Ted Lasso, the AppleTV + series you must see

Ted Lasso

Born from a character played by Jason Sudeikis in a series of promos for NBC Sports coverage of the Premier League, Ted Lasso is the new series by Bill Lawrence (the creator of Scrubs) for Apple TV + and like all the products of the director television, immerses us in a funny, ironic and at times crazy context, but with characters that turn out to be very deep and incredibly human, who often face difficult and thorny situations, trying to get out of them in the best way.

The Apple series, in particular, immerses us in a football context that only surrounds the events of the protagonists, bringing it almost completely into the background and favoring the relationships between the various characters, of which we come to discover the history, the background and the secrets as you go through the episodes. But let's start from the beginning, talking about that premise that surrounds the entire events of Coach Lasso: the imaginary team of Premiere League AFC Richmond.

Ted Lasso and the 'AFC Richmond

AFC Richmond is presented as a low to mid-ranking team that plays in the Premiere League, the top English football league, and which decides to hire American Ted as its new coach to avoid relegation. Lasso. However, there is a problem: Lasso is not a football coach, but American Football and his engagement was strongly desired by the new president of the club, Rebecca Welton, who wanted to make the team fail to take revenge on her ex-husband, since which obtained the property of the Richmond.



We are therefore immediately catapulted into this universe "in medias res", in which there are hierarchies, rules and habits that we are not used to, which make us feel like real strangers. Just like the protagonist Ted Lasso, an American with habits and customs profoundly different from the English, used to always drinking tea, to absurd rules such as offside, to drive on the right and much more. Bill Lawrence thus manages to make us identify with the protagonist by throwing us headlong into the middle of the action and leaving us, at least initially, confused and disoriented.



This feeling of loss, however, fades with time, when we begin to understand together with Ted how things work in Richmond, that there are personalities loved by all and that must be respected, that the English are not as strange as they appear and that, after all, football is just a game after all . We begin to delve into the lives of the protagonists, their habits, their patterns, feeling part of the team and wanting to know more and more details of every single character in the series, transforming ourselves into real fans.

The characters in midfield

One of the best characteristics of Bill Lawrence's creatures is to make the characters very multifaceted and perfectly characterized, each different from the other, with their own strengths and weaknesses, but very much human and, very often, with frailties of a certain weight, in which many of the spectators manage to see each other again.



Starting with the protagonist, coach Lasso (played by a masterful Jason Sudeikis ), a person who is always positive and apparently capable of facing any difficulty, but who over time we will learn to know and appreciate also for a whole series of "personal problems" that we will understand and discover. we will learn as the episodes unfold. If at first we identify a lot with what Ted feels, we gradually distance ourselves more and more, since the character seems to want to hide from everyone, both the other characters and the spectators, the criticalities of his being and what, in reality, lies in the depths of his soul.

It must be said, however, that Ted manages with his character to influence all those present in the locker room and who revolve around the team, starting with the president Rebecca Welton (played by Hannah Waddingham), who initially stands as the antagonist of the entire series, and then softens and demonstrates a strong and forged character over time, also due to the stormy relationship with her ex-husband.



And what about Higgins (played by Jeremy Swift), Welton's deputy, whom we initially see only as a lackey, but turns out to be a generous man with a family worthy of the “White Mill”? Or the assistant coach Beard (played by Brendan Hunt) who speaks little, but manages to give a lot of laughs with his expressiveness? And again Nathan (played by Nick Mohammed), initially a warehouse keeper, but who will also come to be named deputy thanks to his incredible knowledge of football? Or Keeley Jones (played by Juno Temple), busy with team sponsorship and model? Every single character that revolves around the team has a precise background, character and evolution within the series, which allow the viewer to become attached and empathize to the point of almost mistaking them for old friends who see each other once a week. >


Even the members of the team itself, from the reserve to the owners, are impeccably written, even laughing at the classic stereotypes that revolve around the players. And so we laugh and joke with Sam Obisanya (who received a lot of space in the second season), vice captain Isaac, Dani Roja and him “football is life! ", Almost a parody of Holly and Benji, and all the others.

