Ted Lasso

Ted Lasso is possibly the most explicit Wayfarist character in contemporary television, which is both his strength and his slight weakness as an example — he is almost too on-the-nose. But he earns his place, because the explicitness is honest. He means it.

His chosen cause is belief itself — belief in people, in the possibility of growth, in the value of trying regardless of outcome. This sounds saccharine when summarised, but the show earns it through specificity. Ted believes in Roy Kent when Roy is being impossible. He believes in Jamie Tartt when Jamie is being selfish. He believes in Rebecca when she is actively trying to destroy him. The belief is not naive; it is chosen, with open eyes, as a way of being in the world.

His levity is not deflection but genuine philosophical stance. The jokes, the folksy sayings, the relentless positivity — none of it is armour. Or rather, it is armour that he has chosen to wear permanently, because he has decided that this is how he wants to meet the world. The humour is transmission; he is passing on a way of being.

His transmission is extraordinary. Nearly every character around him is changed by contact with him — not through lectures or interventions but through sustained presence. He does not tell people how to be better; he treats them as if they already are, and many of them rise to meet his expectation. This is Bearing as relationship.

The interesting Wayfarist question with Ted is whether his Motion ever fails, whether there is a floor beneath the relentless optimism. And the answer, in the later series, is yes. The panic attacks, the therapy, the admission that the positivity has costs — the show is most interesting precisely there. Ted is not a cartoon. He is a man who has chosen a bearing and pays for it, and sometimes the payment is visible.

What he demonstrates is that Wayfarism is not necessarily about grand causes or heroic suffering. It can be about how you treat the people around you, every day, as a practice. His mastery is in people, not in football. His transmission is kindness, systematically applied. His levity is sincere.

"Be curious, not judgmental."