Ted Lasso has at long last returned to Apple TV+, with the first episode of Season 3 premiering globally on March 15.
The Season 3 premiere of the celebrated sports comedy-drama brings back all your faves as Coach Lasso prepares his team at AFC Richmond for a new football season against old-friend-turned-new-foe, Nate. It’s the last season (we know, we’re also in denial) and if you’re anything like us, you’re in desperate need of some heart-warming, comfort television full of positivity and kindness, as well as a good dose of quippy life lessons.
What Happened in Ted Lasso, Season 3, Episode 1?
Let’s dive in, shall we? Here are all the major plotlines from the Ted Lasso Season 3 premiere episode, ‘Smells Like Mean Spirit.’
Ted Starts to Question His Reasons for Staying in England
In the opening scenes of the episode, Ted sees his son Henry off at the airport after they’ve spent six weeks together in London.
On his way home, Ted calls Sharon (the best damn therapist IMHO) and ponders what the heck he’s still doing in London. He says, “I know why I came, but it’s the sticking around I can’t quite figure out,” and wonders, “Maybe my being here is doing more hurting than helping at this point, ya know?”
Side note — more of Dr Sharon’s personal life, please.
Everyone Has Put AFC Richmond Dead Last
Everyone – yes “every newspaper, every television pundit, every lonely, middle-aged sports blogging loser living in his mother’s basement,” as Rebecca so eloquently puts it – has pegged the Greyhounds to come dead last this season. That’s 20th FYI, because there’s no 21st place.
Rebecca is livid her ex-husband’s Rupert team West Ham has been predicted to come fourth in the comp — and even angrier when Ted is calm about it all.
Nate “The Killer” Shelley Is Still the Worst
Nate – now Coach Shelley – has officially started his new job as coach of West Ham. He has seemingly embraced his dark side, with glimpses of his growing nastiness on the training field, during his conversation with Rupert, and later at the West Ham press conference, where he goes hard and trash-talks Ted and the Greyhounds.
But he’s still obsessed with what people think of him and craves approval, checking Twitter at all times for every new comment and meme about him.
The Greyhounds Learn a Valuable Lesson: ‘It’s Just Poopeh, Let It Flow’
When the team is distracted by all the negative noise during practice, Ted decides to take them on a little excursion – to London’s sewer system, of course. But in true Ted Lasso fashion, it all begins to make sense. He tells them that they all need an internal sewer system within themselves to let the negative ‘poopeh’ flow out, and they also need to connect to each other’s tunnels to learn and lean on each other for confidence and positivity.
(Shout out to Jamie Tartt for giving us ‘poopeh’, we’re never not using it now.)
Ted Is Still Ted and we love it
After Nate’s public comments, Rebecca is furious that Ted and the Greyhounds are once again a laughing stock. She urges Ted to fight back but we know that’s not his MO. He holds a press conference and tells reporters that despite the predictions, his hopes are high – as “high as a giraffe’s top hat”. He responds to Nate’s comments about him with humour and grace, winning over the crowd of reporters, much to Nate’s dismay and anger.
Keeley and Roy Break Up
In devastating news for Phoebe (and us), Roy and Keeley tell Phoebe they have broken up. When questioned why, they can’t really give a good reason besides the fact that they’re both “too busy”. (Keely is now running her own PR firm, and quietly killing it even if she doesn’t know what CFO stands for). Phoebe later tells her Uncle Roy that she thinks he’s being stupid, and we could not agree more.
Henry’s Wise Advice to Ted
We end the first episode with a conversation between Ted and Henry – and who’s the parent here because Henry drops some wise Lasso-isms on his father. Henry tells Ted that he can still be friends with Nate even if he’s on the other side now and that even if “winning the whole thing” isn’t everything, he still “gotta try, right?”
But as Henry shows Ted a toy given to him by ‘mummy’s friend’, Ted realises that his ex-wife Michelle is dating someone new.
The next episode of Ted Lasso will air on Apple TV+ on Wednesday, March 22, with new episodes dropping weekly.
Read more stories from The Latch and subscribe to our email newsletter.