Season 3 of Apple TV’s hit comedy series Ted Lasso is now halfway done. Showrunners have stated that this season is the conclusion of the Richmond arc, so there has been quite a bit happening regarding continuing past storylines and setting up resolutions for many of the beloved characters. I’m here to discuss a recap of key events from the first six episodes of the season and some fan predictions for what may happen in the second half of the season. And if you have yet to watch the first two seasons, consider this your warning for spoilers. You can read more about the series here.
Season 3 has been exploring a ton of storylines for the various characters from the comedy, creating a much different dynamic from the first two seasons, but it works. Here are some of the main storylines that have been very relevant and some predictions for their conclusions.
Ted’s mental health struggles
One thing this show does very well is its portrayal of mental health and the stigma around it in professional sports. The titular character of the series, Ted Lasso, began dealing with panic attacks in the middle of the first season due to his divorce and trauma from the death of his father.
Lasso began to open up about his struggles with mental health slowly with Dr. Sharon, the team’s psychiatrist, in Season 2, and later with the other coaches, which led to this season’s antagonists Nate leaking information about a panic attack mid-match to the press. Lasso handled this very maturely and won over the support of his team and fans, directly addressing the harmful stigma around mental health in professional sports.
This season, he has had a few close attacks but was able to keep them at bay. These were caused by conflicts back in America regarding his ex-wife’s new relationship with their former marriage counselor and his child’s bullying. Ted handles issues maturely, telling his ex about the betrayal he feels with their relationship and discussing the bullying with his son.
This shows a major step in the right direction for Lasso’s mental health, but episode six presented a potential new struggle for the Richmond manager. On a team trip to Amsterdam, Coach Beard introduces Lasso to a new substance, and much to his hesitation, he does use it. After aimlessly wandering around the city under the influence, Lasso stumbles into a bar and begins developing a play that could help Richmond win games again. Beard approves of the tactic and Lasso seems very proud of himself, which could drive him to use substances again for his own advantage, which would no doubt lead him down a dark road.
Rebecca’s personal journey
The owner of AFC Richmond, Rebecca Welton, went through lots of self-discovery and acceptance during the first two seasons of the series. This was needed after she tried to drive the football club into the ground after his divorce from the previous owner and overall terrible person, Rupert Mannion. Welton learns so much about healthy relationships from other characters like Ted, Keeley, and Sam, and seems much surer of herself this season, despite the continued rivalry with her ex, who now owns West Ham United.
This season she sees a psychic per her mother’s recommendation, and despite her skepticism, begins to see connections between the predictions and her real life. The primary prediction is that of her having a family and becoming a mother. Welton then gathers hope, going to an appointment to see if she is still able to have children, which did have negative results.
In this past episode, she had a fling with a very positive Dutch man who went through a divorce and has a child, lifting her spirits. Although we probably won’t see this man again, the comparisons were there to Ted, whom fans have been shipping her with since the start of the series. There is much hope among fans that the show will make Ted and Rebecca a couple and have their own family, possibly with his son spending more time in England with him.
The Keeley and Roy breakup
Although everyone kind of saw it coming, Keeley Jones and Roy Kent broke up off-screen in between seasons 2 and 3, and the two have hardly shared the camera since. The two characters have been going through their own journeys independently of one another. Kent has been throwing himself into work, spending more time coaching star player Jamie Tartt, which is no double a coping mechanism to deal with the breakup. There have been several shots of the stubborn coach looking at Jones mournfully, no doubt having second thoughts about the breakup.
Jones, on the other hand, has been struggling with her PR firm, not really knowing what it takes to run a business. Despite this, she seems to have started a relationship with her boss, even leaving her good friend Rebecca alone in Amsterdam during the last episode to go to Norway with her. Kent makes a remark about this to Jamie when in training, clearly upset about Keeley’s relationship.
This plotline may have been on the back burner for the first half of the season, so fans are really hoping that it will become more relevant in the second half, and of course see the iconic couple back together before the season’s conclusion.
Nate at West Ham
Nate’s journey was quite the opposite of many of the other character’s positive ones, going on to betray Ted and the Richmond team in the second season. After his promotion to assistant coach at the end of Season 1, the timid Nathan Shelley went down a road of hatred and jealousy. He began taking out lots of aggression on players such as Colin Hughes and even Ted after the addition of Roy as another assistant coach. At the end of the season, Nate ripped the iconic “Believe” sign in the locker room and left Richmond to go work for Mannion as head coach at West Ham.
Season 3 has Nate on quite the power trip in his new job, but he is clearly out of his element. He taunts Lasso on television but is too afraid to confront him during the Richmond/West Ham match. However, after a failed date with a supermodel, we can start to see the real Nate come back, the kind one fans remember from Season 1, so there may be room for redemption in the second half of the season, maybe even a return to Richmond, which would be bound to cause some awkward and funny interactions.
Colin’s fear of his sexuality
After two seasons of having no confirmed LGBTQ+ characters, the show revealed that one of the Richmond players, Colin, is gay at the beginning of Season 3. Colin served as a very minor character in the first two seasons, providing comedic relief and a symbol for Nate’s downward journey.
However, the character is playing a bigger role this season as he begins dealing with his sexuality. Episode three was the viewers’ first knowledge of this when he was having a fling with a friend and joining in with the other characters making gay jokes, not comfortable with discussing his life with them. At the end of the episode, the team journalist, Trent Crimm, sees him kissing another man but does not say anything. Colin continues this struggle for the next two episodes, with Crimm knowing the truth.
Crimm ends up confronting him privately in episode six, being very comforting and understanding about his situation. He discusses how he came out to his wife as gay, and although it wasn’t easy, his family is very happy, and he has a healthy relationship with his daughter. Colin explains that he feels like he’s living two lives, his professional one and his romantic one, and can’t cross them due to his fear of coming out to the team. Crimm tells him that it’s OK to take his time, but that he shouldn’t feel obligated to hide because of his career.
The two end up having a fun night out, and Colin seems much more at peace with himself at the conclusion of the episode. Fans do think that he will come out to the team in the next few episodes, which may cause a minor conflict, but the team will no doubt have his back. Actor Billy Harris discussed Colin’s journey in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter. You can read the interview here.
Overall, Season 3 of the Emmy Award Winning series has been amazing, but there’s still a lot to go, so we will just have to see what happens at the conclusion of Ted Lasso.
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