Lavender (Ted Lasso)

"Lavender" received extremely positive reviews from critics. Myles McNutt of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A–" and wrote, "Regardless, the idea of how, when, and for what/whom we take responsibility feels especially prudent in the wake of Jamie's return, and will be a critical question to Ted to ask himself and his friends until the point at which he decides that he might need to talk to Dr. Fieldstone about it instead."^[2]

Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone wrote, "Is Ted Lasso a good coach, or just a good person? Are the two mutually exclusive? This was occasionally a source of conflict a year ago, when Coach Beard or Nate would point out all the aspects of soccer football that Ted still didn't understand, or suggest that the team's good vibes wouldn't matter if they didn't win. But for the most part, Season One was on Ted's side in the belief that making everyone associated with AFC Richmond feel better would eventually make the team play better. Two episodes into this new season, that idea is already being challenged."^[3]

Keith Phipps of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "What makes Ted Lasso work? We could probably spend hours trying to crack that nut, and it might make the show less fun if we succeeded. But here's one element contributing a lot to its success: Ted Lasso works because it's concerned with what makes Ted Lasso work. It would be easy for Jason Sudeikis to make Ted into a smiling Guru of the Great Plains who always has all the answers and the right words to turn those answers into pithy phrases. And often Ted does play that role, and well. But Ted's not right all the time. He's gambled, for instance, on niceness being the answer to all of AFC Richmond's problems when it might only be an answer to some of the team's problems. And he's not always honest with himself about his limitations, including his ability to generate goodwill with humor and charm."^[4] Becca Newton of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.2 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "What makes Ted Lasso stand out in the sea of television is its refusal to treat its characters like jokes. Ted Lasso characters say and do funny things, but they aren't jokes. Not even Jamie Tartt."^[5]

Linda Holmes of NPR wrote, "Jamie Tartt has hit bottom, but is it too late for him to return to AFC Richmond? Maybe not, but the team is not warm to the idea. Elsewhere, Roy Kent finally finds something to do when coaching season is over."^[6] Christopher Orr of The New York Times wrote, "So here we are: Jamie is back, for now, taking the field to Queen's 'Tear It Up.' Time will tell if that's what he does — in a bad way or a good one — to the harmonious but still underachieving AFC Richmond."^[7]

• "Lavender" at IMDb