Ted Lasso Review: Goodbye, Earl (Season 2 Episode 1)
If, for whatever reason, you missed out on what is possibly the sweetest, most genuine, and deliciously heartfelt comedy on any platform anywhere last year, Ted Lasso Season 2, Episode 1, “Goodbye Earl” makes for a perfect entry point into the delightful world of this charmingly bizarre cast of characters.
(That said, if you haven’t seen Ted Lasso Season 1, please fix your life. You can thank me later.)
Jumping back into the world of this show feels like wrapping yourself in a cozy blanket, as Coach Lasso continues to encourage everyone around him to be their best selves, even in the face of bad luck, long odds, and situations that make them uncomfortable.
Picking up where Season 1 left off, “Goodbye Earl” begins as the AFC Richmond Greyhounds are struggling through their first season after relegation, and they aren’t exactly setting the world on fire with their play.
Seven games — and seven separate ties — into the season, Ted still believes things will turn around eventually. but for him, it’s really never been about the idea of winning anyway.
Things worsen when Dani Rojas, AFC Richmond’s star player in the wake of Jamie Tart’s transfer and Roy Kent’s retirement, accidentally kills the team mascot during a penalty kick. (Greyhound Earl Grey broke free from his handler chasing a pigeon and tragically ran in front of Dani’s shot and it’s all very awful.)
Sweet-natured Dani is devastated, and even Ted’s patented pep talks bring him no comfort. But when Higgins suggests bringing in a sports psychologist to treat his yips (the colloquial term for a sudden and unexplained loss of skills in experienced athletes), Ted doesn’t react to her arrival as enthusiastically as you might expect.
In fact, he actually seems kind of jealous of new team member Doctor Sharon. Well, as jealous as Ted ever gets, anyway. But it’s clear that having someone else be able to solve the problems of his players that he can’t fix is getting to him.
Ted’s generally sunny outlook often makes it easy to forget that last season actually contained a fairly traumatic event for him: His divorce.
His admission that he views therapists with suspicion makes such sense — he felt as though he was being set up for failure during couple’s therapy and in all honesty, that might have been true — and an important reminder that for all his charming quips and sweet disposition, even Ted Lasso is still very, very human.
Elsewhere, it’s a huge relief that retirement hasn’t pushed Roy off the series’ canvas. Instead, he and Keely, truly, the series’ romantic OTP, seem stronger than ever. (Thank everything. I can bear many things but definitely not a Roy/Keely breakup.)
She’s still working for Rebecca, but Roy has taken to life after football with gusto, coaching an eight-year-old girls’ team — with typical profane-laced Roy flare — and continuing his weekly tradition of rose and reality TV with a local group of sixtysomething yoga ladies. (Who naturally have no idea who he actually is.)
Keely is urging her boyfriend to take a job as a football pundit with Sky Sports, which honestly does seem like a perfect fit for him. But for some reason, Roy seems reluctant to engage much with the life he left behind. (Keely excepted, of course.)
Despite the fact that Ted keeps leaving him comp tickets to AFC Richmond matches under a variety of increasingly hilarious country singer-themed false names (Dolly Parton! Shania Twain!), Roy has yet to take any of them. And it sounds as though he hasn’t seen Ted or any of his former teammates since the events of the Season 1 finale.
I know that I can’t be the only one hoping/wondering why no one has offered Roy a job yet with AFC Richmond itself, but here’s hoping that when we inevitably see the dramatic retirement speech/press conference that people keep referencing in “Goodbye, Earl” things will make more sense on that front.
Stray Thoughts and Observations:
- The brief sequence in which Ted answers Trent Crimm (The Independent!)’s question about the death of Earl Grey the dog by spinning it into a personal story about the dog that bit him once as a child and how we can love things that once frightened us is honestly the most perfect microcosm of this show ever.
- Keely and Rebecca’s friendship is so wonderful, but I truly love that it was Roy — cynical, foul-mouthed Roy — who reminds Rebecca that she deserves more than settling for a romantic partner who’s simply fine rather than wonderful.
- That swear jar tab of Roy’s is going to pay for Phoebe’s college, is what I’m saying.
- I felt so bad for laughing at poor Dani in the shower just crossing himself repeatedly saying Hail Marys after Earl’s death, but it was honestly hilarious.
What did you think of this episode of Ted Lasso? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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New episodes of Ted Lasso stream Fridays on AppleTV+.
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Lacy Baugher
Lacy is a pop culture enthusiast and television critic who loves period dramas, epic fantasy, space adventures, and the female characters everyone says you're supposed to hate. Ninth Doctor enthusiast, Aziraphale girlie, and cat lady, she's a member of the Television Critics Association and Rotten Tomatoes-approved. Find her at LacyMB on all platforms.