Blue is the color, football is the game: “Ted Lasso” episode three acclaim

The latest episode of “Ted Lasso,” “4-5-1,” was released on Apple TV+ this past Wednesday, and I’m starting to detect a theme with episodes from season three. There’s a lot to unpack from these episodes, but I’ll focus on a few key moments from the episode and what I thought they meant. As always, there will be spoilers in this article, so I highly advise that you watch the latest episode (and all the episodes of “Ted Lasso” as a matter of fact); otherwise read at your own risk.

This episode is mainly focused on the success of AFC Richmond with the mighty Zava joining the team after the last episode, even after he was two hours late to his own press conference. At first, Zava seems to be a little over the top but isn’t as much of a diva as it had previously been reported. Everyone at Richmond seems to see him as a God (which I’ll get into more a little bit later). Everyone except for Jamie. He doesn’t like Zava’s ego and the way he shows it in the clubhouse and on the field. (that’s funny coming from Jamie). Even as hypocritical as Jamie is, he ends up being right.

After Richmond’s first match that ended in a draw, they go on an absolute tear, moving up to the top of the English Premier League, right up there with the likes of Manchester City and the antagonistic West Ham United. There’s one common theme with each game: the goals are always coming from Zava. 

There is one game where Richmond faces off against Leeds United and Jamie, in the right position for a goal, kicks the ball and right before it goes in, Zava kicks it in the net for a goal, stealing it from Jamie. Going back to this God-like complexion Richmond has given Zava, it is shown in Richmond’s match again Manchester United when Zava scores the game winning goal, with the announcers calling it a “God-like bicycle kick” with “Superstar” playing in the background (as a former theater kid I love that). After the team starts celebrating, Zava starts cheering at the fans, rips his shirt off and Jamie sees an odd but telling tattoo on Zava’s back. It’s an image of Zava, holding his arms up, with the clouds above him opening and revealing the sun, like he is an actual God. He really does see himself as a God. I honestly don’t think Zava’s time in Richmond will be lengthy at all. He doesn’t fit the rest of the team’s dynamic at all and is always in his own little world. I don’t think Ted is going to take lightly to that in later episodes, and I don’t think Zava is going to like Ted’s attitude toward him.

There was another subplot that was interesting in this episode that I saw coming right away, but many people might’ve missed it. When Rebecca goes to meet with her mother’s psychic, the psychic sees a green matchbook in her future and something much bigger, a baby. She says Rebecca is going to be a mother and Rebecca dismisses it. You can see her briefly worry about it in the episode because at one point she lights a candle and looks for a green matchbook but doesn’t find it. At the end of the episode, when she and Keeley are having a drink at Sam’s new restaurant, he gives all the customers, including Rebecca, a green matchbook. If you gasped at that moment, so did I. I had suspected it the entire episode, even before the psychic. During the press conference, Zava didn’t show up for; Rebecca was waiting with Keeley. She says something subtle that could easily be missed, “Now I’m late.” I sat right up when I heard that, thinking I didn’t hear that correctly. Then the psychic happened and, in my mind, I knew right away she was going to have a child. While we don’t know who the father is, it’s reasonable to assume it’s Sam (who had a brief relationship with Rebecca in season two). However, this series is always full of surprises, so it might be someone else. One last thing about this Rebecca subplot, and this might be me looking for anything, but she is wearing a pink jacket when she says that line at the press conference and when she walks into the psychic’s office. Is she having a girl? We’ll have to wait and see.

One last thing before I finish with this article, the story about Colin. At the beginning of the episode, it is revealed that Colin is gay and has a male partner. Not much is revealed about his partner right away, other than his name (Michael). Colin invites Michael to Sam’s restaurant with the rest of his teammates there, and he introduces Michael as his wingman, showing that Colin hasn’t come out to his teammates yet. However, right at the end of the episode, Colin and Michael are outside of the restaurant in an alleyway kissing, and Trent Crimm walks by and sees them. He doesn’t say anything. He just continues walking. The song in the background as Trent sees this is called “Everybody Knows” by Leonard Cohen. With that song being played, I’m afraid that might mean Trent is going to leak the story about Colin being gay. It wouldn’t surprise me if Trent did that, as he did have that article about Ted’s panic attacks last season.

That’s pretty much all I got on the latest episode of “Ted Lasso.” Be on the lookout for the new episode on Apple TV+; season three is absolutely on fire.