I came late to the Ted Lasso fan club. Jason Sudeikis is the star of the show, that aired for three seasons (2020-2023) and was recommended by so many people who told me that the energy with which it is infused was so ‘me’. I hadn’t gotten around to it, until this past week when I was on vacation with my BFF Barb. We were in New Mexico and in between visiting sacred sites, (Indigenous and Hindu), a Pow Wow, a mineral hot springs called Ojo Caliente, a playful, immersive, interactive art exhibit called Meow Wolf, supporting local merchants, visiting a friend who moved out there several years ago, and indulging in luscious food, we lounged on the sofa and binge watched the first two seasons and an episode of season three. She had watched it and knew that I would love it. She was oh so right and outasight, as the rhyming fish out of water coach might have expressed it.
Ted’s tale begins with an invitation to move from Kansas where he had lived with his wife and son, to England. There was some emotional distance between Ted and Michelle and they figured that some physical distance might provide perspective. Ted was recruited to coach a British football team, that Americans call soccer. He had coached American football and knew nothing about the British game as he needed to learn the rules and the lingo. There was a method to the madness of the owner of a Premier League team called AFC Richmond. Rebecca had gained possession of the team in a divorce from her philandering husband Rupert. Since he loved the team more than her, she sought revenge by attempting to sabotage it by putting Ted in charge. At the outset, the team was a talented but undisciplined bunch whose personalities were sometimes at odds and whose emotions got the better of them. Ted made it his business to charm and win over the initially cantankerous Rebecca, as well as the team members. ‘Folksy charm’ is a term often used to describe the seemingly perpetually cheery coach whose facade hid a devastating secret. The word ‘BELIEVE’ became a fixture in the locker room as everyone who walked through saw it taped up on the wall over the door.
Characters transformed in his presence as erstwhile bad guys became good guys and vice versa. A true team evolved as Ted’s contagious enthusiasm buoyed them up. They came to care about each other and found the courage to face their doubts. He had an open door policy and his team members could speak with him and his associate ‘Coach Beard’ (since he had a beard) about anything, personal or professional.
The love triangle of model Keeley, and two hot headed players, Jamie and Roy, is an exercise in boundary setting and following one’s heart.
Higgins, the seeming milquetoast assistant to Rebecca eventually shows himself to be the most stable of all of the characters, with a loving, successful marriage and five sons. He and his wife host a heartwarming Christmas dinner for the team.
A cameo character named Dr. Sharon Fieldstone was a sports psychologist hired to help the players cope with emotions that were holding them back. In one particularly poignant scene, Ted, who was the master of tapdancing away from feelings, finally unburdened himself of the secret that had caused him to flee from a match in the midst of a panic attack. As a therapist, I found myself nodding along with her loving but no nonsense approach to treatment. I also gave a thumbs up to Ted’s press conference where he endorsed destigmatizing mental health challenges.
A common thread ran through the series and that was the various characters’ relationships with their fathers, for better or worse. Rebecca’s father cheated on her mother numerous times and they reunited over and over, and then Rebecca, following her parents’ example marries the philandering Rupert. Jamie’s father was an abusive alcohol who berated his son every chance he got, Nate’s father was cold and indifferent to his son’s success, and Ted’s father…well, you have to watch the series to find out. I’m looking forward to being on Team Ted for the rest of the series. The one positive paternal influence was Sam’s father who called his son to praise not only his sports acumen, but his conscience.
Some Ted-isms include.
“You know what the happiest animal on Earth is? It’s a goldfish. Y’know why? It’s got a 10-second memory. Be a goldfish.”
“Most of the time change is a good thing and I think that’s what it’s all about; embracing change, being brave, doing whatever you have to so everyone in your life can move forward with theirs.”
“Most of the time change is a good thing and I think that’s what it’s all about; embracing change, being brave, doing whatever you have to so everyone in your life can move forward with theirs.”
“I do love a locker room. It smells like potential.”
“So I’ve been hearing this phrase y’all got over here that I ain’t too crazy about. ‘It’s the hope that kills you.’ Y’all know that? I disagree, you know. I think it’s the lack of hope that comes and gets you. See, I believe in hope. I believe in belief.”
What I want to know is if Ted learned to love tea that he described in this way, “”I always figured that tea was just gonna taste like hot brown water. And you know what? I was right. Yeah, it’s horrible. No, thank you.”
Note:Â there is a sh*t ton of cursing in the show, so if you are sensitive to what several sports announcers covering the matches referred to as ‘salty’ or ‘fruity’ language, look out.
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This Post is republished on Medium.
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Photo credit: Flickr
