The third episode of Ted Lasso’s second season, titled “Do The Right-est Thing,” aired last Friday, August 6, on Apple TV+. I can confidently say that this episode is by far the best of the season thus far, and it’s all due to the writer of this episode, Ashley Nicole Black, who is one of my current favorite TV writers from her work on The Amber Ruffin Show and A Black Lady Sketch Show.
Spoilers for 2×3 of Ted Lasso ahead!
The episode opens with Ted being greeted by a young girl, who promptly states she’s 13. We find out that this is Nora, Rebecca’s goddaughter that we heard so much about from Rebecca’s friend Sassy in season one. Yes, this means the return of “Sassy Smurf,” as Ted calls her, yay! We see her in Rebecca’s office for a quick catch-up and find out that Nora is being left in Rebecca’s care while Sassy goes off to Brighton for a few days.
We then transition into the new environment of Richmond’s locker room, with the return of Jaime Tartt. Keeley enters the locker room to show Sam Obisanya his promotional photos for the new campaign for Dubai Air, the team’s sponsor. The guys all tease him about it respectfully, as friends do, but when Jaime tries to get in on the fun, it’s promptly shut down.
Next, we see Rebecca struggling to connect with Nora as they haven’t been in touch for the last six years. And who comes to her rescue but none other than Roy Kent. Roy imparts some wisdom to Rebecca that is another one of the show’s very realistic truth bombs that doesn’t feel incredibly cheesy: Kids just want to be a part of adult’s lives. Phoebe wants to go to Roy’s podiatry appointment, Nora wants to shadow Rebecca at work. They just want to feel like they are a part of something in our grown-up
The bulk of this episode focuses on the conflict that Sam learns via a text exchange with his father. Sam sends him the Dubai Air promo photos, super excited about his opportunity. His dad, rather than supporting him, expresses his disappointment with Sam, which Sam finds out is because of Dubai Air’s treatment of the Nigerian environment specifically. Sam feels discouraged by this knowledge and doesn’t know how to cope with the fact that he so blatantly is supporting a corporation that is ruining his home country like this.
One of my favorite scenes of the episode is when we are reunited with Shannon, the feisty neighborhood soccer player that Ted got acquainted with in season one. Shannon delivers coffee to Ted from Coach Beard because he had to run off, and Ted and Shannon have some fun banter as Ted starts his day. It’s a very sweet scene and I love seeing Ted in the Richmond community.
We also get to see Nora spend a day in the life of Rebecca Welton, which is humorous and heartwarming and shows off how well written and realistic this fictional thirteen year old actually is. Kiki May as Nora is a show-stealer and viewers fall in love with her more and more as she spends the day alongside Rebecca, Keeley, and Higgins. And of course, her precious crush on Sam as he is her favorite player. Nora and Rebecca work together to get Sam out of his campaign with Dubai Air, but are told that he needs to be fired from AFC Richmond. Nora reminds Rebecca to “do the right-est thing.” This is where we see the massive development that Rebecca has had over the course of the show: this woman who would once do anything to destroy the team that her ex-husband loved is now willing to risk everything to keep Sam on the team. Rebecca has grown so much from the person she was straight after her divorce.
Possibly the funniest part of the episode is when we meet Led Tasso, Ted’s alter ego that comes out to whip the team into shape. Led Tasso is a caricature of a classic angry coach and is so starkly different to Ted Lasso that when he “wakes up” he has to ask Beard, “How long was I out?” Since nothing seems to be working to bring the team together and on the same page about Jaime’s return, Jaime attempts to seek help from Keeley. Keeley, however, in a refreshing way sets a boundary with Jaime and introduces him to Dr. Fieldstone. Not only is this incredibly mature for Keeley, as she knows she shouldn’t get super emotionally involved in her ex-boyfriend’s problems, but it’s huge progress for Jaime as well to talk to a professional.
The end of this episode is something that I believe will be considered legendary television. Sam is conflicted about wearing his jersey with Dubai Air plastered across it, so he takes black tape and covers it. The entire locker room slowly joins in to stand with Sam, including Jaime, who was once his biggest rival. This brought tears to my eyes as Jaime clearly got the help he needed from Dr. Fieldstone. This act of kindness brought the team together more than any “Led Tasso” ever would, and it was the most selfless way to write in a redemption arc for Jaime. Seeing the entire Richmond team lined up with their jerseys covered by black tape was such a powerful image and spoke volumes about what this show stands for: unity.
The episode was based on actual environmental and human rights offenses that corporations like Shell and Eni are perpetuating in Nigeria. The writers and cast are spreading awareness about the negligence of the Niger Delta through their social media platforms. For more information, look up #NigerDelta on Twitter.
Ted Lasso is now streaming on Apple TV+.
