‘Ted Lasso’ Recap: ‘Do the Right-est Thing’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 203 of ‘Ted Lasso’.
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Something that's supremely unique about sports films and television shows is that they make a grand effort to stay away from examining modern struggles or offering up commentary about our world, and it makes some sense as to why. The sports genre has worked hard to establish itself as one of inspiration— But as the storytelling landscape continues to change and shift, and as audiences demand depth that reflects upon the realities of the world, it's only a matter of time before social commentary becomes the norm in the sports genre. It appears that the Apple TV+ series, Ted Lasso is looking to lead the way in this change as evidenced by its latest episode.

‘Do the Right-est Thing,’ is filled to the brim with fascinating commentary on a matter that no sports show is addressing at the moment, and it approached this particular examination by outright surprising us. Early in this episode, it seemed as though this chapter in Ted's story was going to focus heavily on the reintegration of Jamie Tartt into the squad— something that was, quite frankly, not going well. Everyone on the team saw Jamie as the enemy, and that motivated Ted to bust out his ‘evil’ alter ego: Led Tasso. A nasty (for Ted, anyway) coach that used yelling and language as spicy as chipotle mayonnaise to motivate his team. Ted's plan for busting out ol' Led, was to get to the team to hate him instead of Jamie, and his plan worked in spades. Not only did the team quickly become sick of the schtick, but it was Jamie who called "Led" out on it. In doing so, Jamie was suddenly respected and welcomed again by the team, and oddly enough, the resolution of that little problem is what allowed the story to ease into social commentary.

After Sam Obisanya was free of his frustrations of having Jamie back on the team, he had to deal with a moral conundrum because in this episode, he was selected to become the face of Dubai Air which included photoshoots and an entire ad campaign revolving around him. However, after Sam's father informed him of the heinous acts that Dubai's parent company participated in back at home, Sam decided that he needed to make a stand. Sam stepped away from the campaign and used his star-status on the team to speak out against those injustices. Sam's decision leads to some beautiful moments such as when Rebecca stands with Sam and basically tells Dubai Air to "take a hike" when they express their desire to have Sam cut from the team over spurning their ad campaign. And it even led to more solidarity amongst the team because when Sam took the time to block out the Dubai logo on his jersey, and when he explained his reasoning, everyone followed suit— including Jamie Tartt.​

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Although that moment definitely made for some feel good moments on our phones, tablets and televisions, let's be honest— the way that the team rallied behind Sam and supported his decision gave us pause because it was an outright allegory for the Black Lives Matter protests that swept the NFL just a couple of years ago. Wherein Colin Kaepernick and other players knelt during the national anthem to protest how African Americans are treated by police. What gives the viewer pause here is that in this area of T.V. Land, everyone did the opposite of how this was handled in America. There were no cutaways to incompetent politicians decrying Sam's act as "wrong for the nation." Nor were there any fools with two followers on Twitter speaking out of their backsides about freedoms with impunity. Instead, the right thing was on display; nothing more, nothing less. Going this route, rather than the alternative, brought about a powerful analysis on this type of act from athletes.

This episode made it clear that athletes are indeed seen as genuine heroes in this world; for they accomplish wonders and bring joy to lives everywhere with their incredible athletic feats, and they could —and should— use their 'powers' for good. Athletes can raise awareness about issues that are important in our world, start conversations, and enact change. Equally important is that we as fans should be encouraging them to do so, instead of telling them to 'shut up and play'. This an opportunity for athletes to influence the young minds that look up to them to be better people, to fight for what's right, and teach them that if they're strong enough in their conviction and show others the way, wonders of equity and unity can eventually be achieved. This kind of change was evidenced by the NFL's eventual and mostly proper handling of these protests and the ones that swept the United States in 2020: The league put the proper message on helmets and in end-zones to raise awareness, and they committed to causes to end systemic racism.
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The commentary explored in this episode leaves viewers in awe because everything we just analyzed was handled in a supremely subtle and intelligent manner that will stay with the viewer because they'll be thinking about all of those elements for days on end. This also goes to show that sports shows can, in fact, offer more depth in their stories. And if handled correctly, sports entertainment can also analyze the troubles of our world and give us plenty to think about when it comes to how we solve our challenges. Hopefully, other sports shows take a page from Ted Lasso and make their own attempts at speaking to our world. But while we wait for that day to come, we can bask in the wonder of one brilliant tale, the one that "did it first" and pulled it off in a hilarious but meaningful fashion. As always, the humor here was simply sublime; specifically the Led Tasso sequence and the return of Flo. In the end, all of this just goes to show that Ted Lasso really is the finest sports show on the airwaves, and it will undoubtedly continue to wow us and blaze trails as season two rolls along. Until next time!

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