Apple TV+’s sports comedy-drama series Ted Lasso won many hearts with its first two seasons in 2020 and 2021. Season 3 has clearly not been at par with the earlier seasons, but it has ultimately provided a decent enough farewell to the characters from Nelson Road. Having gained promotion from the Championship in season 2, AFC Richmond are now in the Premier League, hoping to survive or stay mid-table at best. Like most other things in Ted Lasso, the performances of the club are also heavily dramatized, and old and new bonds are made stronger than ever.
Spoilers Alert
How Did Nate Shelley’s Time At West Ham Go?
Nate Shelley begins Ted Lasso season 3 at West Ham United, which had been recently bought over by the devilish Rupert Mannion, Rebecca’s ex-husband. Despite maintaining his confident façade, Nate had always felt guilty about the way his time at Richmond had ended, particularly about how he had let his jealousy ruin his beautiful bond with coach Lasso. On the football field, Nate has quite a successful season with West Ham, opening with a series of wins. He manages to win the crucial home game against Richmond, much to the jubilation of Rupert. But Nate’s biggest development this season comes in his personal life, as the man realizes that not everything in life can be won over by bullish self-confidence.
Nate continues visiting his favorite Greek restaurant, the same one where he celebrates all the family occasions, and now starts to develop a liking for one of the servers, Jade. The two had met earlier, too, in season 2, but Nate had just been extremely rude with her as part of his new super-confident self, and Jade did not exactly remember him. Although Rupert throws around expensive cars and models willing to mingle in Nate’s way, the man remains fascinated by Jade. Finally, with the help of his mother and sister, he asks Jade out on a date, and the woman agrees right away. As both have been developing an interest in each other for some time now, Nate and Jade’s relationship flourishes into one of love, understanding, and support, which continues till the very end of the season.
After learning about this relationship, Rupert tries to get Nate into trouble by getting him to cheat with some other women, but the kitman-turned-manager is now truly changed from his black-suited, mean character. Nate declines Rupert’s offer to an exclusive boys-only party, where the cheating was supposed to take place, and through this act, he turns down all of Rupert’s demands and wishes. Soon enough, it is announced that West Ham United have parted ways with their manager, Nate Shelley, and it is actually Nate who resigned from the job. For some time now, over season 3, Nate has been missing the extremely friendly and supportive work environment that coach Lasso had created back in Richmond, and things are not the same at West Ham at all. Besides everyone else, the owner, Rupert, is an extremely negative person whose evil nature is highlighted more by a long black waistcoat that he wears at all times. Unwilling to work amidst all this negativity and perhaps missing his old club, Nate resigns from West Ham and spends the next few days depressed at his parents’ house.
When he does become more operative, though, Nate joins Jade at the Greek restaurant and starts working as a server. However, Jade clearly notices how her boyfriend is still very much into football, and when some of the Richmond players ask him to come back, she wants him to return to the world of football even more. Nate is initially against it, mostly because he is extremely ashamed and guilty of his actions from the end of season 2, but he is finally won over by the words of Coach Beard. Coming over to his house, Coach Beard reveals that one time during his younger days, he had been sent to prison for possession of drugs, and then after being released, he contacted Ted Lasso to help him out. Like the person he was, Ted gave Beard a place to stay and provided a good life for him until Beard stole his car and even got caught with it. But, like in typical Ted Lasso fashion, the man forgave Coach Beard, and they have been best friends since then. Similarly, Nate now also gives Ted a chance to forgive him by returning to AFC Richmond as the assistant kitman, which is really just a made-up position. In the end, Ted Lasso obviously forgives Nate, and he even uses one of Nate’s tactics in Richmond’s final game of the season.
How Did Jamie Tartt And Roy Kent Become Close Friends?
At the beginning of the new Premier League season, Richmond manages to sign a legendary footballer named Zava, who is clearly an impersonation of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Zava is equally fixated on himself, but he is also skilled enough to bring instant success to the team. But this success does not last very long, as Zava suddenly goes missing before a crucial game and then announces his retirement on social media. Richmond take a lot of time to recover from this sudden loss of their talismanic superstar, but ultimately they also get the remaining players to bond with each other stronger than ever. Zava’s contribution in Ted Lasso season 3 remains confined to this very bond and also through an unnaturally large avocado that he sends over to the dressing room from his new life as a farmer.
When Zava had come into the team, though, he had become the center of everyone’s attention for obvious reasons, but this had largely affected Richmond’s current superstar, Jamie Tartt. In an effort to become better than Zava on the pitch, Jamie started looking for private training sessions, and Roy Kent stepped up and offered to coach him privately. Much of the animosity that Jamie and Roy had between each other in Ted Lasso season 1 was now left behind, and after these private training sessions, the two became very close friends, even sharing personal problems and seeking advice from each other.
After successfully taking back the limelight as Richmond’s superstar, Jamie once again has a bit of a mental slump before Richmond’s visit to Manchester for a match against City. This time around, both Roy and Keeley try to help the player out, and ultimately the three end up at the home of Jamie’s mother. Although the situation initially seemed otherwise, it is revealed that Jamie actually had a very healthy and supportive relationship with his mother and her current partner, both of whom are extremely welcoming towards him. The real problem lay with Jamie’s father, who had been abusive and harsh on everyone for most of his life, but now that the footballer does not see his father in the stands at Etihad, he is rather concerned. It is ultimately revealed that Jamie’s father is now spending time at a rehab center, possibly because of his drinking habit. In the end, Jamie decides to be a bigger person and reaches out to the man, texting him to let him know where he is. Jamie then forgives his father, and the two reunite when he visits the man at the rehab center.
Does Keeley Continue Her PR Firm?
