Ted Lasso Recap: The “Extraordinary Female Goddesses” of Season Two

“People even think it’s called girl talk, sometimes it’s like, ‘Daughter, listen …”

It’s one of Ted Lasso-y’s best lines that Ted Lasso delivers in the first new episode of Ted Lasso, but it also neatly summarizes the evolving relationship between Juno TempleKeeley Jones, a former model and footballer’s girlfriend, is now the team’s publicity coordinator, and Hannah WaddinghamTeam owner Rebecca Welton, who previously tried to destroy AFC Richmond as an act of revenge but has now been happily reborn as a true believer.

When season two began with the episode “Goodbye, Earl,” both characters were in a better position in part due to their unwavering optimism. Jason Sudeikisof the coach. When we first met them, they were both much cuter. In season one, Rebecca even set up a paparazzi to publicly humiliate Keeley and Innocent Coach Lasso, but in season two, the trio were prepared for couch “girl talk” to tell about Rebecca’s hectic new dating life.

Temple talked to Vanity Fair about how this new dynamic on the Apple TV+ series between her and Waddingham plays out.

While “Ted Lasso and the Extraordinary Goddesses” may sound like a silly Harry Potter fan-fic mashup, Temple explains exactly what that means and why it matters when the show returns …

Vanity Fair: By now you’ve heard from a lot of people that this show is a bit hopeful and surprisingly upbeat in an otherwise dismal time. What are your thoughts on that?

Juno Shrine: I think that reaction is special when people have this feeling in their hearts and minds when looking at a glass view. Shooting season two and playing Keeley has certainly given me a mental boost over the past five months in this very strange, painful, and complicated time to be alive. I get the glow of a job in my life.

Season two gives us a very different Keeley Jones than when we first met her.

I think it’s amazing to see, and makes you take away the message don’t judge a book by its cover because everyone’s novel contains so many sentences and so many chapters and paragraphs. How dare you judge it by the color of the cover? You must read every punctuation! Keeley is a great example of that.

What will you consider the big change now?

What is very special about the show to me is the relationship created between Rebecca and Keeley, and this beautiful friendship between two women who are at different times in their lives. They have different views of themselves, but really connect on a very, very deep level and help each other see sides of themselves that they didn’t know were there. No one has tried to show them before. That’s a really valuable thing to put on film.

Why did that storyline resonate so strongly with you personally?

It happens off-camera too! Hannah Waddingham is just an extraordinary goddess in my life. It’s a really, very important thing that I’m not sure will show up in other shows. It’s a relationship that I feel fortunate to have been featured in.

Originally, she was a model, now she is a journalist. How did that change in her work life change?

I think you might not necessarily know how chained she is in people’s everyday lives. She really wants to encourage people to be the best version of themselves. If she can help them do that, she will do everything she can to help people see it.

Rebecca is a big part of that, isn’t she? Once she sabotaged Keeley, but she turned out to be a great ally.

Rebecca instructs her to realize “Hey buddy, you should do this like a job.” Keeley had that great line in the first season when she said, “Yes, I’m famous for almost famous. “I think when you first met her, you thought she might be, that she wasn’t as aware as the others around her. She was a very, very kind young woman. It’s a lovely journey to go on.

It’s an unusual show because often in a story, drama is rooted in conflict. And I feel like it was the character Ted Lasso that made people categorize their movie. They began to let their guard down and see them as the people they were deep within rather than raising their shields.