Review Round-Up For Ted Lasso Season 2

Ted Lasso Season 2 premieres on Apple TV+ on July 23. The new season of the acclaimed sports comedy stars Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, Jeremy Swift, Phil Dunster, Brett Goldstein, and Juno Temple.

Season 1 was one of 2020's biggest word-of-mouth hits. The show was greenlit by Apple in 2019, with Sudeikis reprising a character he first played back in 2013 for a series of NBC Sports commercials. The ads were created to promote NBC's coverage of the English Premier League, with Lasso depicted as the hapless US coach of real-life team Tottenham Hotspur. Sudeikis reworked and expanded the concept for the series, with Lasso now the completely inexperienced but utterly loveable manager of struggling fictional London soccer team AFC Richmond.

With most of the world in some form of lockdown for much of 2020, Ted Lasso proved to be exactly the show that many viewers were looking for it. It was funny and feel-good without being overly sentimental, with Sudeikis and fellow showrunners Bill Lawrence, Jason Sudeikis, and Brendan Hunt creating a memorable group of characters that audiences really did fall in love with. Season 2 was greenlit within a few days of Season 1's premiere, and now Season 3 is on the way too.

The first reviews for Season 2 are now in. Critics have only been been shown the first six of its 12 episodes, but the praise has been unanimously positive. Any worries that the season would just repeat the same formula with lesser results have been dismissed by a season that explores its characters with greater depth while still putting the emphasis on feel-good laughs and inspiring storylines. So here's what the critics have said about Ted Lasso Season 2.

Entertainment Weekly

"The writers toy with a few other storytelling styles this season, with mixed results. Still, what a treat it is to watch a great show try to get even better, rather than running out the clock on 'good enough.'"--Kristen Baldwin [Full review]

Collider

"Sometimes Ted Lasso zigs in exactly the direction you expect it to zig, but then a few moments after zags you with a plot twist or character choice that surprises you in the best way. The producers know every trope under the sun, understand how the expected can deliver a certain sort of pleasurability familiarity, and do just enough to twist things in a way that brilliantly toes the line."--Liz Shannon Miller [Full review]

Paste

"Ted Lasso as a whole remains a delightful and quirky comedy that highlights the best of humanity, revealing how kindness and humility can be a conduit to happiness and success. It's still the show we all needed last year, but it's also the show that we need today."--Kaitlin Thomas [Full review]

Observer

"The emotional intelligence of Ted Lasso remains remarkably high. It’s what continues to elevate the series above common feel-good stories, which are often given a pass by audiences to exist as middle-of-the-road creations that opt for simplicity over nuance. But Ted Lasso is a more aspirational entry in this specific lane of storytelling."--Brandon Katz [Full review]

USA Today

"Funnier, deeper and more ambitious than the inaugural outing, the new episodes offer the same joyous good time, with the volume turned up. Sudeikis and his co-creators have said the show will only run for three seasons, but it feels as though Lasso could stream for years."--Kelly Lawler [Full review]

IndieWire

“Ted Lasso hasn't succumbed to any easy temptations; it still embodies its coach in being sweeter than it should be able to get away with and smarter than you'd expect, given its unassuming nature. Ted Lasso hasn't been changed by its success, aside from a few guilt-free indulgences."--Kelly Lawler [Full review]

Digital Trends

"Season 2 of Ted Lasso loses none of the show’s momentum heading into its next story arc, and builds on the successes of its first season in all the right ways. It continues to be one of the smartest, most entertaining, and most rewarding shows running right now, thanks to a talented cast that remains as invested in the series and its messages as their characters are in the optimistic outlook of the show's titular coach."--Rick Marshall [Full review]