In an effort to build a space for queer people like myself, every Sunday (or when I’m feeling spicy) I’ll be posting interviews, opinion pieces, listicles, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community from a Latina perspective. Welcome to Queerly Not Straight! Enjoy and leave a comment below if you have a suggestion for what I should cover next.
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Colin Hughes has finally come out to those who matter on Ted Lasso. And the more that I think about it. The more conflicted I am on how it played out, especially Isaac’s reaction to his best friend being gay. And before we dive in, there is no doubt that Billy Harris and Kola Bokinni did an incredible job with their scenes in “La Locker Room Aux Folles.” Seriously, I can’t stop thinking about Isaac coming back from the field, hands balled into fists, and shaking. That kind of acting makes you take pause. Nevertheless, the more that I think about this episode, the more conflicted I get on how it played out.
On one hand, I get that Isaac was thrown off by finding out Colin was gay. Sometimes we think we know everything about our loved ones. And when they surprise us with huge secrets about themselves, it throws your world off kilter. All of a sudden you’re wondering, “Why didn’t they tell me?” and “Don’t they trust me?” Or in Isaac’s case, “What have I said nonchalantly in the locker room or outside of it that could’ve been homophobic to my friend and made it so he didn’t feel he could trust me with this part of himself?” I get it.
But on another hand, Ted Lasso took way too long in getting Isaac to sit down and talk to Colin. So much so that there was a kernel of doubt in my mind as to whether Isaac would was homophobic or not. And that I can not forgive and further cements the fact that season 3 has pacing issues. They take too long to get to the point. They don’t consider what this silence from Isaac will mean to Colin and those like Colin aka LGBTQ+ viewers. And it legit makes me wonder whether this writer’s room has a queer writer to tell them, “Hey folks…so if you wait any longer Colin is going to think his friend hates him and he’s made the biggest mistake of his life by coming out aka the fear all of us in the community have inside of us because what if it all falls apart and things are never the same and it’s our fault?”
And then on another hand, this wasn’t so much as Colin’s coming out episode. That was the episode before with Trent in Amsterdam. That’s where Colin really got to sit down and talk about what his experience has been like and what he wants to do with his career and life and how that intersects with his sexuality. And it’s important to give Isaac grace to figure things out because everyone isn’t as accepting or knows what to say in the same manner that Ted does when new or unexpected things happen. Plus we all process things differently and at the end of the day we have to meet people halfway. This is especially true when there are friendships between vastly different people.
But on another hand, Isaac has clearly been shown to be the most important person in Colin’s life. I thought the show was using their entire relationship up to this moment to be the coming out for Colin within the context of Ted Lasso. Not the coming out to the team, the coaches, or possibly the world. That’s all secondary. Colin coming out to Isaac was to be this pivotal moment that would scoff in the face of toxic masculinity. And instead of Isaac meeting Colin halfway, he kept ignoring him during practice, got heated at Colin during a match, and then channeled his anger and inner turmoil at the homophobic fan in the stands.
Isaac could’ve just talked to Colin. And it would’ve saved us half an hour of angst and drama that could’ve been spent on Isaac giving Colin’s boyfriend the “don’t hurt my friend or else” speech but it’s just Isaac staring at the boyfriend because he’s just powerful and has gravitas like that. Instead, We got an episode where I doubted Isaac. And something like that doesn’t go away or is easily forgiven. I’m not talking about forgiving Isaac. I’m talking about the writers. They could’ve gotten to the same place, with less angst, and with a greater emphasis that Colin not telling Isaac sooner wasn’t because Colin didn’t trust Isaac. Colin was just scared and didn’t want things to change.
So, kudos to Ted Lasso for tackling subjects like this. We need more LGBTQ+ stories on our screens. But you took way too long. And that’s one of the things we’ll certainly remember down the line.
What did you think of this episode of Ted Lasso? Let us know in the comments below!
Queerly Not Straight posts every Sunday with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx community since I am Latinx.)
I’m here because I had to Google whether Issac is homophobic before I finished the episode….so yeah they took way too long with that lol
I think that was kind of the point. It was meant to build drama and the viewer was supposed to feel uneasy about it… to wonder “is Issac homophobic?” and to feel empathy for Colin. Billy Harris acted the situation well and you could really see his vulnerability. He wanted to talk to his friend. And the episode was written to reveal in the end that Issac was wounded that his friend didn’t trust him. I don’t think it was careless writing, he really was mad at Colin. And I liked resolution:
Issac was upset he wasn’t told and Colin explained the 99% vs 1%. They come to an understanding and I think their friendship is ultimately strengthened.