Ted Lasso is Great but Keeley Deserves More Credit

You know reading all the discussion about Ted Lasso “saving” people or believing in them and bringing out their better selves (in light of the Nate situation) I don’t think Keeley gets nearly enough credit on her own.

But the discourse around Ted Lasso this season was really all over the place. And I have so many thoughts on this season it’s probably going to be two parts.

SPOILERS!

First off Ted, Nate and Mental health.

This season of course introduced Doc Sharon (Sarah Niles) who came on to help Dani after that unfortunate incident in the beginning. And really only the love this show had built up in me in the first season was what kept me from immediately tuning out after killing a dog.

RIP Earl.

Ted is not a particular fan of therapy we find out but after a panic attack (hell even before that) we come to understand Ted might need her most.

As someone who both needs but still fears therapy I thought these scenes were exceedingly well done. One of my favorites of the whole season was when Sharon called him out on his whole you don’t care about your patients cause you’re paid.

But while Ted and several of the team members seek out Sharon for help. Self-hating, validation seeking Nate slips under everyones radar and winds up going full Vader on a (frankly in my opinion way to understanding at that point) Ted and fucking off to Coach West Ham now owned by Rebecca’s ex-husband Rupert (Anthony Head whose continued presence next season might be the thing I’m must looking forward to.)

And oh gosh Nick Mohammed was so good especially the obnoxious eye-rolling and not even under the breath comments as everything hit the fan.

Probably my favorite line of the season came from Coach Beard who by that point had enough of his shit (as he knew about Nate’s bullying of Colin earlier and he knew exactly who sold Ted out)…

Nate to Roy: I deserve to be head butted.

(For grabbing and lying an unwanted kiss on Keeley and yeah you do deserve it for that Nate.)

Coach Beard: I’d be happy to head butt you Nate.

I don’t agree with anything Nate said to Ted but it got me thinking a lot of the people who did change who did the work on themselves due to interaction with Ted…

Also did so in large part (if not larger) due to Keeley (Juno Temple) and she really doesn’t get any of the credit when we parse about how Ted helps people, whether he should be helping people, how his trauma leads him in. Keeley just under the radar does.

I mean look at the progress Roy and Jamie have both made. Yes Ted gave Roy a book and brought him back as a Coach but Keeley was the first person (along with his adorable niece) to make him see there was life after football. And one of my other favorite season 2 scenes is when she quietly walks a whining complaining Jamie down the hall and drops him in a seat across from Doctor Sharon because, “She gets paid to listen to you complain…”

Plus while you cannot discount Ted immediately forgiving Rebecca or his generally just being his likable self and making Higgins and consequently her question what she was doing it was Keeley’s friendship that more strongly brought Rebecca back to herself.

It was Keeley she could talk to about her husband and new Rebecca and topless pictures and it was Keeley who basically told her if she didn’t tell Ted every thing that would be over.

And actually it’s worked both ways because in the Rebecca-Keeley instance we’ve seen this season what it’s done for Keeley to have someone believe in her professionally and give her a chance (and that was all Rebecca not Ted). And her helping Roy and Jamie have strangely been able to get them to the point where Roy can be enough of a version of that player Jamie kept a poster of as a kid (albeit as a Coach) that he’s the Coach and support Jamie needs when he stands up to his own father.

So all I’m saying is Ted is great but Keeley deserves a lot more credit than she’s getting!