‘Ted Lasso’ Recap: ‘Two Aces’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 106 of ‘Ted Lasso’.
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If there is one supremely important lesson about life that we quickly learn in our youth, it would have to be that there are consequences for our actions. Because at some point doing our more foolish years, something we chose to do caused some kind of harm to others, or we ended up looking like quite the fool for our actions and that allowed for this lesson to stick with us for the rest of our days. To the point where we now carefully ponder upon other big decisions and potential changes to our lives, to ensure minimal fallout and hassle on our end. But while caution is never a bad thing, what’s truly fascinating about this particular life lesson, is that is comes with so many negative connotations in our minds.
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Something that is obviously attributed to the fact that we tend to learn it through sour resolution. But  we shouldn’t constantly look at the consequences of our actions as a bad thing. Because sometimes our actions are designed to bring about the kinds of changes we need in order to find happiness or fulfillment in life and oddly enough, the positive consequences that can come about from bold decisions on our part, just so happened to be the central theme of this week’s episode of Ted Lasso. Since ‘Two Aces’ took place shortly after Ted benched Jamie and bid his wife farewell and the decision to pick the story up shortly after those big decisions, allowed for the show to deceive the audience in the best possible manner. 

Because early on in this particular tale, it seemed as though Ted’s decisions were going to have all kinds of negative consequences on his life and his career. Because he really wasn’t doing all that well in regard to sending Michelle back home a single lady and of course, Jamie was being Jamie and refusing to do anything that might help the team out, which truly made it seem as though disaster was on the horizon. But a stunning moment of soccer related fury from Coach Lasso, one directed at Jamie for his lies and his laziness, brought about the genesis of the positive consequences in question. Because the team started to realize that Jamie had quit on his team and treated him accordingly for that and by not having any personal distractions surrounding him, coach was able to focus on the team and nothing more and that allowed for him to come up with some crafty plans to bring everyone together.

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Most of which revolved around the resurgence of a young player named Dani Rojas, who hurt his knee shortly before Ted’s arrival with the team. And it was Dani’s passion for the sport, and his outright skill that allowed for Ted to concoct the magnificent plans in question. Because he used Dani’s love of soccer and his competitive spirit to try and get Jamie to question why he was so jaded against the sport and the notion of teamwork, and he also used Dani’s injury to put together an intricate scheme to motivate everyone to open up to one another. In order to help them understand that they were all in this together and that wonders that could be accomplished if everyone lowered their proverbial walls, and as it turns out, these were solid plans for certain and they came to fruition in a beautiful manner.
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Because Jamie was finally motivated to seek out advice from Keeley about his sour attitude and that forced him to dig deep and find his humility and his passion for the sport. Which in turn, motivated him to become an actual member of the team. And of course, Ted got the team to open up and unify and well, those are some fine consequences to come about from playing hardball with a superstar and by stepping away from the one thing that Ted thought completed him. But while it was wonderful to see coach bring together a squad that was in dire need of unity, sadly not everyone shared his vision. Because Rebecca still wants AFC Richmond to fail so she can sell it to the highest bidder and exact some sense of revenge against her ex-husband and that prompted her to do something quite incredible and underhanded; and send Jamie back to Man City. 

A move that once again brought out some fire and fury from Coach Lasso. Leaving a little bit of tension hanging over this tale since one does have to wonder as to whether or not Ted and Rebecca will ever get on the same page or if her revenge will continue to guide her. But all tension aside, what matters more, is that this really was one incredibly uplifting episode. One that really did do a phenomenal job of looking at the bright side of consequences and the fact that we need to embrace the possibility that good things can come from tough decisions, and that particular twist reinforces the reality that this is hands down, one of the most positive and uplifting shows on television right now. Which gives us hope that the tension present at the end of this tale will eventually be resolved in the best way possible; with Ted finally reaching Rebecca and with AFC Richmond finally enjoying the success it has so longed for. Until next time.

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