New Year’s Day comes early for Ted Lasso fans. And in the latest episode, love is in the air in the sort of complicated way that an amicable divorce brings.
Ted spends his eventful evening at the pub with his ex-wife, Michelle, and his son, Henry. It’s more of a quiet New Year’s—especially when compared to the Lady Greyhounds’ night out.
We come to find out that the whole team, even the coaches, was invited to Zelda’s mega-yacht New Year’s party with all of her snooty billionaire friends. Coming from working-class Richmond, the Lady Greyhounds are fish out of water.
When Coach Beard boards the ship, the Lady Greyhounds are left asking, “Where is Alice?”
She’s at home, working up the nerve to show face. At her apartment, we meet her girlfriend for the first time, proving that Alice, underneath her stoic veil, is capable of love. That’s nice to know.
Meanwhile, our favorite striker makes his return. Jamie Tartt throws a release party for his new Green Apple Tart (get it?) vodka. Rebecca, Keeley and Coach Kent make an appearance. Best not forget the romantic tension between Keeley and Kent—especially with alcohol involved.
And alcohol does get involved. So much so that Coach Kent and Tartt start jumping around to “Jump Around” by House of Pain.
You may ask why the episode is called “Don’t Jump Around Much Anymore.” Well, it’s because Coach Kent blows out his knee while dancing to the song. When he gets to the hospital, Dr. Beaumont, the third point in the Keeley-Kent love triangle, tells him not to jump around anymore.
Keeley clearly has some tension with Dr. Beaumont since she’s a doctor, beautiful and romantically interested in Kent. God giveth, and he giveth some more.
At the mega-billionaire party, the Greyhounds seem to grow closer. Even Alice starts to drop her guard with Gemma as she confesses that she fears being disliked by the team. The party’s shady pretentiousness pushes the women away while making them stronger as a group.
The party physically pushes them away when the partygoers put on masquerades and get all Eyes Wide Shut on us.
But Ted isn’t there. He’s upstairs talking to Michelle. They’re coming to an understanding. They give each other permission to move on from one another while acknowledging the pain of their divorce.
Ted, feeling as though a weight has been lifted off his shoulders, meets the ladies at a nearby park, where we see our first sight of soccer in our soccer TV show.
But it’s not all happy times for one Lady Greyhound. Alice realizes that Gemma has shared her secret with the rest of the team. She storms off in dramatic fashion.
Two steps forward and five steps back.
As the season progresses, we learn one thing: breakups are complicated and we should expect them to get more complicated.
Rating 7/10