More than Kindness comes back: S2 through Ep 8 of Ted Lasso

Ted Lasso Season 2 to date (more than Kindness comes back):

 

It’s no secret that I absolutely loved Ted Lasso Season 1. It was a bright comedic comet blazing through the sky. In a world where things are rarely new, it felt fresh and new.

 

I felt like the writers of the show (and the cast) had earned the right to go to deep places if that’s what they wanted to do.

 

It was comedic and connective writing unlike most other shows I’ve ever watched. And fascinatingly I never cared whether they actually wove in sports scenes.

 

I recently binge watched all 5 seasons of Friday Night Lights and the football mattered in my experience of the script. Or even Hoosiers was helped by the basketball. In this show the sport was an accessory.

 

8 episodes into the second season I have a few reactions.

 

I’ll readily admit the first 4 episodes were “different”.

 

They continued the trend of taking on many subject matters that I think are very important (therapy, feminine sexual empowerment, parental influence in relationships) and much more.

 

And I know good friends who LOVED the first season that have since bailed on Season 2.

 

I felt a little unnerved because it was so noticeably different and there were even things that I was like “wait what??” (see the dog in the very beginning of S2 ep 1). It sort of felt like the writers were trying too hard at times to be sweet.

 

My discomfort with the way therapy was presented was unnerving, it seemed too simplistic. And what’s so odd is I have trust in the writers that they can/could take me to those difficult subjects and I trust them.

 

Now having completed Episode 8, they have me, fully. It doesn’t change my perspective that the first four episodes left me wanting more, like I felt they left something out.

 

Now they have me wanting more because I want to know more about the writers’ perspective on deeper issues where they are rewarding me with the trust I granted them given their skills.

 

BTW, the writers also have a habit of dropping hilarious lines that particularly please me (they brought in unbelievably “Mime is money” from This is Spinal Tap and in the most recent episode there is a HILARIOUS line about comparing how Ted Lasso like his water flat to a certain hoops superstar’s beliefs, among a bunch of other beautiful one liners).

 

Honestly the jokes are so quick and somehow both quite overt AND subtle that I wish they’d contextualize it. (Like why not explain the classic “Mime is money” take somehow?)

 

Like Season 1, I do wish in Season 2 the pace would slow down a bit, there’s SO much to explore.

 

Ted Lasso is still a spectacular Television show. It’s better than almost anything else out there.

 

However, it’s like a dinner party that has great conversation even as the subject matter and tone changes from course to course. There is a solemnity to some of the subjects and a VERY difficult comedic needle to thread to keep the laughter coming.

 

It’s managing to reframe the way in which kindness comes back. It’s re-imagining what it means to “BELIEVE” and who to believe in.

 

Maybe I'm moved so much because a big piece of the storyline this Season is the Father Son relationship as I grieve the loss of my father.

 

Expecting the magnificence of Season 1 Ted Lasso from Season 2 Ted Lasso is a path to frustration.

 

Appreciating the brilliance of Season 2 Ted Lasso from Season 2 Ted Lasso is a path to enjoyment.

 

And I’m on the path and thankful I stuck with the trust of the writers, crew and cast.

 

In some way, if you haven’t started watching Season 2, it’s a great binge watch for 8 episodes to get you up to date.

 

Kindness is still making a comeback and so is compassion, healing and understanding.