Ted Lasso’s funeral episode is a masterclass in balancing comedy with heavy emotional moments, and it may be the show’s most impressive achievement thus far. In season 2, episode 10, “No Weddings and a Funeral,” Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) learned that her father – with whom she had a difficult relationship – had passed away. What followed was an elongated funeral sequence that perfectly captures the bizarre nature of grief through a deft blend of comedy and drama.
Since the start of season 1 and throughout season 2, Ted Lasso has succeeded by blending smart humor and traditional sitcom storylines with heavier, more personal emotional arcs for its extended cast of characters. The show grapples with complicated themes like mental illness, familial relationships, divorce, atonement, and personal growth. The balance of funny and serious is what’s made Ted Lasso so popular with viewers, and the series has never been better at striking that balance than it is in Ted Lasso season 2, episode 10.
From the start of the episode, comedy and grief are interwoven beautifully. Rebecca woke up in her childhood bedroom to hear her mother blasting Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” just before a montage of the cast donning their black clothes and preparing for the funeral. The whole AFC Richmond team turned out to support Rebecca, but some of them – particularly Dani Rojas – were overwhelmed at the discomfort of wearing shoes that weren't sneakers. The priest kept having to pop into the church’s back room to tell Rebecca, Keeley, and Sassy to stop laughing, then Rebecca had a powerful heart to heart with her mother about why she hated her father so much.
The culmination of this juxtaposition comes when Rebecca delivers her eulogy. Stricken by unprocessed grief and struggling to find any concretely positive things to say about her dad, she starts mumble-signing “Never Gonna Give You Up.” It’s a straight-up Rickroll, but it’s also an incredibly powerful scene, reflecting both the inability of words to convey grief, and the love Rebecca has for her parents but has trouble showing.
Watching Rebecca’s eulogy, and the rest of Ted Lasso season 2, episode 10, viewers are compelled to laugh and cry at the same time and not really understand why. That in itself is the inexplicable nature of grief, and it’s incredible that in just forty-two minutes, the show can make viewers feel it the same as the characters do. Ted Lasso has pushed the envelope on what comedies can accomplish since it started in 2020, and it doesn’t like it will be ending that mission anytime soon.