this is just one of the many examples of the casually brilliant writing that goes into ted lasso. it's the very first episode: where we're just beginning to learn about ted — and this simple statement tells us so much about his character. he's not arrogant or close-minded enough to dismiss the possibility of ghosts existing — and has somehow thought about them enough to hope that they believe in the importance of their own haunting. which is such a powerful sentiment. to be a ghost is to linger like a pale after-image; lost but not quite gone — and for ted to recognize that and say that they need to believe that they still have a right to belong is just so effortlessly stunning as a concept and also as a written dialogue.

with just one short scene; we discover so much about ted's personality. and it very neatly sets up his reaction to the idea of the treatment room being cursed: and how he approaches the problem. again, he remains curious and receptive — he doesn't mock or belittle the players' apprehension and fear. he addresses their concerns with empathy and attention to detail. as always, he leads with kindness.

as a writer still slowly coming into my own identity, ted lasso is a constant inspiration when it comes to clever, insightful and heart-warming narratives. 🤍

Yall this season is corny as hell. But the biggest travesty may be the hair stylist.

Why is Jamies hair always crusty? I can see dry shampoo spots on Nathan’s gfs head. Teds mustache looks like it could fall off with a sneeze. Keeleys wispies look mad greasy and her bumpit is over teased.

Wtf is happening why am I noticing so many people shitty hairdos!!

Who’s with me?

When Ted is yelling at Dr Sharon for trying to leave without saying goodbye, but finally agrees to read the letter she left for him, there’s a throwaway line that characterizes the quality of the writing which I’m not sure US viewers registered:

Ted (peevishly beginning to scan the “stupid-ass” letter): You spelled “favorite” wrong.

The layers in those four words:

—Ted is nit-picking to buffer his real sadness at her departure

—Brits do indeed spell it “favourite”

—Ted is still too (to quote early Roy) Ronald MacDonald to know that

—Doc has written that he’s a favo(u)rite! A 180° from their starting point, real growth while realistically maintaining their character flaws (She’s still intellectualizing by crafting her sentiments in a letter, of which he still USA’splains the spelling)

Very prettily done.

At what point do you think the writers figured out that Total Football is the perfect allegory for the Lasso Way, as Crimm describes it?

I’ve heard everyone crow about it and finally dived in. Not many shows make me weep out of happiness or for the love of humanity like this does…well, Queer Eye is a close second.

Edit: thank you, all! I’m loving all the suggestions! Putting some on my list right now. Keep ‘em coming! ☺️

i’m watching season 3 again, and my hatred of nate still exists, but do you think he would’ve had the redemption arc in the end if rupert didn’t own west ham? if it was any other owner, do you think nate would’ve still been a prick till the end?

i know rupert is an actual piece of shit and i’m assuming once nate realized that, he changed back into the wholesome lug he used to be, but i can’t help but wonder if he would’ve just stayed a prick if it wasn’t for rupert

Hi All, just finished my 1st watch and this sub popped into my feed. Loved the show. Ted is the person we should all aspire to be, kind, compassionate, forgiving, etc.

The season 3 finale was the most satisfying "end" I've ever seen to a show. Everyone got an ending per se, and there didn't seem to be a cliffhanger. I'm not a writer, but I feel like the story was completed and was surprised that season 4 is coming.

What are you hoping to see in season 4?

i've always had trouble with the act of forgiveness — with the process of relinquishing hurt enough to regrow a relationship with kindness. but watching this scene was a transcendental moment: a sun ray unfurling in a dark room. this is what beautiful art does — it puts you in touch with your own tenderness; buried as it might be deep within your body.

witnessing coach beard offer redemption to nate — and through it share his own story of the grace he was given by ted at one of the lowest points in his life — truly brought me to tears. all we are as human beings are the instances of light that link us to one another — the bonds that bless us and help us bestow that blessing further onto someone who needs it.

when someone chooses to treat you with infinite gentleness and mercy after you have done something unimaginable; they plant a seed of hope in your chest. this seed will stay dormant until you yourself are presented with a person who has committed a grave transgression. and then you have to make the choice whether or not to let that seed of hope bloom into a flower.

