'Ted Lasso' Season 2 Premiere: AFC Richmond Suffers Loss After Important Figure Dies

[Ted Lasso Season 2 premiere spoilers ahead.] Season 2 of Ted Lasso has begun and the premiere episode gets off to a surprising start. AFC Richmond is struggling to start the season as they have posted seven consecutive ties. However, they have a chance to earn a much-needed win when Dani Rojas (Cristo Fernandez) earns a penalty kick in extra time in a 2-2 battle against Nottingham Forest. However, as Dani kicked the ball the team mascot Earl runs to the goal to catch a bird and gets hit with the ball. The greyhound dies due to the injuries he suffered.

At the post-match press conference, Ted is asked about his thoughts on Earl and gave an emotional speech about taking care of a dog that bit him when he was very young. He then became a little emotional when he talked about putting the dog to sleep.

The death of Earl hit Dani hard as he got very depressed and then came down with the yips, a word that Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) and Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) don't like saying out loud. Leslie Higgins encourages Ted to hire a sports psychologist to help with Dani's confidence, leading to them bringing in Dr. Sharon Fieldstone (Sarah Niles). Ted is very skeptical of the idea because we learn that he was in couple's therapy with his ex-wife, Michelle (Andrea Anders), and had problems with the therapist because he felt like they were attacking him for all the things he was doing wrong in the marriage.

As unsure Ted is about Sharon, she is able to get Danny back on track. It then led to more players getting help from Sharon after learning what she did for Danny. Towards the end of the episode, we see Ted looking into Sharon's office as he seems very intrigued with her ability to get people to open up.

Niles is part of the main cast this season, and her character will likely play a big role in a few of the character's storylines. With the team struggling to find wins, Sharon could take a deep dive into what's the problem with the team after being relegated from the Premier League. This is also the first episode where Fernandez's character is featured as he was introduced in the sixth episode of the first season.

Season 2 of Ted Lasso is currently streaming on Apple TV+, and a new episode will air each week. All episodes of Season 1 are also currently streaming and PopCulture readers can get a free three-month trial subscription here.