Ted Lasso Season 3 review: More drama, same heart
Review Overview
Cast
8Characters
8Complexity
8Ivan Radford | On 19, Mar 2023
“I know why I came here; it is the sticking around I’m trying to figure out.” Those are the words of Ted Lasso as he returns to our screens for a third – and possibly final – season. The Apple TV+ series remains an unlikely delight, based as it is on a niche string of NBC adverts about an American coach who winds up the manager of a soccer team without knowing what soccer is. After two seasons of fleshing out its optimistic hero and his kindness-first philosophy, there’s a sense that Ted Lasso is undergoing a similar journey, as it tries to work out what it wants to be and what message it wants to leave behind.
That feeling is emphasised by the show’s quiet change in format – rather than the first season’s snappy 30-minute comedy runtime, Season 3 opts for beefier 50-minute episodes, more akin to a drama. The tone of the series, however, remains the same, which leaves things feeling occasionally bloated.
At the same time, the focus continues to widen as the show’s universe expands. While Ted, Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) and Beard (Brendan Hunt) remain the coaches at AFC Richmond, bitter former kit boy Nate (Nick Mohammed) has followed his ego to West Ham, where he has teamed up with Rupert (Anthony Head), the evil ex-husband of Richmond owner Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham). Keeley (Juno Temple), meanwhile, having been dumped by Roy, has gone off on her own to pursue a PR career – which mostly involves lots of awkward scenes with her company’s sceptical CFO, Barbara (a scene-stealing Katy Wix).
That means more time than ever spent away from Richmond, with West Ham’s actual stadium being used as a location and a growing number of Premier League football teams appearing in the background – more than ever, Ted Lasso feels like a footballing comedy rather than a comedy that happens to be about football. We even have a Zlatan Ibrahimović-alike in the form of star player Zava (Maximilian Osinski), whom Rebecca is keen to sign as a chance to get one over on Rupert.
But while the series now looks quite different compared to when it first kicked off, one thing about Ted Lasso hasn’t changed: it’s impeccable understanding of each character on screen. From Toheeb Jimoh’s warm and winning Sam, who is following his dream of opening a restaurant, to James Lance’s Trent Crimm, who is now writing a book about AFC Richmond, the writers know everyone inside out.
Phil Dunster’s Jamie continues to be a wonderful surprise as the self-centred arrogance of his past clashes with his more mature present – the more he worries about not being the centre of Richmond’s attention, the more we realise that he’s right rather than just jealous. The eternal counterpart to his petulant manchild is, of course, Roy Kent, and Brett Goldstein’s gruff performance remains flawless; even as he growls at anyone who asks about his and Keeley’s break-up, he’s still honest and open about his feelings, always subverting the kind of masculinity you’d typically expect from a macho footballer.
More toxic, on the other hand, is Nate, whose insecurities continue to make him cruel to anyone who questions him – every time Mohammed turns his timid, soft-spoken voice to spiteful sarcasm it never fails to shock. It’s all too apt that Rupert’s office recalls the Death Star. Learning to be less toxic, meanwhile, is Ted, and it’s only fitting that Jason Sudeikis’ turn should be the most generous of the bunch.
Sudeikis continues to find new nuances to his upbeat team leader, without ever overshadowing anyone else around him. Increasingly homesick, and turning in desperation to the idea of a star recruit – a very un-Ted move – there’s a looming sense of him trying to work out his own narrative arc. But three seasons in and the one thing that hasn’t changed is the simply joy of watching Ted figure stuff out.