“Ted Lasso” season three premiere scores a hat trick

Season three of “Ted Lasso” has arrived after a long wait, and it didn’t disappoint. There was a lot happening in the episode, but before I go into what I thought was interesting about it, this article will contain spoilers, so go watch if you haven’t – otherwise, read at your own risk.

Season three kicks off with already a lot of worry in AFC Richmond, with all sports pundits predicting that they will finish in dead last and be relegated once again like they were in season one. Ted takes the team to a sewer system in the city to use it as a metaphor to let the negative thoughts flow out of their minds and not let it get to them. Ted also appears to be unworried about the team throughout the episode, convinced they’ll do fine. Still, other people, including Rebecca and Ted’s son, Henry, remind him that he should be thinking about winning it all like he had told Rebecca at the end of season one. 

Meanwhile, over at West Ham United, they are predicted to do quite well, finishing in the top four this season. We see West Ham being managed by former Richmond coach Nate Shelley, with the team being owned by former Richmond owner Rupert Mannion.

Throughout the episode, I saw a symbol that I thought was especially interesting. When we first see Rebecca, she’s wearing a white shirt and her office seems to have a generally positive vibe to it. Meanwhile, over at West Ham United, Rupert is dressed in all black with an all-black office. It gives me an Angel and the Devil undertones, with Rebecca and AFC Richmond representing the Angel and Rupert and AFC Richmond representing the Devil. It’s also worth noting that Nate himself was also dressed in all black as well in the episode.

We begin to see a new version of Rebecca during this episode. Early on, we see her angry that all of the pundits are predicting Richmond to finish in last place, which is reasonable since she’s the owner. 

However, when she sees West Ham United is predicted to finish in the top four, she starts thinking about West Ham as only Rupert (her ex-husband). Ted starts correcting her when starts referring to West Ham as “him” instead of “them” since she’s only thinking about Rupert and wanting him to lose instead of thinking about the team that is going to be on the pitch. This mindset for Rebecca continues during her lunch with Keeley, when she keeps mentioning how much she wants to see Rupert lose, and it comes up again when she is talking to Ted after the West Ham press conference. She wants Ted to fight back during the press conference, but of course, he only responds in kind to Nate and West Ham United.

It was interesting to see what Nate had turned into in this episode. In the past two seasons, we saw Nate as a quiet but focused man. When he became an assistant coach at Richmond, he wanted things done his way all the time and was often critical of others. It wasn’t until the end of season two that he finally snapped and left Richmond to take up the head coach job at West Ham United. 

Now that he is the head coach, his true colors were on full display. When he first walked into the stadium, someone told him, “Good morning, Coach Shelley” while passing him on the escalator. He proceeded to not say anything to them. When he was running practice for his players, he humiliated one of his players by making him stand on what he calls the “dumb, dumb line.” 

Later, during the press conference, there was another interesting symbol that happened. While it is known that Ted Lasso has had panic attacks throughout the series, Nate proceeds to have a panic attack after he is asked the first question during his press conference. He has a couple of flashbacks to his time at Richmond and a flashback of his father. 

He quickly recovers from the attack and resumes answering questions. That might be something to look out for later in the season. After that, when he’s answering questions from the press, a reporter asks him a question on if he feels overwhelmed, and Nate responds by insulting him.

Near the end of the episode, it’s revealed that Roy and Keeley have broken up. It was hinted that their relationship was near the end during the season two finale when Roy asked if they were breaking up, but Keeley had said no. Now that they are officially no longer a couple, it sounds like Roy is still having second thoughts about the breakup when he’s talking with his niece. At the end of season two, Nate and Keeley have a moment while he’s shopping for a suit, and it was kind of left up in the air. I’m not sure if they will start dating during season three, but it’s something to look out for.

I was worried that the season three premiere was going to be a letdown since we had to wait almost a year and a half for it, but it picked up right where it left off. It felt like nothing had changed in the series. I can’t wait to watch the new episode when it airs.