Jamie’s dad.
Nate’s dad.
Ted’s dad.
Rebecca’s dad.
Rupert.
Higgins’ dad. (Okay, but he’s funny.)
Ted Lasso loves stories of bad dads and the resultant fallout of those experiences. Over the better part of three seasons, we’ve been conditioned to expect characters foibles to have a direct line back to their fathers. It’s been a strong choice for the show and an effective mechanism to not only set up therapeutic breakthroughs, but ways for characters to seek understanding and connection through shared experiences.
And then there was Sam’s dad. Ola Obisanya.
Played by Nonso Anozie, whom you might know from roles in Sweet Tooth and Game of Thrones, Ola is an entirely different type of man.
What we knew before we met him
Before he showed up at the most appropriate time in Season 3 Episode 7 “The Strings That Bind Us,” much of what we knew about Sam’s dad was anecdotal. We certainly never saw him, but we did see Sam, the product of his life’s work as a father, and Sam isn’t just exceptional, he’s inspirational. Sam is that rare character who feels too good to be true and infinitely relatable at the same time.
Sam, for lack of a more nuanced term, is a good boy. He’s smart, well read, athletic, kind, humble and principled. So what clues did that give us into his father? Well, when he politely refused the army man from Ted in season one, we knew he was smart, aware, principled, kind and direct. That’s a hell of a list for one quick interaction with his new coach.
As the Cerithium Oil / Dubai Air subplot happened, we saw through text messages that Sam’s dad was not only keenly interested in the wellbeing of Nigeria, but wasn’t above letting Sam know when he thought he had messed up. Was it guilt tripping? It was hard to say back then. Having met him now, though, it feels like it was just straight honesty.
We know also that Sam’s dad really loved the sound of Ted, and was relieved that his boy was in good hands. That was a heck of a tip off, especially considering that Sam’s previous coach was the white devil George Cartrick who would have abused Sam for a much longer period of time if Rebecca and Rupert’s union hadn’t gone pear-shaped.
There’s an old adage about sons and fathers that I have floating around in the back of my mind that goes something like “your father gave you his name and it’s your job to bring honor to it.” (Or something to that effect). You can tell that Sam has a lot of this cooking. Disappointing his father is a huge issue for him, but you never got the sense that it was out of fear or guilt. Sam loved his dad and wanted to make him proud.
What we know now
In this episode, we were blissfully released from the prison of unseen phone calls and text messages and got to meet the man live and in living color and I was shocked and delighted by the richness of the character and the fullness of his personality. He probably had five minutes of total screen time (if that) and still I think we come away from episode seven really understanding who Ola Obisanya is and what he stands for.
Thankfully, he’s layered and has an actual personality. We could easily criticize the relatively narrow performances by Jamie’s dad and Nate’s dad, but that’s not the case for Ola. From his apparel to his demeanor to his effortless wisdom to the feeling that he cherishes and embiggens every person who crosses his path. Almost everyone, anyway. I’m still delighted that he intentionally fucked with Rebecca when he first met her.
Go back and watch that scene, friends! Watch it knowing that he’s intentionally making it weird and understand the level of comedy and character at play there. It’s stunning. He waits a full 13 seconds, staring at Rebecca and letting her suffer after he says “Sam has told me so much about you.”
Go back and watch Ola embrace Sam when he loses it in front of the team.
Then watch him effortlessly offer pearls of wisdom to his son who is too close to the situation to have any real perspective about it. Has there ever been a more Ted Lasso concept than “Don’t fight back, fight forward?” And how about “Follow your heart, Samuel. Anger will only weaken you.”
“Don’t fight back, fight forward.”
Ola Obisanya
Then watch him, at the drop of a hat, force Sam to go to practice and shake it off instead of wallowing in his own misery. Ted offers Sam the day off and Ola is like “fuck no!”
Watch him finally meet Ted, the man who has been caring for his son in his absence, and see the natural simpatico between them, the immediate willingness to embrace a joke, the steady acceptance of candy with a “who doesn’t?”
And then watch him enjoy the goal against Arsenal. Watch him realize that his boy named his restaurant after him. Then watch him nurture the team and cook for them, dancing as he does it.
This is a dad, friends! This is the type of dad that raises strong, capable children. This is the type of dad who makes the world a better place with every choice they make. This is the type of dad who could find a world without a glorious Sam Obisanya in it, and then make one.
What a character, what an episode and what a performance.
What did you think of Ola Obisanya? Don’t be shy! Tell us in the comments and let’s have a little love fest.
