Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt and Jason Sudeikis in Ted Lasso. Authors: Colin Hutton. lasso
Two of the most talked about TV shows of the last few years, in the form of «Succession» and «Ted Lasso», ended this week. Despite the presence of Harriet Walter as a matriarch prone to giving questionable advice in both series, they otherwise have surprisingly little in common. Legacy is a misanthropic, cynical show about the worst of human nature that, unsurprisingly, ended with the main characters betraying each other and being sentenced to a purgatory of their own making.
Ted Lasso, however, is a sunny, upbeat program that celebrates the good in people and affirms the belief that anyone can succeed if they are true to themselves and their fellow men. Everything ended happily for everyone, except for the snarling and villainous rival of Anthony Head, the owner of the football club Rupert Mannion, who was humiliated and left to fend for himself. Incidentally, Head's tongue-in-cheek witticisms often made him the most interesting (or at least apologetically likable) character on screen.
The existential differences between the two series, which are among the most award-winning in recent years, are beautifully illustrated by their findings. In Legacy, we end with protagonist Kendall Roy drifting and alone, having failed at everything he wants out of life. However, in «Ted Lasso», the show ends with Ted completely buying out the football club he got into, AFC Richmond, and making everyone's life happier, richer, and fuller with his inimitable American optimism before returning home. to his son.
The first show is an elegant and intelligent opus for feeling bad; the latter seems to be designed to provide a euphoric rush, roughly akin to Richard Curtis's mainstream films, when he gorges himself on chocolate for a week. But why — at least in Britain — is Legacy the show everyone is talking about, and why Ted Lasso's conclusion is nothing more than a shrug?
It is an obvious fact that the exploits of Ted and others are shown on Apple TV, which, despite the numerous and generous free trials offered to viewers — tricky or unscrupulous, will barely pay for it ever — has not yet taken advantage of the public consciousness in the same way. like other streaming services like Netflix and Disney+. did. (Presumably Apple is hoping blockbusters like Ridley Scott's Napoleon and Martin Scorsese's The Flower Moon Killers will turn things around.)
However, the reason Ted Lasso doesn't seem to like the Brits is because, underneath his beaming smiles, hugs and neat little self-improvement mantras, he seems like a strange ersatz. This is a performance about football and life, created by people who seem to have no interest in the first and some particularly narrow attitude towards the second.
Ted Lasso's fictional football team, AFC Richmond. Authors: Colin Hutton
And now the confession: I myself am not a fan of football. However, as Chris Bennion brilliantly wrote here, die-hard fans of a great game are likely to find Ted Lasso disappointing solely because of the amount of error he makes in describing the sport. As Bennion writes, “Obviously the show was either made for an American audience, or for people who don't care about football, or both. The people I know who love this show have little or no interest in football and are confused when I say the show doesn't look, feel or smell like football.»
This was in 2021 and nothing has changed significantly since then. The show is not about football, but simply uses it as a means to solve their problems. The only minor (off-screen) concession to anything even approaching realism was that the normally mediocre AFC Richmond did not win the Premier League after losing to longtime nemesis Manchester City.
That's toned down though, and their defeat to Mannion's West Ham United is naturally a big cathartic conclusion: a scene in which every cliché of the genre (2-0 down at half-time; pep talk in the locker room; the last-minute winning goal) is dug up and presented with the obvious sincerity that the show has displayed for three seasons, as if freshly minted.
James Lance and Billy Harris in Ted Lasso. Author: Colin Hutton. uplifting or exciting, but just predictable and cheap; it is the end telegraphed from space and seen from there just as the Great Wall of China is said to be seen.
It didn't help that the main storylines revolving around football culture were woefully unconvincing. In an industry notoriously lagging far behind the rest of the country when it comes to accepting homosexuality, predictably there was a storyline involving the character Colin coming out of the closet (with the help of funny journalist James Lance). club biographer Trent Krimm) for his enthusiastic and sincere support of his team.
And the development of «Nate the Great» Nick Mohammed, from clumsy outfitter to genius tactician, from hostile rival manager to warmly received wunderkind, has stretched trust to its limits. Although, no doubt, he is now a hero to any beleaguered third striker, forever trembling on the touchline and hoping for fame and recognition, not to mention the beautiful girl that Nate eventually finds.
