Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Ted Lasso Season 3.Ted LassoSeason 3 is proving to be quite the hectic matchmaker for its beloved characters, especially when it comes to the curious and complicated relationship between Ted (Jason Sudeikis) and Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham). Breakups. Hookups. Love triangles. All of these are front and center inTed Lasso’s third and potentially final season, and it’s making things complicated for those on and off the team.
We’re only six episodes into the acclaimed comedy series and we’ve seen old relationships end and new ones take shape. Roy (Brett Goldstein) and Keeley (Juno Temple) have separated to focus on their own careers, Colin (Billy Harris) is currently grappling with his closeted same-sex relationship, and Nate (Nick Mohammed) is also trying to find love with the waitress of his favorite restaurant. However, the clear focus in this season has been on Ted and Rebecca and their respective hurdles of romance. One is currently dealing with the fallout of a messy divorce, while the other is slowly realizing that she wants to start a family.
Their character arcs have molded the two protagonists into puzzle pieces that fit together for a possible romantic relationship. From a logical standpoint, the theory of Ted and Rebecca ending up as a couple onTed Lassodoes hold water, but it also runs the risk of compromising one of the show’s best platonic friendships.
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Ted’s Messy Divorce Keeps Getting Messier
The first scene in Season 3 consists of a poorly-shaven Ted dropping off his son Henry (Gus Turner) at the airport. While the usually happy-go-lucky soccer coach is actively going through therapy, he still isn’t quite over his divorce from his ex-wife, Michelle (Andrea Anders). Their split was amicable overall, but Ted finds himself on the cusp of upcoming panic attacks yet again when he discovers that Michelle is now seeing someone else. It doesn’t end there either, as the person that Michelle is dating is none other than her and Ted’s former marriage counselor, Doctor Jacob (Mike O’Gorman). Ted views this as a profound betrayal and is now reconsidering his entire relationship with his romantic partner.
This also doesn’t help Ted’s fear that he’s becoming estranged from his son. Since his place of work is halfway across the world, he’s not able to connect with his son nearly as much as he has before. Significant moments of his son’s life are now passing by rapidly, and the soccer coach can’t see them. Couple that with his split family unit and the impending depression is slowly but surely encroaching on the generally positive sports leader.
Ted Wants to Start a Relationship
It becomes clear rather quickly that Ted is looking to start over in his love life and meet someone he can date. At first, he thinks he’s found that in Flo “Sassy” Collins (Ellie Taylor). The long-time friend of Rebecca started a no-strings-attached relationship with Ted in Season 1, with the two having a harmless fling when the team was out of town. The two reunite in Season 3, and after they wake up from a fun night, Ted asks Sassy if she’d like to go on a more romantic date sometime. Sassy turns Ted down almost immediately, stating that she prefers the simple friends-with-benefits situation they’re enjoying. The rejection is understandably hurtful for Ted, but he seems to come to terms with it rather quickly and goes back to thinking of how he can make Richmond a better team.
Rebecca Gets a Surprising Psychic Reading
In Season 2, it really looked like Rebecca had found her soulmate in Sam Obisanya (Toheeb Jimoh), one of the team members of AFC Richmond. Their obvious age difference dismayed Rebecca at first, but upon matching with Sam on a dating app, the two instantly hit it off and started a budding romance. However, when Sam got very close to leaving Richmond for a newer club in his home country, things faded between Sam and Rebecca, and the two went back to being just coworkers.
That’s not to say Rebecca’s quest for love was demolished, but it was deterred. She eventually got so desperate that she decided to visit a local psychic, and she got a reading that she frankly was not expecting. The psychic tells Rebecca that she will have children, something that’s not exactly easy for a woman of Rebecca’s age. Rebecca surmises this so-called psychic is nothing more than a lowly scam artist preying on desperate people. However, Rebecca begins to notice that once-innocuous details from her reading session have begun to come true, such as a green matchbook that she finds at Sam’s new restaurant. Be it sheer desperation or a tinge of curiosity to see if her reading was actually true, Rebecca speaks to her doctor about the possibility of getting pregnant. Unfortunately for the AFC Richmond owner, she gets the heartbreaking news that pregnancy is not in the cards for her.
While walking the busy streets of Amsterdam, Rebecca falls into the river and is saved by a kindly, handsome stranger (Matteo van der Grijn). The encounter seems a bit bizarre at first, but Rebecca and the gentleman hit it off rather quickly, especially when she sees indications that he may have a child. They have a delightful night together, albeit a mostly Platonic one. The next morning, Rebecca and the man, whose name she never learned, part ways with a kiss. They may never see each other again, but it does get Rebecca out of the profound depression she found herself in.
So, Should Ted and Rebecca Become a Couple?
To recap, Ted is looking to move on from his past relationship, and Rebecca is looking to find a new one. Ted is looking for someone who matches his larger-than-life worldview, and Rebecca is looking for a kind-hearted person with an established family. The two have been through so many different hurdles over the years and have become true genuine friends in their time with the soccer team. Could a romantic relationship put that dedicated friendship in jeopardy? Maybe, but it also has the opportunity to give two people deserving of love a romantic story for the ages.
