I know it’s hard to hear, but everyone’s favourite lockdown television show Ted Lasso is over for another season. The good news is that Ted Lasso will not be abandoning us and a third season of the Apple TV+ show is on the way.
Here’s what we know so far about Ted Lasso season 3.
Where did we leave everyone in season 2?
Ted Lasso is one of the most delightful shows on television and could teach us all a thing or two about kindness. If you haven’t indulged in it yet, stop whatever you’re doing and go watch it now. You won’t regret it.
Spoilers for Ted Lasso seasons 1 and 2 ahead.
Ted Lasso‘s second season only wrapped up on October 8, so the wound of Nate’s betrayal is still very fresh.
The once kind assistant coach turned on Ted (and all of us) in the season 2 finale with a harsh monologue about his feelings of abandonment, which have been eating him up for most of the season.
This culminated in Nate ripping up Ted’s sacred ‘Believe’ sign – a criminal offence if you ask me – and leaving Richmond to become a coach for Rupert’s new team.
While this was easily the darkest plotline from the finale, our other characters got some wins this season.
Most importantly, Richmond’s last-minute penalty from Dani Rojas meant a return to the Premier League for our team. We love to see it!
Keeley decided to pursue a new job as the head of her own PR firm and must tragically part ways with Rebecca as an employee at Richmond FC (but don’t worry they’re still best mates).
Roy and Keeley, aka TV’s best couple, smoothed over some of their issues after Roy decided to forgive Jamie for telling his girlfriend he was still in love with her. Roy booked them both a well-deserved holiday, but Keeley was adamant she needed to stay and prepare for her new role. Roy, meanwhile, was in need of a break, so they agreed he should take it on his own.
Rebecca and Sam were also looking dicey there for a while. However, since Sam declined Edwin Akufo’s offer to join the Nigerian team, he is free to stay with Richmond – and Rebecca – and decided to open a restaurant.
That’s a lot to hold onto until Ted Lasso returns, so what do we know about season 3 that can tide us over?
What will happen in season 3?
We can thank the power of ‘Believe’ that Ted Lasso is coming back. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed a year ago in October 2020 that the show had scored an early season 3 renewal from Apple.
One thing we know is that season 3, like season 2, will have 12 episodes and that writers are working on them now.
The writers have often said they use Star Wars as a reference for Ted Lasso’s structure, which is why we saw Nate turn to the dark side in an Empire Strikes Back moment in season 2.
If we’re now heading into The Return of the Jedi era on Ted Lasso, what does that mean for our characters?
For Nate, it’s not so clear whether he’ll get redemption.
“I’m not saying it’s a redemption arc, because I genuinely don’t know. But maybe there’s always hope. Maybe this will be the one character that doesn’t get a redemption story. Maybe they’ll keep it real and maybe someone doesn’t get to redeem themselves,” actor Nick Mohammed, who plays Nate, told Entertainment Weekly.
Richmond is also a Premier League Team once again so, as far as the football portion of the show goes, we can expect to see them chasing that championship trophy. Apple also recently struck a licensing deal with England’s Premier League, which will allow the show to utilise more football assets.
Something that is unclear is whether Ted Lasso’s third season will be the last. Jason Sudeikis said the writers’ plans for the series only factored in a three-season arc, but hopefully, the love for the show (and its many Emmys) will change their mind.
Ted Lasso season 3 cast
We can assume series regulars like Jason Sudeikis (Ted), Hannah Waddingham (Rebecca), Brett Goldstein (Roy), Juno Temple (Keeley), Brendan Hunt (Beard), Jeremy Swift (Higgins) and Nick Mohammed (Nate) will all be back next season.
But what about some of the ensemble characters?
EP Bill Lawrence confirmed to Deadline that both team therapist Sharon (Sarah Niles) and ex-reporter Trent Crimm (James Lance) will have significant roles next season, so we’ll definitely be seeing some familiar faces.
It would also be a pretty big surprise if other fan favourites like Phil Dunster (Jamie Tartt), Toheeb Jimoh (Sam) and Cristo Fernandez (Dani) didn’t return.
Ted Lasso season 3 release date
Bill Lawrence said in an interview that the team is trying to keep the seasons about a year apart, although season 2 had to factor in the Olympics this year, which is why it debuted a bit later.
Filming is scheduled to begin in January 2022 according to The Hollywood Reporter, which means we should hopefully see Ted Lasso season 3 around August 2022.
So what are we expected to do now for another year? Re-watch Ted Lasso on Apple TV+, I guess.