Colin Hutton
It’s the end of Richmond AFC as we know it. This week, Ted Lasso aired its possible series-penultimate episode—but the fate of Apple TV+’s treasured series remains uncertain, which has been up in the air since it began airing new episodes earlier this year. Will Ted Lasso continue? Or next week, on May 31, will Ted Lasso bid farewell to the world—the third series to do so in a weeklong span, with Barry and Succession also airing their final episodes this Memorial Day weekend? We need answers!
After watching this week’s episode, “Mom City,” I can say with some confidence that we’re about to face a big twist in the finale. If you were hoping for some kind of answers, as we all wait nervously for a Season 4 pick-up, a spinoff announcement, or a confirmation of the series’ end, you won’t find it in this overlong episode. (It’s 70 minutes long, over twice as long as the sitcom’s episodes used to be.) Instead, you’ll see the characters as frazzled and confused as the rest of us, spinning themselves in circles to fill the runtime without spoiling as to whether or not this is the last season.
Still, we appear to be heading somewhere. In the wake of Nate’s (Nick Mohammed) departure from West Ham, with little character growth for him (other than a long violin solo) in last week’s episode, a handful of Richmond players show up at his door asking Nate to return as a coach. What did he do to redeem himself from being the show’s villain? Nate is embarrassed over his departure and short tenure with West Ham, so he hums and haws over his decision to return for the entire episode. In the meantime, nearly everyone from the team visits him to convince him to return. Again: Did I miss the redemption arc completely?