How Ted Lasso’s Season 2 Finale Fixed A Trent Crimm Issue

The finale of Ted Lasso season 2 fixed a potentially polarizing issue regarding The Independent‘s Trent Crimm. Ted Lasso season 2 has certainly upped the emotional ante on its predecessor, with almost the entirety of its ensemble undergoing deep tests of character. The additional emotional weight of Ted Lasso‘s newest season is clearly a non-issue for audiences and critics alike, with the Apple TV+ series picking up a mammoth eight Primetime Emmy Award wins in 2o21.

Of the many characters’ emotional upheavals in Ted Lasso season 2, Trent Crimm (James Lance) revealing to Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) that his source regarding Ted’s panic attacks was Nate (Nick Mohammed) in “Midnight Train to Royston” is perhaps the most surprising. The American coach inevitably wins the respect of Crimm across Ted Lasso‘s season 1, with the reporter becoming touched by the genuine compassion Ted has for those around him. Trent Crimm continuously presents as a consummate professional for the vast majority of Ted Lasso. It’s why his reveal of an anonymous source was such a shock and left some audiences voicing their displeasure at his breach of journalistic ethics in “Midnight Train to Royston.“

Ted Lasso‘s season 2 finale fixes this Trent Crimm issue, with The Independent reporter confirming his dismissal from the publication after admitting to his higher-ups that he leaked his own anonymous source. The world established through much of Ted Lasso is highly moral, with Crimm’s duty to Ted and subsequent confession fitting this framework. Furthermore, the Ted Lasso writing team clearly anticipated the backlash from Trent’s source leak, with his new job status righting the proverbial ethical ship less than one episode later.

Trent Crimm’s admission that Nate leaked Ted Lasso’s season 2 panic attack to the press is born out of the mutual respect built between Ted and Trent across Ted Lasso‘s first two seasons. Crimm cannot allow Nate’s betrayal to slip under the radar, texting Ted to warn him not only of the impending exposé on his mental health but also regarding the snake in AFC Richmond’s grass. Yet Crimm’s actions in Ted Lasso‘s fictional world have caused something of a storm in the real one, with Crimm’s journalistic ethics on Ted Lasso promoting uproar from actual reporters.

Several journalists took to social media in the immediate aftermath of the episode to state that, real or not, Crimm should “absolutely never” give up a source. Sources trusting that they won’t be outed is the very basis of a free press. Beyond professional journalists, audiences were right to be upset with Crimm, whose actions, though well-meaning, seemed somewhat out-of-character for the ethical journalist. The Apple TV+ original series has always been incredibly conscious of morality within its narrative, with many examples to back up this theory. Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) is punished for his hubris by being released by Manchester City, while Rebecca is a taut wreck of a character for much of season 1 due to her initial machinations against Ted.

It is only right, then, that Ted Lasso season 2’s final episode, “Inverting the Pyramid of Success,” conforms to this established ruling. Trent meets with Ted outside Richmond’s training ground to confirm he has been let go by his publication, with his conscience not allowing him to lie about his source’s origins. Crimm also states that he wants to find a more fulfilling career, confirming that the Ted Lasso writers have as firm a grasp on supporting characters like Trent Crimm as any of the main characters. The Ted Lasso season 2 finale finally may have broken many hearts, but it also fixed the surprisingly socially relevant issue of Trent Crimm’s source leak.

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