In this week’s episode of Ted Lasso, the Greyhounds must ready themselves for what’s bound to be a difficult match against Manchester City. Meanwhile, Dr. Sharon and her bicycle collide with a car, Sam and Rebecca’s Bantr relationship receives an upgrade, Jamie’s dad continues to be awful, and Ted finally gets something important off of his chest. Keep reading to dive into everything that went down in “Man City.”
Dr. Sharon’s accident
At the beginning of the episode, the tables are turned as audiences get to listen in on a therapy session where Dr. Sharon is the patient. Clearly her recent struggles to make progress with Ted are getting to her, because she’s going on and on ranting about him. Her therapist points out that Sharon and Ted seem to have some things in common with the way that they both keep things bottled up. It’s an ironic turn of events and hopefully one that will help her find a way to break the ice with Coach Lasso.
Afterward, Sharon ends up in an unfortunate accident when she gets hit by a car while riding her bike. To her dismay, Ted is the one that shows up to pick her up from the hospital. Full of his usual cheery banter, Ted helps her get home and even calls to check in on her (standard concussion protocol!) throughout the night. Taking a cue from her therapist, Sharon admits to Ted that the accident made her scared about continuing to ride a bike in the future. Though Ted doesn’t seem to recognize this gesture for what it is right away, it’s an olive branch of progress between them nonetheless.
Uncle Roy and his indelicate verbal tendencies
Roy shows up at Phoebe’s school for a meeting with her teacher because her mom is at work, which is convenient considering he’s the root of the problem anyway. Phoebe’s teacher tells Roy that she’s been swearing a lot at school. Just that day, she called one of her classmates a “pathetic sh*t f*cker.” He’s momentarily stunned to realize that his trademark foul mouth is where his niece learned such colorful language.
After buying her ice cream on the way home from school, Roy parks the car and tells Phoebe that she needs to stop swearing. He’s allowed to because it’s part of his job as a footballer, but she isn’t. Getting serious, he admits to her that sometimes he’s worried that he’s infecting her with the worst parts of him. Charming as ever, Phoebe is quick to ensure him that’s not true. She called one of her classmates a name because they were a bully, and Roy is the one that taught her to stand up to bullies.
Even though this was a minor side plot within an emotionally-charged episode, this is yet another example of why Roy is one of the show’s best characters. Between his unmatched foul-mouthed comedic timing and all of his sincere moments in between, Roy Kent is truly a gift.
Bossgirl and LDN152 finally meet
The time has finally come for Bossgirl and LDN152 to meet, because a bold message arrives on Rebecca’s phone that reads, “Dinner tonight at Le Tucci, 8pm. I’ll be there. So should you.” Sam is thrilled after Rebecca accepts the invite, and he redeems his yearly haircut from Isaac for the special occasion (which leads to an absolutely bonkers scene in the locker room).
Dressed to the nines, Sam and Rebecca run into one another at the restaurant bar, unaware that they are one another’s blind date. It doesn’t take long for them to realize what happened, and Rebecca immediately tries to extract herself from what she claims is an inappropriate situation. Sam convinces her to stay for dinner, because it doesn’t need to be a date. After what was clearly an enjoyable evening together, they kiss outside of Rebecca’s front door. But she firmly tells him that she’s going inside alone.
This resolve doesn’t last very long, because Rebecca later finds herself inspired by Sam’s post-game interview. She texts him to see what he’s doing, and he ends up showing up at her house instead. They kiss one another passionately as the episode comes to a close.
Given the unconventional dynamic of their relationship — Rebecca is the owner of AFC Richmond and Sam is one of her players — it will be interesting to see where this tryst ends up over the course of the final four episodes of the season.
Jamie Tartt, his daddy issues, and that damn hug (I’m not crying, you are!)
Prior to the semifinal game, Jamie receives a text from his dad asking if he’s sorted out his Wembley tickets yet, which he promptly does. As game day arrives, Jamie’s dad immediately begins to act obnoxious while he makes his way into the stands wearing his son’s old Manchester United jersey. Later, after AFC Richmond suffers a loss that’s tough on all of them, his dad comes to see him in the locker room. Laughing, he begins to speak to Jamie condescendingly, and then he insults him when Jamie turns him down after he asks for a favor. He fails to listen when Jamie tells him not to speak to him rudely, and Jamie eventually ends up punching him. Beard drags Jamie’s dad out of the room, and an awkward silence falls over the team.
In a shocking turn of events, Roy strides over to Jamie and envelopes him in a hug. Jamie returns the embrace, and he begins to cry in Roy’s arms. In a show full of impactful, heartfelt moments, this one really hit me harder than almost any other scene thus far. Given their difficult past, it will be intriguing to see if this helps to aid the raw, bruised rivalry between Roy and Jamie.
We need to talk about Ted
Right before the game began, Ted took a moment to admit to his fellow coaches that he didn’t leave the field the other day because he was sick. He had a panic attack. This encourages everyone else to begin sharing their own confessions. Beard apprehensively tells them that he accidentally showed up at a game on mushrooms … but it won’t happen again. Whoops.
After the locker room incident with Jamie’s dad, Ted seems to be distraught and he quickly leaves the building. He dials Dr. Sharon, who seems to be in better spirits toward him and thanks him for gifting her with a new bicycle. Bypassing a return greeting entirely, tears are streaming down Ted’s face as he tells her that his father killed himself when he was 16. He’s not ready to talk about it yet, but he just wanted her to know.
Season 1 introduced us to Ted Lasso, a wonderful, kind man that can light up an entire room with his bottomless positivity. However, we also saw the hairline fractures in his cheery armor, like the panic attack and the issues in his marriage. Instead of glossing over these plotlines, season 2 dove into them headfirst and has begun digging deeper and deeper into the man behind the mustache. This honest, open, and realistic portrayal of mental health — not only in a man, but a sports coach — has been emotional, surprising, and satisfying all at once. While it’s difficult to see Ted suffer, it’s so refreshing to see this topic treated appropriately on a television series where you’d least expect it. So kudos to the writers of Ted Lasso for knocking it out of the park once again.
Top Ted-isms of the week
“I like my water like Kyrie Irving likes his Earth — flat.”
Catch the next episode of Ted Lasso exclusively on Apple TV+ next Friday, September 17. In the meantime, make sure to catch up on all of our Ted Lasso recaps!
