The Perfection of Ted Lasso

I just binged the first three seasons of Ted Lasso in under a week. I know. I know. I'm really behind the curve on this one, but with season four coming out I figured it would be a great time to just sit down and take it in. Did I think I would finish it in a week? Absolutely not. I already have the attention span of a goldfish. Did it chew me up and make me cry like a baby? Yeah. It did. I thought I was going into a light hearted show centering on a team's success and growth and while that was what the show was about, it was also so much more. From the character to the story, everything felt masterfully put together but also soft. What I really want to dive into are the aspects of the show that stood out to me that I don't see a lot of people talking about.

Ted Lasso, Apple TV

Let's start with my favorite one: the subversion of subversion of character. For those of you who don't know, subversion of character is a writing technique where the writer introduces a character who seems to follow a specific archetype or trope but then subverts that trope by making them different from who the trope says they should be. It's using the audiences predetermined expectations to surprise them. Ted Lasso goes around this by making character be exactly who they are. It doesn't ask them to change, it just asks them to grow.

Coach Lasso feels like a perfect character. He feels like the untouchable mentor. And, to a degree, that's exactly who I thought he was going to be and who the show seemed like it wanted to set him up as. But he struggled. His main issue during season two was recurring panic attacks due to unresolved trauma that he simply refused to work through. He, as a character and a person, changes through the show. Nothing makes that more clear than the 'Believe' sign being torn down and ripped apart by him. It is a signal of his own change and growth and permission for the players to change. He was set up to be the mature, untouchable mentor that we so often see in media and he was that to the players. Season three episode twelve, we learn that every player took a part of that sign with them because he is the one they look up to. Because in allowing himself to change, he tells them that they can do the same. Ted Lasso doesn't subvert the trope of the mentor, he is the mentor but he's also just a man.

Jamie Tartt is another fantastic example. He is the cocky star player. He starts fights and rightfully earns the teams hatred. He was one of the character who annoyed me the most at the start and that was who he was built to be. But as you see him and learn about him, you also learn that he's so much more. He was also a boy who loved watching Roy Kent play, who's dad abused him while forcing him to be the best, and who changed more than anyone in the show. He annoyed me at first but then I fell in love with him as a person. He became my favorite character. Watching his relationships change and grow as he matured was one of my favorite parts of Ted Lasso. At the same time, he still knows he's the best player. He knows who he is and what he wants. He became someone so much more while still being the cocky star player, if in moderation.

I could spend days talking about Trent and Keeley and Rebecca because all of these characters deserve recognition. They're each written with a simple premise that they hold to and rather than subverting that to become something else, they become great as who they have always been. But there is so much more to this show that needs to be discussed.

Take the simplicity of the storytelling. The story itself is ridiculously simple and it's told in simple ways. I know when Ted Lasso is going to give a fantastic speech. I know when someone is going to be forgiven because Ted Lasso does not hold grudges. I know when Roy Kent is going to have to admit that he's wrong and I knew when Colin was going to come out to the team. The show isn't about big gestures and surprises. It's about small moments pieced together to make a bigger picture. You can see that in every callback. It's Coach Lasso telling Jamie to give an EPSY level performance in episode three of season one and him delivering in episode twelve of season three. It's not knowing what offsides means and then calling it before the referees. It's goldfish and barbeque sauce and the million small moments that make something bigger. Or the pieces of a sign being ripped up and then tapped back together again and again.

But when it comes down to it, the part of this show that makes it perfect is that it's told with kindness. The only true antagonists are the ones that choose to continue to be antagonists. Every single character makes mistakes, but that doesn't make them bad. It makes them annoying and irritating and antagonizing, but it also makes them human. Any character who chooses to ask for forgiveness is answered with kindness and that is so uncommon now. A show that, at it's heart, is just kind is a rare creature nowadays. It shows that while drama and suspense can be fun, genuine goodwill can also win the hearts of an audience.

I cried at the end of season three. It felt like saying goodbye to a part of my life even though the whole thing only took me a week. There is such an unbelievable amount of heart in this show that speaks to the genuine simplicity of being kind and being human. Very rarely do I call a show perfect, but Ted Lasso is perfect because of it's characters' imperfections and the choices that surround them. It is perfect because it's simple and kind.

I know people have mixed feelings about season four, but as long as it has the heart that the original three had, I think we'll be more than okay.