Ted Lasso S2 (2021) – Review

Shortly after finishing season one of Ted Lasso (which I absolutely loved and gave a 9.5/10), I almost immediately jumped into watching the second season because I loved it that much. If you don’t know much about the show, Ted Lasso is a sports comedy drama television series about an American coach with zero knowledge of football (soccer) who then gets hired to coach a football team in the UK. What you may be surprised to hear is that the show is entirely centered around building positive attitudes and believing in yourself, which makes Ted Lasso incredibly heartfelt and warm to enjoy. While everyone from season 1 has more or less returned to participate in this second season, there is one new addition which is Sarah Niles who plays sports psychologist, Dr. Sharon Fieldstone. But with Jason Sudeikis back in the lead role, I can confidently say season 2 is another blast of fun filled with great sentiment and lots of feel good moments. Unfortunately though, compared to season 1, I have much more to complain and criticize this time around.

[Please note there are spoilers in this review; read at your own discretion]

But hey, let’s not be too negative and start off with the positives shall we? Ted Lasso Season 2 was still a great series that never lost the heart of the original. Ted is still the adorably loveable and optimistic protagonist which we fell in love with in the first season, but this time around, we get to see the whole of AFC Richmond adopting and applying his beliefs. It was so wonderful watching the whole team come together to become a family (I love the Christmas episode the most!), and ever since the initial conundrum between Rebecca (played by Hannah Waddingham) and Ted was resolved, there have been nothing but good vibes since. A lot of the feel good moments from this season came from the team coming together to do something sweet and considerate, so it was really nice seeing the overall positivity increase ever since Ted joined their coaching staff.

And that’s one of the things I love so much about this season – they really honed in on the feel good aspects that worked so well in the first season. Ted Lasso is such a great show that I can now rely on to make me smile and laugh, and it’s amazing to see that season 2 followed suit and is just as heartwarming. I really enjoyed getting to tap into each character more this time around and getting to learn more about their individual personalities, their likes and dislikes, and seeing what motivates them. Like I said in my previous review, what makes this show shine are its characters, so it’s really great seeing that that’s what the show focused on too.

It was interesting to see how in Ted Lasso Season 2, the show moved away from battles between people (Rebecca vs. Ted, Jamie vs. Roy, Rebecca vs. Rupert, etc.) to focusing on personal battles and hidden fears. We see this the most with Ted where we get to learn more about his character and his tragic and deeply heartbreaking past. I really loved the scenes between Ted and Dr. Fieldstone because they felt the most intimate and personal – it felt very different from the usual vibe of the show, but it was definitely necessary development for his character. I liked getting to see a different side of Ted, one that was more vulnerable and open rather than cheerful and peppy, and getting to see why he is the way that he is. The audience gets to see him so joyful and happy all the time, but I want to understand why. And with these therapy sessions, we get a little taste of it in this season and I’m hoping they’ll expand on it even further in the upcoming one.

Although I did like seeing how the show was trying to explore these different internal struggles within each character, there were some characters who developed in a way that I wasn’t particularly a fan of. In fact, my biggest gripe of the season was 100% the direction that Nathan’s character (played by Nick Mohammed) was going. Once a timid, sweet, and gentle locker boy, Nathan has transformed into an obnoxious, rude, and self-centered coach who seems to have lost all sense of what once mattered to him. While I understand why the showrunners are forcing Nathan down this route, I personally don’t like it. I was sad to see him go from one of my favourite characters to my absolute least favourite. While I can see that they’re eventually trying to set up Nathan vs. Ted in the premiere league for season 3, I’m just so disappointed to see Nathan’s character dissolved into this state.

Another new addition to the story which I didn’t enjoy was seeing Rebecca and Sam (played by Toheeb Jimoh) develop a sudden romantic relationship with one another. One thing I really loved about Ted Lasso Season 1 was its seemingly undramatic narrative, but adding in this random relationship to season 2 just felt so unnecessary and even uncomfortable. It feels weird to me that Rebecca and Sam showed so little restraint and hesitation despite their status as Boss and player, and as a whole, it just feels like a romance being forced. While their relationship ended in a cliffhanger at the end of this season, I’m personally really hoping they don’t pursue this much longer.

Lastly, while I was excited to see a change of heart in Jamie’s character (as I predicted!), I really wish they didn’t do it simply to pressure the Keely, Jamie, and Roy love triangle once again. This more or less follows my previous comment on how the relationships in this season feel so forced. While a majority of the show focused on how solid Keely and Roy were together, their sudden hiccups and doubts near the end seemed to come out of nowhere. It was especially strange seeing Keely telling Roy to go on a six week vacation all on his own and then that was where they ended up at the end of the season. I do feel concerned that the show is going to try and push the Keely and Jamie narrative once more even though it’s done and dusted, so similarly to the Rebecca and Sam situation, I’m hoping they don’t push it.

While I had a lot more to complain about in this second season, Ted Lasso Season 2 was still an incredibly entertaining and enjoyable watch. Since I have so many positives to share about this show (which I already shared in my previous review), I thought it’d be more productive to share with you what I didn’t like instead. Though there are certain character developments and relationships that I wanted to criticize, as a whole, I’m still fully invested in the series and seeing where all these characters go. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a great season! As for the comedy, I found the show still had that charming humour that I loved and I definitely laughed out loud multiple times throughout the season. All in all, Ted Lasso Season 2 is a fantastic feel good watch that will always guarantee a fun time. Falling a bit short compared to season 1 though, I’m going to give Ted Lasso Season 2 an 8.5/10. Thankfully, I won’t have to wait much longer for season 3 to come out. Excited to see what new stories will be told!