I finally got around to watching the second season of Ted Lasso on Apple TV+. Like the rest of the world I really enjoyed the first season. For some reason I wasn’t chomping at the bit to dive into season 2. I definitely expected it to be a come-down from the great first season. When it had come out I didn’t hear near the amount of buzz that was out there for season 1. I was confident that season 2 was going to be a bust… so I put it on the back-burner.
I am not sure what prompted me to finally hit play, but I am happy to say my expectations were exceeded in nearly every way. I really enjoyed the second season… I would say almost as much as the first. I think it is on par with what we got the first time around. It was awesome in nearly every way.
I love how Ted Lasso is able to create this world that feels so warm and inviting. I love spending time with the characters. There aren’t many shows that pull this off, but Tedd Lasso is one of the best. There is a sense of community and familiarity with every episode. Turning on an episode is like putting on a warm blanket, or spending time with old friends. That alone makes the show so nice to watch. It is difficult to explain, and I don’t know exactly how some shows do such a good job and other shows miss this feeling completely. Spending time with the Richmond football club captures that feeling extremely well, which is why I will watch as many seasons of Ted Lasso as they are willing to make.
My only criticism with the season is the story of Nate. I saw it coming from a mile away… which is fine, but the whole character arc felt clunky to me. Nate was one of my favorite charters from the first season. I guess I understand what they were trying to do in the 2nd season, but the character suffered because of it. It was all very cumbersome. I am not sure I totally understand why he became so bitter with everything. Maybe there is a more nuanced narrative that I missed, but it didn’t work for me.
Nate is clearly going to be the coach of the rival team. We will see how that goes. I don’t think they have done enough to set him up as a worthy adversary to Ted. That is my only complaint with the second season. I didn’t like the direction they took Nate and I didn’t think they did it very well. Aside from that I think it was a good season, and will be a little bit quicker on the uptake to watch season 3. I do like being able to binge watch all of the episodes all at one. For some reason I don’t think the show will work as well watching it week-to-week.