Review & Recap of Ted Lasso Season 1

Good evening, everyone. I am De Griffin Jones with Cult of Mac

They say everybody's a critic. Not everybody's a very good critic, but I can attest to this one

I am joined today by Russell Davis. Hi, I'm Russell Davis. Here to talk about, I believe, Ted Lassow

We're going to be recapping seasons one and two. You rewatched season one

I rewatched, yes. For this discussion, I rewatched all of season one, and a couple of

episodes of season two, about three. I think it's a really solid piece of television and work

I think Siddakis is at like the top of his game here comedically. And I would say as like a

physical performer almost to a degree, there's so much of that here. And there's, I think the writing

is fantastic. I think the characters are great. And I think it's just a really fun show to like get to

dive into further. Season one especially came out of nowhere. Like here was this show that

It was based off of some ad series that NBC did years ago with Jason Sudecas

Yeah. And it really caught everybody off guard. Nobody knew that it was going to be the sensation that it was

Nobody was expecting a weird sitcom on Apple TV to take the world by a storm

I remember I was skeptical to watch it for a long time at first because, you know, the reputation was that it was kind of like another feel-good TV show

It's a hard sell for a certain kind of person because. at first I thought, oh, it's a sports show

I don't watch sports shows. I never watched like Friday Night Lights or anything like that. And I was like, oh, no, no, no, no

It's not just a sports show. It's like a really good feel-good show. Well, I don't really like shows like that either

You know, it's not feel-good that's just kind of toxic positivity or whatever you want to call it

It actually is rooted in like a semi-realistic portrayal of trying to be a good person in a world that tends to not value that as its first priority

So in season one, we open on Rebecca, and she's plotting this kind of revenge against her ex-husband with this club and with hiring Ted Lassow

And we're introduced to Ted. I think Ted's introduction personally is one of the best character introductions in any show ever

It's the video, the cell phone video of him chanting with his team

I think it says everything you know about Ted that chant the way they're doing it. And I also think the sportscasters..

necessarily know that understanding is what we're doing. Among other things, what the show does so well, consistently, I would say, across both seasons

is whether we're talking new character or just starting the show off as a whole

you know, anytime it has something new to show you, something new to introduce you to, or to really impress upon you, I think it really does a fantastic job of, like

introducing them and introducing those concepts, those ideas, those characters, this world

Its introduction to Beard is in the same scene, though. Ted turns around to talk to Beard

They have a little bit of banter. You get a little flavor of their friendship there. And right away, you see that Beard's like reading a sports book, which you see him doing throughout the entire series

Ted tells Beard, if we see each other in our dreams, let's goof around a little bit, pretend like we don't know each other

You got it stranger. And like, they're on that level of communication, I think

And I think that's so, I think it's a hilarious as, like just a thing to hear someone say in a sitcom and like their opening, some of their opening

lines. And I think it says so much about Ted and so much about Beard. Going from Beard to later on

Roy and Jamie, and I like our introductions to them as well, you know, we're introduced to Roy and

what we are told about Roy, what he tells us about himself constantly throughout the series

is that he's kind of this like manly, macho type of guy. At least that's what he seems to, you know

give off the vibe he wants to put out into the world. And yet, one of the, one of the

our first things we see of Roy is him sticking up for a teammate after, you know, Jamie is

being a doofus and being annoying, which, you know, I mean, I think that says a lot about someone

and I think that says a lot about Roy as a character, and I think that makes Roy one of my

personal favorite characters, along with just the fact that Brett Goldstein is just a fantastic actor

So you meet Rebecca, you meet Ted, you have that whole press conference in the first episode

I think one of the coolest things about season one is how Rebecca changes. Seeing Rebecca go from someone who is paying her a..

to dig up dirt on the coach. She's especially cool to Higgins as well

It's not just Ted. Ted is my way of destroying this team, and I'm going to make you help me do it

If somebody only sees the first three episodes of the show, they will not think that it is a feel-good show

It's as feel-good in moments as it is relentlessly realistic about how sad life can get

Let's talk about Jamie a little bit. So when we first meet Jamie he the other star of the team and he knows it And he an absolute to everybody A part of this show that I don hear talked about very often I think is how much it dwells on transformation

Like, and I hear a lot about, you know, and it makes sense. I hear a lot about believe

I hear a lot about, you know, the power of like self-esteem and all that stuff and how that's, how it's kind of a commentary on that

And also about, you know, Ted's mental health. I'll contrast us to another sitcom, even a more recent example, like

Brooklyn 9-9 or New Girl, where, yes, the characters learn lessons every episode

but it doesn't actually change their actions throughout the show. They still act the same way practically in every episode

You know, long-form storytelling has taken us by storm, I would say

And I think Ted Lass is an interesting example, an ensemble piece where the main reason

you're watching is to see how the ensemble change. You know, and I don't think that's typical

So as we said, Rebecca starts off with this animosity towards Ted

She sets up a day-long interview with Trent Crim, that, of course, backfires on him as Ted charms Trent Crim out of writing his hit piece

