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Ted’s Journey on this Week’s Ted Lasso Is Beautiful

Protect him!

Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso

This new episode of Ted Lasso gave us a lot to break down. Our Princess Weekes tackled the leading man quality of Roy Kent and why Nate isn’t the best, but I was also drawn towards Ted Lasso’s journey of self-discovery and opening up to Dr. Sharon. At the end of episode 6, we saw Ted Lasso suffering from another panic attack and this time, he reached out for help in a way he didn’t in season 1.

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In episode 7 entitled “Headspace,” Ted actually took steps towards opening up and fixing himself in a way that showed us a completely different side to the joyful, optimistic coach we were used to so let’s break down his journey with Dr. Sharon.

**Spoilers for season 2 episode 7 “Headspace” of Ted Lasso lie within,**

Ted Lasso always seemed like someone who was too happy to have problems. Even when his marriage was falling apart, he still looked to the bright side and it took him breaking down while the team was at karaoke and Rebecca was singing “Let It Go” from Frozen for us, as the audience, to see the break in his façade. In episode 6 of this season, Ted runs off the field in the midst of another panic attack, but this time, he ends up in the office of Dr. Sharon asking for help.

That brings us to Ted Lasso actually snapping and slamming a door as he walks out of her office. They start doing sessions and Ted says that he’ll keep coming because he doesn’t quit things, but it’s clear that he doesn’t really think therapy works. When Dr. Sharon asks about it, he’s honest because of his past with couples therapy and how it clearly didn’t work for his marriage, and he breaks into this rant about therapists and why he doesn’t trust their “search for the truth.”

But what I liked about these sessions and Ted working on himself was that he was almost unapologetic about his reactions and still kept going back to Sharon. He didn’t make excuses or turn on his Ted ways to get past it, and Sharon wouldn’t have let him even if he tried. The two found their balance and she is a damn good therapist.

Ted being willing to work on himself and open up is a huge step. I’ve said previously how I related to Ted’s desire to hide his struggles away from people and handle them on his own, and that still holds true with this episode because opening up and expressing your inner turmoil isn’t easy, so I understand his need to lash out first and get angry before coming to a place of understanding within himself. And having someone like Sharon there to guide him is incredibly important.

I’m glad their relationship is shifting. Before, it seemed like Ted wanted nothing more than to prove he was fine and happy and perfect to her, but she’s a therapist. She could see through his game, and now that they’re working together and taking the time to explore what Ted’s going through? I think it’s going to make their working relationship that much stronger, especially given that the end of the episode has the two of them laughing with each other as Ted starts his next session.

Ted’s journey isn’t over. We got that much from Trent Crimm from The Independent asking Ted about his departure from the last game and Ted continuing to tell him that he had food poisoning despite Trent … clearly not believing him, but it is Ted’s own journey. He doesn’t have to share it with anyone else, and I hope the show continues to give us a look into Ted Lasso taking care of himself.

(image: Apple TV+)

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Author
Rachel Leishman
Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh.

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