In season two episode eight of Apple TV’s Ted Lasso, titled Man City, Jamie’s (Phil Dunster, The Rise of the Krays) alcoholic and abusive father made an appearance, Ted (Jason Sudeikis, We’re The Millers) finally opens up to Sharon (Sarah Niles, Beautiful People), and Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham, Game of Thrones) finally meets her mystery man, also known as everyone’s favorite Richmond player, Sam (Toheeb Jimoh, Anthony). Richmond also played against Manchester City in the semifinals, in which it experienced a difficult loss – which was ironically a minor plotline in this episode.
Despite his character development up to this point, Jamie is still clearly troubled by several internal and external factors, and this episode made evident why. After using his son to get him and his friends tickets to the semifinals, Jamie’s father pushed Jamie to the limits when he ganged up on him in front of the entire team following their loss. At his breaking point, Jamie gets violent with his father, who is subsequently removed from the premises by Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt, We’re the Millers). It was difficult to not feel awful for Jamie at this point, and clearly his teammates and coaches felt the same. After moments of silence, Jamie was met by a warm embrace by the most unlikely person – Roy (Brett Goldstein, SuperBob). It’s safe to say that Jamie is no longer viewed as the “jerk of the team,” but rather the misunderstood one in need of friends and perhaps a new father.
Seeing Jamie stand motionless after the departure of his father following the loss to Manchester City was not even the most tear-jerking scene of the episode. Directly after seeing who Jamie’s father was and how Beard removed him, and how Roy promptly comforted Jamie, Ted calls Sharon in tears. He reveals that when he was 16, his father committed suicide and it has haunted him ever since. He recognizes that they are now the source of his panic attacks. Ted will seemingly begin opening up about his trauma, rather than running from it. Time and time again, Ted Lasso proves that despite his whole persona being based on a confident and helpful character, he can still be dealing with demons that no one would be aware of.
As comedic relief, Rebecca and Sam finally meet at a restaurant and discover that they have been anonymously texting each other for weeks. Rebecca cites her professional authority over Sam as the primary reason to pretend nothing ever happened, as well as his age (21). However, Sam convinces her to stay for dinner that will serve as “not a date.” Despite Rebecca’s resistance, they seem to be a great match and only time will tell where their relationship goes.
This episode illustrated the reasons behind both Ted and Jamie’s characters and why they are the way they are. Fortunately, both men have armies marching besides them in the form of the Richmond team. Ted was able to open up to his fellow coaches and therapist about his mental health struggles, which Jamie was reluctant to do but was ultimately forced to in the end. However one mystery of the episode is still left unsolved – where did Coach Beard disappear to at the end?
Rating: 9/10