Ted Lasso season 3 review: Adieu to the Greyhounds of Richmond and Coach Lasso

3/5

Story: AFC Richmond are back in the Premier League, and they have a new adversary in the form of West Ham United. West Ham are owned by Rupert Mannion, who has hired ex-Richmond coach Nate Shelley, aka the Wonderkid, as the club’s new manager. Over at Richmond, manager Ted Lasso has a monumental task of keeping the club safe from relegation, whilst also dealing with personal issues.

Review: Great sitcoms or comedy dramas have become few and far between in recent years, but the Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso is an anomaly. The series offers a unique premise, excellent humour, and plenty of emotional moments that pull one’s heartstrings. However, the comedy in the third season has become stale ever so slightly, when compared to the lofty standards the series set for the first two seasons. Whereas, the heartwarming scenes and the performances by the cast remain unblemished.

The previous season put mental health as one of its underlying themes in the narrative, and for the third season, the writers have opted for the stigma surrounding homosexuality in top-flight football in Europe. They have also incorporated contemporary issues in English football such as the previously proposed and now defunct ‘Super League’ and the rise of the state ownership of clubs in England. Both Manchester City and Newcastle United are already owned by Middle-Eastern states, and it appears Qatar-backed investors are interested in taking over one of the biggest sports franchises in the world, Manchester United. The narrative has also leaned on the German model of the ‘50+1 rule’ of club ownership, where a club is partly owned by the fans.

These creative choices are certainly bold considering the well-publicised takeover of Manchester United has allegedly resulted in the PR machinery of potential bidders, the Qatar-backed proposal in particular, already swaying the fans on social media in their favour. But the posturing of Manchester City in the third season is a little too on the nose. In fact, real-life City boss Pep Guardiola makes a guest appearance as himself – and is portrayed as a larger-than-life hero. Ironically, this is the same club that has been charged with not one or two but with 115 breaches of financial conduct by the Premier League! So the series positioning itself as among the champions of the ‘50+1’ rule is a hard pill to swallow, considering they are more than willing to glorify a state-backed football club.

In their defence, however, Ted Lasso, creators can argue that the charges against City were brought forward after the production of the third season. But then again, this isn’t the first time English champions have been accused of financial doping. The season finale makes up for these obvious attempts of ‘sports washing’. The final episode encapsulates everything Ted Lasso has been about since the first episode of season one – it is ‘chicken soup for the soul’. Hannah Waddingham is simply incredible as the owner of AFC Richmond Rebecca Welton. And her performance elevates the final scenes, in what could be the final scenes of the entire series.

Jason Sudeikis slips into the role of the charismatic American coach with aplomb yet again. Rebecca and Ted’s respective character arcs do receive closure, but the same cannot be said of Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) and Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster). It is certainly by design that their love triangle with Keeley (Juno Temple) is left unresolved. While Nate Shelly’s (Nick Mohammed) arc does get the closure it deserves, his character almost becomes an afterthought in the finale – considering season three began with the promise of a classic ‘master vs protege’ storyline. Collin Hughes (Billy Harris), Issac McAdoo (Kola Bokinni), and Sam Obisanya (Toheeb Jimoh) also have prominent roles to play in the story. But the standout characters of the season are Trent Crimm (James Lance) and Coach Beard, as the series explores more about their past and psyche. The addition of a Zlatan Ibrahimović parody called Zava is certainly a hilarious addition to the third season.

Verdict: Apple TV+ are yet to confirm whether Ted Lasso will return for a fourth season. The third season concludes in a manner which could be perceived as a series finale. And if it is indeed the last time Ted Lasso appears on screen then the series is in good company as HBO shows Barry and Succession concluded their respective runs with critically-acclaimed episodes. However, if Ted Lasso does return, the writers have left enough room in the season three finale for more storylines to be explored in any future seasons.