Four years later, Beard After Hours remains one of Ted Lasso’s most disliked episodes: Here’s why

Since its premiere on Apple TV+ back in 2020, Ted Lasso has been a constant favorite with both the audience and the critics. Therefore, even though Season 3 feels like the final season of the show, Apple TV+ has renewed it for another season.

Ted Lasso tells the story of a team mainly from the perspective of Ted. However, in Season 2 Episode 9, titled Beard After Hours, the focus shifts from Ted as the episode dealt entirely with Beard and offered a better clarity on how his inner thought process worked.

The episode, however, was not well-liked by the audience and was criticised for multiple reasons.

Beard After Hours did not feel like a Ted Lasso episode to the viewers

One of the key points of strengths of Ted Lasso is the show’s tone, which is rather upbeat and positive. The audience has always appreciated the sense of hope that prevails within the narrative, even at the worst moments.

However, in Beard After Hours, the tone and focus both shift, losing cohesion within the series. Since the whole episode focused on Coach Beard, other characters appeared only at the beginning and the end of the episode, which did not sit well with a huge number of viewers.

The episode starts after AFC Richmond loses the FA Cup semifinal against Manchester City FC, and Beard, feeling somewhat annoyed at how Ted coaches, decides to stay back in London instead of returning with the team.

The episode follows Beard and the events that take place around him as he spends time alone in London. The tone is quite different in comparison to the other episodes, and events after the match felt unlikely to happen given the established approach to the show. The audience deemed it a rather unsatisfying, "bad filler episode" that did not serve any purpose from the perspective of storytelling.

While it is true that Beard’s story did not add anything to the whole plot, the episode remains important since Ted Lasso is essentially a character-driven narrative. The key characters are well-developed, in addition to the minor or recurring ones, with well-written arcs. Therefore, an episode dedicated to Coach Beard is not completely irrational, from a series that places character growth to the forefront.

However, given the treatment of the character, it felt a little dark, especially because of the usual positive tone that the show maintains. Despite not being liked by the audience, Beard After Hours holds its own artistic value in the series.

Ted Lasso can be streamed on Apple TV+.

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