by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer
Everyone’s favorite mustachioed coach is back for a third season of Ted Lasso. This season finds Ted (Jason Sudeikis) and AFC Richmond trying to make this season in the Premier League better than their last, and there were a few particular reasons I was looking forward to Season Three of the Emmy-winning show.
First and foremost, I was intrigued to see how the change in how I consumed the show impacted my viewing experience. Like everybody else on planet Earth, I’d heard how great the show was from everyone proselytizing on the show’s behalf. Wanting to be as efficient as possible, I started the show with a week left in Season Two, and still managed to finish early and wait for the finale to arrive. This year, I was watching along on a week-to-week basis. Secondly, the, “Will this be it for the show narrative?” had me intrigued for the path it would take. Finally, as mentioned previously, I am a fan of the sport of soccer/football, and the sports aspect has always been more of the just the arena the show takes place in. With the announcement that they’d struck a licensing deal with the Premier League for AFC Richmond’s return to the top-flight, I was interested in seeing how that was integrated.
So how well does the show answer these questions?
First and foremost, the fact that the show does take a step back this season should be acknowledged. To be fair, not all of it is the show’s fault. For example, the fact that I now throw up a bit in my mouth every time Arlo White shows up after he traded in his beloved reputation as one of the top broadcasters in the game to become a glorified public relations employee for Saudi Arabia. The best way I can put the regression into words is, at moments it feels like the show is trying to do the Ted Lasso thing, instead of feeling genuine. It feels like it’s pushing to hard to be funny, instead of just making me genuinely laugh.
The first two seasons are both basically perfect seasons of television. This season, there are certain storylines that I wasn’t emotionally invested in. The main culprit of that is Keeley’s (Juno Temple) storyline. She ends Season Two starting her own firm, and, while becoming a girl boss both makes sense for her character, and is an interesting development, it separates her from Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) for most of the season. That dynamic is one of the best in the show. Nate’s (Nick Mohammed) storyline also is less investing, though it makes sense narratively, and I personally don’t have a problem with the arc it went on. That, more than anything, is the reason I felt that this season falls off a bit in quality. I don’t have a problem with the extra length added to every episode as a general statement. However, those storylines, plus the fact that some aspects of the narrative feel rushed at times, despite a season of supersized episodes, means three isn’t quite a magic number for this show.
However, it’s important not to miss the forest for the trees. “Not as good” too often is automatically equated to “bad,” and that’s an oversimplification here. Despite the aforementioned moments where it can sometimes feel like a copy of itself, it’s still filled with plenty of heart, pathos, and laughs. The journey the characters go on make sense on a macro level, and a couple storylines, like how the character of Colin (Billy Harris) is handled, are important. There are moments that still rank up there with the series as its best. Ted has a couple of Lasso trademark inspirational speeches, and the Amsterdam episode… okay, fine… ”Sunflowers,” I’d put up with the best the show has produced.
I’ll also hit back at a critique I’ve seen people have about the lack of Ted in the Ted Lasso show. One quick opening question I’d ask: Did you not like season Two then? Because if you did, I have some serious questions for you. Sharing the ball among the rest of the supporting cast became noticeable last season, and it remains a strength of the show. Seeing the Jamie (Phil Dunster)/Roy (Brett Goldstein) relationship develop, and the growth both those characters, is great. Trent Crimm (James Lance) may be the low key MVP in an expanded role. Higgins (Jeremy Swift) and Dani Rojas (Cristo Fernández) have a perfect conversion rate when it came to their laugh lines. Sam Richardson’s guest appearance as Edwin Akufo again is a blast. It’s been clear, and Ted himself backs this up, that the show is more about the impact that Ted’s presence has on everyone else, more so than the man himself. Getting to see multiple characters get their shine is a pro, not a con.
To pay off my initial tease, a quick diatribe about the actual soccer. It’s never been the greatest strength of the show, but I find it passable this season. As far as how the clubs themselves are integrated, it is a mixed bag. The teams getting involved in social is fun, a “controversy” concerning my favorite club (Chelsea) is dumb and overwrought, and the standings require some suspension of disbelief — as did adding only one minute of stoppage time for the climactic game. It also, I’d wager, made me a little more forgiving of the Zava (Maximilian Osinski) storyline. I understood the reference (Google Zlatan Ibrahimovic and thank me later; what a character), and how he fits in the narrative. He comes in, makes the point for the team, and then flakes off. I don’t need more than that. Perhaps the best compliment I can give to the soccer in this show is that the finale had me pacing around in front of my TV as if I was watching Chelsea play an actual match of importance — something that has not happened for many months.
Apple has been playing coy all year with whether or not this is truly the end of Ted Lasso. If it is, I think what they put together with the shows final frames is a fitting finale.
However, if it is the end of the Lasso-verse, I think that’d be a more shocking development than the fact that Rebecca hired Ted in the first place. It’s their most valuable streaming commodity. If I had to guess, I think we’ve probably seen the last of Ted, but I’d wager we aren’t done with the folks at AFC Richmond. They’ve set themselves up to continue those stories, and even have a show name right there and available thanks to everyone’s favorite former writer for The Independent.
Far from being the end, I think this is the beginning of a new journey. No matter where that new journey takes us, though, we won’t forget the man who made us first believe.
Score: 8/10
Ted Lasso is currently streaming on Apple TV+
You can read more from Jake Bourgeois, and follow him on Twitter and Letterboxd