Keeley Jones had started her own PR firm named KJPR at the beginning of Ted Lasso season 3, with the help of a bigger company that had decided to invest in her. Now that she was spending most of her time on professional work, Keeley and Roy had ended their relationship, mostly at Roy’s insistence. He believed that Keeley would do better without him, and she had agreed as well, possibly because she did not have much time for romance. However, a new love interest does walk into Keeley’s life in the shape of her boss, the CEO of the company that had invested in KJPR, Jack Danvers. The chemistry between Keeley and Jack is perhaps quite evident from their very initial meeting; Jack does not shy away from announcing their relationship at the office either.
However, problems with Jack also start to arise, especially with regard to how she keeps buying lavish gifts for Keeley and, in a way, tries to win her over with her money. Rebecca does warn her close friend about people like this since Rupert was also of a similar nature, and Keeley does remain cautious. But a major disagreement brews when suddenly an online leak reveals some private videos that Keeley had shot and sent to Jamie. Following this hack, Jack advises Keeley to write an apology on her social media profiles for having shot those videos. She remains completely insensitive to the fact that it was not Keeley who had done something wrong but the hackers who had released such private content. Jack and Keeley break up over this difference of opinion, and the boss soon goes away to Argentina and keeps Keeley completely away from her life.
Some weeks later, though, Keeley suddenly finds out that Jack’s company would no longer fund KJPR and that the firm was being shut down. After spending some time by herself and regaining her mental stability, Keeley finds support in the best friend she has made—Rebecca Walton. Rebecca now decides to fund KJPR, and the CFO, Barbara, also returns to work with Keeley after resigning from Jack’s company. Although love proposals and interests from both Roy Kent and Jamie Tartt continue to come her way, Keeley remains single in the end and is still very good friends with both Roy and Jamie.
Why Does Ted Lasso Decide To Resign From His Managerial Post?
After having fought against panic attacks and mental breakdowns in Ted Lasso season 2, Ted Lasso is once again more unsettled by his broken marriage this season. Although Ted has gotten over the fact that Michelle has grown out of love with him and the couple has also divorced by now, he is unable to accept his ex-wife’s new partner. Jacob, the new boyfriend to Michelle, had actually been Ted and his ex-wife’s marriage counselor before their divorce. With time, Ted does seem to understand how he had lost faith in marriage counseling and therapy, and because of the circumstances, Jacob and Michelle got close to each other. But he is once again irked and put off by the news of Jacob and Michelle going to Paris, as Ted believes that this means they will get engaged soon. As this does not ultimately happen, Ted’s concerns now fall completely on his young son, Henry. The young boy had already gotten involved in bullying, and he is also internally quite affected by the sheer distance that he has to travel between spending time with his mother and father. Later in season 3, when Ted’s mother, Dottie, visits London, she also tells him how terribly Henry misses his father. On the professional side, too, Ted seems stuck at this same job, and although winning the Premier League is indeed a possibility, he decides to call it quits even before the last match takes place. Now more interested in spending quality time with Henry, Ted informs Rebecca that he will resign at the end of the season and return to the USA. In the end, Ted Lasso is indeed seen in Kansas City, coaching his son’s junior soccer team.
Does Rebecca End Up Selling The Team?
On the last matchday of the Premier League season, AFC Richmond sits second in the table behind Pep Guardiola’s (who makes an appearance in episode 11) Manchester City. As fate would have it, Richmond faces West Ham on their last matchday, in a game they must win in order to win the league. Simply winning was not enough for Richmond, though, as City also had to lose or draw their game against Liverpool. Amidst such a scenario, a tense match plays out at Nelson Road with West Ham’s first-half lead; a goal ruled out due to offside, and an unbelievably powerful free-kick goal. In the end, Ted Lasso makes use of Nate’s strategy from season 1, in which Jamie Tartt poses as a dummy while Sam Obisanya gets in the clear, and Sam finally scores to give Richmond the much-needed win. However, the miraculous title hopes did not come true, as Manchester City defeated Liverpool to win the Premier League, with Richmond finishing 2nd and qualifying for the Champions League next season.
After Ted told Rebecca of his decision to leave, the owner started to feel lost and demotivated to continue leading Richmond. Around the same time, Higgins also informs her that a number of buyers have shown interest in the club following its immense success in securing Champions League qualification. Although the most exciting offer would be to sell off 49% of the club and retain decisive power with the majority (51%), Rebecca actually considers selling off Richmond completely and walking away with a whopping 2 billion dollars.
However, in the end, Rebecca informs Ted at the airport that she has not decided to do this after all. The reason was that Rebecca had realized that Richmond was her only family, and she did not have anyone close other than the people associated with the football club. But Rebecca is also an owner who deeply believes in the worth of fans, and she had even convinced other owners against a Super League structure as proposed by billionaire Edwin Akufo. In line with these opinions of Rebecca, she decides to sell 49% of the club to the ever-loyal fans of Richmond, who now feel closer to their club by investing in it. Coach Beard ultimately decides to stay back, too, as he has truly found love in his girlfriend and soon-to-be wife, Jane, and he continues to be one of the coaches at AFC Richmond. Ted Lasso’s position as head coach is then taken over by Roy Kent, who finds coach Beard and Nate Shelly in his managerial team.
Rebecca’s struggles with single life are also solved in the very end after she almost magically runs into a pilot and his young daughter. This pilot happened to be the same man who she had met and spent a beautiful night with back in Amsterdam when Richmond played a friendly against Ajax. This man, unnamed but credited as Matthijs, now begins a relationship with Rebecca, and the two are seen together in the end, with their young daughter becoming friends with Roy’s niece, Phoebe.
