The series still brings good jokes, plays with songs, but seems to have lost its breath
The Washington Post – “Sometimes I wonder what the hell I’m still doing here”, Ted Lasso tell your therapist third season of the famous optimistic program. “I mean, I know why I came, but it’s about sticking around that I just don’t understand.”
It is to the credit and also to the detriment of Ted Lasso that the show raises this question before the viewer can, in the first episode of the new season, which premiered AppleTV+, think the same thing. On the other hand, the comedy about Kansan’s lovable football manager who moves to England to coach a mediocre football team has always been a bit more interested in self-referential meta-analysis than the actual characters of him.
This is also clear in the exchange: the therapist’s reassuring response (Ted doesn’t like giving up) isn’t enough. Not as a therapeutic intervention (is that really a good reason to live away from your beloved child for three formative years?) nor as a television explanation of why our characters are where they are or do what they are doing, which probably makes last season In Ted Lasso something like walking on water.
The problem isn’t just that specific arches bend and snap under pressure to provide temporary, vaguely redemptive resolutions. It’s just that no character’s worldview is stable enough – nor are their motivations enduring – to support the needs of the character. playful storylinebut without the stakes, or the flurry of funny references.
Instead of building tension or real development, we get stuck in repetition: Ted realizes he’s repressing something, deals with it, and things improve for a while. Someone apologizes and all is forgiven. Winning isn’t everything (or is it?). And the team in question, the AFC Richmond, always the loser, remains the loser.
The show is aware of its circularity. in the pilot, rebecca welton (Hannah Waddingham) hired Ted specifically because he had never coached football. Her slightly evil plan was to sabotage her evil ex-husband’s beloved soccer team. Ruperto Mannion (Anthony Head), who got into the divorce because nothing would make him more miserable than seeing Richmond lose. This season, he wants to make Rupert (who is still mean) suffer by watching Richmond win.
One can understand – Rupert has bought another football club in the intervening years and presumably wants me to crush his ex-wife’s – but this subplot seems to radically misunderstand the intensity of sports fanaticism that is the show’s ostensible subject matter. .
The series addresses this issue through awkward exposition. “Back then, I wanted to destroy everything Rupert loved, owned and wanted,” Rebecca tells her best friend. Keley Jones (Temple of Juno). “But now I don’t feel the need to destroy his life. Now I just want to beat him. Beat him. This is growth, right?”
And that? Isn’t that pretty much what (evil) Rupert wants? There are hints that Rebecca may be learning some sort of lesson here (Keeley advises her to “let Rupert be Rupert”), but the setup isn’t strong enough to go into crisis or fuel a transformation.
If Rebecca’s journey seems confusing, Ted’s is no different either. Coach remains conflict averse, affable, awkward, self-deprecating, and saddened by the breakdown of his marriage. Yet the qualities that made him famous as a renegade manager — in particular, his principled rejection of a culture where superstar players like Jamie Tartt hog the spotlight and undermine team morale — seem absent in season three.
When an even more selfish superstar named Zava (Maximilian Osinski), the team (and Ted) spend several episodes unfazed by his refusal to be a team player. I’ve only seen the first four episodes and I’m confident the show will discipline Zava over time, but Ted’s attitude throughout it all is inexplicable. Does he now he approves of victory at any cost? Or did you not notice?
The problem with a third season is that you already know if a show is going to go somewhere interesting, and the answer – inside Lassoland – usually it is not. A subplot involving a closeted character seems unlikely to generate much tension, and it’s hard to imagine a universe in which doting football players ironically touching a “Believe” sign wouldn’t accept a gay teammate.
Keeley’s PR firm is equally uninspiring: Another anemic subplot where she hires a friend takes too long to be the center of attention.
As for Nate Nick Muhammad, his move to the dark side – he left Richmond in season two to manage Rupert’s team – had real potential. As cartoonish as his journey to empowerment felt at times, the reasoning behind Nate’s explosive anger at Ted was unexpected but believable. The former kit man wanted to chastise Ted for making him feel special when he was just another recipient of Lasso’s goodwill.
Sure, a certain kind of thoughtful kindness can feel fake, and that self-actualization of the kind the show seems to mindlessly fetishize can have dark and unintended consequences. This was a strange conflict, but a very intriguing one. At the end of last season, Ted Lasso he seemed on the verge of finally questioning his spirit guide; perhaps rooting for everyone on their journey to become the most powerful and confident version of themselves isn’t a good mix.
If the first four episodes are any indication, however, the Nate subplot isn’t going anywhere interesting, and most of the conflict that comes along is somewhat unmotivated and repetitive.
This doesn’t mean that Ted Lasso it is not evolving. The series retains a lot of what makes it funny: a lovely cast, good jokes, and the hilarious inclusion of a musical lyric (a song from the musical The King and I, Get to know you, get to know youmakes a surprising appearance).
A montage of Ted dismantling the Lego stadiums with which he destroyed his apartment for his son’s visit henry it’s heartbreaking; Sudeikis continues to back up Ted’s relentless positivity with sadness without making the former seem fake. It’s not an easy task.
But when the camera pans across a series of stickers from Lego portraying the cast – including one of Nate, alongside – it’s hard not to feel that the show’s characters are also action puppets, doing whatever the plot demands of them without much regard for what came before, then producing a specific and forgettable effect.
Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
