Ted Lasso Reminds Us That Funerals Are Weird

Ted Lasso asked us an important question this week: Why are funerals a thing? In an episode titled “No Weddings and a Funeral,” we got a deeper look at Rebecca’s relationship with her family and had Keeley Jones constantly asking why funerals were a thing and talking about how weird they are. Honestly, Keeley gets it.

But the episode was, overall, an interesting look at grief, funerals, and the act of going to someone’s open casket funeral and staring at their dead body. So, let’s unpack what happened on the most recent episode of Ted Lasso.

**Spoilers for Ted Lasso season 2 episode 10 “No Weddings and a Funeral” lie within.**

Going to a funeral is an event and not one that anyone particularly can navigate with ease. It’s either an upsetting time or a journey that feels unnecessary, and then by the end, you’re staring at either a closed coffin or a dead body—so, awkward either way—and what works with Ted Lasso is that nearly EVERYONE points it out.

Keeley Jones clearly hates being at the funeral for Rebecca’s dad but wants to support her friend, and Roy Kent, who thinks Keeley’s reaction is strange at first, also admits that he doesn’t like funerals, either, which … good. I am so glad a show is talking about how incredibly weird it is that we go and stare at a dead body to help us grieve.

What’s so special about this episode in particular is that Rebecca is getting the chance to understand not only her father, but her mother, as well. She gets to have a glimpse into their relationship and what makes her mother tick, so when it comes to Rebecca giving a eulogy, she honors her mother first and foremost.

Standing in front of everyone there for her dad, she locks eyes and starts to, basically, Rick-Roll everyone. No, like … literally. In the beginning of the episode, her mother is blasting “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley, and Rebecca complains about it. And when she sees her mother at her dad’s funeral, her first instinct is to quote the song to her.

When Rebecca is too overcome with emotion while singing, Ted continues from the audience, and soon the entire church is singing “Never Gonna Give You Up,” and somehow a Rick-Roll made me sob.

Later in that same episode, Rebecca shares a moment with her mother when the two are looking through pictures of her childhood. When they find a family video, they put it on only to discover that they have been Rick-Rolled by their own home video—that and Rebecca’s mom realized that Rick Astley is a white ginger man, but still.

Somehow, Ted Lasso not only showed us how awkward funerals are but also made a Rick-Roll heart-warming, and I am now convinced that this show can probably bring on world peace.

(image: Apple TV+)

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