Ted Lasso

Episode Reviews

Mar. 15, 2023 – S3, Ep1: “Smells Like Mean Spirit”

Ted copes with rude comments from his former assistant coach, Nate (now head coach of Richmond’s rival), as he begins training his team for a new season.

A couple talks about having sex (and it’s implied they’ve already done the deed since he is lying in bed with only blankets covering him). We hear a man got caught pinching his employees’ rear ends. We see a man from the shoulders up as he showers. A woman wears a cropped top. Someone mentions an “orgasm for the soul.”

There’s a passive remark about a man who died after getting struck by a train. Two women admire a gal on television who accidentally burned down a house trying to set her ex’s things on fire.

We hear about a cult that was shut down. Two players cross themselves after someone mentions a nun. A woman says she trusts in the universe.

There’s some question about a man’s ability to drive after he uses psychedelics. Ted says he had to tell his son, Henry, why cocaine is bad for you. People drink. Someone is called a “drunk geezer.” There’s mention of wine. We hear about someone spitting alcohol in a woman’s face. A man spits up and nearly vomits. There are multiple sewage jokes after Ted takes the team to London’s sewers for a training exercise.

A child comments on America’s political landscape. Ted tries to protect Henry from inappropriate movies after Henry accidentally views It during a transatlantic flight. A man is judged for driving a cheap car. Folks are condescending to him because he used to wash a team’s underwear.

Ted is sad to say goodbye to Henry after a visit. It’s clear his divorce and distance from Henry is weighing on Ted, especially after learning his wife is dating someone new. A man has to explain to his niece that he’s broken up with his girlfriend since she and the girlfriend had grown close. A child says one of her core beliefs is that nothing lasts forever because her parents split when she was 4 years old.

We hear the f-word nearly 20 times and the s-word four times. There are also uses of “h—,” “p-ss,” “c–k” and “pr–k,” as well as the British expletives “bloody,” “tw-t” and “w–ker.” God’s name is misused twice and Jesus’ name is abused once. Someone makes a crude hand gesture. A man is upset that his adult son swore during a press conference. A girl asks permission to use a bad word and, after receiving it, uses the term “stupid.”

When Ted worries about the team’s chances of winning, Henry reminds him that winning isn’t everything. Ted responds to rude comments with kindness, impressing many people and reminding his boss what really matters.

Jul. 23, 2021 – S1, Ep2: “Goodbye Earl”

It’s a new season, both for Ted Lasso the coach and Ted Lasso the series. While AFC Richmond struggles to break a frustrating streak of ties, an unfortunate accident causes footballer Dani Rojas to suddenly lose his ability to play, and club owner Rebecca tentatively re-enters the dating scene.

The first episode of the new season features many of the same content issues of its predecessor. We see Dani wake up in bed shirtless between two sleeping women. Retired AFC Richmond player Roy Kent watches a reality show called Lust Conquers All (on which his old teammate and rival Jamie Tartt is a contestant), and we see a woman in a revealing bikini. Jamie tells the audience that he’s the “top scorer” on the show—“Sexually,” he clarifies cheekily. Rebecca’s new boyfriend, John, invites her over to his place after a date, but she declines. Higgins, Rebecca’s assistant, laments that he has to watch Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back with his kids and explain the scene where Luke and Leia, who turn out to be twins, make out. Ted mentions that he once attended a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood.

In a particularly tense moment during a match, assistant coach Nathan asks Ted, “Is it okay if I pray?” Ted responds, “Yeah, sure. But to which god and in which language?” They decide to simply cross their fingers and make wishes instead. Dani stands fully clothed in the shower and prays in Spanish, continuously crossing himself. Ted and his assistant, Coach Beard, are incredibly superstitious about using the term “the yips,” which refers to when a player suddenly loses their athletic ability. Ted compares it so saying “Macbeth” in a theater, which many believe brings bad luck. As Higgins leaves to watch Star Wars with his family, Ted quotes, “May the Force be with you,” to which Higgins responds, “And also with you.”

Rebecca, Ted, Higgins and Keeley drink cocktails together after a match. While on a double date, Rebecca, John and Keeley sip glasses of wine, while Roy throws back multiple glasses of hard liquor. Ted and Coach Beard drink beer at a pub, and Keeley jokes about Roy getting “buzzed on rosé,” which we later see him drink with his club of yoga moms. Keeley also offers to come over to Roy’s apartment with a bottle of wine.

