EntertainmentTed Lasso comes to an end: 3 hits and misses from the last seasonThe AppleTV+ series came to an end this Wednesday (31), after a controversial season; here, three hits and three mistakes from the last yeartoday at 17:19

Warning: The text below contains spoilers for Season 3 of Ted Lasso.

Ted Lassocame to an end this Wednesday (31). The series, which debuted in 2020, quickly became one of the main names in the catalog of AppleTV+with a track record of successes, winning more than 10 Emmys in its first two seasons, including that of Best Comedy Series for two consecutive years.

And then… well, then came the third season. And with her, what seemed like an infallible formula of comedy, optimism and football, became a shadow of his own past. In the 12 episodes of the third year, which premiered on March 15th, Ted Lasso failed to convince fans and critics alike that it would have the stamina for even a few more episodes.

For the USA Today, the final year was a ‘collapse before our eyes’. O The Guardian called the season ‘ultimately lousy’. And the slate reported how fans promoted a “civil war” debating the quality of the series in the final stretch.

It’s to better understand the show’s controversial final year that we look not only at the final season’s mistakes, but also at its successes – following the advice of Ted Lasso himself (Jason Sudeikis), who in one episode declares: “I hope Everyone should not be judged by their moments of weakness, but by the strength they show when given the chance.” Below, the list:

Error: new characters

With a squad of football dimensions, Ted Lasso reached the third and final season with the tough mission of tying the destinies of at least two dozen main characters. However, the third year of the series still gained new faces and plots that, at this point, ended up diverting the series from its main arcs.

Thus, plots that lacked development, such as the conflict by Colin Hughes (Billy Harris) with his own sexuality, the evolution of Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) and even the unresolved romance between Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) and Flo ‘Sassy’ Collins (Ellie Taylor) end up being less discussed in favor of derivative arcs, such as Shandy (Ambreen Razia), Jack (Jodi Balfour), Barbarian (Katy Wix) and even that of Zava (Maximilian Osinski). The exception? The coach’s surprise appearance Pep Guardiolain the penultimate episode.

Hit: homophobia in football

A goal from last season’s Ted Lasso was the way the series approached the drama of Colin Hughes (Billy Harris), striker of Richmond FCwhich deals with the weight of being gay in the sexist culture of football – and European football specifically.

Although superficially approached, Hughes’ story was, in script terms, a good way to harness existing characters for new purposes. More than that, it would end up mirroring with unfortunate similarity another real case of intolerance, the one experienced by vini jr. in Real Madrid’s match against Valencia, on May 21, for the La Liga. Aired 11 days before the real case of the Brazilian player, the episode of Ted Lasso it also narrated an athlete through the prism of prejudiced attacks by the fans and also illustrated the tough but exemplary reaction of the cast of the fictional Richmond team to intolerance. An unfortunate coincidence, but as contemporary as possible with the plot of Ted Lasso.

Error: Nate as villain

During the first two seasons of Ted LassoNate (Nick Mohammed) had one of the best developments of the series, going from shy wardrobe to main antagonist, manager of Richmond’s rival team, West Ham. In season three, however, Nate takes on a villainous, almost one-sided edge.

This has little to do with the performance of Mohammed, who does a lot with little, especially in the last three episodes of the season finale. In an interview with The AV Club, the actor confirmed the various conflicts that his portrayal of Nate sought to explore. However, the final cut of the series ended up doing the character a disservice, with a plot overly focused on his tepid romance with Jade (Edyta Budnik), and little dedicated to the evolution that has led him, lately, back to the ranks of Richmond FC

Hit: Keeley-Jamie-Roy

Although Keeley (June Temple) has been one of the most underrated portrayals of the third season of Ted Lasso – with a plot that seemed essentially detached from the central story -, the final episodes manage to regain their importance for the plot by resuming their dynamic with Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) and Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein).

It’s a fact that the character doesn’t need the love triangle plot to work well in the series, as her participation in previous arcs proves, such as winning the sponsorship for Richmond FC and her amusing friendship with Rebecca (Hannah Waddington). However, it is a relief to see Keeley reinstated to the rest of the cast of the series, in the figures of the two players, after a series of episodes in which his participation seemed restricted to a space and to plots that contributed little, or nothing, to the result. End of Ted Lasso.

Error: delays and production

Unlike the first two years of the series, the third season of Ted Lasso experienced a series of script delays and production problems. In part, the issues occurred due to disagreements between the executives of the AppleTV+which licenses the series, the Warnerwhich owns and produces the show, and the showrunner and story creator, Jason Sudeikis – Ted Lasso actor himself.

The unprecedented success of the previous two seasons ended up increasing between 20% and 30% the already high budget of the third year of the series. Likewise, it caused back and forth about the possible future of the production, which put executives on the front line and caused multiple delays in the delivery of scripts and the recordings themselves. For specialists (via Puck), this may have been the main reason for a plot beyond derivative and not very assertive, precisely in the final year of the series.

Hit: the final episode

Okay, the third season of Ted Lasso it may be the most controversial and derivative of the series. However, in its final breath, the plot manages to return to the unpretentious roots that made it a smash hit in previous years.

For starters, there’s the return of much of the extensive cast. Plots such as Roy as an emotionally inaccessible athlete and Jamie as a ‘hungry’ star are resolved. Nate appears redeemed, leaving room for the only villain in the series, Rupert (Anthony Head). The light humor of characters like Danny Rojas (Christ Fernandez) and coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) is there, at the same time as the emotional dialogues between Rebecca and Ted – which are consolidated as a good portrait of platonic friendship on TV.

Without closing doors to the future, the series ends just in time, before it completely sells out, and with a positive tone, which was the legacy of Ted Lasso for entertainment since its debut in 2020.