I try not to be influenced by other people’s opinions of things or what I see online but the anti-Ted Lasso contingent has been loud recently. People really really disliked this season of the show and it was hard not to have that in the back of my mind while watching. While season 3 was definitely not the worst season of television I’ve ever watched and had some enjoyable moments, I did feel mostly disappointed by it. 

I feel like the show suffered from its popularity and critical acclaim and felt the need to try to top the previous seasons and episodes by being bigger and more expansive but ultimately ended up getting away from what people liked about it in the first place. When the world first fell in love with Ted Lasso, we were all still suffering through COVID lockdowns and looking for any bright spots in our lives. A genuinely sweet and funny half hour comedy show was exactly what the doctor ordered. Cut to 2023 and the world has definitely changed, but why did this show have to?

Trying to turn every likable aspect of the show up three levels just left it all feeling messy and uneven. Someone of the jokes were funny, but others felt forced. Some of the absurdism was entertaining, but mostly felt confusing and out of place. Some of the emotional moments were moving, but many felt unnecessary in a show that originally appeared to be about lighthearted joy. I usually don’t mind when a show or a movie tries to be experimental, but I don’t think it worked here because this isn’t the kind of show I would want that from. It’s hard to find the right balance because we want some shows to grow and evolve and some to stick the formula that works. This is and should have been a formula show.

In attempting to expand, season 3 introduced too many new (and honestly unlikable) characters and gave multi-episode storylines to side characters. This resulted in too much time spent away from the original characters we knew and cared about. And when we did spend time with them, their stories didn’t always add up. This felt most apparent to me with the character of Nate. Nate’s villain twist at the end of the previous season seemed to work better for shock value than actual plot, which became even more evident as his decision to coach a rival team was dealt with in this season. I don’t think there was a moment in season 3 where I felt like I understood Nate’s motivations. It never seemed clear to me what he was actually upset about or what he really wanted or even how those things were resolved later on. Also, with most of his scenes away from the team, he was almost in his own show for most of the season which I did not enjoy given that his strongest moments as a character have been in relation to Ted and the team.

In general, the team and team dynamics are the heart of the show. I did appreciate the sweet interpersonal relationships of different team members and the team bonding as a whole. Whenever the show got too far away from this central core, it faltered. My biggest winners of the season were Jamie, Roy, and Sam who all brought laughs and sincerity in the perfect combination and my biggest loser of the season was the CGI that made half the scenes, particularly the soccer sequences, look like an overexposed video game. Also shoutout to Keeley, who has always been one of my favorites but was not given the best arc this season.

While there hasn’t been definitive word, I definitely operated as if this was the end of the series. The finale seemed to wrap up most everyone’s storylines in a nice bow and leave audiences on an optimistic note. Ultimately, season 3 didn’t bring me the same excitement and joy the first season of the show did, but I would recommend watching it just for that. Or maybe I would recommend only watching that…

2023 Count: 9 seasons, 28 movies, 1 special