A slightly different speech as regards, perhaps, the two top players of Richmond, who obviously have a much more important role and may include among the protagonists and who stand opposite each other: Jamie Tartt and Roy Kent.



The first, played by Phil Dunster, is the classic young champion handsome and a little arrogant, who thinks only of himself and who does not care about the opinion of others. The team, despite his very difficult character of him, depends on him, as the only one capable of scoring and capable of leading the team to victory alone. This attitude of his will obviously prove counterproductive for his personal growth, but at the same time it will also be what will lead him to an evolution and a sort of redemption as the episodes pass and even the viewer, over time, will learn to love him ... But, as usual, we don't want to reveal too much.



As for Roy Kent, played by Brett Goldstein, we are faced with something totally opposite: now at the end of his career, he is he was one of the best players in the Premiere League, also winning a Champions League with Chelsea eight years before the start of the series, but now in a waning phase and close to retirement. Gruff, grumpy and vulgar, however, he is highly respected by the team and by the fans themselves, who see in him, despite his age, a flag and a point of reference. Over the course of the series, he will have to realize that time passes for everyone and that, very often, you have to compromise for the sake of the people you love, at the cost of taking a step back on your decisions or beliefs. We will have a very respectable evolution for him too, which will lead him to improve and pass on his passion to his teammates too… But even in this case, we don't want to reveal more than necessary.

Ted Lasso: never let your guard down

If there is one thing that Bill Lawrence's creatures have taught us is that you should never let your guard down, because what seems like an ironic and funny moment or situation , it can turn into something tragic or sad. Ted Lasso is no exception, with final minutes of each episode that are often able to hit you like a boulder on the head when you least expect it.

The moment this happens, the viewer is able to realize that certain behaviors of the characters are the children of traumatic experiences that are revealed to us in the most "wrong" moments, perhaps immediately after a joke or a cheerful event, and are exposed in such a sensitive and delicate way that it is impossible not to empathize with them, as if they were not mere characters, but real, real people, whom we meet in everyday life.

And this is perhaps a great merit of Ted Lasso, that of being able to include within the series, not simple specks or football stereotypes, but figures so multifaceted and different that they appear real to us.

A curious episode

But not everyone agrees with this last statement, because during the airing of the second season (still in progress), a large array of spectators argued that Roy Kent's character was not real, but created in CGI!

no more ted lasso discourse it's time for "brett goldstein is cgi" discourse pic.twitter.com/DkSlFAlNp7

- guy (@guymrdth) August 28, 2021



DOES THIS MAN LOOK REAL TO YOU 🌍🌍🌍🌍☮️👾☮️⚛️ pic.twitter.com/RlKrqosqOC

- asoingbob '' Comms Open '' odenkirk (@imnormalnow) July 13, 2021



Months ago, in fact, a thread popped up on reddit in which the participants looked for clues and discussed precisely the fact that he, like many other minor characters, were created in computer graphics , even imported directly from EA's FIFA football simulation game models. Obviously, the actor didn't miss the opportunity to answer ironically on his twitter account:

My final statement on the matter: pic.twitter.com/YPzNnOu4mg

- Brett Goldstein (@brettgoldstein) September 2, 2021


Brendan Hunt, who plays Coach Beard on the show, also wanted to speak on the matter by speaking to CNET, saying he could neither confirm nor deny that if you put data into an algorithm to "build the perfect actor" Brett Goldstein would come out. In short, another crazy theory of the Internet which, however, cannot but tear a smile.

Ted Lasso: one of the best series of recent years

Ted Lasso is certainly one of the best comedy series of recent years. The characters and the relationships between them and the writing of the episodes manage to fit together perfectly, telling a simple and complex story at the same time, made up of situations that go from a simple football match, to having to face their demons in the blink of an eye. .



A series that is conceived and conceived so well that it makes you completely forget the context and the premise, that is the football environment, to let you experience the stories of people so multifaceted as to seem real and close to the viewer. And even if you know nothing about football, you are passionate about and support the protagonists as if you were at the stadium and you hope, in your heart, that they will always win, even if they are facing a complicated situation.