Ted Lasso Season 3 Episode 10 Review: International Break

As the ostensible end of the series edges closer, Ted Lasso Season 3 Episode 10, “International Break,” begins to wrap up some of the series’ outstanding storylines, bringing everyone slowly back into one another’s orbits for the final installments.

Unfortunately, the fact that there are only two episodes left means that some of the most important elements of these subplots are rushed through in unsatisfying ways.

Ted Lasso has always shined brightest when focused on the offbeat relationships of the various characters at its center, and “International Break” gives a ton of really lovely interpersonal moments and a few moving callbacks to previous episodes and seasons.

Roy’s visit to his sister’s for National Uncle’s Day is a joy from start to finish. Niece Phoebe is back, making money off her swear jar. She even invites Jamie to the celebration, because he and Roy have beautifully grown from apparent enemies to genuine friends. (Jamie’s vaguely profane gift! His sarcastic insistence that Isaac is actually his best friend! My heart!) I only wish we’d gotten to see the “performance” Phoebe and her mom put together for him — complete with an intermission!

Elsewhere, various team members, including Colin, Jamie, Van Damme, and Dani are chosen to play for their home countries during the titular international break. (Dani’s sudden aggressive competitiveness is fun, but it’s real weird that the sunny, big-hearted Rojas doesn’t care that he breaks Van Damme’s nose during their match??) Sam is left off the Nigerian squad, thanks to the machinations of billionaire Akufo, who still hates him for turning down the opportunity to play for him, but at least Rebecca manages to thwart Akufo’s plans to form a Super League by reminding everyone of the working class fans that love soccer too.

Yes, Rebecca’s big speech is incredibly maudlin, but it’s so nice to finally see the reemergence of Rebecca Welton, Team Owner, that I’m willing to let it go. (Also the bit about Rupert sneaking in to watch games and giving the security guard who threw him out a raise after he bought the club was….honestly kind of lovely? It’s nice when the show remembers that even its biggest cartoon villain has layers.)

I’ve been pretty upfront about the fact that Nate’s arc is the most frustrating aspect of Season 3 for me, and “International Break” definitely continues that trend. Surprise, Nate quit his dream job at West Ham! Offscreen! For reasons! Ostensibly, it’s because he realized last week that Rupert Mannion Is a Bad Man, although one might question what it was about this particular bit of crappy behavior that pushed him over the edge.

Yes, Rupert tried to get him to cheat on his girlfriend, which is objectively horrible. But how long was Nate at Richmond? Did he just not notice all the other times Rupert was terrible to Rebecca, or to the team, or even to Ted? Clearly, Nate latched on to Rupert as yet another potential replacement father figure and has been devastated to learn that he is trash. But…how did he not have an inkling of this before right now?? 

Furthermore, it’s definitely a swerve to have what is ostensibly Nate’s big transformational moment take place offscreen. We don’t see his confrontation with Rupert, or his decision to hand in his resignation, which surely must have been…important?  Instead, we see Nate mope in various beds until his own dad finally deigns to acknowledge his brilliance, which I guess now makes him a changed person. (We’ve spent so much time on his dad’s bad parenting that it feels…really convenient that one nice conversation is somehow enough to undo apparent years of neglect, but, hey, there are only two episodes of this show left now, so I guess it’s time to speed run some stuff. Even if it’s the villain plot that Ted Lasso spent all of last season setting up. Sigh.

At least Nate finally says I’m sorry to someone he’s hurt. Is it too little too late? 

To the shock of what is most likely no one, the VC funders who’ve been bankrolling KJPR pull out, leaving Keeley reeling and her business in shambles as movers come to reclaim furniture and her staff all depart. (Whether or not Jack herself is behind the group’s decision in the wake of her break up with Keeley is unclear — but this is a woman who ghosted her ex by literally going to Brazil and deciding not to come back, so tact is not her superpower.) 

The end of KJPR is frustrating for many reasons: We never really got to see Keeley be much of a businesswoman despite the subplot’s initial promise. It introduced a bunch of pointless new tertiary supporting figures and essentially siloed one of the show’s most popular characters. And it did it all for a romance that ultimately went nowhere and didn’t even really tell us anything new about Keeley. What was the point of her relationship with Jack? Giving her something to do until Roy realized his errors. 

And, then, of course, there’s the fact that not really the end, as Rebecca immediately bankrolls her friend as soon as she hears the news about the company’s loss of funding, with a speed that may make some wonder why Keeley didn’t just go to straight to her in the first place. Could have saved us all a lot of time, and perhaps made the whole “Keeley strikes out on her own” subplot more about the actual business she was trying to run rather than her love life.

Phil Dunster and Toheeb Jimoh in Ted Lasso Season 3 Episode 10 (Photo: Apple TV+)

Speaking of things that appear to have happened for no reason, let’s talk about Roy and Keeley. Look, I’m as happy as anyone that it appears Ted Lasso’s marquee couple has gotten back together. And the scene in which Roy has to read his chicken scratch note of apology out loud because his handwriting is simply that atrocious and illegible is one of the best scenes the show’s ever done, both hilarious and heartfelt in the way it’s always been so good at.

But…really? That’s…it? Roy and Keeley are maybe? probably? (definitely?) back together, and I’m not even sure I can tell you why they broke up in the first place. I think the on-paper argument is that Roy has self-worth issues, and doesn’t feel like he deserves Keeley or, really, anything good in his life, and he pushed her away when he thought she was moving behind him to better things. 

But, I don’t know that for certain because the show has never bothered to tell me, and hasn’t terribly interested in exploring either how their break-up really impacted either of them, choosing instead to fast forward to them getting back together and skipping the messy (but still important) stuff where they had to figure out what went wrong. Much like the Nate story this season, Ted Lasso seems to be more interested in simply getting a character to a certain point in the narrative, rather than showing us their journey from point A to point B.

Stray Thoughts and Observations:

• Remember when Ted Lasso didn’t regularly have episodes that clocked in at over an hour apiece? Those were good times.
• All y’all people pushing the theory that Nate takes over as Richmond coach after Ted tells everyone he’s going back to America and Ted Lasso rebrands as like Richmond or something are looking more and more correct by the day. 
• It’s time for me to take a moment and talk about how great Anthony Stewart Head looks this season. Just a true silver fox. 
• Jamie wearing Sam’s number on the field during his England match was perfect. Just such a great, subtle reminder of how far he’s come. 
• Rebecca’s inspirational speech at the Afuko meeting was lovely, even if there’s no way a gang of billionaires would possibly be swayed from making more money by a reminder that poor people also like their products.
• Higgins is 100% correct about all those kids in Willy Wonka being dead.
• Officially rooting for Jamie to marry Roy’s sister, sorry not sorry.

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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