Ted Lasso season 3 early review: Jason Sudeikis series remains warm and cosy, but the inevitable end nears

In its second season, the writers of Ted Lasso proved that they were aware of criticisms of the first season centring around the show being just too sunny and wholesome. That felt nitpicking to me, as though a show being too nice were a bad thing, particularly in a world ravaged by the pandemic. However, the second time around, the Jason Sudeikis-led show was not only edgier, but it also turned out that seeds of the darker elements had been planted in the first season itself. The people behind the show were smart, after all. Now, the show's third season is here. Is it any good?

For those still unacquainted with this TV show version of chocolate souffle (please do yourself a favour, and have a taste), Ted Lasso follows Sudeikis' titular American football coach. For personal reasons (we later learn), he feels his native country and settles in London, England across the pond. And while in Old Blighty, he takes up a job as a football coach.". Yes, he becomes an association football coach. Turns out, his new team, Richmond FC, is as desperate as him for a new coach. Richmond players, looking at their own coach become even more dispirited.

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But Lasso brings with him his best friend Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt), a grounding influence on him, and his New World charm, energy, and an attitude of undying optimism. This cannot turn these players, who are used to defeats, into overnight stars, but it can help them do their best. The show, or at least its first season, came as a much-needed balm to many a hurting soul. It was, in effect, the perfect show to watch when there is doom and gloom in the world. It still is. The second season was more intense, but still far more laid-back than most television today.

Ted Lasso's third season, and while the first episode is a mix of the two, it does look like the end of the series, whether this season or the next, is being contemplated. At one point Ted, after a day of trying to get his players' minds off the pessimism in the press in regard to their performance in the impending Premier League season, wonders aloud as to what in the world is he doing in London. The answer is not forthcoming from the usually reticent Coach Beard, but it does make the audience wonder. The show doesn't feel stretched in any sense of the word, and clearly, the talented writers behind the show have built a roadmap, but it does make you think how far they can take this conceit of an American coach in charge of a Premier League football team before it becomes stale.

Thankfully, thus far, it doesn't look like Ted Lasso has lost its appeal. Far from it, the third season remains as warm and cosy and charming as ever, even if it still doesn't give one's ribcage quite the workout one expects from a comedy series. It is not as though the humour is not there, but the show is not a laugh-out-loud kind of series. It is more of a feel-good series than a comedy series.

For me, and I presume many other fans of the show, the feeling of meeting these weirdos, whether it be Ted himself, his boss Hannah Waddingham's Rebecca Welton,the new coach Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein),the former publicist of the club Keeley Jones (Juno Temple),Rebecca's assistant Leslie Higgins (Jeremy Swift)... the list is endless. There are so many lovable characters in this show and it makes one feel warm and fuzzy inside just to get reacquainted with them.

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