Ted Lasso:
The Richmond Way
review by Bobby Blakey
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Sports films are a genre that offers up so many layers from motivational to comedy and in some cases even horror. In 2020 the world was introduced to Ted Lasso starring Jason Sudeikis in the lead role based on a character that he portrayed on NBC Sports. The series also starred Hannah Waddingham, Jeremy Swift, Phil Dunster, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Nick Mohammed, Anthony Head, Toheeb Jimoh, Cristo Fernandez, Kola Bokinni, Billy Harris, James Lance and Juno Temple. Now all three seasons of the hit series is coming home with the Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way.
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Ted Lasso follows Rebecca Welton who becomes the new owner of British football club AFC Richmond in a bitter divorce settlement from her billionaire husband Rupert Mannion. She's assisted by her Director of Football Operations, Higgins, who formerly worked for her husband. Her first order of business is to fire the team's current manager and replace him with an idealistic all-American football coach Theodore "Ted" Lasso. Ted and his friend, assistant Coach Beard cross the pond to take up the management of the team's "long, albeit modest" history. Ted gets to know the team - including Team Captain Roy Kent, top scorer Jamie Tartt and more - but finds his first friend in the locker room assistant Nathan. Half a world away from his wife and child, Ted could use a friend. But he presses on, nevertheless. Richmond is about to change the way they're doing things — and from now on — that is the Lasso way.
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This was one of those shows that I was interested in checking out and after all the hype not sure why I never dived in before now. I am glad I finally did because it is a fantastic series. It walks a line of comedy and drama all wrapped up in the sports world to create something special. While this show is
obviously following Lasso, it is a full-on ensemble show giving every character its own arc that adds to the depth of them and further entertains. For all their quirkiness and some time weirdness they are all endearing in their own way, even characters like Roy Kent who seem one dimensional but evolves to so many different things by the end of the series.
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The ongoing struggle for them to win it all or even just win some creates the perfect backdrop for the excitement of the game and tension of how they will do, but also to their lives and how it plays into it all. There is a perfect balance of this with the drama and comedy that is no w2onder that the show racked up so many awards and nominations and loved by many. From the moment the show begins up until its perfect ending the attention to details with the running jokes, character arcs and stories never faulters and scores every goal it sets out to.
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I honestly thought that the southern goofiness of Lasso would wear thin, but they intelligently make sure to point out his own flaws and struggles early on. This not only makes you tolerate him, but also realize the pain he is masking throughout the entire series while still being true to the person that he is. As the show progressed, I found simple things like his ongoing cookie delivery to Rebecca to be a highlight of the series even when it wasn’t pushing the narrative story forward.
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In the end this show is fantastic and well worth checking out whether you care anything about the sports side or not. They tackle important subjects, make you laugh, make you cry and above all just entertain without ever trying to be anything more than it needed to be.
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You can grab your copy of Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way available now on Blu-ray and DVD from Warner Bros Home Entertainment.