Two things are clear by the end of “Curiouser and Curiouser!” First, this new season of Ted Lasso is very much a retread of season one – for good and for ill. We have Ted returning to take over the reins of a team that is floundering in the second tier of English football, with players that are fine but not special, who need some of that special Lasso help to get over the hump and turn into a real team. And second, we have a character in a position of authority – that would be the much-discussed Coach Alice Chilton – who needs Ted to figure out what makes her tick and win her over to his side of the fence. Now, that’s not quite the same as Ted trying to counter Rebecca’s goal of seeing Richmond fail back in season one – we can clearly see that Alice (played by the excellent Tanya Reynolds) cares deeply about this team, its players, and women’s football as a whole. But she’s a recalcitrant, closed-off person who, while cracking a smile occasionally, doesn’t really ascribe to Ted’s brand of coaching (she’s a yeller, a la Roy). That’s catnip to someone like Ted.
And much like Roy, Alice is someone who had a career ravaged by knee injuries. But while Roy at least got to spend a number of years playing professionally – even making it make to the top of the men’s game – Alice was denied the chance at the career she dreamed of by three back-to-back-to-back ACL tears. Which is far too common in the women’s game and truly awful. That she has been able to make the switch to coaching is probably a relief – in that she’s still in football – but must also feel pretty bittersweet that she can’t actually play anymore.* When it comes to Alice, there’s clearly something within her that is slowly festering. Perhaps not like a Nate situation, but she’s aware that most everyone around her thinks she’s a bitch, they don’t really respect her or her knowledge, and she’s abrasive to the point that she’s got a wall ten feet high around her that no one can breach. It’s an interesting character to throw into the middle of the series, although it’s clearly one crafted expressly to give Ted a personal mission to undertake over the course of the season.
*There’s also the added frustration for Alice (and likely a not small portion of the fan base) that she’s been passed over for a guy who knows next to nothing about coaching women’s football. Now, I can understand if Rebecca did it solely for a personality reason, but her admission that she never once thought about a female coach for a women’s team indicates at a deeper issue that the show more or less brushes aside so that Rebecca can go on a strange bender to prove to herself that she’s really a feminist. I don’t love what the show is doing with Rebecca so far – she’s an absolute mess on every front. But I also don’t love that the writing barely managed to get into just why Ted was given the job other than because he’s Ted. Alice has every right to be frustrated that this guy waltzed in and took her position, and the fact that there’s no clear, good reason why he’s better than her is doubly so.
Now, we’ve seen how this story goes. We know that he’s Ted and when he’s paying attention to those around him – which he clearly is here – he’s going to get to the bottom of this mystery. But you know what might be even more interesting? If Ted can’t solve it. If, perhaps, Alice needs to figure it out on her own and make the choice whether or not she wants to change or stay the same (she’s clearly happy in her home life – her partner and her looked very much in love in that photo). Considering the B Plot of the episode was centered around Rebecca trying to become the perfect feminist team owner, I think it’s totally possible that we could get to a place this season where Ted recognizes that he can’t solve this problem and all he can do is hope that Alice recognizes what it is that is creating this work persona. But I guess we’ll see in the coming weeks.
Outside of the introduction of our new major character (along with some supporting characters on the team – Boots really is a bit off and I kind of love that), a lot of the episode was showing us the current situation with our returning characters. Keeley is convinced she can turn the Lady Greyhounds into stellar team with enough gilding on the lily, even as Rebecca keeps hiding that if the team fails, it could have devastating consequences for the men’s team as well. And Roy, still in love with Keeley, is willing to bend over backward to help her out – even as she tries to keep the two of them wholly platonic. Personally, I want them to either be together or not – this whole “will they or won’t they” is exhausting if it carries on for too long. Especially considering we’ve done this dance multiple times already. Roy seems to be a better, more emotionally open guy now, but I’m not convinced this relationship is really good for either of them (even though I know the fan base is desperate for the pair to get back together).
After last week’s episode, this is the first one that truly feels like an episode of Ted Lasso. Was it great? No. But the introduction of Alice offers someone for Ted to chafe against, which is a good thing (Ted needs people who don’t blossom under his brand of kindness to keep the show balanced), and that’s important to the show moving forward. And now that Beard is back working with Ted (and hopefully out from under that ridiculous beard and wig), the gang is truly back together. The trio of Ted, Beard, and Alice has a lot in common with their work with Roy in seasons two and three, so I’m interested to see how this trio differs from that one. But, all in all, a solid second outing.
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