this is what coach beard did. ted's kindness to him, freely given; with so much implicit faith — allowed him to extend that same generosity and empathy to nate. beard was softened; and made warmer as a person by ted's gift of grace — and by being fundamentally changed by that experience; he was able to approach nate from a place of tolerance and forgiveness.

he let that seed bloom.

ultimately, what connects us as human beings as just one person to another are the threads of gold that illuminate our character. the moments that make us grateful to be alive. and if we have been lucky enough to experience grace — we should offer it to one another. i know that this was a polarizing scene for many viewers, but in my opinion the point isn't whether nate deserves forgiveness or not — it's about what he needs as a human being at one of the most vulnerable points in his life. and whether or not beard is willing to give that — what he needs: to him.

and i love that the choice to do so isn't easy for beard — because it's never easy to reflect light on someone who has responded to you with the worst of their vicious darkness. you can see the tension in his body as he leans toward nate; a physical manifestation of his internal struggle — on the verge of head-butting him as nate suggested him to — and at the very last second, with the symbolic and the actual merging: he decides to embrace him instead.

i love that beard never once condones nate's actions: never once says "it's okay," in the manner that so many scenes of forgiveness emulate. what he does is so much harder; so much more an act of selflessness — "what you did is not okay. but i forgive you anyway."

in our lives, we will all be nate at one point or the other. we will all do something unforgivable to someone who doesn't deserve it. and i hope that at that moment we are offered the ordinary grace that makes every second on this cruel planet bearable — the comfort of two arms welcoming you home, telling you that you still have a second chance. i hope that when it is our turn to be faced with someone's unconscionable harshness – we will be able to meet it with sweetness and understanding.

i hope we let that seed bloom. i hope we look at this question head-on: "is forgiveness something that you give others, or is it something that you give yourself?"

this is the final part of what i had to say about this show's relationship with grace, and i'd like to end with the words of poet dilruba ahmed: "to forgive yourself first / so you could then forgive others / and at last find a way to become the love that you want in this world." 💌

My wife and I have been discussing season 2. We just finished it recently and feel that there were a lot of major shifts in characters that felt like they came out of nowhere…

1. Nate. Just really what the hell? He was a great character in the first season, suddenly he’s insufferable… He was an ass to the new ballboy, that part makes sense to me I guess since the power got to him. His blowup at Ted and outing him for the panic attack I can’t make sense of.

2. Roy expecting Keely to just drop everything to vacation for 6 weeks. (I’m American so a 6 week vacation is crazy to me anyway). Then he assumes they’re breaking up because she can’t drop her brand new job.

3. The Beard episode was very strange. I liked getting a glimpse into his life, but the whole episode felt like a fever dream. I honestly expected it to end and find out none of it actually happened…

Ted largely felt like a background character in this whole season.

We haven’t started season 3 yet and we’re worried that it’s going downhill…

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/43651635/everton-doucoure-scores-4th-fastest-goal-premier-league-history

And he has some interesting takes on what he thought was going to happen. I hope I picked the right tag.

He was getting vibes that they were maybe setting up for Dr. Sharon and Ted to have a romance. With the way Ted was like trying to win her favor and acting toward her. He was glad that they didn't have a romance even thought that's what he thought was going to happen.

I got vibes that Ted didn't like feeling like Sharon didn't like him and so he was being extra himself. Trying to get her to open up in a friendly manner the way he did with biscuits to get Rebecca to open up to him?

Thoughts/opinions?

ETA; I've seen the whole show already. My coworker is watching for the first time, he's probably 1/3 into season 3 and this is a discussion we had this morning. I wanted to know if other people thought they were leading to a romance between Ted and Sharon

Got the email from the venue saying to arrive an hour early in case anyone missed it. And dress in dark colors (for filming reasons not because it’s Brett/Roy’s signature coloring).

Glad this will finally be an aired special so everyone can see the jokes and know what Brett’s show is like.

Hi all I just wondered two things S01 E08

Higgins noise when he's uncomfortable or hiding something, why did he never make those noises to Rebecca when he was distracting her with lunches while Rupert was cheating on her ?

And when Ted and Rupert are playing darts "he does ask do you like darts?" Is that not being curious, ?

