Random Nate observations. The episode definitely left me thinking about him.
Interesting that we don't really know what happened with Nate.
He says he quit but we don't know that for sure.
Rumors were he was fired due to some inter office inappropriate behavior - likely not true
Rupert says some people are not ready when they get their shot - but that was likely about his response in the bar on guys night with Rupert and not about coaching.
Also of interest is his downfall and redemption not taking the form many of us predicted. It wasn't onfield losses and particularly not to Richmond. In fact we never get the rematch for Ted to get that revenge win doing it his way - but that should not really be a surprise Ted isn't about revenge.
Nate's issues were with his dad and here we have him seemingly tucking tail and going home and then confronting his dad about the expectations and abuse and it is his dads apology for not knowing how to deal with a genius (reinforced by some wonderful violin playing) that is seemingly what Nate needed. Not Ted's acceptance. Thats a really interesting direction the writers have taken. The wonder kid thing was almost a joke and surely something that was going to be shown to be not true - we thought. But in reality he is some kind of prodigy. Sweet and lovable Nate returned several episodes back via his relationship with Jade. We never got the meltdown, failure and comeuppance that I think may of us expected.
I'll just say kudos to the writers for always keeping us guessing where this is going. Interesting too that his first apology is not to Ted but to Will. But it's a wild ride in less than a year for the character from lovable/flawed to reviled/hated to ...I don't know maybe pitied/forgiven now?
Now I'm of the opinion that maybe Nate does not end up in the soccer world at all in the end. I almost like that better than him coming back to Richmond as some savior or successor after Ted. That's a bridge too far for me. And I feel like the last few episodes have been much more leaning toward Roy reaching the level of stepping in to take those reins.
Interesting that we don't really know what happened with Nate.
He says he quit but we don't know that for sure.
Rumors were he was fired due to some inter office inappropriate behavior - likely not true
Rupert says some people are not ready when they get their shot - but that was likely about his response in the bar on guys night with Rupert and not about coaching.
Also of interest is his downfall and redemption not taking the form many of us predicted. It wasn't onfield losses and particularly not to Richmond. In fact we never get the rematch for Ted to get that revenge win doing it his way - but that should not really be a surprise Ted isn't about revenge.
Nate's issues were with his dad and here we have him seemingly tucking tail and going home and then confronting his dad about the expectations and abuse and it is his dads apology for not knowing how to deal with a genius (reinforced by some wonderful violin playing) that is seemingly what Nate needed. Not Ted's acceptance. Thats a really interesting direction the writers have taken. The wonder kid thing was almost a joke and surely something that was going to be shown to be not true - we thought. But in reality he is some kind of prodigy. Sweet and lovable Nate returned several episodes back via his relationship with Jade. We never got the meltdown, failure and comeuppance that I think may of us expected.
I'll just say kudos to the writers for always keeping us guessing where this is going. Interesting too that his first apology is not to Ted but to Will. But it's a wild ride in less than a year for the character from lovable/flawed to reviled/hated to ...I don't know maybe pitied/forgiven now?
Now I'm of the opinion that maybe Nate does not end up in the soccer world at all in the end. I almost like that better than him coming back to Richmond as some savior or successor after Ted. That's a bridge too far for me. And I feel like the last few episodes have been much more leaning toward Roy reaching the level of stepping in to take those reins.
