I actually had intended on writing this post almost a week earlier, but as usual life gets in the way, my kids come first, and the thing is that this is the kind of post where I didn’t want to phone in any part of it, and really wanted to be in a good clear headspace when writing it, because I really, really enjoyed the show so much, that I wanted to make sure that my writing about it would do it the justice I think the show deserves.
Over the last few years, I knew about the existence of Ted Lasso. All I knew was that it was about an American going over to England to coach soccer, but that was about all I knew about it; I figured with a premise like that it had to be comedy, but I didn’t know that Ted Lasso himself was a charming good ‘ol boy from Kansas, I didn’t know Roy Kent used F-bombs in every single sentence he spoke, and I didn’t even know of the existences of Beard or Rebecca or Nate. It wasn’t until really this past year did I begin to notice more of my friends and acquaintances on social media talking about it, and I figured that a show that’s about sports that seems to be winning over a lot of people I know that really couldn’t give two shits about sports, there must be something extra quality about this show that I should probably check out sometime.
And a few weeks ago, that time came, and despite my general hesitation to dive into any show that exceeds a season or is in an episodic format, I took the plunge and I began watching Ted Lasso. By the end of the first episode, I understood that I was making a good choice, and by the end of the third episode and my first evening of watching, I understood what I had been missing, and that this was very much the show that I really needed to be watching in this current juncture of my life.
I’m going to try and not spoil anything about the show because it’s something that I really do recommend everyone watching if they have any at all similar interests in television and movies as I do, but the takeaway I have for the show as a whole is that it’s a show that can really be summed up in the fact that it has a big beating heart, is genuinely uplifting, and as I’ve come to realize in my taste for shows, has an optimistic journey that doesn’t ever get cynical without a purpose.
The characters from Ted, Rebecca, Beard, Nate, to all of the players like Roy, Jamie and Sam are all wonderfully written, are given strengths and flaws, given fairly linear and not overly complex story arcs, which might make some of the storytelling basic and predictable, but it’s like it has such a firm strong grasp of fundamental storytelling, acting performance and strong directing, that everything plays out so positively well regardless.
I felt as a viewer, I’m introduced and encouraged to care about everyone in the show, which I think is the point considering Ted’s character is just that, the guy who cares about everyone and everything, and I feel so much of myself in his character, as the guy that cares so much about the people around him while giving so little back to himself, that it’s impossible to not fall for the charm of his eternal optimist persona, even if he sounds like Yankee Doodle or the hillbilly wanker or whatever pejorative the citizens of Richmond Green heap onto him upon his arrival in England.
Throughout the series, which I think is brilliant that they only went three seasons, because it feels perfect in length that you want more, but they stopped while they were on top and prevented it from really jumping the shark too hard or DJ Tanner Wrestling, and one of my biggest critiques about so many shows, stories, films and series is the dreaded shitty ending, but I can’t say a thing negative about how Ted Lasso wraps it up. It’s like I knew the ending would be satisfying, just based on the way everything had played out throughout the series, and I felt that it wasn’t going to let me down.
The beauty of the show really is the relationships of the characters throughout the show as everyone gets varying amounts of time to show growth and development, and there’s always this earnest and genuine feeling of camaraderie and concern between the characters that if anything at all, is always moving, mostly for the positive, although for the sake of needing adversity, it isn’t always.
Along the way, Ted Lasso tackles all sorts of very real issues and complex situations that life has the capability of delivering on the way, but it deals with all of them with a very real feeling of empathy, understanding and with Ted himself as the North Star of the show, a consistent anchor for everyone to surround themselves to, where despite the fact that everyone is involved in a football club, the sport itself really is secondary throughout the series.
I knew how much I had fallen for the show, after I grew curious about the actors or thought about reading some episode synopsis to get a better understanding of some things, but then I realized that I was completely unable to Google anything about the show, because I didn’t want to risk seeing any spoilers for anything I hadn’t seen yet because the internet is completely incapable of shutting the fuck up about anything, and I anticipated that I would undoubtedly run into some shitty clickbait headlines that would blurt out major plot spoilers that I refrained from Googling anything at all until I had finished the show myself.
Needless to say, I genuinely feel that Ted Lasso is one of the strongest shows that I’ve seen since like Parks & Rec, because of fact that much like Parks & Rec, the show has a wonderfully beating heart with a cast of characters that is easy to care and root for each and every one of them, isn’t too long of a series, and tells wonderful, funny, and a wide gamut of emotional stories along the way.
It’s a show that connected with me a time in which I really needed it, and I think it has the capability to stick with me as an all-time favorite, that I would highly recommend to anyone who likes shows with a heart, or just wants to watch something fairly light but nonetheless uplifting, while having some laughs along the way.
