Trent Crimm: The Independent
Rebecca's plan to have the photo of Ted and Keeley appear in The Sun falls through when Keeley is warned of the story by a friend at the paper, who is able to delay the story by one day. Keeley and Ted go to Rebecca for help, and, realizing that Keeley could trace the photo back to her, Rebecca calls the owner of The Sun and has the story pulled permanently.
After losing their first match, Ted wants to change the team's offense strategy. He notices that Nate has an idea, and after much coaxing from Ted, Nate suggests using Jamie as a decoy. Ted agrees to try the plan, which works extremely well. Nevertheless, Colin and Isaac, two of the players on the team, continue to bully Nate after training, which amuses Jamie. Ted gives all of the players different books, with Roy's being A Wrinkle in Time. Roy tells Ted that Nate is being harassed regularly, but Ted says that he already knows and doesn't plan to say anything, because a coach intervening will only put a bigger target on Nate's back. Roy tells Jamie that he has influence over the other players and shouldn't encourage them to pick on Nate. Jamie agrees to talk to Colin and Isaac; however, when Roy leaves, he tells them to continue bullying Nate.
The next morning, Rebecca has gotten over her disappointment at her plan with the paparazzi photo falling through. Instead, she decides to demoralize the fan base by having Trent Crimm, a tough and critical journalist for The Independent, write a profile on Ted. Trent observes Ted and the team throughout the day, judging Ted for claiming not to care about winning and entrusting the team's strategy to their equipment manager. After training, Colin and Isaac once again start picking on Nate. Roy realizes that Jamie lied about telling them to knock it off. Keeley stops by to thank Rebecca for stopping the photo of her and Ted from running, and the two of them bond over the unfair and sexist treatment they have both received from the press.
Trent, Ted, and Roy visit a local primary school, where Roy tells Ted that he is counting the days until Ted is gone and asks why he gave him a copy of A Wrinkle In Time. Trent observes that the novel's central theme is leadership, which irritates Roy. Ted and Trent go to dinner, where Ted reiterates that he does not care about wins and losses, but rather about helping his players grow as people. Trent excuses himself to go write the article. Roy reads A Wrinkle In Time to his niece Phoebe before bed and realizes that he has to be the one to put a stop to the team's bullying, not Ted or Jamie. He confronts Jamie and his group of friends at a nightclub, headbutting Colin and shouting at all of them to stop messing with Nate. Trent publishes his profile on Ted. To Rebecca's frustration, the article praises Ted's leadership skills, with Trent concluding that he is rooting for Ted despite not believing he will bring the team success.
Tropes featured in "Trent Crimm: The Independent" include:
- Actually Pretty Funny: After Roy Kent's terrible impression of Ted Lasso, Keeley does her own impression of Roy, which Roy himself thinks is "actually pretty good".
- Ambiguously Bi: This episode introduces Keeley's bisexuality, showing her fascinated by a photo of Rebecca's breasts. Her bisexuality would be confirmed in the third season.
- Bad Impressionists: Roy's terrible impression of Ted Lasso, complete with cowboy accent and finger guns.Roy: Howdy y'all, cowboys. My name is Ted Lasso and I'm from Kansas. Pow Pow Pow Pow!
- Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: Ted goes to dinner at an Indian restaurant and, never having had Indian food before, accidentally orders dishes so spicy that Trent Crimm, who is familiar with Indian food, abandons the meal after a single bite. Ted, meanwhile, eats everything and the extra portions offered to avoid causing offense.Ollie: Beautiful, right?
Ted: It is beyond beautiful. It's hot! - Bookends: The episode starts and ends with Rebecca yelling "FUCK!" - the first time after realising her plan to get Ted Mistaken for Cheating has failed, and the second time after Higgins reads Trent Crimm's article and she realises how sympathetic it is.
- Bullying a Dragon: When Roy arrives at the club to end Jamie and the others' bullying of Nate, Colin walks up to Roy and makes a crack about Roy's age. Roy promptly headbutts him and gives him a concussion.
- By "No", I Mean "Yes": When Beard asks if Nate's plan means using Jamie as a decoy, Nate says no, backpedals, and admits that yes, that's the play.
- Cool Uncle: Ted learns that the gruff Roy Kent has a niece that he frequently spends time with and she's the reason why he visits the local primary school.
- Drink-Based Characterization: After telling Jamie and the others to stop bullying Nate, Roy takes a sip of Jamie's drink. Turns out the drink is vanilla-flavored vodka and he mocks Jamie for choosing a liquor that clearly shows how immature he is.
- Fan of Underdog: Trent Crimm ends his article by saying that he "can't help but root" for Ted, even though he still thinks he's in over his head and won't keep Richmond in the Premier League.
- Foreshadowing: Before leaving the school with Phoebe, Roy tells Trent he's "a colossal prick" and always has been. Two years down the road, it will be revealed why Roy holds him in such contempt.
- Friend to All Children: Turns out Roy's great with kids, winning over the kids at his niece's school by taking them outside for "a proper fuck-about" and headers.
- Hidden Depths: Thanks to Ted's encouragement, Nate starts to open up and show his knowledge of football and the Richmond players.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: Roy tells Keeley that he's fed up of Ted trying to manipulate him and that he "cannot be manipulated". Keeley replies that she could manipulate him right then and there if she wanted to - and proceeds to do just that simply by calmly insisting that she can, causing Roy to get more and more worked up as he insists she can't. Keeley has to stop and point out what she just did to get Roy to calm down.
- In Love with Your Carnage: When Roy furiously storms into the club to dish out headbutts and order his teammates to stop bullying Nate, Keeley looks extremely attracted to him. Even Jamie notices the tension.
- The Power of Friendship: Ted wins Trent Crimm over with a day of genuine niceness.Ted: I really enjoyed getting to spend this time with you.
Trent: [Beat] You really mean that, don't you"? - Precision F-Strike:
- Roy does this when he reads the copy of A Wrinkle in Time Ted gave him to his niece and he realizes the plot of the book parallels the current situation with Jamie and the other players bullying Nate.
- Rebecca screams a barely coherent "FUCK!" upon realising The Sun didn't print the story about Ted and Keeley. At the end of the episode, she lets out another loud "FUCK!" after Higgins finishes reading Trent Crimm's article on Ted.
- Rhyming Title: Discussed. Keeley despairs that a tabloid story about her cheating on boyfriend Jamie Tartt would go viral, not helped by its potential for a pithy title like "Jamie's Tart Breaks Tartt's Heart."Ted: Everyone would read that.
Keeley:: Of course they would! I mean, you have no idea the power of rhyming in this goddamn country. Ooh! "Lasso Makes Passo and Creates Team Fiasco." - Stealth Insult: Rebecca learns Higgins used his real name to hire the photographer that caught Ted and Keeley in a compromising position, which would allow Keeley to trace the photos back to her. Higgins defends himself by pointing out that he's not a spy, just the director of football, to which Rebecca retorts, "And you're equally skilled at both professions". Higgins actually thanks her before realising it wasn't a compliment.
- This Is No Time for Knitting: The players, particularly Roy, are confused and annoyed when Ted gifts them all various books. Turns out Ted had carefully selected each player's book so that when they read them, they will learn whatever lesson Ted wants them to. In Roy's case, he was given A Wrinkle in Time so he would realize that as the captain he has to step up and be the one to police the other players' behavior.
- Voiceover Letter: Played with at the end, when Higgins reads Trent Crimm's write-up to an increasingly angry Rebecca. At first we hear Higgins's voice reading the words, but after he stops himself for a moment to remind her that it's Trent's words and not his, the voiceover promptly switches to Trent's voice.
