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Ted Lasso returned with the third episode of its latest and final season on March 29, 2023, featuring what was one of the most exciting phases of the club in terms of their performance on the field. This episode marked an interesting change in the story, which was not only one of the brightest aspects of the show so far, but also offered an almost ironic depiction of AFC Richmond's journey uptil now.
There were big expectations from this episode of Ted Lasso after the arrival of Zava (Maximilian Osinski) in the team, a world-class striker and bonafide goalscorer, and it delivered earnestly in every sense. The third episode of the show is titled 4-5-1, after the fabled target man-centric formation. The synopsis reads:
"Richmond adjusts to an exciting change, but Jamie has reservations; Ted learns there's something new going on back in Kansas as well."
The episode topped this interesting set of developments with a brilliant ending, which left a lot to look forward to.
Ted Lasso season 3 episode 3 review and recap: On a roll in an unexpected way
To address the elephant in the room, most viewers would not have expected the transition to Zava to go smoothly, especially owing to AFC Richmond's history of misfortunes. However, it seems the tables have finally turned to Richmond's side in this episode, possibly after seasons.
The episode opened with some tension and reasonable hype surrounding the arrival of Zava. The eccentric personality made his entry in the most offbeat way and turned out to be much less arrogant and much less self-centric than one would have expected. Zava simply seemed to be too different from ordinary humans, be it scoring 90-minute bicycle kicks or having his own portrait tattooed on his back.
Zava's entry into the team was rather smooth, except for Jamie (Phil Dunster), who had his reservations about the player. Funnily enough, the creators ironically chose to depict success under Zava's influence being an outcome of his playing style, which depicts everything that Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) initially did not want in his team.
Zava managed to give Richmond humongous firepower, but it also managed to undo a lot of progress that Richmond had made as a team. While Zava's influence certainly does not seem bad, its negative impacts may run much deeper in the coming days.
The jubilant Richmond's celebrations were capped by Sam Obisanya (Toheeb Jimoh), who invited the team to have a meal at his restaurant. This entire sequence at the restaurant was quite hilarious, with conversations between Jamie and Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), and one about their former lovers between Keeley (Juno Temple) and Rebecca (Hannah Waddinham), being as dramatic as things could get.
Shortly before this, the show also introduced a new revelation for Ted Lasso, who found out that his ex-wife was dating their marriage counselor. Though he took it in the most Ted-like way possible, the emotional hurt was quite visible.
After a breezy run for the team, with very little tension in the air, the design promised something exciting. The ending saw journalist Trent Crimm spotting Colin (Billy Harris) making love to another guy in the alley, bringing into conversation the stigma of homosexuality in men's sports.
The next episode will see whether Trent Crimm has changed into a more considerate version of himself or if this scandal makes it to the front pages.
Ted Lasso is currently streaming on Apple TV+.