Crim understands that this really is unorthodox and like that this is something that should be questioned

Like, why did you hire this man to play or to coach this team? I think for me, that's, that's like a huge function of Trent Crim

And another example of this show kind of understanding that in order to make a lot of this land, you know, you need to ground Ted with characters who are skeptical of him

What I love about that episode so much is that you can tell that right off the bat, Trent feels like he knows what he's in for

Like he starts this day with Ted and he's like, really, you're letting the kick guy call the shots on these plays

And then they do this event where Ted goes over to a local high school on Trent's like, oh, yeah, sure

You know, the one day that I'm here doing this profile and you take me to a school where you're showing off your part in the community

I think that skepticism goes right up until like one of their last lines in their conversation when Ted says

I really enjoyed getting to spend this time with you, Trent. You actually mean that, don't you

That's the last gear that clicks in Trent Crimm's head. that re-contextualizes their whole day together

Like, I almost see that episode as a response to what they probably think the viewers are thinking at that point, right

Like, it's to let you tag along with these two and have that same skepticism of Ted

He really is this nice. And I look like an asshole in his immediate vicinity just because I'm here

Like, you know what I mean? Because I'm acting like a normal person and Ted's acting like Ted

Exactly. I think you could really frame season one around all of the characters in Ted's vicinity

falling like dominoes in Ted's favor. Like right from episode one, we know Beard is on

Beard is coming with him. Episode three is when Trent gets on his side

I agree. You know what I do think is an interesting counterpoint to that, though, is in watching the stuff

about his divorce, watching him handle that. It's clear that someone out there, you know, just for whatever reason, isn't quite as in love with Ted Lasso as the rest of the world seems to be

Yeah. And arguably, his wife is the person who knows him the best

Well, yeah, and that's, which is an interesting perspective. And I think that's, I think that to me is what makes him such an interesting character and such a great character

So I think the next dominant of fall is Keely Jones. We meet Keeley, and she's basically introduced as Jamie Tart's sidepiece

And then in every conversation she has with Ted, you see that she is an equal mind to him

She's just as sharp. She's just as fast. She holds her own. I think it's a great piece of character work just across the board from the standpoint of watching it season-wide

And then I think one of my personal favorite episodes and one of my personal favorite moments is watching Roy

admit to Keely that he doesn't care about Jamie anymore and watching her go around that little

press room and switch from chair to chair and do that little routine with him. And part of why I

love that is because, and it also says, yes, she can think on her feet and be funny and be, you know

in the moment and immediate and quick-witted. I think the next dominoid to fall after Keely is

Roy. We see Ted and Beard almost conspire to push Roy's buttons. We see Jamie

bullying Nate Roy's early impression of Ted as like this happy-guelucky, you know, happy-guelucky guy

He comes to Ted and he like are you going to do anything about this And we see him very intentionally say nope And that just boils over in Roy head What I think is interesting about Roy as a contrast to kind of the usual Ted management style is like you said

it is rare that we see Ted push instead of simply gently nudge

Yeah, Ted wrangles Roy where he nudges everyone else. Exactly. Because he can tell that Roy isn't

going to be nudged. That's a good segue into, I believe, one of the next

episodes where Richmond is having a charity donation sort of auction to fundraise, and that

is, I believe, when Ted sees Rupert. He sees Rupert. And this is the first time

where Ted it no longer gives someone the benefit of the doubt

He sees Rupert and he immediately knows the evil within him. Like, you're right. We just

you see him give that hope up. We see that leave him and we see him, you know, take a Rupert

on in a more direct confrontational way with that whole dart match later on in the season

I think most shows would have Ted best him in the bar and then he's just out of the rest of the

season. But you do see him again when Manchester loses and you do sit with him for a second

as his wife, his new wife, walks out of the room and with the clear understanding being

that Rupert is sad and we do have to watch that. Unless a show would frame that as the villain of the show being defeated

But that's not really what happens in Ted Lassau. But the whole point of that first season, right

Like, I agree with you. The whole point of the first season is saying there aren't really villains

There aren't really villains. Yeah. No, there are just people and we're all trying

That episode is also the episode where I think the Roy versus Jamie

conflict comes to its head. We see Ted place Jamie and Roy immediately next to each other at the same

table. Yeah. And that's where you see the apex of Ted's influence start to have its effect on

Roy. We see Roy give Jamie a second chance. We see them make up and have a perfectly mature

conversation where they talk out their differences on their own accord. And I think from that

moment on, you can say that Roy is thoroughly on Ted Lassow's side. Or no, like, yeah, I

agree with you. And I think so much of those first few episodes is about getting you as a viewer into the

Ted Lassau mindset. Right as Ted gets Jamie on his side, she releases his contract so he goes back to

Manchester City. I think this is the last time Rebecca does anything malicious in Ted's direction

Because this is a pretty late in the season move that she pulls

One of my favorite things about Ted's reaction to learning of Rebecca's betrayal, a little layer

And the way that scene sticks on his face and stays with him in that close-up, there's a close-up that I just remember very well

