Why did “Ted Lasso,” a television series about a heartbroken but relentlessly optimistic Kansas football coach who tackles a new job as manager of an underdog British soccer team, capture our hearts at just the right time?

Dispensing homespun wisdom along with kindness and freshly baked cookies, Ted Lasso’s (Jason Sudeikis) first conquest was his boss, bitterly brittle Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham), who acquired the (fictional) AFC Richmond team as part of her divorce settlement from feckless Rupert (Anthony Head).

“You know what the happiest animal in the world is?” Ted asks. “A goldfish…it’s got a 10-second memory.”

After struggling for respect, once-floundering AFC Richmond is now in the highly competitive Premier League – but can its victory streak last? What of the rivalry between grumpy, growly veteran Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) and the upstart ruffian Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster)? Plus, there’s the PR woman they both adore, kooky Keely Jones (Juno Temple).

In this third and final season – Ted crosses paths again with his protégé Nate Shelley (Nick Mohammed), who has defected to Richmond’s West Ham rivals. Ted, conflicted and desperately missing his young son, re-examines his priorities.

“For me, success is not about the wins and losses,” Ted has always maintained. “It’s about helping these young fellas be the best versions of themselves – on and off the field.”

In 2021, the series won a coveted Peabody award…“offering the perfect counter to the enduring prevalence of toxic masculinity, both on-screen and off, in a moment when the nation truly needs inspiring models of kindness.”

If you’re yearning to see where the series was filmed, take a short subway ride from central London to picturesque Richmond. There you can have a pint in the 300 year-old Prince’s Head pub, dubbed the Crown & Anchor, where there’s a “Ted Lasso” shrine assembled by the series’ production designer. You can also buy souvenirs along Paved Court and eat at Chango Empanadas.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Ted Lasso – Season 3” is a totally satisfying 10, streaming on Apple TV+.

If you’re into brainless, mucho macho mayhem, “Extraction 2” is 85% action, 15% narrative – meaning there’s lots of fighting, particularly hand-to-hand combat, even though it’s never clear how these ‘ordinary’ Eastern European men can take that much physical punishment and maintain their ruthless bravado.

Australian black ops mercenary Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) is still recovering from his previous mission. Reuniting with director/stuntman Sam Hargrave, he embarks on this sequel, tracing its origins to Ande Parks’ graphic novel “Ciudad” from a story by Parks, Joe & Anthony Russo.

This time, valiant Rake is recruited by Alcott (Idris Elba), a mysterious man who says he’s a friend of Rake’s Georgian ex-wife (Olga Kurylenko) whose sister (Tinatin Dalakishvili) is married to Davit Radiani (Tornike Bziava), an abusive gangster who is keeping her and their two children imprisoned with him.

The subsequent ‘rescue’ sequence is a frenzied, 21-minute continuous fight, as Rake once again teams up with Nik Khan (Golshifteh Farahani) and her brother Yaz (Adam Bessa). According to director Hargrave, this action scene took 4-5 months to rehearse and 29 days to film.

During the riot, Davit is killed, igniting a revenge vow from his psychotic brother Zurab (Tornike Gogrichiani) and their crime family. Problem is: Davit’s teenage son Sandro (Andro Japaridze) is torn between loyalty to his mother and to his dead father’s Nagazi cohorts. So much for pulpy plot.

Since the characters are generally underwritten, it’s difficult to evoke any emotional connection to the unrelenting, ultra-violent, if cleverly choreographed chaos, simplistically chronicled like a live-action video game by cinematographer Greg Baldi.

The only revelation about Tyler Rake’s backstory comes when he confesses he went to Afghanistan for another tour of duty as his son was battling an incurable illness; presumably, that led to his divorce, burden of guilt and now redemption.

On the Granger Movie Gauge, “Extraction 2” is a shallow, if adrenaline-pumping, 4, streaming on Netflix; Netflix has already green-lit “Extraction 3.”