One of the big unknowns that this end of the 2022/2023 television season is having is whether, indeed, season 3 of ‘Ted Lasso’ has been the last. Although those responsible (led by Jason Sudeikis) have pointed in that direction, from Apple TV + they have avoided at all costs declaring the end of the series.
Although we do not know the reasons to continue or the plans that exist for the universe lassianthe truth is that it is difficult to see how they will continue with the series without transforming it into one or several spin-offs because ‘Bye Bye’ is a farewell episode in every sense, joining those of ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’, ‘Succession’ and ‘Barry’.
A farewell quite up to the characters, with (spoilers) a string of happy endings and tender moments in which the Richmond faces the West Ham United in the decisive final day of the Premier League. We are not going to stop at wins or losses but the episode is 74 minutes that fly by.
Beyond my buts, which I will detail later, it must be recognized that the end has been the one that the series has deserved. It has its funny moments, its tenderness, its emotionality and, in general, they have been true to themselves despite the fact that this general expansion of plots and focus on characters has taken a toll on them, with some working better than others.
football too total
Where they have not been fine throughout the season is when address hot and important topics. There are, above all, two that stand out (basically for dedicating entire chapters to them) such as the taboo of homosexuality in football (with Billy Harris’s character, Colin, in the center) and, in another episode, about the damage it can do the leak of an erotic video like the one recorded by Keeley (Juno Temple).
Actually, the bittersweet taste in the mouth What leaves the way the writers handle each plot – Colin’s much better than Keeley’s, it must be said – comes from how they scratch the surface too little for the time spent. A tonic that, in general, is present throughout this season 3.
And it is that one of the most surprising things about these dozen episodes is how, with one-hour episodes, the series fails to do minimal development of character arcs. We suddenly jump from situation to situation (Keekey suddenly breaks up with his girlfriend from a couple of episodes, Nathan isn’t at West Ham anymore, etc.).
Be careful, it is not that the twists that the characters have during the season are not justified, but they are too sudden and abrupt. Our friends from Richmond stumble through their near-final run in what looks like a testing ground for possible spin-offs… between them and, as we see at the end, one about the club’s women’s team.
It hasn’t been the best season, but it’s still nice
This somewhat spoils the viewing of a series that at no time does it stop being that warm place, friendly and pleasant in which to live. A place that we probably visited for the last time and that, perhaps because we are aware of it, is full of more. It falls into that saying of “how little pleases and how much angers”. But it’s not so much anger as… a frustration due to the fluctuations of the season.
Which is not to say that we don’t have emotional moments. In fact, the final stretch of season 3 of ‘Ted Lasso’ It’s quite emotional from beginning to end. in which the scriptwriters intend to close the circle by putting most of the characters before the possibility of, in some way, being in an evolved version of the place where they started in which the personal arcs that have had them giving them three years are resolved. laps.
It hasn’t been the best season, but the farewell has been great.
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