[Gabrielle Basha]

Stephen, I’m so happy you’ve come back to this one! I love that Ted Lasso is still on our minds months later.

I did want to touch on Ted’s static first season: specifically, I want to draw a distinction between Ted himself changing and Ted’s full character being revealed to the audience. I will admit he gives way to change in accepting his divorce, but most of the revelations of the episode are actually just aspects of the character that were hidden from the audience until now: the panic attacks, the realization (or proof) that not everyone loves Ted’s endless positivity. Ted’s acceptance of his divorce is a sort of quest acceptance — a first step on the road to transformation, to being open to transformation.

It was a great setup for things to come. Maybe I’ll write a follow-up now that most have us seem to have seen Season 2. A LOT going on there to chew on!