It took a while to sink in, to process. I know someone who is the living version of Ted, I must say I am in owe of both the character and my real life version. I don't have and don't want to have access to the private struggles that this real life Ted has, to keep boundaries. So seeing this character going through such hardships in the first season made him even more real, he isn't superman, he also needs help stimes, I love that. But it was so painful to see such a role model lose everything, I cried. It's like you already have admiration for this character and the way he navigates this gives you even more.

Must've been during those rough times he had after prison

Found coach Beard in “How I met your mother” season 8 episode 7 first 3 minutes.

So another rewatch with the show supposed to be casually in the background and instead I get sucked in again. Two little details so if you saw them don’t do the “of course that was there how did you not notice”. When the team is debating what to do in Amsterdam and Danny talks about seeing a single tulip, there is a giant vase full of tulips just behind his right shoulder. Then again, it’s not just a single tulip so not what he wanted to see.

But also in international break, when Jamie goes to comfort Sam, he doesn’t say his name and instead says “hey number 24”, so looking ahead to the pick of his number. Most may have noticed, I didn’t until now.

Also, I want a Kunt jersey

Are there any show tattoos out there? Would love to see them!

colin's narrative arc is one of the most beautiful things about ted lasso. poet christian wiman talks about how "one wants in the end just once to befriend one's own loneliness / to make of the ache of inwardness — something: / music, maybe." that's exactly what colin's journey is about.

when one is accustomed to hiding a core part of who they are; or of leading a double life concealing what makes their heart beat; what makes their eyes shine — life loses a little of its iridescence. that's why it's so touching to see the riot of color erupt across the scene when colin finally lets someone in — talks to trent about what being gay has been like for him. hears about someone who has a positive relationship with their sexuality.

there's something so raw, earthy and earnest about colin saying: "i know there are some aches that can't be fixed. but i shouldn't have to pretend like they're not there." it's so true — our scars; our harbored hurts over what we deserve; our broken dreams for a better future — none of it should be hidden. we should be open with our hopes and our heartbreaks — our unique threads that sew together the symmetry of our sadnesses; our brief brushes with happiness. our hunger to be who we truly are.

i love that colin's brief conflict with isaac doesn't embitter him — it only emboldens him; makes him realize that when a person stands up to share who they are with the people that matter to them, the world becomes a better place. and how ted responds to colin coming out — both as a coach and also simply as a human being acknowledging someone's offered truth – is what marks it as an extraordinary moment instead of just a feel-good scene.

initially the team says "we don't care that you're gay, colin" — a response that we're used to seeing on TV. "yes, you're gay. yes it doesn't matter to us, nothing has changed about how we see you."

ted could have easily chosen to let this moment go by — but he doesn't. he decides instead to honor colin's experience, his struggle to become someone undivided, whole, unfractured — at peace with himself. he also chooses to honor the memory of his friend that he once let down.

because when someone shares with us the precise quality of their soul, things should change. and this is exactly what ted expresses: "we should care, colin. and we do. we care about who you are, and about what you've had to go through."

we're so accustomed to assuring people that "it doesn't matter to me if you're bi/gay/trans/queer/aro/ace/demi. it doesn't change anything. i don't care."

except that we should— it should matter. it should change things. we should care about who a person is; what their identity means to them. how much a part of them their sexuality is. what it symbolizes and represents to them on a personal level. how they have been shaped by love; or the lack of it — how they have been molded by the specific hue and shade of their own shattered longings.

it's easy not to care. to receive someone's honest admission of themselves as just something to be accepted; and nothing else. but it's so much more meaningful, so much more intimate — to take a genuine interest in someone's life. to be curious about what being gay means to them. to care about how it's affected them; influenced them — directed the currents of their life. and ted recognizes that — recognizes that the friend who supported an unpopular team could have used that interest and effort from the people he cared about in his life about something that was important to him. and it's that experience of not having done enough that allows ted to hold space for colin's growth. to give him the dignity of empathy and true witness.

colin answered his internal ache by opening himself up to the world; trusting that it would receive him well and with warmth – freely kissing the man he wants to be with after a historic win because he's not afraid to take up space anymore. he's not afraid to be himself — to feel safe within his own identity. and he couldn't have done it without knowing that his journey was cared about; considered, respected — reflected upon — both by ted; the richmond team; and isaac during their conversation at colin's home.

