The third season of Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso chronicles a neighbourhood football club’s bumpy ride to the top of one of the world’s most prestigious leagues. Created by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt and Joe Kelly, the sports comedy show, headlined by Jason Sudeikis, showcases how an American football manager copes with the other type of football in England and achieves success with a team of underdogs while battling his personal problems. Here’s what we liked about Ted Lasso Season 3.

The rise of the underdog: A football fairytale

Ted Lasso is the ultimate underdog fairytale, culminating in a small football club’s journey to Premier League glory. It has been adapted from a 2013 NBC Sports advertisement campaign of the Premier League in which comedian Jason Sudeikis played an American football coach, Ted Lasso, who knew absolutely nothing about football but somehow became the coach of a Premier League team. This bizarre situation is the premise of the show.

The first two seasons followed Ted’s arrival at London’s AFC Richmond, which is owned by Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) as part of her divorce settlement. The club went through several ups and downs before returning to the Premier League in the second season. The third season follows the underdog team as they challenge for the Premier League title even as the various characters navigate their journey of finding themselves.

Ted faces his fears and learns to move on

It was clear from the start of the show that Ted’s folksy optimism masks a weak interior. He came to England to get away from the pain of his failing marriage and the impending breakup of his family. With the assistance of Richmond’s sports psychologist Dr Sharon Fieldstone (Sarah Niles), Ted finally opens up and confronts his worries and inadequacies in the third season of this sports comedy.

Ted’s mother unexpectedly visits him in London, making him comprehend the profound emotional impact of his father’s death. They talk about their feelings in the 11th episode — Mom City — and the coach, who had been evading his family for long, eventually decides to return home to his son.

Inside view of the football world

Season 3 uses its extended runtime and additional episodes to explore pertinent issues concerning modern football, from systemic oppression and persecution of gay footballers to the conception of the infamous European Super League. It also incorporates dressing room banter, the pressure faced by top athletes, team-building exercises and football history, featuring montages of real-life football games.

The 12-episode season gives football fans a glimpse into the world of the Premier League. South London’s Selhurst Park Stadium served as the home of AFC Richmond (nickname The Greyhounds), while West Ham’s London Stadium, Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium also featured prominently. We see Arsenal legend Thierry Henry as a television pundit and current Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola hugging Ted after the match between their teams. Former referee Mike Dean also makes an appearance in Richmond’s final match of the season.

The development of supporting characters

Ted Lasso has some fantastically eccentric characters and we see them develop in the latest season. In the previous seasons, we saw a love triangle developing between Richmond’s assistant coach and former player Roy Kent, PR professional Keeley Jones and Richmind’s striker Jamie Tartt. Roy, a hot-headed footballer, falls in love with the free-spirited Keeley after she breaks up with Jamie. But Roy also breaks up with Keeley soon after.

Roy becomes Jamie’s mentor in the third season as the latter strives to become a better athlete and person after finally confronting his abusive father. Keeley, on the other hand, is attempting to become the boss of her work. Through the process, the trio discover a side of themselves they were unaware of and accept each other’s importance in their lives.

The importance of a second chance

One of the season’s major themes is giving people a second chance. The obvious villain at the start of the season was Nathan Shelley, who transforms from a shy, naive man to an envious and greedy professional. He wants to prove his superiority over Ted as the newly hired head coach of West Ham. Rupert Mannion and his fears motivated his continuous disparaging of Ted at press conferences. However, after being sacked by Mannion, Shelley was welcomed back to Richmond by everyone.

The latest season also focuses on characters such as The Independent journalist James Lance, who previously wrote about Ted’s anxiety attacks. In Season 3, all animosity is forgotten and he’s welcomed by Ted to Richmond’s locker room as he is writing a book on the Grayhound’s season in the Premier League.