Cliques—the antagonist of this week’s episode of Ted Lasso. High school never ends for the AFC Richmond Lady Greyhounds as we learn that three major cliques have formed on the team: the defenders, midfielders, and strikers. And Coach Lasso, Beard, and Alice know the dangers that entails.
The audience soon learns, too. The entire episode is framed in between glimpses of a British football podcast discussing the dangers of cliques on sports teams. It’s an out-of-the-ordinary choice for Ted Lasso, but it works surprisingly well. The podcast provides a running commentary that feels comedically well done.
In other news, Coach Kent is still trying to win back a more mature Keeley Jones. But Keeley wants Roy to truly grow and see other people before she can take him back.
So, Kent goes on ten dates… in one night. And, of course, he doesn’t see the futility in that. It’s one of the episode’s funnier moments and serves as a good B-plot.
At the end, Kent goes to the hospital after retriggering a knee injury while making out with a bartender. There, he develops a genuine affection for his doctor, so maybe Keeley will finally get her wish.
But Ted Lasso is about the soccer team. So, let’s get to that.
Ted has the brilliant team-bonding exercise of pub trivia—which seems to only please Ted and Beard.
And that’s where the episode gets its name. It’s the team’s day off. By the way, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was just added to the Apple TV+ catalogue this week. Sly marketing move, Apple.
At the pub, we find that the only thing capable of uniting a cliquish team is a common enemy. For the Lady Greyhounds, that common enemy is a bunch of drunk blokes.
Keeping a long story short, the Greyhounds’ trivia teams dissolve into one big super team to beat the drunkards. The drunkards (being drunk and all) start a bar fight. The Greyhounds win and…everyone goes to jail.
Audiences like an unlikely-team-coming-together story. It’s a little cliché, especially the jail part, but it’s fun, and it works. More importantly, the episode actually gives its central conflict a satisfying resolution.
When they are finally bailed out, we learn their first-round opponent for the FA Cup is (dun, dun, dun) Chelsea—the best team in the UK.
But with our newly bonded team feeling on top of the world, maybe they do have a shot.