What happens when you mix football with a little improv and stir it all up with a powerful message about embracing your own worth?
You get an episode that does what Ted Lasso does best: getting me to dab away tears with a tissue while laughing so hard I struggle not to choke on my drink.
As we rapidly approach the end of the season, this week’s episode delivered some of the season’s most memorable comedic moments, while also giving us a much-needed window into the team’s personal lives and the emotional vulnerability of our leads.
The episode started strong with a clever, cohesive opening that focused on the challenges the team faces in pursuing their passion as D2 women’s football players.
However, it highlighted that the season has been dancing around the bigger issue of fair pay and the team’s financial struggles, and I’m eager to see whether the show will officially dive into this topic in its remaining episodes.
It would be a great opportunity to spotlight such an important conversation in women’s sports and approach it with the thoughtful care Ted Lasso brings to critical, complex issues.
I hope the show doesn’t continue to evade this discussion.
As the team contends with competing responsibilities, Alice is now ready to apply a new mindset to her life.
And because Alice doesn’t do anything halfway, she heads full speed into her Shonda Rhimes “Year of Yes” era, eager to revolutionize her approach to coaching and build stronger bonds with her team.
Ted encourages her to set necessary guardrails on her new inclination to say yes to everything and guides her with the classic wisdom of improv.
As a theater kid, he’s speaking my language!
On the stage, on the pitch, or in life, there’s power in saying yes. But there’s even more power in taking someone’s idea and building upon it yourself.
What follows is a major unlock for Alice’s character, explored through a series of hilarious and touching sequences.
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Get More of Our Coverage!It’s one that earns her her team’s respect and helps close the widening gap between her and the players she loves but doesn’t know how to connect with.
It’s a great reminder that sometimes the smallest mentality shifts can make the biggest changes, and its exciting to see her finally coming into more of her power.
With only a few episodes left in the season, Ted Lasso is no longer pulling any punches with its comedy. This episode fired on all cylinders, delivering truly laugh-out-loud moments that will likely remain among the season’s most outlandish and memorable jokes.
The writing’s cleverness was on full display during Keeley and Ted’s Bantr profile workshop. I wish I had subtitles on, because they were absolutely flying through the jokes.
Ted may have deleted his Bantr profile at the end of the episode, but I know viewers everywhere will be stealing some of his clever, wordplay-inspired answers for their own dating profiles.
The installment also made me confront the fact that I have not talked nearly enough about Leslie this season, and it’s past time that I give him his flowers.
The deadpan delivery about Zelda’s harness gift was absolutely incredible. Protect Leslie and his superb comedic timing at all costs.
The episode also infused its scenes between Rebecca, Leslie, and Zelda with the power of improv, exploring the surprising chemistry between them.
I was absolutely cackling as I watched them expertly riff off one another during their professional version of a prank call.
I’ve said it before that drunk Rebecca was a peak moment for her character, but I admit that hearing her flex that absurd American accent was transcendent.
I don’t know how any of the actors kept a straight face during that scene.
One thing I’m adoring about this season is that the writers are really letting Hannah Waddingham put her voice-acting chops on full display and embrace the comedic power of her dynamic facial expressions.
They’re leaning fully into her theatricality, and I’m loving it.
Some of her more exaggerated vocal intonations, like her drunk “Leslieeeee” or this episode’s “that’s round,” have become my new vocal stims.
While Rebecca and Leslie brought the laughs, Roy healed more than just his knee this week — he also healed his heart.
I’ve written that I’ve been mildly frustrated with Keeley and Roy’s antics this season, reading Keeley’s dating “test” as contrived drama to keep the two apart.
However, this episode reminded me that Ted Lasso has a knack for taking even their most controversial plotlines and using them to make a necessary point.
Roy’s conversation with Dr. Erin took me by surprise, delivering one of the most powerful scenes of the season yet.
I love it when Ted Lasso catches the viewer off guard by refusing the predictable path, instead using plot developments to deliver a poignant message about the goodness of humanity.
My favorite such moment in the series is when Ted easily and quickly forgives Rebecca for attempting to sabotage the team in Ted Lasso Season 1.
The season builds to this moment of tension between them, priming the viewer to expect a massive betrayal and dramatic fallout. Instead, the show subverts this expectation and uses the moment to share a beautiful scene about the transformative gift of forgiveness.
The scene between Roy and Dr. Erin has similar significance.
The two characters meet each other with openness and respect, fully acknowledging the other’s worth and reminding the other that they deserve to be loved and seen.
We haven’t spent much time with Dr. Erin, but in the short time we’ve had with her, the writers have successfully painted her as a compelling and powerful figure in her own right.
This scene avoids the trap of pitting her against Keeley, and instead honors her individuality and worth — even if the overarching narrative is naturally more concerned with Roy’s character development than hers.
The scene cements that their relationship was more than a mere obstacle to stand in the way of Roy and his true love.
Instead, it’s a wonderful reminder that we all deserve to be fully seen. And you can see — and be seen by — someone, even if they’re not your forever person. We all deserve to fully open ourselves to the possibility of love, and to acknowledge another for all they bring to the world.
Roy is worthy of love. Ted is worthy of love. Keeley is worthy of love, and the journey to embracing one’s worth isn’t always linear.
While Ted deleted his dating app profile, he still spent time focusing on the traits he loves and admires about himself. And even though Ted struck out with the mysterious stage manager, he shot his shot!
That is scary and brave, and I hope it doesn’t negate any of the self-reflection we got to witness this week.
With three episodes remaining, I’m excited to see how the characters carry some of this week’s hard-won confidence into their relationships with one another — and into their efforts on the pitch. Let’s go win some matches, yes?
So Ted Lasso fanatics, what did you think of this episode? Let us know all your thoughts in the comments!
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