They say a short game is a good game, and it turns out the almost universally loved Ted Lasso is aiming for a short game indeed, calling it quits after three seasons. The third and final season of Ted Lasso is now streaming on Apple TV+.
If you’re not one of the millions who’ve found comfort in Ted Lasso’s warm, optimistic embrace over the past few fraught years, here’s the scoop: American college football coach Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) is hired to coach English football team AFC Richmond, even though he’s had no experience with that particular stripe of football. He’s actually been set up to fail by team owner Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham), but Ted’s kindness, enthusiasm, and can-do attitude work wonders, with the team rising up the ranks in no time.
Season three has set the stage for a real clash of the titans, with Ted and AFC Richmond set to battle the elite West Ham United. The team is not only now owned by Rebecca’s oily former husband, Rupert Mannion (Anthony Head, who we all remember as Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer), but has a new head coach in the form of ex-Richmond assistant coach Nathan Shelley (Nick Mohammed), now an embittered and dedicated rival.
Also new to the show is star recruit Zava (Maximilian Osinski), an absolute machine of a player whose biggest fan is himself. Will his ego win the day, or will he come around to Ted’s more holistic, empathic approach to sport, life, and the whole shebang? The latter is the safer bet, we feel.
With its kindness-first mantra, winning, self-deprecating humour, and top notch ensemble cast, Ted Lasso was earned its place on the list of great 21st century television series. Certainly we’ll miss it when its gone, but this final season is all but guaranteed to score at the final siren.
