Ted Lasso: Season 2 recap

Thoughts from season 2 of Ted Lasso, as requested by many.

Spoilers ahead if you haven’t watched:
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I’m disappointed to see the show turning to more traditional sitcom scenarios in season 2. It’s as if everything that made the show different and special in season 1 was no longer good enough to carry the show, so contrived, improbable sitcom moments like killing the dog with a soccer ball in episode 1 or the romance between Rebecca and Sam that started because they both just happen to be texting each other on a dating app without photos or names seem to be far more prevalent in this season of the show.

It wasn’t necessary.
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The way that the soccer team handles Secret Santa should be the way Secret Santa is done from now until the end of the time.

Brilliant.
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I have rarely laughed harder than I did during the Christmas episode. It was joyous. But let’s also be honest:

It was a soft, utterly stakes-less episode. Almost exclusively fluff. The biggest problem presented in the episode is a child’s bad breath, and the appearance of Santa, flying through the night sky at the end of the episode, was cute but not the kind of realism that I expect from the show.

Making an audience laugh is a precious and beautiful thing. Advancing the plot and offering up some real world stakes at the same time is even better and is what elevates stories to epic heights.
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I love Roy so much. I loved him in season 1, but I really love him in season 2. I’d be willing to watch a spin off featuring Roy talking about soccer on TV, and I hate soccer.

I find myself grunting “Oy!” whenever I can.
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Ted’s panic attacks were portrayed realistically and presented an interesting facet of a man who relies on positivity to conquer the world. I’ve never experienced a panic attack, but the cinematography behind their portrayal – both in sound and light – was brilliant. I got a real sense of what they might be like. But  the plot line surrounding them was also recursive and therefore a little boring.

Ted has a panic attack in season 1. Rebecca helps to calm him, then they never speak of it again.

Then Ted has another panic attack in season 2 during a game. He runs off the field and claims stomach issues. No one presses him.

Then Ted has another panic attack when he is alone, making him late for the funeral, but no one cares, and Ted’s lateness sort of saves the day for Rebecca by buoying her spirits at a critical moment.

The panic attacks had no real world implications for Ted. They dd not threaten his job or any relationship. They didn’t cause him to dramatically alter the way in which he approached the world. He eventually seeks therapy, but there is no final straw moment. No dramatic increase in stakes or real world implications.

The publicizing of Ted’s panic attack in the press had great potential in terms of developing an interesting story line, but no one really cared. Ted took it in stride and managed it well. Rebecca and the team supported him. The man on the street who refers to him as “Wanker” was kind. Even the reporter who broke the story supported him. It ended up being a nothingburger except for the revelation that Nate was the source of the story, which also turned out to be a nothingburger given that Nate was never confronted about it, either.

More on Nate in a moment.

I’m not complaining about Ted’s panic attacks. I’m arguing that the storyline surrounding them could’ve been much better.
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The actual funeral for Rebecca’s father – including the Rick Astley song – was fantastic. Every single bit of it.
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The intercutting between Ted’s revelation of his father’s suicide and Rebecca’s revelation of the discovery of her philandering father was terrible. It undermined each moment by not allowing them to stand on their own. These two moments were the emotional hinge points of the season and deserved to be handled independently. Also, the intercutting drew an equivalency between the two moments which did not feel right to me at all. Both are tragic, of course, but a father dying from suicide seems far more traumatic than a father cheating on a mother, I think.

Either way, it was not well done.
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The solo Beard episode was filled with tropes and cliches and was by far my least favorite of the series.

Moments of ridiculousness include:

Beard leaps off a rooftop – three or four stories up – into a dumpster in order to escape a fight with a large, angry man. No one does this. There’s no telling what is in that dumpster. The decision is stupid and completely out of character for someone as wise as Beard.

It’s stupid for anyone. It’s also been done in Tv and film many times before.

Also, the coincidental meeting between Beard and Jamie’s father in the strange, isolated alleyway was unrealistic, and then the last second appearance of the angry boyfriend, saving the day for Beard, was a moment as old as time.

Also, this man has been searching the streets all night to return Beard’s phone and wallet?

Ridiculous.

Even the moment in the apartment when we hear the angry boyfriend approaching and the girlfriend advises Beard to run is something I have seen many times before on the screen.

Too much trope and cliche for a Ted Lasso episode.
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I love Dr. Sharon Fieldstone. I think her character is written and portrayed brilliantly. I can’t quite understand how an entire sports facility doesn’t have extra office space for her, but she was an excellent addition to the show in season 2.
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Small point, but a real one:

There aren’t enough people to run a Premier League soccer team in the show. Rebecca doesn’t have a secretary or assistant? No office staff are ever shown walking the halls? No logistical staff for away games? No custodians or facility manager or team doctor?

I’m not saying these characters need to have lines or even personalities, but the place looks absolutely bare.

One owner.
Higgins, who seems to operate as Rebecca’s second in command.
Keeley, who runs marketing? But was only hired in season 2?
An equipment manager. First Nate. Now the other guy.

That’s it.

I would like to see more bodies. Sports teams like Richmond rely on hundreds of people to keep them running. Show me some extras walking the halls.
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I thought that the Keeley and Rebecca friendship and mentorship was also well done. Rebecca is single for the first time in a long time, so Keeley has something to offer her in terms of living life more freely and romantically, and Keeley wants to become a more serious businessperson, which is what Rebecca does so well. The two make for an odd but lovely pairing that I loved watching throughout the season.
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The “I love you” from both Jamie and then Roy within seconds of each other must’ve been amazing for Keeley. It was great fun to watch. A smartly done moment.
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Nate’s kissing of Keeley in the dressing room was also silly and unrealistic and done one million times before. ____________________________________

The transition of Nate from lovable underdog to evil villain was not done well. It did not ring true to me in any way whatsoever. It’s also very unlikely that a former equipment manager with less than two years of assistant coaching under his belt is being hired to coach a Premier League team.

Also, his hair turned gray very quickly. It’s likely designed to help signal his transformation to a villain, but it’s ham-handed at best.

Here’s my theory:

The writers of Ted Lasso found themselves with a show absent any real villains (as I stated in season 1), so they manufactured villains out of Nate and Jamie’s father rather than introducing actual antagonists in an authentic way.

At least I hope so, because Nate’s descent to villainy was silly and sad and ridiculous and way too fast. There was no reason for him to turn on Ted and the team. Even if he feels ignored, he shows no reason or inclination to descend into vindictiveness like this.

It also violates the essential tenet of the show:

No one is bad. They are only broken in need of repair.

You can argue that Nate is only broken, but outing Ted to the press, kissing Keeley, demanding public credit for his efforts, believing that they are sticking with his strategy in the final game in order to shame him, rejecting Ted’s forgiveness, plotting with Rupert at the funeral, and tearing up the “Believe” poster were all pretty villainous.
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The fact that Ted remains thousands of miles away from his son is still outrageous and stupid and the single greatest flaw in the show.

There is no way in hell that Ted Lasso remains in England, an ocean away from his boy, for two years. The man who struggles from feelings of abandonment after the suicide of his father abandons his own son for two years and more?

Stupid. Avoidable, fixable, and stupid. It makes me crazy.
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I loved season 1 of Ted Lasso. I couldn’t wait to watch another episode. Elysha and I watch 30-60 minutes of television 4-5 times per week, so it takes us a while to get through a show, but during season 1 of Ted Lasso, I felt no desire to skip a night in favor of something else.

I had that feeling during season 2.

I hope Ted Lasso returns to its roots in season 3. I want to really love it again.