#theodore lasso

I think Ted did need to go back to Kansas. Henry's life had already been so unsettled by the divorce, Ted living abroad for three years, and his mom's boyfriend, that he caused a bullying incident. Michelle had just broken up with Jake and probably still loved her job. When he went to Amsterdam, he went to the only American restaurant there. When he was in the Van Gogh museum, he went to the sunflower painting. The sunflower is the state flower of Kansas.

He was homesick. After three years of intense pressure coaching a professional sport he had little knowledge of, full of young players and dedicated fans whose life and happiness rested on his shoulders, on top of facing his issues with his dead father and being betrayed by multiple people he trusted, Ted needed a break. He needed stability and needed to give his family stability for a while.

On top of which, he left the Richmond men's team in good hands. Beard, Roy, and Nate had things handled, clearly well enough that they won the FA Cup. Ted's strength is in building a team culture, but once the original boys were a well-oiled machine, there wasn't much more for him to do, up until the women's team was ready to launch.

Ted clearly still loves a lot about Kansas City, you can see it in the way he shows off the local haunts to his British friends, the way he drives through town taking in the sights. But it's been a few years of calm. And even in a familiar place, things change. Ted had to step back from coaching in the way he was at the end of Season 3. Henry's grown up a bit and is moving on from elementary school. Michelle has no one else in the picture right now and is struggling with administrative issues at her job. Dottie is selling his childhood home. So a lot of the things that made Kansas feel stable and homey before aren't so stable or homey anymore.

Ted thinks, because he made this huge decision three years ago, that he is committed to that decision for life. Because Ted doesn't like to quit anything, he wants to see it through. But the thing about parenting is, it never ends, but as kids get older, they need you less or in different ways. You still need to live in between. The right decision three years ago isn't necessarily the right decision now. In most cases, you can always make a change. That doesn't mean it was the wrong decision from the start.

I think Ted needed to be away from Richmond to realize how much he loved it and had come to see it as a second home. That homesickness he had for Kansas is now happening with Richmond, and he can't ignore it. He's had his break for long enough, and he needs to be coaching again. He and his family need different things now, and they are in a better place to make this leap than they were three years ago.

I feel like a lot of parents, or just adults in general, can probably relate to this, Just because you had to take the safe job for a while doesn't mean you can't chase your passion now. Just because your first career choice didn't pan out the way you thought doesn't mean it was a waste, or that you can't make a change. Just because you weren't ready for college at 18 doesn't mean you can't go to college at 25, 30, 40.