Through the three seasons of everybody's favourite football television series - Ted Lasso - every character goes through a whole host of changes, especially the assistant coach of AFC Richmond, Nate Shelley. Nate goes from being the bullied equipment manager to the assistant manager of the club, and his character growth over the course of the show has been of great interest to audiences.
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Particularly noticeable has been his shift to being grey-haired by the conclusion of the second season.
However, the fans of the show had one question in mind, why does Nate's hair turn grey in season 2?
Why does Nate's hair turn grey in season 2 of Ted Lasso?
Nearing the conclusion of season 2, we see the assistant coach fully embrace his grey hair but the question is why?
Nick Mohammed, the actor who plays Nate Shelley, explained the reasons behind going for a pigment-free head of hair.
The actor revealed that the hair colour of the character was a deliberate change in order to show the character's transformation.
"In the way bitterness, guilt, shame and stress can often change someone's appearance, they thought it would be fun to track Nate's spiral in this way (in my head Nate was transforming into José Mourinho!)" said the actor.
It's a stunning shift that represents Nate's growing ego and bitterness as well as his open displays of self-hatred against the person he's becoming (even spitting on his own reflection).
The final shot of the Ted Lasso season 2 finale episode shows that Nate has taken a job as coach of West Ham, the team owned by Rupert, the ex-husband of Richmond owner Rebecca.
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Why does Nate clash with Ted?
At the start of the first season, Nate is the team’s kit man and is often a punching bag for the more juvenile members of the team.
However, when Ted becomes the team's coach, he starts shaking things up for Richmond in a major way and that includes helping Nathan to combat the harassment and learn to stand tall.
It is understood during the second season that Nate sees Ted as a sort of father figure as he receives no love and appreciation from his own father.
The second season sees Ted have more panic attacks and he;s unable to give Nate the same affection and support as he did before. This triggers the dark side in Nate that makes the character feel betrayed by the coach and starts bringing the toxicity out of Nate even further.
Nate lashed out and attacked Ted in the final two episodes of Season 2; worship had curdled into resentment, and while it would be nice to pin all of this on Rupert pouring poison in Nate’s ear, it is down to Nate feeling betrayed by his biggest father figure.
This is also understood when Nate exclaimed: "Why don’t you go back to America and be with your son?”
The subtext is that the character is saying: “You have failed as a father just like you believe your father failed you and you have failed me.”