Ted Lasso S3 Episode 11 “Mom City”: Mae’s Poem and What it Means

Ted Lasso has been dealing with his issues of people-pleasing, self-criticism, and repressive behavior, since season 1. Only in the penultimate episode of the season 3 finale does the titular character finally confront the root of all his trauma – his father’s suicide and his mother’s actions following it. Mae’s advice played a part in helping him do that.

In “Mom City,” Lasso sulks when his mother drops in for a surprise and finds himself at their local pub, where Mae bursts into a poem that inadvertently pushes him to call out his mother. Mae quotes from “This Be the Verse” by English poet Philip Larkin, which is all about the cycle of trauma. 

Larkin’s poem and Mae’s advice teach Ted that her mother’s own upbringing was at fault for how she dealt with her husband killing himself, putting on a cheery face, and pushing all negative emotions inside till she shut off. 

Ted Lasso S3 Episode 11 “Mom City”: Mae’s Poem and What it Means
Ted Lasso and Dottie Lasso

Ted understood that the same trauma bonded them, as did their habits on the face of it, and while he thanked his mother for raising him, he told her he intended to break the cycle.

Mae’s poem and his conversation with his mom pushed him to do what he did in the finale, quitting Richmond and going home to be with his son. As we have seen, he wants to be a better parent, and he is constantly working on himself to achieve that.

Dottie never attended therapy as it was “wrong,” but Ted shed that lesson and dived into his therapeutic sessions with Dr. Fieldstone in season 2. He even used self-healing methods, surrounding himself with other mentees to understand better how he could help Henry shed the circle of trauma that imprisoned his family.

Therefore, Mae’s poem led to Ted bonding with his mother and realizing he needs to step away from AFC Richmond for Henry’s sake. The pub lady’s advice is what set the titular character on the path to quit the big leagues and coach his son’s soccer team back home.

Ted Lasso S3 Episode 11 “Mom City”: Mae’s Poem and What it Means
Mae Gives Ted Poetic Advice

Generational trauma is real, y’all! Ted Lasso does a wonderful job explaining how one must simply hold the courage to break the cycle and begin anew. What did you think of this nifty piece of poetic advice? Let us know in the comments.

About Ted Lasso

Ted Lasso is an American sports-comedy streaming TV series developed by Bill Lawrence, Jason Sudeikis, Joe Kelly, and Brendan Hunt. It’s based on a character of the same name that Sudeikis first portrayed in a series of promos for NBC Sports’ coverage of the Premier League.

It follows the life of Ted Lasso, a coach of college-level American football who is unexpectedly recruited to coach an English Premier League team, AFC Richmond, despite having no experience at all in association football.

It stars Sudeikis as the titular character, Ted Lasso, joined by Hannah Waddingham, Jeremy Swift, Phil Dunster, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Nick Mohammed, Juno Temple, and Sarah Niles among many others.

Source: Apple TV+

Epic Dope Staff

Epic Dope Staff

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