Ted Lasso Season 1, Episode 2 recap: Biscuits

Ted Lasso Season 1, Episode 2 recap: Biscuits with the Boss

The second episode of Ted Lasso Season 1 begins with Ted getting started on an offbeat sort of day. His shredded wheat is not shredded, and he almost gets hit by a car, although Coach Beard stops that from happening. You get the sense Beard is often looking out for Ted.

They briefly mosey through the neighboring park and Ted spots a group of school kids playing soccer before they head to the training facility.

Rebecca gets interrupted while googling her ex-husband by a cheery Ted who brings her a tin of cookies — or “biscuits” as they’re called in the U.K. He wants to get to know her and won’t take no for an answer. In the middle of serenading her with some Kenny G., Rebecca finally tells him she doesn’t have time for “Biscuits with the Boss” that morning, or any morning for that matter.

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Ted leaves, but it’s clear he is not dismayed and will be back again the next morning.

Down on the training field, Ted and Beard watch over the AFC Richmond team members as they scrimmage. Ted is obviously nervous, as shown by his jittery palms. He instructs his team to run a drill and notices one player, a Nigerian recruit named Sam (Toheeb Jimoh), is a little “down in the dumps.”

He tries to give Sam some awkward, helpful advice after he gets bested by Jamie. Be a goldfish because they only have a ten-second memory, which I think was actually disproven, but I digress. Ted tells Nate they need to figure out a way to “Ni-cheer-ia” him up.

Back with Rebecca, she’s frustrated because of just how endearing and nice Ted is, it’s the one thing that could seriously mess up her master plan to sink the team. She asks Higgins who the player with the most say in the locker room is, he doesn’t know, so she requests he find out where Ted got the biscuits from instead.

In the locker room, Ted and Beard chat with the team briefly about a new method of lodging complaints and suggestions. Since they don’t plan on messing with the game plan for the team’s upcoming game against Crystal Palace, they want to know if there are any other issues they could get fixed like the snacks or towels. Roy is not impressed, but Jamie notes the snacks could certainly use some work.

Upon leaving the building, and waiting an awkwardly long time to hold the door open for Rebecca, Ted has a run-in with Keeley who asks him whether he’d be a lion or a panda. He votes panda but Rebecca is suddenly fiercely adamant that lion is the only answer. Then Jamie comes out and says neither, he likes himself just fine.

“I’m not sure you know how psychologically healthy that actually is,” notes Ted.

Ted and Keeley continue goofing off for a moment after she gives keys to her boyfriend and Rebecca takes notice of their camaraderie.

Over a few pints of beer at a local pub, Beard and Ted brainstorm ideas of how to make Sam feel more comfortable away from home. They learn he has a birthday coming up and then decide to celebrate it and then they dive into the suggestion box. It’s full of nothing but insults toward Ted and a single solid complaint, “water pressure’s rubbish.”

Later, they talk a walk through the park and run into the same schoolgirl they saw playing soccer with her friends previously, she easily outmaneuvers Ted with the soccer ball.

Morning comes and it’s time for another “Biscuits with the Boss” session! Just in time since Higgins has failed to find the exact place Ted gets the cookies. Still, Rebecca is adamant they can’t be having these morning chats every day. Higgins, on the other hand, is obviously growing a little fond of Ted — even agreeing to have lunch with him later, though he pretends he isn’t.

In the locker rooms, Ted and Beard do recognize that the water pressure is rubbish and plan to get it fixed.

“Someone should check that thing’s prostate.”

Then Ted has Sam go meet with Higgins so he can get the team to chip in some money to yet another suggestion box, courtesy of Nate, to get something nice for his birthday. Several teammates do put money in the box but Jamie, ever the charmer, sticks his nasty gum in it instead.

Surprisingly, Ted does semi-confront him but ultimately Jamie just shows he’s still a jerk and continues to disrespect his new coach, Nate, and his teammates all in one go.

At another press conference, the reporters are still thoroughly unimpressed with Ted. One reporter, from The Sun (of course), lodges a question at Rebecca. He puts her on the spot about a new girl Rupert was with while they were married, one Rebecca was unaware of.

She manages to recover from the shock nicely, but Ted still goes to check on her after to show her a care package he received from his son. He leaves her with a plastic army figure as a “line of defense,” it’s a sweet gesture. While there, he also asks Rebecca if she has any tips to figuring out Jamie and she recommends he ask Keeley since the two have such a “rapport.”

He does pop down to visit her during a photoshoot. We find out the question she asked earlier was about which part she’d play in an ad for caffeinated vodka — she went with the lion. After wrapping, Keeley and Ted have lunch together and she tells him Jamie responds well to positive reinforcement.

Unfortunately, Rebecca hires a photographer to snap pictures of them enjoying lunch together, which includes Ted feeding Keeley because she still has “paws” on her hands from the shoot. It all looks very flirtatious.

In the locker room ahead of the next big game, they celebrate Sam’s birthday with a cake and a care package full of goodies from home. He’s touched by the gesture, especially when Ted gives him one of the plastic army men from his son — although the fondness for American military doesn’t extend to Sam considering, well, imperialism, it’s still an overall touching scene. One that gets slightly marred by Jamie, who can’t help but be a jerk in the background.

As Ted and Beard step out for the game against Crystal Palace, all they hear from the audience are shouts of “w*nker” across the board. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t give people much hope since AFC Richmond loses.

However, Sam was a bright spot with his defensive play, meaning Ted might know what he’s doing in terms of finding ways to inspire each player. That becomes more apparent when he pulls Jamie aside and genuinely tells him he’s an incredible athlete, he just needs to find a way to work with his team better. Surprisingly, Jamie seems really moved by that.

Roy is pissed though, about everything, and throws his water bottle –which results in a hilarious moment where Nate accidentally shatters the glass to Ted’s office. But then Roy steps into the shower and is pleasantly surprised to find the water pressure really was changed!

In the locker room, Ted tells the boys to shake it off, plays some tunes, and invites everyone to have some of Sam’s birthday cake. Then he goes to visit Rebecca and Higgins. Rebecca is happy to scroll through social media and see nothing but negative memes about Ted when he shows up bearing cake slices for the two of them.

He invites them to go hang out with the guys to boost morale, Rebecca says she will — if he tells her where he got the biscuits, of course, Ted isn’t willing to part with that secret.

Outside, Jamie gets intercepted by the annoying reporter from The Independent who wants to know how he feels about the loss. At first, Jamie says it’s a team thing but then he loses his brief moment of chill and starts ranting about the other teammates enjoying cake and music back in the locker room.

As for Ted and Beard, they commiserate about the loss over a drink,  but Ted isn’t too worried. Outside, he runs into the same schoolgirl from before and the two play a fun game of takeaway together.

Elsewhere, Rebecca is at home looking at her little army man when she gets a call from Higgins, he tells her he sent her the pictures of Ted and Keeley and asks if she’s sure she wants to do this, as the press will eat them alive. Ultimately, Rebecca sees another news broadcast about her ex’s new girl and decides to execute her plan.

Meanwhile, we learn that Ted is the one who makes those biscuits for Rebecca every day!

The first three episodes of Ted Lasso Season 1 are now streaming on Apple TV Plus. New episodes debut on Fridays.