Fantasy football has been shit for me this year (you’re probably confused as to what this has to do with Ted Lasso, but stay with me). I was sitting in my room on a Sunday evening on the brink of yet another excruciating fantasy loss, when I decided enough was enough and it was time for a change. I needed a break (a distraction) from the tortuous loop of watching football and checking my putrid fantasy lineup. I turned to Apple TV. A few days prior I went to a movie and my ticket came with an option to sign up for a 30 day free trial to Apple TV, naturally I scooped that right up. It’s the holidays, after all, and Apple TV is the only platform that has the Charlie Brown Christmas special. As I sat there overcome by a feeling of intense helplessness and utter despair, I realized that along with Charlie Brown, Ted Lasso was also on Apple TV. Ted Lasso, a show I’ve heard a lot of good things about, a show that I’ve been wanting to watch for some time. Desperate for a way out of my predicament, I decided to give it a go.
Going in I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew it was a comedy about soccer (football), but that’s about it. As I watched the first episode, I was instantly blown away. I’ve never experienced such a sudden and immediate feeling of comfort while watching a show. The tone of the show was just so earnest and warm. A large part of that is due to Jason Sudeikis as Ted, being incredibly charming and disarming. Another part of it is the writing. For example, a large part of the first season is the owner of the team (Rebecca) trying to tank the club, and trying to make Ted out to be this terrible person and incompetent coach. Ted, however is just…relentlessly nice, and the dynamic between Ted and Rebecca/Ted and England as a whole serves to build Ted up as this guy who is just the easiest person in the world to get behind. The notion of an American football coach going over to coach a Premier League team is so ridiculous, but I was invested. For about a week and a half it became my new obsession.
I thought it was cool that I really liked so many characters on the show. Usually when I watch shows there’s only one or two that stick out, but this one had many, the main one of course being Ted himself. Ted is like Michael Scott if Michael Scott was actually kind, wise, and deeply beloved by everyone around him. As I typed that I realized that maybe they’re not alike at all actually, they both just happen to be a little silly and in charge. Ted was undoubtedly the heart of the show, he was such a good person that it seemed almost cartoonish at times, but not in a bad way. He of course has his low moments. He has some mental health issues that he combats over the course of the show and he responds rather unfavorably to therapy at first. As someone that also deals with panic attacks, I thought the show’s depiction of Ted’s attacks was well done. I found myself being impressed by his ability to overcome his difficulties to be the leader the team needed. Ted’s ability to connect with people, build relationships with people, and develop trust with people is second to none. To be honest he’s the kind of man I want to be (minus the issues processing trauma). Someone that’s wise, charismatic, and has a positive impact on the lives of everyone they touch. It was a pleasure to watch him win over the people in England. The team was broken, the city was hopeless, and Ted came with the rally towels to save the fucking day because he’s just the best.
The supporting characters were also really cool to me. I loved the eccentricity of Coach Beard. The earnestness of Sam, who is the only rival to Ted in terms of niceness and integrity. The blunt, take no prisoners style of Roy. These characters stay pretty static throughout the series in terms of their personality and general disposition, but there are also examples of characters that experienced extreme growth over the course of the show. Jamie and Rebecca, especially Jamie, jump to mind as characters that matured a lot and went through pain and discomfort to become better people.
I absolutely adored seeing Roy and Jamie become close friends with each other after starting off as bitter rivals. The relationships that are formed are one of the strong points of the show. Whether it’s Rebecca and Keely, Jamie and Roy, or Ted with…well everyone, the relationships and chemistry between the characters were a highlight. The scene where Jamie covers his jersey in tape to stand in solidarity with Sam was amazing to me and there are a lot of symbolic bonding moments like this in the show. The scene near the end of season 3 when Roy and Keely are sitting and talking with Jamie in the trainer’s room after he hurt his ankle was also really cool and showed how far the characters had come since the beginning of the show. Keely, Trent, the team therapist, there are just so many cool and interesting characters on the show.
The team does a lot of losing on the show, like a lot. Ted would give the most inspirational speech you’ve ever heard and then the team would go out and get their brains beat in. Winning and losing was almost a secondary concern. The show really focuses a lot on the concept of redemption and growth. Which, now that I think about it, the losses on the field were like a literal metaphor to the redemption and growth that was taking place off the field. I admired Ted’s ability to forgive. He endured so much foul shit from people during the course of the show, but he just kept forgiving and moving on (“be a goldfish,” he says). This is what allowed the other characters to grow and become the best versions of themselves. The characters growth on and off the field seemed to be connected. As they became better people off the field, they performed better on the field. Trent had a line at the end of episode 7 in season 3 (possibly my favorite episode btw) about how the positive and supportive family like culture that Ted fostered during his time as the manager is what would lead to them having success on the field and it was cool seeing it happen slowly but surely. It made their victories matter even more.
A couple things that I think slightly held the show back was the way they handled Nate and Ted’s ex-wife’s character. I know redemption was a huge part of the show, but I think both of these characters took things too far. Ted’s ex was fine at first. She and Ted got the divorce and stayed on good terms, everything was just fine…and then she started dating their former marriage counselor. I found this to be so icky and unnecessary. It had me wondering if it was even legal, apparently it’s something that could get the therapist disbarred, but they pretty much skim over it in the show. Ted has a conversation with his ex about how it bothered him, but she literally never comments on it, and a few episodes later they’re all in England together. I thought it was a bit ludicrous. I was fine with them getting divorced, but I feel like they could’ve had an equal amount of drama if she started dating some random dude instead of their literal former therapist. I don’t see the benefit of having her do something so indefensible.
Nate’s character also deeply bothered me in the 2nd and 3rd seasons. I get that people like him because he’s insecure and they resonate with that, but I HATE when people make their insecurities other people’s problem. Nate said and did some real nasty things to multiple people on Richmond’s team, including Ted who was nothing but kind and supportive to him. Shit was ridiculous. He had a redemption arc in the last season that did nothing to help my feelings towards him. He was way too far gone in my eyes, and unlike someone like Jamie, his redemption did not match the nastiness of his previous behavior at all. I would go into more detail about how I would do it if I was writing for the show, but I don’t want to spoil too much.
Overall I really loved the show, if it weren’t for a couple of qualms this would easily make it into the upper echelon of my favorite tv shows of all time list. To be honest, even with the things that bothered me, it’s still probably near the top. The world is cold and life is hard. This show served as an escape for me. It was like a lone ray of sunshine on an otherwise grey and bleak day. Watching groups of people that are apathetic or even hostile towards each other come together and become loving and supportive of one another is one of my favorite pastimes. This show had so much heart and emotion, and I loved that. I don’t know if there’ll be a 4th season, but I almost hope that there isn’t, because it left on such a nice note in the season finale.
Just some guy on the internet 