Ted Lasso Season 3 Episode 5 Review: Signs

Ted Lasso Season 3 Episode 5, “Signs,” reflects many of the problematic issues that have come to plague this season—a weird tonal imbalance, too many subplots, a lack of focus on the series’ core characters, and bizarre plot twists that no one asked for. 

The struggle is real for AFC Richmond in the wake of their loss to West Ham last week, and Ted Lasso itself seems to be equally struggling with its own direction in what may or may not be the show’s last run of episodes.

Jason Sudeikis in “Ted Lasso” Season 3 Episode 5 (Photo: Apple TV+)Technically, no one at Apple TV+ or behind the scenes of Ted Lasso has officially said that Season 3 is the show’s swan song. Whether that’s because there are still decisions to be made about the show’s future or there are potential spin-offs in the works or Apple just wants to keep everyone guessing because they’re big meanies, is unclear. 

But it’s hard to think that someone somewhere doesn’t know the answer to this question. I’m just not sure anyone that works on the show itself actually does. Because Ted Lasso Season 3 is the most disjointed, uneven outing of the series to date.  For every great, genuine moment, there are two that are incomprehensible from a character or narrative perspective. 

If this is the show’s final season, it sure doesn’t feel like it. Beyond AFC Richmond’s inevitable triumph over West Ham in the finale (all but guaranteed since they lost to the Hammers last week), there’s no clear arc for most of the series’ characters at the moment and almost none of them are in a position that feels as though they’re growing toward some natural sort of endpoint.

The only possible exceptions to this are probably Jamie Tartt (I know, I can’t believe it either) and Trent Crimm. Everyone else? Shrug emoji.

Poor Keeley Jones is probably suffering the most, stuck in a side plot that often feels like it has little to do with the rest of the show we’re watching.

She still attends Richmond matches and shares girl talk with Rebecca, but her breakup with Roy Kent (a relationship that spanned the season’s first two seasons) is basically treated as an afterthought for now, despite the fact that we still don’t entirely know what happened between them. 

While most Ted Lasso fans were likely thrilled with Keeley’s decision to start her own PR firm, it’s unlikely that any of us were expecting this next step for her would largely silo her from the other characters we cared about, or force us to watch her various inter-office dramas with a bunch of characters we don’t know. Sam, Isaac, and Dani have had little enough to do in Season 3 as it is, I can’t imagine anyone would rather be watching whatever’s going on over at KJPR with Shandy, Barbara, and Jack.

Speaking of Jack, Keeley’s sudden hook-up with her sure came out of nowhere, huh? Not that I have any objection to Keeley exploring her sexuality in any way she chooses, but…if this is the final season of Ted Lasso, we all know that Roy and Keeley are endgame and are absolutely going to get back together at some point in the next seven episodes, right?

But if we don’t see them interact with one another — or even learn why Roy ended their relationship — will it even feel all that satisfying, if it happens?

Then there’s the Nate of it all, an arc that in all honesty just makes no sense. After his stunning betrayal of the characters we care about most last season, how interested does Ted Lasso think we are in his dating life? Oh, no, the supermodel he took to his favorite local restaurant thought it wasn’t Instagram-friendly enough for her feed and ditched him?  C’mon, that’s exactly what he deserves. At this point, who even wants that mean waitress to get stuck with him?? 

Perhaps this is meant to show us a Nate who is slowly coming to realize that his dreams of a life of fame and fortune aren’t matched by the reality of his experience. But despite Nick Mohammed truly doing his best with some very uneven material, it’s hard to believe that any part of the audience is ready to forgive him just yet.

Particularly when he still shows nothing that resembles any sort of remorse or regret for his actions. Is he even sorry for dragging Ted in the press every chance he gets? His actions certainly don’t seem to reflect that, but somehow, the show seems to want us to feel some degree of sympathy for him—despite the fact that, much like several other storylines happening at the moment, it hasn’t truly earned that moment in any way.

Stray Thoughts and Observations:

• I also have no idea how we’re supposed to feel about this sudden “Rebecca secretly always wanted kids, actually” subplot. Does this seem as though it’s come out of nowhere for anyone else? True, we’ve seen Rebecca wrestle with a lot of deeply personal issues onscreen, from her relationship with her ex to her love life to her professional role at Richmond. But she’s never expressed any indication that she thinks her life is worse off as a single woman without children. Where did this come from? Maybe it’s the fact that all of this is also tied to the ridiculous narrative throughline of a psychic’s predictions that makes it so annoying, but it certainly doesn’t help that her unhinged behavior all seems to go back to her obsession with Rupert and everything he seems to have that she doesn’t either. 
• I’m weirdly going to miss Zava, which may be this season’s most unexpected plot twist of all. 
• Three years into his tenure as head coach of a professional football club, Ted’s weird refusal to learn anything about the sport he gets paid to work in is getting super frustrating. Shouldn’t he at least be able to notice if it’s the defense that’s having problems?
• The utter lack of Sam this season, particularly after he was such a big part of Season 2, continues to baffle me. In what world do we care more about Shandy than Sam?

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 stream Wednesdays on Apple TV+.

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