Ola Obisanya comes to visit. Ola is the BEST. I love my dad, but my gooooodness, I want an Ola in my life. His relationship with his son Sam is loving, nurturing, wise, and supportive.
In the background, we see Jamie's reaction when Sam hugs Ola and Ola comforts Sam (after Sam's restaurant is targeted by hate.)
Before this moment, we got a taste of Ola's supportiveness via Sam and Ola's phone calls, but it is nothing in comparison to Nonso Anozie's presence on screen. How can someone come across as both a pillar of strength and a big softie?
Sam is a cooperative and positive guy. We know having a positive father figure played into this.
Then we see Jamie's reaction. This breaks my heart. It's almost like Jamie is seeing mythology in the flesh: a supportive dad. Jamie's dad is an abusive, alcoholic jackass who verbally assaults and berates his son (and also attacked Beard.)
And we see Ted's reaction. Ted's dad committed suicide when he was just sixteen, causing serious issues that Ted won't face...and his inability to face that past and heal cost him his marriage. He coped by moving across an ocean, leaving his own son behind.
Then we have Roy, who was shipped off to train for football at a young age, and who's Granddad passed away before he could teach Roy how to ride a bike... so Roy didn't bother learning to ride a bike until Jamie ("from enemies to BFFs") helped him learn.
Even though Nate had a dad, he got support from Ted that his dad never offered. (How Nate behaves with that is a topic for another day.)
We have punk rock Higgins, father of five boys, who fills in as a father figure, too. He invites the team over for Christmas and takes young Will under his wing... bringing him to the red light district in Amsterdam (LOL, LOL. "Nahhhhh.")
So much of Ted Lasso is about male bonding and relationships. The teammates are mostly supportive of each other. Surprisingly so, actually. Ted cultivates a positive and supportive environment. In some cases, men who can't stand each other grow to be friends. (Usually Jamie and somebody or Nate and somebody.) Fathers and grandfathers play an important role in the show's themes, and the men of Ted Lasso offer each other the support they may lack elsewhere in their lives. They all become better men by giving and accepting support from their teammates, even if they didn't all have dads like Ola.
The team shows up to clean up and fix the restaurant, proving their support for Sam. My favorite part of the episode is when Ola decides to cook, and he dances in the kitchen, refusing to let the destruction rule their lives.
Ted Lasso hits people hard. The Ola episode is good medicine. I've never been part of a fandom where men expressed their deep, complicated feelings so openly before, and this is a big one.
...But you know, it's just a comedy about sports. (No, it isn't.)
