Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
The last frame of the season-two finale ofTed Lassois the seething face of Nate Shelley.
ItsTed Lassosuccumbing to itsworst impulses.
Being nice means being agreeable, polite, pleasant.
It can be surface-level behavior and, too often, what people fall back on when they face confrontation.
Niceness is not the same as kindness, which more regularly involves selflessness as evidence of care.
In this season ofTed Lasso, and with Nates story line in particular, the writers forgot this.
They did what they thought would seem nice for Nate and the shows audience.
In season two, the micro- and macro-aggressions that led to Nates blowup were planted deftly over multiple episodes.
If this bothers Nate at all, the show does not tell us.
Nick Mohammed, who plays Nate, gives a believable and touching performance during that scene.
You were right to call me out on that.
Just imagine if Ted had been scripted into a similar scenario.
Nate is deprived of the chance to demonstrate that he, too, can stand up for himself.
Instead, he goes home to hide out with his parents.
I just want my son to be happy.
Nates return, in tandem with Teds departure for Kansas, is a double evocation ofThe Wizard of Oz.
For both men, the show tells us, theres no place like home.
ButTed Lassoforgets that, a mere season ago, home was a very upsetting place for Nate.
Mohammedexplains Nates return to Richmondas a demotion that functions as relief.
He doesnt have to pretend anymore, he says.
He hasnt got any points to prove.
He became so self-obsessed in season two so vain.
Its the realization that those things arent important anymore and self-worth counts for a lot more.
You dont need to shit on people to get ahead.
Perhaps its true that part of owning ones self-worth is shedding vanity and pettiness.
But a huge part of it isknowing what you are worthand not settling for less than that.
The best we can do is to keep asking for help and accepting it when you might.
And if you keep on doing that, youll always be moving toward better.
In the end,Ted Lassopunishes its wunderkind and asks us to believe that hes perfectly content.
