As a general rule, I don't follow much in current television programming but Ted Lasso is a series I quickly came to enjoy and anticipate. Knowing that the showrunners intended only 3 seasons of programming that made the arrival of this final season both welcome and bittersweet, knowing there would be nothing past the final set of episodes.
The same friend who originally brought Ted Lasso to my attention - correctly realizing based on the 1st season that it was the kind of program I would like - has been very hard on season 3 and was quick to claim the series had "jumped the shark." My feelings aren't as extreme as his, but I will at least agree season 3 is disappointing when compared to the first two seasons. Seasons 1-2 were very tight television; I had a sense that the showrunners had a very clear idea of what each season's story was about and how the arcs of the lead characters would develop along the season's plot. Season 3 felt less certain of its direction.
It's probably helpful to note how the show became more bloated with time; season 1 ran 10 episodes that were about 30 minutes long; season 2 was supposed to be 10 episodes but Apple tacked on 2 extra episodes and the average length went to about 45 minutes; season 3 is again 12 episodes but each episode ran from 45 minutes to well over an hour each. The shorter episode length in season 1 forced the creators to be very succinct, for scenes to play out quickly and the dialogue to be snappy and rapid-paced; the two bonus episodes of season 2 did little to advance the season's plot but provided opportunities to develop side characters and give them space to breathe; season 3 never bored me, but I did notice how much slower the pace had become - that the show spent even more time on side characters and on letting scenes breathe. It can be nice at times to let a scene play out; then again, there's something to be said for leaving the audience wanting more.
Going into season 3, I suppose I was most concerned about what the program was going to do with the character of Keeley Jones, who had been invited to start her own public relations firm in the season 2 finale. My immediate concern when the season 2 finale ended was that if Keeley was still a main character in the show but no longer working for AFC Richmond then the show might struggle to find reasons for Keeley to be present in the show or give her storylines that were not connected to the other characters. I was unfortunately a bit prescient on that front; Keeley's PR firm was a running plot in season 3 and I'm not sure why it was - I mean, why beyond the reason that Juno Temple was still a leading performer in the series and needed to be on-screen.
The show gave Keeley her own cast of characters that were mostly there to fill in the background; the most significant addition was Keeley's CFO Barbara. Barbara was barely ever brought into focus in the show, but provided someone for Keeley to play off of. A bigger problem was that of Shandy, a model whom Keeley hired to work at her firm but who proved to be unprofessional and had to be fired. I see how this is a Keeley plot, but how is it a Ted Lasso plot? Shandy's side plot, more than anything, made me wonder what kind of story the showrunners thought they were telling. When Shandy was fired I wondered if she would come back to the series in a manner that would reveal the character's purpose - perhaps there would be a Shandy-Keeley character arc designed to mirror/contrast that of Ted-Nate. But no, Shandy was given a big introduction, was very obnoxious, then was written out. She gave us our first big Keeley plot of the season, that's it.
The 2nd Keeley plot - which started running just as Shandy was on her way out - is Keeley's relationship with her financier, Jack. I haven't seen anyone online who enjoyed this plot; Jack was introduced in the 4th episode, became Keeley's lover in the 5th, was absent in the 6th, had a major plot about how inequal their relationship was in the 7th, then broke up with Keeley in the 8th. That 8th episode was particularly contentious among fans, possibly because Jack's passive-aggressive toxicity is extremely frustrating to watch. Jack only really existed so that Keeley would have a storyarc outside of AFC Richmond that season; it kept her busy but Jack might be the character most despised by Ted Lasso fandom (even though Shandy worked hard for that honour).
Beyond Keeley, there were all kinds of supporting characters who were promoted to lead status but didn't do much; Dani was a lead character but had no character arc or even a spotlight episode such as he'd received in season 2's "Goodbye Earl"; Sam was promoted to the lead cast and got a good spotlight episode ("The Strings That Bind Us") but also had less of an arc than in the previous season. Why - when the episodes were longer than ever - did the series seem to be doing even less for beloved characters like Sam and Dani? It probably didn't help that they'd additionally promoted supporting characters Isaac and Colin to lead status (both of them had actual character arcs for the first time). It likely didn't help that Keeley and Nate's plots had largely nothing to do with the rest of the cast of characters.
I'm not certain how I feel about Nate's arc; I was prepared for villainous Nate and repentant Nate - I wound up getting both, but I'm not sure if I buy into it. Everything that happened in Nate's journey made sense as actions his character would take, but I'm still a bit flummoxed that his character's turning point - quitting West Ham - happened off screen, despite all the long drawn-out dramatic scenes that played across season 3. Similarly, Rupert's marriage falling apart, Ted and Keeley's break-up, Ted's decision to leave AFC Richmond - all of these moments happened off-screen. The 1st season used brevity to its advantage, I'm not sure why season 3 chose to elongate stories in some places and truncate them in others.
None of what I've described is that bad; heck, showrunner Bill Lawrence put his name on a lot of episodes of Scrubs that were deeply inferior. I think Ted Lasso's average was harmed by the 3rd season, but it still stands above most television comedy-dramas.
The season did come together at least in its exploration of characters being "stuck," particularly in Ted and Roy's struggles to advance; the dynamic ways in which Jamie and Colin changed during the season were a good contrast. I have no reservations in calling Ted Lasso's 3rd season quality television. But yes, the average slipped a bit; I guess it really was time to call it quits. The show's premise had always been around "becoming the best version of yourself," and that's a hard challenge for a show to meet. They tried, they put in a lot of effort. But like the pundits who appeared throughout the series, you can't help but question many of the choices the creators made.
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