While attempting a penalty kick during a match, Dani’s ball accidentally hits and kills the team mascot, Earl the greyhound. The impact happens offscreen, but we hear the whimper of the dog and see the horrified faces of the crowd. Later, Dani has a nightmare about the event in which blood splatters onto his face before he wakes up. Roy’s 8-year-old niece Phoebe tells Keeley she got a red card for “elbowing a girl in her neck” during one of her football matches. “And I’m very proud,” Roy says before kissing her on the head.

As in the first season, profanity is nearly constant. The f-word is used 16 times, the s-word is heard nine times, and God’s name is taken in vain six times. “H—” is used three times, while “d–n” is used twice. Other expletives such as “pr–k” and “tw-t” appear as well.

Aug. 21, 2020 – S1, Ep4: “For the Children”

Rebecca prepares to host an annual fundraising gala—an event she’s always co-hosted with her husband before—but is blindsided when her ex-hubby shows up and upstages her at every step. Meanwhile, Ted tries to use the dinner to forge a peace between his petulant stars, Roy and Jamie.

Players are “auctioned” off as part of the charity, and Jamie (an arrogant 23-year-old who attends the banquet with a suit, sans shirt) is told that he’ll need to have sex with whoever bids on him if the bidding reaches a certain point. (It’s a lie, but several crude jokes, involving various forms of sex, are made regarding Jamie’s misconception.) Keeley, Jamie’s girlfriend, learns that Jamie’s been two-timing with another woman. (Rebecca’s husband later leaves the banquet with that same “other woman.”)

Trying to ease the friction at his table, Ted says he has an idea that’ll either “help a little or hurt a whole lot. Who needs a drink?” All hands are raised, and Ted grabs a bevy of beers. We see plenty of other drink, as well—everything from martinis to wine to beer to mixed drinks. At the end of the night, a woman grabs a couple of unopened bottles of champagne from the bar and asks another woman, “Do you want to go and get really drunk? And then we can go, like, rob a bank or something.” Ted asks for “Jack on the rocks”—and a triple helping at that. Someone spits out a martini.

We hear jokes referencing various forms of genitalia. We see a player shirtless several times. He makes several incredibly crass comments about another player’s mother (and who she should have sex with). Ted says he likes his locker rooms to be like his mother’s bathing suit: In one piece. Characters say the f-word a dozen times and the s-word a good half-dozen. We also hear “a–,” “b–ch,” “h—,” “d–n,” “p-ss,” “pr–k” and the British profanity “b–locks.”

Aug. 14, 2020 – S1, Ep1: “Pilot”

Ted leaves his job as an American college football coach to take the helm of a dysfunctional Premiere League soccer team. He admits that you could fill “two internets with what I don’t know about football,” but he receives no quarter from the fans, the notoriously nasty British press or the team itself. And that’s just the way Rebecca, the team’s new owner, wants it.

Rebecca fires the current coach, calling him out on his “casual misogyny” and his too-short shorts that often reveal his testicles. (He, meanwhile, asks if a “poof” helped decorate her office and compliments her on her “impressive chest,” and he jokingly tries to punch the nether-regions of Rebecca’s assistant.) We hear several references to Rebecca’s philandering husband and see a picture of him surrounded by women. When Ted Lasso walks through an empty locker room, he spies a bare-breasted picture of one player’s girlfriend. We see the un-edited picture indistinctly, and Ted places black tape over the breasts (as the appreciative girlfriend walks in).

When Ted greets the owner as “Miss Welton,” Rebecca insists that she call her Rebecca. “Miss Welton was my father,” she jokes. Ted says if that is a joke, it’s funny. And if not, “Can’t wait to unpack that with you.” We see a couple of soccer players shirtless. Fans drink beer as they hurl insults at a TV screen (on which Ted is holding his first press conference). Ted quips that life is like riding a horse: “If you’re comfortable while you’re doing it, you’re probably doing it wrong.” We hear references to masturbation, and a player ogles his girlfriend’s rear.

Characters say the f-word 13 times and the s-word twice. We also hear “a–,” “p-ss,” “tw-t,” “w–ker” and “d–k.” God’s name is misused three times, and Jesus’ name is abused once.