And it sticks with me. And you watch him kind of process this information and you watch Rebecca cry and it kind of cuts back to her for a second and then it cuts back to Ted again

And his response of, you know, I forgive you, it's such a great example, I think, of writing and performance coming together to

create a character. It really speaks to how smart Ted Lasso writes its characters as real people

because this, Rebecca revealing her betrayal to Ted, comes after not only Ted goes through his own

divorce and starts to have more regular panic attacks, but Rebecca sees Ted go through a panic attack

which she rescues him from. There's so much that happens in that scene that happens before that

scene. That incident that you mentioned where she assists him in that panic attack and helps him

out of it, helps him get through that, actually comes, you know, after they've traded away, Jamie

It doesn't just halt, you know, put a halt on Rebecca being our bad guy for the sake of

like, turning us around on her. Stopping the movement of a human being is a little like stopping

the movement of a train, emotionally speaking. They're not just going to turn around when they learn one new factoid

No, no, they're on a track. They've set themselves in motion. You know, Rebecca sees in the auction episode that Ted has her back, and it still takes her another three, four episodes

Oh, it still takes her another three, four episodes to fully get what that means and what that in a just and perfect world

But it isn't always that. So let's talk about Nate. We're introduced to Nate very early in the show. He's basically just a kid boy

But as we said by episode three, Ted sees in Nate some tactical genius

I love watching Nate develop throughout the show I love watching him go from this shy little character who to speak up to someone who who trusts that his voice will be heard even if he

you know, even if he understands as much as anyone seems to that there will be a learning curve

And I love watching him stumble. Some of the early stumbles are just so, uh, they're wonderfully

executed. They're so, uh, cute. I guess an example for me is, it, the consistent overblowing of the

whistle, like, at first. Yes. I, yeah. No, just consistently being so eager to blow that thing and like, yeah, just everyone like

you know, just ducking down for it. I think a season one scene that a lot of people saw as like largely inconsequential and sort

of comedic that ends up being much more important later on is that locker room scene

So Nate has these suggestions for the team that he sort of shyly passes along to Ted, like slipping it under the door

Yeah. Ted looks it over. I can't say this here. But they need to hear it

great. That's why you're going to do. And Nate's really shy and awkward about it and we assume that's just who he is

He goes to deliver his notes and they're all just brutal, just takedowns of every

single player on the team. I don't think it's a new observation to say that the quieter someone is, the more thoughts

they're probably having. When he does offer up a thought, it does seem to be, if not immediately devalued, at least

like not taken very seriously, watching him figure out that his voice does matter and that he can

offer up an opinion and that sometimes it might even be the right one. One of my favorite things

about the scene you mentioned where he's laying into these people with absolute brutality and just

savagery is I think as an audience member, you've only been given fairly specific and fairly

narrow amounts of information about each of these players. I think the character's reactions

to Nate's takes is what's meant to sell the audience that Nate is telling the truth here

I think what's interesting to me about that scene, beyond the obvious, is that there's a reason that Ted can't say that stuff, but Nate can

They're all teenagers on the playground. Like, we're all at recess in theory

Like, right? Like, Ted is the teacher. when the teacher comes over and says stop picking on that kid he doesn't like it what do you immediately do when the teacher walks away you pick on the kid some more whereas with Nate he's new to this he's just another kid coming over telling them don't pick on these people right like not not literally but just he's another kid one of them telling each other the truth exactly that's exactly that's what I mean so he knows he can let Nate unleash on these people a little more openly than he can I guess now let's like lead into the finale or at least

kind of inch ourselves closer toward that. I think what's interesting about season one

I mean, Ted Lassas doesn't much to Trent Crimm. It's not about wins and losses. It's about making sure everybody can be the best they can be

And Ted doesn't get to have both. He's true to his word in, I think, more ways than anybody was hoping for

He makes sure Jamie is the best football player he can be

in that while he has his personal victory, the team loses their last match

at tragically the last few minutes of the game and Richmond are relegated

You've been conditioned to think this is going to end on the happiest note possible only for it to end arguably even saddered

than it sets itself up for because not only do we see Richmond lose

we see Richmond lose very specifically because Jamie takes it upon himself

to make absolutely goddamn sure. Not only does Richmond lose, and Jamie win

But to then see that scene where Jamie's dad is... It's heartbreaking

It's genuinely heartbreaking. He wouldn't be at the level that he's at in order to make that final play

Because, I mean, like, we do see that Ted's relentless optimism does get to Jamie

even though he is traded and even though he does make that final hit against Richmond count

You know what I mean? Like, we know he grows more in season two. But as far as season one is concerned, it ends with Jamie Tart getting absolutely eviscerated by his father for making a pass that won a game, still not being enough to satisfy this ungrateful

Garbage person. So that's Ted Lassau season one. Stick around for our recap on season two

And eventually, we might do another wrap up on season three as well. I'm DeG Griffin-Jones

You can see more of our stuff here on the Cult of M. YouTube channel. I have been joined by Russell Davis, who you can follow at Very Funny Dufus

on Twitter. Thank you all for joining us. Bye. Bye