The series finale of Ted Lasso has finally arrived and there were tons of big reveals and twists, with each of the character’s story arcs coming to their natural end. We got a good idea of what the future holds for the AFC Richmond’s players and staff, but in many cases, the clever writing gave characters the ending they deserved, rather than having everything work out in their favor.
Fans of the Ted Lasso series will likely have a bittersweet reaction to the Season 3 finale, which has closed the book on Ted’s story as the head coach of AFC Richmond. There was a lot of pressure on the showrunners to stick the landing, as going into the final episode, there were still many questions about the future of each of these characters.
The penultimate episode set Ted up to confess a major “Truth bomb” to his boss, Roy and Keeley’s relationship was up in the air and many were wondering what players and staff would remain at the club and who would depart, including Rebecca, who some had pictured seeking out Mattheo van der Grijn’s mystery character. So, what happened in the series finale?
Ted Lasso returns to America
Of course, we now have the answers to many of the questions raised, and none were bigger than the reveal of what Ted’s plans were for his future after the third season. The Truth Bomb was that he was planning to resign from his role as head coach and return to America, to spend more time with his son.
Despite being thrown for a loop early on in the finale, with Ted waking up in Rebecca’s house, it was revealed that he had simply crashed there. Along with Beard and his girlfriend Jane, they had each spent their night out celebrating the end of Ted’s successful tenure at AFC Richmond, this also put to rest the theories of a Ted and Rebecca relationship.
While Ted may not have achieved his happily ever after with a dream woman, there were subtle indications during the Richmond game of a disconnect between Henry, Ted’s ex-wife Michelle, and her new boyfriend Jake. With Jake’s absence from the following sequences, it suggests that he may now be out of the picture. This development potentially opens the door for Ted to rekindle his relationship with Michelle in the future.
Jamie and Roy’s fight over Keeley
In terms of relationships, Ted isn’t the only character who didn’t have the “perfect” ending to his story arc, both Jamie Tartt and Roy Kent also had a dramatic ending involving Keeley Jones in the season 3 finale. After Roy spotted Jamie and Keeley talking in the hallway, Roy invited Richmond’s star player out for some drinks to reveal he was still interested in her.
Unfortunately for Roy, Jamie had similar intentions and when he refused to “step aside,” the tension reached a boiling point between them, resulting in a fight that left them bloodied and battered. The pair allowed their competitive nature to get the best of them and lost sight of what Keeley truly wanted, which also remained somewhat of a mystery for us in the final episode.
It seemed like everything was going right for Roy in the latter half of the season and that he had improved massively from his earlier self. But, the finale was a cold reminder of an important lesson that the ideal outcome we hope for doesn’t always pan out the way we think it will. That was very much the case with Roy but he still had plenty of positives in other aspects of his life, such as being named the new head coach.
Rebecca and Mattheo van der Grijn’s character
Rebecca’s ending may have been one of the closest to aligning with the happy ending she desired. However, she endured arguably one of the most emotionally challenging battles among the characters to reach that point.
Becoming a mother was seemingly one of her biggest goals that never came to fruition during her time with Rupert. Despite holding out hope and reaching out to doctors, and a psychic to predict if it was still possible, she found that reality difficult to believe, even after meeting Mattheo van der Grijn’s character, Matthijs.
Matthijs initially swept her off her feet after rescuing her from the freezing waters of Amsterdam’s canal, but there was little indication that it would be anything more than a fling. Luckily for Rebecca, during her trip to the airport to wish Ted farewell, she happened to bump into Matthijs’ daughter, who had fallen in front of her. Rebecca instinctually went to help her and was greeted by Matthijs, dressed in a full pilot uniform, but the sequence heavily implied that she will go on to finally fulfill that motherly role and build a relationship with the Dutchman.
There are other characters who still have plenty of potential left if a Ted Lasso spinoff was ever to happen. Sam Obisanya was one of many personalities who instantly connected with fans of the series and still has much to offer. While it is unclear if we will ever see a spinoff, or if more will be revealed about these characters’ endings, the Season 3 finale’s choice to avoid giving everyone a happy-ever-after, made the end feel more realistic and meaningful.