I would like to start by clarifying that this is not a hit piece. Ted Lasso the show has garnered a certain amount of criticism in its (presumably) final season for introducing characters and plots it doesn’t intend to follow up on while also failing to properly deal with the larger ongoing plot points. We’re not really sure exactly how they’re going to land this thing, but there are concerns. I’d like to say upfront, I’m not trying to shit on the show.
But I am having a hard time.
Not enough to stop watching or stop talking about it for hours a week, but enough that I’m starting to revisit the first (nearly perfect) season with new eyes. And new concerns. Namely:
Ted Forgiving Rebecca
In one of the highlights, if not the highlight, of the first season, Rebecca confesses to Ted that she was trying to sabotage the club and he immediately forgives her. On a lot of shows, Ted would need to spend the ninth and tenth episodes working through his anger and finding a way to forgive Rebecca for tricking him into coming to England. Ted Lasso subverted that by showing that Ted’s philosophy had made him resilient and empathetic enough to understand Rebecca’s position, accept her apology, and focus his attention on continuing to build and inspire his team. It was the emotional equivalent of this.
Only it turns out Rebecca didn’t really need to apologize. Rebecca could have done literally nothing, and Ted would have forgiven her. Because Nate’s done literally nothing to deserve Ted’s forgiveness, and still has been accepted back into Richmond with open arms.
Why did they bother having a scene where Rebecca apologizes? What’s the point of her recognizing how horrible she’s been, worrying that she’s ruined her friendship with Keeley, and truly trying to make up to Ted for how deplorably she’s treated him if, in the end, you just need to be a human being Ted knows in order for him to forgive you? Outside of the merits of forgiving a person only because their dad is mean and they’re pathetic about it, why did they set up that the Lasso Way can bring out the best in people if you don’t need to actually bring the best out of people, and instead just assume that it’s there? Actually, can we even assume that Ted himself is bringing out the best in people? In fact…
Are Ted And Beard Good Coaches?
The playbook so far has been that Beard knows the logistics of the sport and Ted knows how to inspire young men to be the best versions of themselves. Beard has the brains and Ted has the heart. It seemed to work well enough for the Wichita State Shockers, but their first year in the Premier League, Beard and Ted strike out (sports talk).
So maybe it’s less about actual plays, games, and wins (although that’s sort of all of “sport”), and more about creating the culture. That does seem to make Beard somewhat irrelevant, but Ted does still manage to bring Nate up from kitman to assistant coach (who eventually betrays him to the media and leaves for another team), inspire Roy to become the best team captain he can be (before retiring), and recognize Isaac as the new captain (actually Roy decides Isaac is captain, but samies, right? Because then Isaac did such a great job as captain that the team was promoted? Which, yes, was in large part due to Nate’s strategic plays and Roy Big Dogging Isaac into being a good captain, but Ted is the one who begged and guilt-tripped Roy into becoming a coach? I swear to god, at some point this is about how Ted is good at coaching).
Ted’s coaching was able to secure a number of wins at the beginning of this season, though, thanks in large part to his decision to let Zava always have the ball and score all of the goals. Nothing says coaching like relying on the team owner to spite an aging football god into doing whatever the hell he wants to on your team while also ignoring the increasing frustration of your rising star. Who you place into the care of your assistant manager so that rising star can eventually inspire the entire team to effectively implement your playing vision for the team that you did (not) invent while tripping balls in Amsterdam.
Holy shit, Ted, points against you are starting to pile up. Is there anything we can point to that the Lasso Way really helps with?
Ted’s Emotional IQ
Well, no, not here really. Early in season one, it seemed like Ted and the Lasso Way were a new kind of man. One built on kindness and understanding. A man who left his ego at home in order to elicit the best from the people around him. He was a refutation of George Cartrick, toxic masculinity, and the aggressive bullying that accompanied both. This is not your father’s man.
This is Ted’s mother’s man.
The introduction of Dottie Lasso (played by the glorious Becky Ann Baker–Jean Brockmire Glasscock deserves better) showed us part of why Ted is who he is. In season two, we saw Ted finally break down and discuss how his father’s death from suicide affected him, namely that he feels like he needs to make sure he tells people how much he appreciates them and to never give up on anything. Now that we’ve met his mother, we understand that it’s not exactly that simple. From Dottie, it seems he got the ability to rhyme-charm his way through most circumstances, so long as he can ignore the problem until he guilt trips someone else into handling it.
Much as his no-apology-needed forgiving of Nate has shown that Ted’s forgiving of Rebecca was not the feat we believed it to be, Ted’s aversion to therapy now seems less like it’s truly a reaction to his previous poor counseling experience and more like Ted’s continual refusal to address or acknowledge problems head-on. When he does, finally, directly tell his mom how much her inability to discuss their family problems hurt him, he does so in, well, I don’t want to say that a fifty-year-old man had a tantrum, but I’m going to have to anyway. He had an outburst rather than a conversation. Even the actual words he chose weren’t his own since he was borrowing what Jamie said he’d tell his dad. And the final result was an apology from Dottie, followed by her own guilt trip to get Ted to come home for Henry. Not because it offered the healing needed for Ted or Dottie in that moment, but because it deflected the attention to Henry. Really ride-or-die denial till the end, Dottie. You have my reluctant respect.
And again, I don’t want to shit on the show. I’m not here to say it’s garbage or isn’t funny and amusing at times. I’m not saying they can’t end the show well. I’m just saying I’m not getting any Lasso Way tattoos before I see them do it.
