‘Ted Lasso’ Recap: ‘Beard After Hours’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 209 of ‘Ted Lasso’.
​
One aspect of life that each and every one of us tries to avoid at all costs is rock bottom. Because if we've hit our lowest, we firmly believe that we're nothing more than a grand failure, and we think that we won't recover from this low point because a failure is the worst possible thing that any of us can be in life. However, whether we like it or not, there's going to come a point in life where we're going to fail badly and hit rock bottom because of it. But what truly matters when that unfortunate moment arrives is how we respond to it; our reaction is what decides how long we languish at the bottom and what becomes of us going forward. This particularly unpleasant aspect of life is important to our discussion today because it takes center stage in the next episode of Ted Lasso.

‘Beard After Hours’ is a story that takes the time to show us what happened to Coach Beard after he stormed off into the night following the ugly loss that AFC Richmond suffered at the hands of Manchester City. It turns out that Coach Beard was in a very dark and angry place following that catastrophe, and his sulking and stewing motivated him to glare at children on his way home. And home is indeed where he went; there was the comfort of silence and alcohol at his place, making it seem as though perhaps all he needed was a little quiet and a cold beer to cool off from the events that transpired that evening. But once some insulting auditory hallucinations came into play, it became clear that Coach Beard was badly rattled by the events of the day and was at his absolute lowest, which is when this episode examined the power of being at rock bottom and how best to confront it.
​
What made this examination so impressive is that it took us through every aspect of rock bottom in order to give the audience a genuine understanding of how hard it can hit and how it can motivate us to do some foolish things before something positive comes out of it— which seems to be why Coach Beard was quick to journey from his home to drown his troubles at his usual watering hole. This served as a fine reminder that sometimes we believe that letting dark emotions wash over us is only way to get through them. As if, somehow, soaking in sorrow will help us to better understand our situation and move on from it, when all it does it make things worse... as evidenced by how Coach Beard's mood continued to slip into fouler territory with every sip of alcohol that touched his lips and with every mention of the game his ears absorbed at the bar.

---

Becoming overwhelmed by all of these factors led to the next example of how unhealthy the rock bottom experience can be. Specifically, we believe that losing ourselves is another fine way to handle rock bottom because we think that in doing so, we can see the situation objectively and attack it from a proper angle. But all that does is lead to more foolishness and embarrassing moments because we tend to lose control when we lose ourselves— a point that the story hammered home by having Coach Beard and the local fans that populate the pub disguise themselves as well-to-do socialites so they could sneak into an upscale club and enjoy an incredible evening...which worked to everyone's benefit at first: The lads fit in fine, and Beard caught the eye of a beautiful woman— a welcome surprise that eased the pain of he and Jayne having trouble. But alas, hiding behind fancy clothes, upscale beer, and posh environments did nothing to fix Beard's situation. In fact, his antics made things worse because his bravado and lies plunged him into a bevy of misunderstandings and physical altercations, including one with James Tartt.

Thankfully, kindness and understanding got him out of that mess, and after Coach Beard returned home worse for the wear, the story took some time to explain how we should properly deal with failure and hitting our absolute lowest. As it turns out, once we're lost in every way, the only thing that we can do is pick ourselves up, move forward, and confront all the things that put us in this position. Until we do, we go nowhere and feel nothing of value— which is precisely why Coach Beard took the time to make up with Jayne in a language that only they would understand and why he showed up to the work the next day with coffee as expected: So he could move on from that ugly game by winning the next one, and well, that ending and everything that preceded it, made this one of the most unique tales that Ted Lasso has ever given us.
​
Coach Ted has always been the primary focus of the journey, and considering how 'Man City' ended, one might think that he would have been top of mind here. Instead, 'Beard After Hours' goes to show that this series can make use of other characters in a creative and comical light to teach us important life lessons. Plus, it was great to finally get to know Coach Beard a little better, see his mischievous side, learn how much the sport means to him, and understand how badly he wants to be successful as a coach. And let's be honest, this really was the perfect palate cleanser because the gags and jokes throughout the episode gave us a little more time to process Ted's past and plight. However, now that Coach Beard's wild and meaningful ride through London has come to a close, it's undoubtedly time to return to our hero and see how Ted learns to heal from deeply embedded trauma— and that's going to make the final few episodes of season two of this brilliant series as poignant and as powerful as they come. Until next time.

---