#the amount of comments I saw saying Nate didn’t deserve redemption | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fanficfanattic · 8 months

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L & X

L: Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your favs.

Okay, this is gonna be weird. Because it is (kind of) Nate Shelley from Ted Lasso. But like, only a certain version of him. So, like I said, I know this is weird.

He was a mostly unexpected villain. Like you can see hints of a deeper anger that he hasn’t felt able to express. It’s one of the reasons he resonates with Roy, right? That he can see the existence of his anger and the flow of it almost like ley lines.

So, we never actually see Nate being, like, particularly kind, right? And we see him revel in humiliating Colin. But Colin bullied him so…it’s good? But then it’s people who didn’t bully him. And then it’s people who were good to him.

I think his initial response to Rebecca before he realized he was being promoted was such a telling thing about the anger he had bottled up. Before being promoted, having his strategy acumen being appreciated, he didn’t think he could express it. Like Jamie was a footy god so he could (to Nate’s mind, no one else) but once he achieved that status…I dunno. He felt like it was his right?

But interestingly, he never takes this anger out on Jamie. Maybe it is belief in the Footy God. Maybe he appreciates that Jamie apologized and made amends and did the work. But Nate was there at Wembley. Revealing Jamie’s dad was abusive? That Jamie had seemingly always just taken it before then? He could have destroyed Jamie. So maybe it was the fact that they had shitty dads that spared him.

Or all of it, honestly. And that’s what made his Ted betrayal so nuanced. So interesting. So unexpected that it took people by surprise.

Before that, people seemed to see him as kind of a lovable loser. Which was part of that anger, right? He kissed Keeley, and expected Roy to be furious at him, but Roy never saw him as a threat. He wasn’t Roy’s equal. He got an “its okay buddy” head pat. And like On God he was going to make them take him seriously!

But he isn’t actually a villain any more than season one Jamie was. (They were almost inverted, honestly.) Which made for exceptionally compelling story telling. He was frustrated and hurt and he was becoming the exact same as the people who made him feel that way. At first, he loved that change. Reveled in the power. But he started to feel the loneliness of that position.

Again, I’d argue that’s another Jamie mirror. He had to hit rock bottom before he realized that he actually didn’t like this particular hole he’d put so much effort into digging.

And then he had to put an equal or greater amount into digging himself out of it. He earned his redemption. And that was a sign of respect to his character. No one gave him a free pass and he’d have resented it if they did.

But the last two episodes doubled down on the Nate is a Woobie concept. My distaste isn’t about the fact that he didn’t “earn his redemption” (though he did not, never even asked for forgiveness). It’s that he never earned their respect. Which he should have.

He was a brilliant fucking “villain”. I wanted him to be redeemed! But the Nate they gave us at the end is who I don’t like. And my genuinely nice to him comment is that he deserved better. All the pieces were there and the writers were cowards.

X: A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom.

Found Family! The idea that we aren’t beholden to the chaos of random birth. You’ve probably heard “blood is thicker than water” but that leaves off the actual intended meaning.

Blood is thicker than the water of the womb.

The people we choose to be with us, who we shed blood and tears for on purpose, they are your actual people. You can love your blood family, sure. But you can make your love family. And I fucking love that.

#jamie tartt #ted lasso #roy kent #nate shelley #nathan shelley #tw james tartt

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