Ted Lasso Season 3 Episode 4 Review: Big Week

AFC Richmond and West Ham face off for the first time in Ted Lasso Season 3 Episode 4, “Big Week,” and it goes about as well as any of us might have expected. 

Of course, anyone who’s ever watched a sports movie before likely knew going into this episode that Richmond was going to lose this game, if only because it will make the Greyhounds’ inevitable triumph over the Hammers in the season finale taste all the sweeter. But, at least Ted Lasso figures out an unexpected way to bring about the team’s loss.

Many of us (including yours truly) probably forgot that the Richmond players don’t actually know who destroyed their beloved “Believe” sign at the end of last season. But thanks to some sleuthing by Ted Crimm, the group discovers the (admittedly extremely embarrassing) security footage of Nate doing his best to rip it down in a rage. 

Granted, this feels like something everyone involved in Richmond management should have figured out well before acquiring video evidence, but here we are. Ted, being Ted, is remarkably chill about the whole thing, but Beard and Roy want to weaponize the clip to motivate the team before playing Nate’s squad. Ted’s not into it, but he doesn’t specifically forbid it, a decision that comes back to bite them all.

Furious after watching the video at halftime of the West Ham game, the team comes out shooting death glares at their former coach. But rather than serve as motivation, their anger translates into messy and often violent play, as Richmond commits so many fouls they ultimately end up with more red cards than actual goals by the time the clock runs out. (Admittedly, though, watching sweet Dani Rojas attack an opposing player is….wild?)

Nate and Rupert are predictably gracious in victory, as the former gloats to the media about how much easier his win was than he’d expected and the latter gleefully rubs the loss in Rebecca’s face. Great guys, these two! 

Ted Lasso — Photo Courtesy of Apple TV+

The past few episodes have managed to shift the show’s focus away from former Greyhounds assistant Nathan Shelley’s complete heel turn, but now it’s front and center once more, and an uncomfortable reminder Ted Lasso still isn’t handling this particular subplot all that well.

The tension of Ted and Nate’s first meeting since the Season 2 finale is high, but ultimately the whole thing fizzles a bit for me. The fact that Nate is so nervous about how he should interact with his former boss — initially tries to hide from Ted in a corner of an elevator they’re sharing! — at least somewhat indicates that he knows the way he left Richmond, as well as the things he said on the way out the door, were bad. But…when, exactly, did he arrive at that realization? Isn’t that a moment that might be important for his character? 

Nate’s behavior last season certainly didn’t indicate that he felt bad about anything that he’d done. In fact, he still seems pretty dedicated to hating Ted in the Season 3 premiere! What’s changed? And if something has, isn’t that the kind of thing we, as viewers, deserve to see play out onscreen?

The show sort of hints that Nate might be working his way up to an apology before Rupert interrupts his interaction with Ted. But if so…why? What does he even think he needs to say sorry for? Does Nate suddenly regret outing Ted’s struggles with anxiety to the British press? (An act that he has literally never even acknowledged let alone felt bad about!) Is he feeling bad about the way he left Richmond? 

Given how this same episode shows us a Nate who’s still pretty darn interested in the trappings and power that come with his new position, it’s hard to believe that’s true. He’s not exactly acting like a man who wants to make amends. (And to be honest, I sort of resent the way that Ted Lasso seems to be implying that Nate’s some sort of victim of Rupert’s manipulation. He’s a grown man, who has made his own choices. Let him figure out how to live with them.)

The other big question running through this episode is more of an existential crisis for our titular hero: Is Ted a mess? I mean…maybe? Aren’t we all?  But, then again, if you have to ask, you kind of already know the answer.

Ted’s identity crisis seems to primarily stem from his romantic life. After another hookup with Rebecca’s friend Sassy, she turns him down when he asks if she’d like to go on a date for real, claiming that she’s happy enough with their friends-with-benefits status and, well, he clearly has some stuff he needs to work on.

His Facetime heart-to-heart with Michelle about their divorce, in which he admits to his obvious hurt over the fact that she appears to have moved on with their therapist feels like a positive step forward. But, a step forward to what? Ted finding love again with someone else? Ted realizing he needs to go home and be with his family, whatever it looks like now? Or just some inner peace?

Stray Thoughts and Observations:

• This episode was dedicated to Grant Wahl, a sports journalist who passed away while covering the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He was an ardent Ted Lasso fan. 
• Roy and Jamie’s burgeoning bromance may be my favorite thing about this season. (And I’m as shocked as anyone else to be typing that.)
• Weirdly, there’s no mention of the subplot from last week about Colin’s sexuality, or the fact that Trent Crimm now knows the secret he’s keeping. (Granted, Trent is barely in this episode, but still.)
• If you can track down some screenshots (social media is probably already all over this) of Ted’s text message history, it’s worth it.
• Almost everything involving Keeley and Shandy this week feels as though it’s happening on a different show except for the fact that Richmond sponsor Bantr is involved.
• I realize that Rupert is a grade-A dirtbag but Anthony Stewart Head deserves so much praise for this performance. (And his outstanding outerwear.)

What did you think of this episode of Ted Lasso? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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New episodes of Ted Lasso premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV+.

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