we should all care about what being human feels like for other people. it's not just something to be accepted — it should be embraced, asked about, thought over. it should matter – and it does. 💛

i keep finding moments in this show that remind me of what it means to share breath with the other people on this earth — and about what it means to bear the fresh wounds of living, which can only be treated with patience and close attention — with the acknowledgement that sometimes we keep a tryst with hurt forever; and it is the journey of our lifetime to attempt to transport that hurt into a place of safe harbor: where it can be free to experience its own self.

this is the first time we see ted truly open up about his father: and the entire scene with him and sharon is one of the most unflinchingly honest explorations of grief that I've had the privilege of seeing on a TV show. to people who have witnessed suicide separate their loved ones into a 'here' & 'never to return again' — ted's conversation with sharon raises fundamental questions that we should all think about.

how do you measure someone's life when all you can think about is their death? how do you teach your hands to hold the anger and the betrayal resulting from their impossible, unthinkable choice in a manner that doesn't stain your skin? how do love and hate link arms along the same bridge behind your ribcage?

becoming one with these questions is the work of an entire existence. answers are close-ended: but allowing your chest to open into uncertainty; to enter into the bewildering forests of loss without ever seeing the sky but trusting it to be there still — that takes real courage. and i love that ted finally leans into that experience — that he doesn't shy away from the force of his feelings.

we are surrounded and often suffocated by a culture that forbids men from surrendering to their emotions; from giving a voice to their vulnerability — and it is so heartening to see ted face up to the enormity of his grief — to have the strength to name his pain, to say to it: "i accept your presence in my life even though it breaks my heart. i give you room to grow and change — i promise to give you the space and respect you deserve. i trust you to guide me into gentleness."

this whole scene brings to mind a line by j.r.r tolkien: "though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater."

irish poet eavan boland writes this immortal line: "if i defer the grief / i diminish the gift" — because grief is the price we pay for love. it moves me so much to see ted honor the spiritual experience of grief so wholly; to accept the cost of being, at heart — still a boy who has been left behind by his father's shadow — with so much humility and grace. and it's such a subtle indication to sharon's skill as a therapist that she gently nudges ted to recount not only his censure and disappointment with his father; but also the moments that made ted love him; made him consecrate his memory — rejoice in the knowledge of being a good man's son.

our parents are our first forays into the world — our first discoveries of right and wrong; our first recognitions that someone's eyes and arms can sting as much as they can soothe. having ted conclude his conversation with sharon about his father with his favorite memory of them together was a deliberate choice by the writers — to indicate that our family can fail us a thousand times over; and that it is alright to resent being abandoned, being left behind — as long as you remember the thousand ways they made you feel loved as well. as long as you remember to always, always; do your best to lead with that sense of love into all that you do. to let that love be a litmus test of your character.

all anyone can do with their broken is try to build with it a gateway into the world; into gratitude for the people still in it — still trying, still fighting — still clawing their way up to the light.

to have ted end his story about his father with the moment that made him feel most cherished by him is heartwrenchingly beautiful — it says: "i know the water that separates you and me tastes bitter; but i will take it as sweet — because it is all that connects me in my world to you in the lack of yours."

as emily dickinson once wrote in a letter to susan huntington gilbert: "for 'til now i have only mourned for you; now i begin to hope for you." ❤️‍🩹

I’ve just started in on my howevermanyith rewatch, and I noticed something I haven’t spotted before, and I’m looking for some clarity.

So obviously, the books are meant to mean something specific to each player they’re given to, but for the life of me I can’t figure out the meaning behind Sam’s (he was given Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card).

Funnily enough, Ender’s Game happens to be my favorite book up to this point. I loved reading it, and it’s one of very few I’ve ever read more than once. Despite that, I haven’t found a connection between its themes with what Sam was going through, other than possibly that Ender feels homesick early on in the story, much like Sam was early in season one. That feels pretty surface level though, so I’m not sure that’s what I’m meant to take away from it.

Just hoping anyone else has ideas, because it’s really cool seeing my favorite book in my favorite show.

What are some things you noticed retching the show that you didn't notice before?

Also, favorite life lessons from the show?