It’s been a mega week for TV fans, with the final ever episodes of Succession and Barry airing on Monday. Last night it was Ted Lasso’s turn: after three seasons and 34 episodes, the sport-comedy Apple TV+ show, which stars Jason Sudeikis as an American football coach working in the UK, came to an end.
The conclusion has sent the internet into a frenzy: #tedlasso is trending on Twitter as fans lament the end of their favourite show. To celebrate the joyful football series, and to bid it adieu, here’s our pick of some of the best moments from across the three seasons.
S01E08 - The Diamond Dogs - The dart scene
Is this the most memorable scene of Ted Lasso? It’s certainly up there. It’s high stakes as Ted (Sudeikis) makes a bet with the ex-husband of club-owner Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham). If Ted loses, he’ll let Rupert (Anthony Head), who used to own AFC Richmond and who now owns West Ham United, pick the starting lineup of the last two games of the season. But if he wins, Rupert can’t go anywhere near the owner’s box, which would give Rebecca some peace of mind – Rupert has been taunting his ex-wife, saying he’s going to show up at every game and criticise her and her team.
Ted manages to deftly lower the expectations of Rupert, as well as the audience, just to blow us all away with his darts ability, which has added weight given that he learned it from his father, who died by suicide when Ted was a teenager. A classic Ted Lasso gut punch of pride, heartbreak and sentimentality, all wrapped up in one.
S02E01 - Goodbye Earl - “Don’t you dare settle for fine!”
Although Ted Lasso is known for its frequent heart-warming moments, there was something particularly moving about this scene between Roy (Brett Goldstein) and Rebecca in season two. Rebecca, who is still grappling with self-esteem issues after her messy divorce, is dating a bit of an empty suit. After a double date with Keeley (Juno Temple) and Roy she asks them for their verdict. Keeley is all polite encouragement as Rebecca’s best friend but Roy, whose whole schtick is his lack of emotion, speaks up. He says that the date is “fine” but that “it’s not about him. It’s about why the f*** you think he deserves you”.
It’s one of Roy’s first real interactions with Rebecca and he chooses to tell her the truth instead of sparing her feelings because he knows she deserves better. When Roy Kent imparts some rare wisdom instead of just growling, you know it’s going to be good.
S01E02 - Biscuits - “Be A Goldfish”
Be like a lion, yes, or a shark, but be like a goldfish? This mantra, which gets repeated at least once a season, stemmed from an exchange at the beginning of season one, where Ted (Sudeikis) tells player Sam Obisanya (Toheeb Jimoh) to “be a goldfish” because the fish have very short memories. Sam has just been heckled by a pre-redemption arc Jamie Tartt, and Ted recommends that the best path forward is by learning to let things go. The idea of forgiving and forgetting, or not holding onto memories that hurt, became a major theme running throughout the series.
S02E08 - Man City - The Haircut
Isaac (Kola Bokinni), first the vice-captain and later the captain, gives an amazing haircut. Why? We aren’t told. We may never know. But once a season he will treat one player to a new do. In episode eight, titled Man City, it’s Sam who gets the hair cut. He’s going on a blind date, and wants to look his best.
The importance of the haircut scene is really less about its aftermath and more about the haircutting process itself. It’s a bonding moment for the men – there are serious fraternity vibes as Isaac goes about his artistry. “It’s like Swan Lake,” says one team member. Everyone oos and ahhs as Sam gets trimmed. It’s memorable because it’s a perfect example of what Ted Lasso is all about: men enjoying each other’s company and supporting each other.
S02E08 - Man City - Jamie’s dad
Look, Man City was a big episode. Near the end, the abusive father of striker Jamie (Phil Dunster) comes into the locker room after Richmond loses to Manchester City and starts heckling his son. Jamie ends up punching his dad in the face, who is then escorted out, while Jamie breaks down in Roy’s arms. “The men in Lasso can try to isolate themselves and steep in their problems alone, but they will find that their safety net of other men will come barging in, ready to do what it takes to help,” explained The New York Times. “Lasso is a show built on softness” – and this scene is the perfect example of this.
S03E03 - 4-5-1 - Julie Andrews
This exchange in the third season was pure Ted Lasso, with niche references (the best roles of Julie Andrews is about as niche as it gets) and men showing their softer side. It shouldn’t be the case, but Julie Andrews might be considered a more stereotypical feminine interest: we loved Roy saying he used to fancy Julie Andrews, still does really – “the voice, the eyes”, and we love their “deep cuts” – such as Eliza Doolittle, where Andrews sang the songs, while Audrey Hepburn acted.
S02E03 - Do the Right-est Thing - Covering the sponsor
In Do the Right-est Thing, Sam runs into trouble when he finds out that AFC Richmond’s sponsor, Dubai Air, is owned by Cerithium Oil, the company behind an oil spill in the Niger Delta, near his hometown. He withdraws from a photo shoot, nearly leading to his firing, and later puts black tape across the sponsor’s logo on his football shirt. In solidarity, his teammates do the same. It gets the club in trouble, but the public back them. This was a bit of an edgy Ted Lasso storyline, which is partly why it’s so memorable.
S01E03 - Trent Crimm: The Independent - “I spoke to the owner of The Sun”
Ted Lasso is jam-packed full of hilarious lines, but this is arguably our favourite. “I spoke to the owner of The Sun,” says Rebecca. “You spoke to God!?” asks Ted, not missing a beat. It also seems like it could be a perfect example of the improvised dialogue that has become a signature of Ted Lasso and Jason Sudeikis in particular. Although the show is scripted, according to cast members, dialogue can change moments up to the start of shooting.
“The scripts change, usually on the day that you’re shooting,” said Leslie Higgins actor Jeremy Swift. “This is the first job ever that, although I’ve approximated what I’m going to be doing, I don’t learn the script, because I know that when I’m in the car on the way to the studio at seven in the morning, I’ll get a ping with a new draft.”
S01E07 - Make Rebecca Great Again - Karaoke
The team are in Liverpool for their first game against super-rivals Everton, who they have failed to beat for six decades. Unbelievably, they win, and celebrate by going to a karaoke bar. Rebecca sings Frozen’s Let It Go, but rather than shrieking the high notes, it turns out she has a wonderful singing voice and the team is spellbound by her peformance.
It’s a fantastic scene for two reasons: we get to see Rebecca’s confidence grow before our eyes, which makes it a bit of a tear-jerker, but it also leads into the first indication of Ted’s struggles with his mental health (finding it hard to come to terms with his divorce, he has a panic attack while she’s singing), and it’s Rebecca who comes outside to help him through it. Given that the series ends with the pair as close confidantes, the karaoke scene is kind of like their origin story.
