The Integrity of Trent Crimm, The Independent
*SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2 AHEAD*
Ted Lasso’s Season 2 finale brought plenty of laughs and exciting developments for our main cast. From Nate’s choice to abandon Richmond in favor of Rupert’s club to the tension between Jamie and Roy as they try to sort out the mess of feelings that come from being young and in love, the episode had a lot to cover. One of the more interesting parts focused on a familiar side character from Season 1: Trent Crimm, The Independent. He only had a small scene at the end of the finale, but that one scene did a lot of work to add depth and nuance to Trent, despite being a minor character in the story thus far.
Trent has played a large role in the finale, even by being off-screen. He’s the journalist responsible for penning the article that gives Ted grief throughout the finale, revealing the truth about how Ted left the pitch due to a panic attack in the middle of a tournament game. Ted had previously covered this up, claiming stomach issues, making Trent’s article nothing short of a scandal. The truth wasn’t information given freely. Trent had an anonymous source who he told Ted was Nate in the season’s penultimate episode.
From a storytelling stance, Trent revealing this information makes sense. It helps move the story along faster by not spending any time in the finale trying to uncover who leaked the information — especially since there were very few people who knew in the first place and, out of those people, Nate is the only one worth suspecting. Beard, Rebecca, and Roy would never betray Ted like that while we’ve watched Nate’s arc take a downward spiral all season. But it seems like a strange beat for Trent. Revealing an anonymous source is a massive breach of journalistic ethics that’s out of line for Trent, who takes his job as a journalist incredibly seriously.
In the finale Trent did face consequences: The Independent fired Trent after learning he revealed Nate’s identity. Ted was quick to assure Trent that he didn’t tell anybody, and Trent told Ted that he was the one who told his bosses after doing the deed. It’s a small moment that honestly adds a lot of integrity to the character. Trent told Ted what Nate had done because Trent respected Ted; he thought it was the right thing to do, even though Trent had to write the damaging article. Telling his bosses also shows respect for his job, even if the Ted-Nate situation was incredibly messy.
It’s likely that Trent’s interactions with Ted, minor as they were, had a big part in this change. Trent’s always been critical of Ted but also can’t help but respect him. We saw this in the first season when Rebecca tried to set Ted up to fail by having Trent do an expose on him. While Trent tried to slander Ted, he ended the article by rooting for him. It’s possible both of these articles led Trent to realize he could do more with his writing abilities than be critical of people trying their best — though it’s hard to say given we know so little about his other articles. Regardless, this isn’t the last we’ll see of Trent — Ted Lasso executive producer Bill Lawrence confirmed in an interview with Deadline that Trent will return next season. It’ll be interesting to see how the character has changed, especially now that he’s Trent Crimm, independent.
