10 Most Shocking Moments In Ted Lasso

8. Poor Earl - Season 2, Episode 1

Dani Rojas Ted Lasso
Apple

Let’s be honest, no one expected to see an innocent greyhound killed by a football in the opening minutes of season two. Poor AFC Richmond canine mascot, Earl, suffered at the hand (or foot) of Dani Rojas in a moment that shocked both the players and audience alike.

As a comedy series, it is important to find the right balance between tasteful and outrageous comic relief and this scenario works perfectly. It is unlikely enough to be laughable in its absurdity whilst also being truly tragic enough to warrant understandable and believable trauma for the characters involved.

This was a really clever use of, albeit darker, humour to introduce the character of Dr. Sharon Fieldstone to the story. Poor Dani suffers a real loss of faith in his ethos of “Football is LIFE!” as a result of this event, and reasonably so. The requirement of therapy for Dani means that Dr. Sharon can make her arrival under shocking, yet humorous circumstances before being established as a more vital character in the season.

Poor Earl paid the ultimate price for his team. RIP Earl.

Contributor
Contributor

Ellie has been part of the WhatCulture team since 2021 where she began as a freelance presenter for the WhoCulture channel. As a diehard Whovian with a BA (hons) degree in Drama and Acting, this role was the perfect opportunity for her to combine her screen presence training with her extensive Doctor Who knowledge. From there, she branched out to various other WhatCulture channels, including TrekCulture, and became a full time Content Producer/Video Presenter in 2023. Ellie is now a regular fixture on both WhoCulture and TrekCulture and has become a well respected public figure within both fandoms, building up a substantial following across her social media platforms and being given the opportunity to represent the channels and the wider communities at several industry events. Her favourite Doctor Who character is River Song and her favourite Star Trek character is Captain Janeway - which tells you everything you need to know about how she approaches her role within a generally male dominated field.