WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the Season 2 premiere of Ted Lasso, “Goodbye, Earl,” now available on Apple TV+.
Season 1 of Ted Lasso gave Coach Ted (Jason Sudeikis) more internal problems than he anticipated. He was ready for on-field challenges, but between a saboteur boss in Rebecca and problems with the egotistical Jamie, not to mention Roy Kent’s temper, it was hell in the locker room for the American. Thankfully, Ted more or less settled all those issues, starting Season 2 with a clean slate as AFC Richmond seeks promotion. But unfortunately, two new, massive problems have arisen to derail the mission.
The first unforeseen bit of drama crops up with new face, Jan Maas, who’s a nice guy but has an honesty streak that’s quite damaging. The rest of the team aren’t fazed as it’s him being, well, Dutch, but Ted is frightened to hear Jan insulting players about having bad performances. He doesn’t mean ill, but the tact isn’t there at all, despite the friendly tone, which is seen when he’s blunt about Dani Rojas’ mental health problems being career-ending.
Ted isn’t someone to critique like that, and even constructive criticism is tempered. Jan’s already taken notice of Ted’s “goldfish” plan where he asks guys to forget the games — as Ted’s research showed goldfish have short memories — whether they won or lost. He simply wants them to move forward, but Jan doesn’t mind harping on the past in order to improve and evolve. Jan’s reaction clearly indicates both will have a run-in due to their differing philosophies. Ted worked so hard to get Jamie’s ego checked so he won’t want this getting out of hand.
Secondly, there’s a shocking new jerk in Nathan, the kind kit-man who got promoted to Ted’s staff. Nate rudely denies a groundsman time off for his mom’s birthday as he thinks the job comes first. He even remarks how the mother’s not a player, thus not a priority, shocking Ted.
Later, Nate’s annoyed that Dani can’t get over killing a dog with his penalty kick, making light of his mental health. It’s abhorrent when he suggests all the inspiration Dani needs is to see the check for his salary shoved in his face.
It’s pretty dark, alarming Ted who brushes it off as a joke. Deep down, though, he knows he’ll have to address it as he’s about positivity, not toxicity. It’s a major surprise but there were signs last season when Nate cursed out sloppy players in an inspirational moment to amp them up. It feels, however, like he has demons off the field that he has to work on, and Ted may need to step up to save his friend’s personal life and professional career.
See how Nathan’s new personality affects Ted and AFC Richmond in Season 2 of Ted Lasso on Apple TV+. Episode 1, “Goodbye, Earl” is available now, with subsequent episodes debuting weekly.
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