WARNING! Contains spoilers for Ted Lasso season 2.
Ted Lasso’s Nick Mohammed has revealed the many clues and moments in the show that foreshadow Nate’s unexpected transformation into an antagonist. The Apple TV+ comedy series, which took home several big accolades at the 2021 Emmys, follows Ted (Jason Sudeikis), an American football coach hired to manage an English football team, AFC Richmond. Over the course of season 1, Ted is able to slowly win the initially skeptical team over with his sincerity, optimism, and talent for baking.
Ted Lasso season 2 has focused more on the interpersonal dynamics at AFC Richmond, delving into romantic subplots and poignantly portraying Ted’s struggles with anxiety. While many characters have developed and grown over the course of the season, no other character has transformed like Nate. Initially a loveable kit manager that’s bullied by many of Richmond’s players, Ted shows belief in him by promoting him to assistant coach at the end of season 1. However, Nate regresses in this new position of power, his insecurity turning to resentment when he feels that Ted is no longer interested in him. This led to a shocking betrayal where Nate leaks Ted’s panic attacks to the press.
Nate’s betrayal went one step further in the season 2 finale, "Inverting The Pyramid Of Success," in which he took his anger out on Ted before leaving to coach main villain Rupert’s new football team. Now, the actor portraying him has revealed all the work that went into pulling off the shocking regression of his character. On Twitter, Mohammed posted “a few thoughts on Nate” that pointed out the many clues and hints that Nate was taking a dark turn. They included his greying hair, and even the first time the character is ever seen on screen. Check out the full post below:
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Mohammed interestingly emphasizes that a lot of the “key beats" in Nate’s season 2 journey are "unheard, unseen and dialogue-free” and that the Ted Lasso writers effectively used a show-don’t-tell approach to chart Nate’s descent. This cleverly included the absence of any one-on-one scenes between Nate and Ted in season 2, apart from that final emotional confrontation. The micro-aggressions against Nate that Mohammed points out are subtle, but extremely effective, ways to help fans understand how he gradually became a villain.
Despite Nate’s awful betrayal of Ted and AFC Richmond, it’s clear that Mohammed still has some empathy for the character, citing his hair and all the times he spits at himself as a symbol of guilt and self-hatred. This suggests that, while things look pretty bleak right now, there still might be hope for Nate yet. Mohammed may not know whether Nate will get the chance to redeem himself, but all signs point to a redemption arc in Ted Lasso season 3, even if the journey there won’t be easy.
Source: Nick Mohammed/Twitter
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