And if that’s not sweet enough to melt your heart, we learn that Sam named the restaurant after his father, whose first name is Ola.
Among other notable developments in Episode 7…
* Total Football pays off for AFC Richmond. Arsenal still prevails, 3-1, but the Greyhounds are showing signs of life for the first time in weeks. (But please, no more tying dicks together during practice!)
* Rebecca fills Keeley in on her romantic night in Amsterdam. “What we shared… transcended sex,” she says. Keeley, meanwhile, begins to suspect that she’s being “love bombed” (or perhaps “love blinded”) by Jack, who’s been showering her with extravagant gifts. Jack ultimately agrees to cut back and let Keeley do something for her every once in a while, beginning with a romantic dinner for two at Taste of Athens.
* Nate builds up the courage to ask Jade out on a date — and he does so without spitting on a bathroom mirror! He intends to present Jade with one of his cut little boxes when he asks her out — he’s inspired by his dad, who presented his mum with a custom map when they were still in university — but he trips and falls, and the box is flattened by oncoming traffic. Perhaps it’s karma for all his s—-y behavior.
* Last, but certainly not least, is the origin story of Ted’s facial hair. Turns out, it started as a bushy goatee inspired by Larry the Cable Guy. But after Coach Beard told him on his wedding day that the goatee made him look like he “ate out Big Foot’s butthole,” Ted shaved that puppy down to a Foxworthy — a Jeff Foxworthy. And there you have it!
What did you think of Ted Lasso Season 3, Episode 7: “The Strings That Bind Us”? Sound off in Comments.
