How the ted Season 2 Finale Connects to the Movies - Ending Explained (EXCLUSIVE)
How doesJohn Bennett transform into Mark Wahlberg in the ted movies?
**SPOILER WARNING! This story reveals spoilers about Peacock's ted series!**
In Seth MacFarlane's ted prequel series, exclusively streaming on Peacock, audiences get to witness young Johnny Bennett (Max Burkholder) try to navigate the humiliations of high school in Framingham, Massachusetts with his "Thunder Buddy"/anthropomorphic teddy bear Ted (voiced by MacFarlane) by his side. Let's just say, Johnny experiences every low you can imagine for an awkward teenage boy.
By the Season 2 finale, "Fraudcast News," Johnny Bennett has barely survived high school and now he's considered an "adult" by society. The big question is, what does the character do next to get him from scrawny teen in the series to what he looks like as portrayed by the extremely fit Mark Wahlberg in the films ted (2012) and ted2 (2015)?
At the very end of Episode 8, Johnny and Ted provide a definitive answer that fills in all those mental gaps.
RELATED: The Cast & Characters of Seth MacFarlane's ted: Who Plays Who in Season 2
How does the ted Season 2 finale create a bridge the ted movies?
As Ted and Johnny partake in some illegal medicinals on the basement couch, all that's left to tie up in the series is Johnny's immediate future. Having had no grand plan or direction all season, Johnny surprises his bestie when he admits he's got one...finally!
Johnny leads his little fuzzy friend into town, right to the Boston Fitness gym.
Ted asks him, "You sure this is what you want?"
To which Johnny says, "Never been more sure of anything in my life. I’m gonna get totally ripped. Like really ripped. Like so muscular that people who love me are concerned."
Ted supports his best friend as they walk in together, and Sir Ian McKellen (X-Men) narrates: "John did indeed get massively swol. There was a seven year period where he never once wore a shirt. Eventually, he married a really cool girl but they go divorced. And he met another cool girl. You know what, there are two movies about it. Just watch them."
Max Burkholder admits he was the originator of the Season 2 ending
The whole sequence is a perfectly ridiculous explanation for the look disparity between actors Burkholder and Wahlberg, yet it almost didn't happen. Peacock Blog spoke with Burkholder about that scene which could function as a series ending, and he agreed it was a perfect connector to the movies.
"I improvised the line at the end of Season 1 during the "Thunder Buddies" scene where I said, 'Oh man, I want to get so ridiculously buff. Like the kind of buff you can only be if it's literally your job and other people are paying for the nutrition and the steroids,'" he remembered of his improv. "Then, obviously, they didn't use that. But they kept a version of that for Season 2!"
READY: What Happened in ted Season 1? What to Remember for Season 2 on Peacock
And if ted Season 2's success means more young Johnny and Ted adventures, Burkholder said he's ready.
"For me, all it means is that if we do have a Season 3 then Peacock is going to have to pay for my nutrition," he laughed. "I'm going to travel with an Iron Paradise [gym]."
Watch all of ted Seasons 1 and 2 now, only on Peacock.
