Ted Lasso Season 3 Episode 9 Review: La Locker Room Aux Folles

Taken on its own, Ted Lasso Season 3 Episode 9, “La Locker Room Aux Folles,” is not a bad hour of television. There are genuinely satisfying character moments, a lot of emotion, and generally, at least for the most part, it feels like a coherent episode instead of three vaguely connected storylines fighting under a blanket. 

But, given that nearly three-fourths of the way through what may or may not be Ted Lasso’s final season, is this really the best we can do?  Perhaps the most disappointing part of this enterprise is the fact that the answer to that question is most likely yes.

The reason this episode is such a vast improvement over so many others this season is that it’s predominantly focused on team dynamics and characters we care about. (Mostly.)  Ted Lasso is never better than when it’s dealing with its players: whether that means their technical on-field play or the ways their various relationships change and grow as a result of Ted’s unorthodox coaching style and their own shifting bonds with one another. 

And, while “La Locker Room Aux Folles” is indeed the Very Special “Colin Comes Out” episode, it at least manages to avoid most of the after-school special vibes that made last week’s team conversation about the ethics of sharing nudes so cringe-worthy. Maybe it’s because this was specifically about the team’s relationships with one another rather than their nebulous bonds with “ex-girlfriends” or “women” in general, but I found almost all of the group’s scenes with Colin and their reactions to his news to be both sincere and believable. 

Even Isaac’s struggle to accept that his BFF felt he had to lie to him about his sexuality felt fairly realistic. (The attacking a dude in the stands, maybe not so much.) Even if I wished that their final scene hadn’t felt the need to reinforce some uncomfortably awkward stereotypes about straight men being incapable of expressing emotions and being awkward about shared showers. You can’t have everything I guess. 

Jason Sudeikis in Ted Lasso Season 3 Episode 9 (Photo: Apple TV+)Admittedly, I would have preferred to get to see Colin come out to his teammates on his own terms, rather than be vaguely forced into it as just one consequence of particularly boorish fan behavior. The fact that the entire conversation occurs offscreen is frustrating, particularly because what should have been a meaningful moment fo Colin was almost entirely recentered around Ted and his latest folksy inspirational speech. The sentiment about showing up for the people we care for is incredibly important, completely on brand for Ted Lasso, and likely something a certain segment of the mainstream viewing public (particularly the most aggressive fans in leagues dominated by male players) needed to hear. 

But…was that really the moment for another down-home Kansas anecdote that half of the (non-American!) players didn’t even understand?

Sometimes it’s okay to let Ted take a back seat in favor of letting other characters step forward — the show clearly understands this, because it’s Roy who goes off to talk to Isaac after his in-match breakdown, and it’s Roy who gets to summarize the episode’s big message about never knowing the battles others around you are fighting during the postgame press conference. So why not let Colin speak for himself during what was surely one of the biggest moments of his life? 

At the risk of sounding like a broken record on this issue (sorry not sorry I guess??), I am…just so baffled by what Ted Lasso is trying to do with Nate this season. 

First, almost everything involving Nate feels like it’s happening on a backdoor pilot that’s auditioning for its own spinoff. And the character we’re now watching headline Coach Nate has little to do with the Nathan Shelley we watched last season on Ted Lasso or even in the first few episodes of this season.

This version of Nate generally seems sweet and kind. He’s got a new girlfriend he clearly adores. He’s kicking butt at his new dream job and his club is winning handily. He’s even secure enough in himself to realize that Rupert, although he’s rich and successful, can never be the father figure he’s so clearly looking for. He doesn’t cheat on Jade when Rupert dangles supermodels in front of him, and he doesn’t blow up at his boss (or anyone else) when he recognizes that he’s trying to bring him down to his level. Great, right? I mean, I’d probably be super into this storyline if I’d never seen a single episode of Ted Lasso before! 

 I have to believe we all knew going into this season that Nate, no matter how angry we were about his various Season 2 betrayals, would likely be getting a redemption arc of some sort this season. Yeah, he’d find his way back to Ted, but he’d at least be forced to actually confront and admit the wrong he’d done beforehand. What sweet summer children we once were.

Because for some reason that I truly cannot begin to fathom, Ted Lasso has instead decided to simply act as though all that already happened. Gone is the guy who betrayed his former mentor, friends, and teammates. We haven’t seen him belittle himself, spit at a mirror to psych himself up, or say cruel things about the people he used to work with in weeks! He’s normal, nice Good Nate again! The show’s basically just acting like this dude has had an entire redemption arc already and we’re just…supposed to care about his love life now like he’s back to being a regular supporting character. It’s honestly insulting.

I’ve complained before about the fact that Ted Lasso Season 3 has felt largely directionless, particularly if this is in fact the show’s final season. Rather than building toward a conclusion, the show has introduced more new faces and narrative subplots than ever before, often splitting several major characters off into siloed stories that have little to do with one another. (Or worse, straight up ignoring them entirely.) 

The episodes are longer than ever before (with most clocking in near the hour mark), yet somehow feel as though they have less than ever to actually say.  And the show’s titular lead has no real arc to speak of, so much so that I’m starting to wonder if the rumors about Ted basically being written out of his own show are actually true. After all, it would explain a lot about the sudden Nate redemption arc that hasn’t actually been a redemption arc, if he’s meant to return to Richmond at the end of the season. Or, perhaps Roy’s press conference this season is meant to show us he’s capable of taking Ted’s place? And, most of all, it would explain why so many of the show’s storylines seem to be spinning their wheels when by all rights with three episodes to go, we should be moving toward something that feels like a real ending. 

Stray Thoughts and Observations.

• Ending the episode on the song “I Am What I Am” from La Cage Aux Folles is a really weird flex considering the hour concludes with Colin essentially saying he’s going to stay closeted to everyone but his teammates. (And you know what, this is fine, no one’s coming out journey is a straight line. But the song is also literally about stridently and unapologetically living your truth and it’s…a jarring choice, is all I’m saying.) 
• Since Jack has basically disappeared as randomly as she arrived, what was the purpose of her relationship with Keeley in the first place? Why did we waste so many episodes on this romance when it didn’t really tell us anything we didn’t already know about her character or her journey?
• I’m sure that this episode, with its long overdue focus on Roy (and its…weirdly vague acknowledgment of the emotional problems that surely played a big reason in the break-up the show has been so loath to discuss), is meant to serve as the turning point that will begin to bring him and Keeley back together.  (I saw those tears in her eyes at the end, is what I’m saying.) But, this entire arc feels so weird and wrong to me, that I’m high-key anxious that however they resolve things between them, there won’t be time for it to feel satisfying or earned.
• I can’t tell you one single fact about Jade as a person beyond that she is Nate’s Girlfriend and she apparently exists to serve as a plot device that helps enable a more fully realized male character’s redemption.
• The Trent and Colin friendship is truly one of Season 3’s most unexpected delights.
• Speaking of unexpected delights: Trent’s Dolly Parton t-shirt!! My heart! 
• I have no idea why they made Anthony Stewart Head a regular this season, but man does he look great. 
• Whether the show continues or not, Ted’s absolutely going home to America at the end of this season. I just don’t see how else any of this could go. 

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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