23. 1×09 – “All Apologies”
Rebecca confesses her whole scheme to Ted, Ted forgives her, and she takes the extra step to apologize to Higgins. Higgins is often taken for granted in Rebecca’s scheme, and her decision to humble herself in front of him shows that she truly has turned a corner. But despite its title, “All Apologies” is rather unapologetic at times – Ted is forced to bench Roy, knowing it will devastate him and his self-image. Meanwhile, Beard (who knows he has endless credibility with Ted) finally calls the coach out on his “winning and losing don’t matter” philosophy. It’s an episode of harsh truths that don’t quite hang together in terms of plot but acquits itself nicely on the theme.
Key Moment: Ted forgives Rebecca. He recognizes his pain in her and understands, but does not validate, the way that she used him and betrayed the team. The show is forever changed once the two of them are on the same side.
22. 2×02 – “Lavender”
Not a remarkable episode by any means, “Lavender” still enriches the series’ message. While the club morale is teetering and Richmond have lost eight in a row, Ted gets the chance to bring Jamie back to the team. He initially says no because of Jamie’s negative locker room presence but eventually decides to extend Jamie some grace. This is the first time that Ted’s attempt to see the good in people creates serious resentment; Sam, in particular, is outraged at the decision. This is the episode for people who misunderstand Ted Lasso to be all sunshine and rainbows; pleasing everyone sometimes means not pleasing everyone.
Key Moment: Jamie gets his comeuppance, revealing how much lives beneath the surface of his incredibly goofy character. Jamie’s redemption arc takes ages to work out, but it is one of the show’s most satisfying elements. It all starts by going back to Ted with his tail between his legs.
21. 2×11 – “Midnight Train to Royston”
A well-built episode that tracks Sam’s possible departure for Edwin Akufo’s (Sam Richardson) recently-purchased Raja Casablanca, Keeley’s magazine feature, as well as Ted’s difficulty in processing Dr. Sharon’s departure. Ted’s fight with Dr. Sharon doesn’t yield any particularly vibrant insights or movements in the plot but does add depth to the characters and their relationship. But Sam’s dilemma, in being offered an opportunity to continue to champion Africa after the Dubai Air debacle, is the episode’s more engrossing story.
Key Moment: Ted tells Dr. Sharon that he’s angry with her, something he has rarely done in the series. It illustrates that Ted’s normal responsibility to optimism and kindness becomes less stable when he feels betrayed. Then, at the end of the episode, Nate betrays him by leaking the story of Ted’s panic attack to Trent Crimm (of The Independent).
20. 3×01 – “Smells Like Mean Spirit”
An uneven season premiere, “Smells Like Mean Spirit”, is quite funny and does well in setting up Richmond’s underdog status in the premier league. The adversarial relationship with Nate sets up nicely, even if Rupert is a bit of a cartoon villain. Ted’s realization that Michelle is seeing someone new adds another emotional dimension to an already complex character. But elsewhere, things take an unsettling turn: Rebecca becomes single-mindedly obsessed with beating Rupert, disregarding how much she has come to trust Ted. Elsewhere, Keeley and Roy break up unexpectedly, and the big reveal is undercut by Phoebe’s ridiculously erudite rationalization. The episode, in essence, only partly believes in itself.
Key Moment: After Nate is cruel in his press conference and Rebecca instructs Ted to fight back, Ted decides to win over the journalists with his characteristic charm, showing that he is unwilling to compromise on his philosophy in the face of an uphill battle.
19. 3×04 – “Big Week”
A mixed episode in many ways. The team’s violent performance against West Ham is unwarranted; while their anger toward Nate is natural, physically taking it out on Nate’s players feels out-of-character and unnecessary. In other instances where the team has felt anger, they have channeled it into productive football. Elsewhere, the Keeley/Shandy/Jack storylines become somewhat interesting again, as the whole affair is placed in the context of the West Ham match, and Keeley finally sticks up for herself by criticizing Shandy’s marketing concept for Bantr.
Perplexingly, the match ends with ten minutes remaining in the episode, leading to a drawn-out dénoument that includes some key plot points (Rupert’s continued infidelity, Ted’s frank conversation with Michelle, Nate’s evening with Anastasia), but none of them feel like part of a story that ended earlier that night. This episode has all the parts of a good Ted Lasso episode, but the totality is a bit off.
Key Moment: After Beard and Roy screw up the big match by showing the team the video of Nate’s vandalism, Ted forgives them, saying that everyone makes mistakes. While everyone around Ted wants him to be a killer, he always refuses and importantly refrains from targeting the people closest to him.
18. 3×11 – “Mom City”
Season three strikes again, shoving many good concepts into a package that’s slightly less than the sum of its parts. (Notice how long these paragraphs have gotten? Jeez.) As the Greyhounds return to Manchester, Jamie gets caught up in his head. A visit to his childhood home straightens him out; his eventual tearful departure from the pitch, with the crowd applauding, is the second Jamie moment of the series (after his emotional encounter with his father in 2×10) to combine many complex emotions into one, dialogue-free scene.
Elsewhere, Ted’s mother arrives for a surprise visit, and, despite an emotional conversation near the end of the episode, she doesn’t add quite as much heft as the writers were clearly counting on. We didn’t even know Ted’s mother was alive until this moment, so while Ted being told that Henry misses him is certainly a powerful moment, it lacks the full weight that it could have. Nate’s in this episode, too! He eventually sees the light and realizes he has to return to Richmond, but his story is spread quite thinly across the Man City saga that it doesn’t quite add up, either.