If the show's third and final season had been better, then these issues wouldn't matter. But after two seasons in which the apparently upbeat and upbeat attitude of Jason Sudeikis, the star of the script, both on and off the screen, was contagious enough to let the sometimes weak material and weak storylines find their way into the flow of how good things are. spend time, the last part jumped on the shark in the most sugary way imaginable. A few weeks ago, The Atlantic stated that «Ted Lasso has gone astray» and went on to complain that «as she garnered viewership and accolades, the charming workplace sitcom has morphed into overblown prestige drama.»
Juno Temple and Hannah Waddingham in Ted Lasso. Authors: Colin Hutton.
The situation did not improve after the finale, which was criticized by both the audience and critics for being unconvincing, stereotyped and tiring. In his combination of almost self-parodic self-help mantras, clear and hasty decisions for his characters, and especially a leaden air of elation, he at times seemed more punitive than a close reprimand from the perpetually blasphemous Roy Kent.
I sat down contemplating what my favorite soft rock song would be chosen to accompany its ending, and wondered if it would be Coldplay's Fix You or something edgier — perhaps U2 — but in the end it was an extended one, which somehow a remixed version of the song. Father and son Kat Stevens. It started off beautifully, lingered at the welcome reception, and by the end became rather perplexing, even annoying: the perfect metaphor for the show.
And the fact that Ed Sheeran — the epitome of harmless music — wrote the original Beautiful Game song for the final episode speaks for itself.
Richmond itself has become a hugely popular tourist destination over the last couple of years, going from a charming semi-suburb of London to a place filled with American tourists. One of its staples, the Prince's Head Pub on Richmond Green — the series' «Crown and Anchor» — finds patrons dutifully lining up outside before it opens, and crafty homeowners have set up a «Ted Lasso Corner» with commemorative things signed by stars.
However, this is not a phenomenon that has spread to the British viewers of the show, who continue to treat Richmond and football in the same way they have traditionally always — as something simply eternal. — a fixed mark in our lives, and not something that should be incredibly worried about.
It's hard not to applaud Sudeikis, his co-stars and co-writers for their obvious intent to make a series mostly about good (though sometimes misguided) people pulling together for each other and succeeding in life when they do. And there's been so much fun along the way — I'm thinking in particular of Hannah Waddingham's gorgeous and well-deserved award-winning performance as club owner Rebecca, who hires Ted to knock Richmond down but ends up with a tearful goodbye. with him. airport — that sounds rude to criticize his frank messages.
Nick Mohammed as Nate in Ted Lasso. Author: Colin Hutton. The tricks of the last episode, something got into my eyes during the scene in which they broke up. Perhaps this was an acknowledgment that the platonic relationship between the duo remained the most touching and interesting in the series.
However, as Ted himself seemed to become more of a minor figure, sidelined by a plethora of subplots and minor characters, and often slightly confusing incidents, the show lost its path, its core, and its focus. It's likely there will be spin-offs, likely revolving around marketing executive Juno Temple Keely, who pitches the idea for the AFC Richmond women's team in the closing moments. Sudeikis and others have been reticent about the prospect of further incursions into Ted Lasso's universe, and now it's hard not to ask them to leave them alone.
One of The Legacy's main appeals to British audiences is that, thanks to its English creator and showrunner Jesse Armstrong, it has a rich and dark streak of ironic and bitter humor in its black heart that residents of this cynical, rain-drenched nation especially enjoy. Ted Lasso, on the other hand, is an All-American show in British costume. Unsurprisingly, domestic audiences have never taken to the idea of a smiling Yankee — be it Ted or Sudeikis himself — coming in here and telling us how it's supposed to be done.
AFC Richmond may have won the day, but most British spectators, bombarded with wellness so overwhelming that they start to feel like anesthesia, can be forgiven for flinching and running towards something instead more realistic. And that, in a nutshell, is Ted's mistake. He may have won, but hearts and minds in his temporary adopted country remain unwavering no matter what.
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