Key Moment: Beard’s speech to Nate, which finally reveals the full history of Beard’s and Ted’s relationship, underscores the whole purpose of the show: that forgiveness and mercy are the way to make people better. Beard’s relationship with Ted is so pure and so deep that we take it for granted throughout the series. But, in this moment, it becomes clear that it, too, is a choice and a manifestation of the love that Ted tries to put in the universe.
17. 1×06 – “Two Aces”
Jamie Tartt gets his second foil (after Roy) in the form of Dani Rojas (Cristo Fernández). Rojas’ joyful arrival adds another dimension of humor to the Lassoverse, but it’s the curse story that defines this episode. A summer camp-esque bonding ritual brings the team closer together, only for Jamie to be transferred to another team. While the ritual scene is quite affecting, “Two Aces” is effectively a footsoldier, setting up the second half of the season’s arc and lining up new tensions (Roy and Keeley’s budding romance, Jamie’s transfer to Man City, Ted’s shaken confidence). It’s an episode that needed to happen, and as a result, feels somewhat obligatory.
Key Moment: Early in the episode, Ted loses his temper at Jamie for refusing to play. While the previous episode’s moment of glory came in the form of Ted doubling down on his beliefs in teamwork and humility by benching Jamie, Ted’s outrage at Jamie reveals the fragility of Ted’s self-image and his fear that the only thing he has going for him will come undone. It’s a moment that shows Ted Lasso‘s resistance to the easy progress narrative that defines so many sports stories — just because they had a good day yesterday doesn’t mean they’ve turned the ship around.
16. 3×07 – “The Strings That Bind Us”
Sam is one of the show’s strongest characters, and this episode featuring his continued activism, his stand against xenophobia and racism, and his father’s arrival in London is perfect television. His father’s realization that the restaurant is named after him is so touching. Elsewhere, the football storyline — Roy’s deranged training strategy aside — is brilliantly realized. The team defines a problem and comes to understand it collectively. Leadership comes surprisingly from Jamie, and despite a loss, the team learns something.
Nate’s plot with Jade is also quite good and even endears the story’s villain to us. But with the third season’s ballooning episode length comes the Keeley/Jack storyline, which isn’t only frustrating because it’s excessive: in season two, Keeley was brilliant, the most emotionally intelligent character on the show. She confidently handled situations as diverse as Nate surprisingly kissing her and Phoebe’s sensitivity over her bad breath. But in this episode, she’s just distracted by shiny things and needs to be woken up by Rebecca. It’s unsettling to see a formerly strong character be diminished so intensely.
Key Moment: The entire arc with Sam’s father is touching — we’ve heard him on the phone and know the extent to which he is a truly good man, and seeing him and Sam bond in person was simply a treat. But, seeing Sam collapse into his father’s arms is the episode’s strongest moment, revealing what Ted and Jamie are missing.
15. 1×07 – “Make Rebecca Great Again”
While Rebecca learns that building herself up after her divorce involves turning toward kindness and not revenge, Nate learns that by tearing other people down, he can become powerful and produce good results on the pitch. Like “Two Aces”, “Make Rebecca Great Again” has a signature team bonding moment in the karaoke scene, but it’s substantially stronger because it represents Rebecca’s investment in the team’s culture and a chance for someone to build Ted up, rather than all of the responsibility sitting on his shoulder.
Key Moment: Nate’s taunting of the Richmond players is gruesome — the first of many Nate scenes that is difficult to watch. While the players take it well, hoisting Nate on their shoulders at the end of the night, it’s the beginning of the end for the Wonder Kid.
14. 3×10 – “International Break”
Another very full episode from the third season, “International Break”, covers Rebecca’s meeting with Akufo and her eventual pivot away from revenge; several players’ trips to international play (with Sam’s entry being foiled by Akufo), Keeley’s funding getting pulled by Jack and her subsequent resuscitation of KJPR, and Nate’s realization that his happiness is more important than success after he quits West Ham. It’s an episode with a good message (that joy is better than victory), but a few elements reveal that season three is not quite holding it together. Jade, who first starts Nate’s turn toward simpler forms of happiness, is written off the episode, going home to visit family rather than contributing to Nate’s development.
Meanwhile, Akufo’s arrival merely creates an opportunity for Rebecca’s plotline to accelerate because it was somewhat stuck in the mud over the last few episodes. It helps that “International Break” is laugh-out-loud funny, with Dani’s sudden menacing attitude toward Van Damme, the return of Edwin Akufo, and Roy’s arrival in a tie-dyed shirt, soundtracked to Nick Cave. But for all of its humor and even its beauty (especially Rebecca’s speech at Akufo’s dinner and Roy’s letter to Keeley), it’s too reliant on constructs to feel like a fully realized piece.
Key Moment: Rebecca’s speech at Akufo’s dinner, soundtracked to Nate’s violin playing, is a worthy reprimand of the role of money in sports and speaks to her re-familiarization with the reason Richmond play in the first place.
13. 1×08 – “The Diamond Dogs”
Those who misunderstand Ted Lasso as uncritically optimistic need to watch “The Diamond Dogs”. In three separate instances (Ted and the gang’s criticism of Roy’s apprehensions around Keeley, Higgins and Keeley’s pleas for Rebecca to stop sabotaging the club, and Ted’s speech in the darts match), the show chastises those who are more interested in revenge and control than they are in empathy and kindness will always lose. Ted is jovial with Roy in the Diamond Dogs scene because he has respect for him but still tells him in no uncertain terms that he is wrong. The rebukes in this episode, of course, start the trajectories toward goodness but are a reminder that we don’t always start there.
Key Moment: Ted’s victory in darts is more thrilling than some of Richmond’s victories on the pitch, as he’s able to juxtapose his worldview with that of Rupert directly.