During the 2022-23 Premier League season, AFC Richmond and AFC Wimbledon will have a great rivalry, but what else do we understand regarding Ted Lasso’s widely awaited return?
Season 2 of the Emmy-winning Apple TV+ comedy wrapped on a dramatic cliffhanger: Richmond’s assistant coach deserted the team almost as soon as they were upgraded. Nate departed as head coach of Rupert’s freshly bought West Ham United after hitting out at Ted.
So, what’s going to be happening now? And when can we anticipate seeing the Banter-backed football team back on the field, competing against ego-driven Coach Shelley?
While Seasons 1 and 2 of the Emmy-winning Apple TV+ comedy launched in August and July, consecutively, show co-creator Brendan Hunt (aka Coach Beard) recently informed TVLine that Season 3 will launch later because of a “football wrinkle” that caused production to be delayed.
One month later, on March 7, production began.
A time jump is anticipated
When asked about where the upcoming episodes will start up, Hunt gave us a tantalizing teaser:
According to him, he said “Well, we don’t like to do the same thing twice. In Season 1, we joined the [Premier League] season in January. In Season 2, we joined the season in late September. We’ve never gone from the start of a season, so perhaps that’s something we want to get to. And just by dint of how the schedule works in the English Premier League, we will play West Ham twice home and away, because that’s how it goes.”
For those unusual with the English Premier League scheduling system, a season usually starts in August and ends in May — however since Ted Lasso Season 2 concluded at the end of one, we can derive that there will be a two-month gap when the series returns, supposing we pick up on (or close to) the first match of the year.
Coach Lasso and AFC Richmond will meet Coach Shelley and West Ham not once, but twice throughout the course of 12 episodes, according to Hunt’s tease.
Ted Lasso season 3 cast speculation
Only the essential cast members were included in Apple’s press release promoting Ted Lasso season 3. So, we know Jason Sudeikis will be Coach Ted Lasso, Brendan Hunt will play his right-hand man Coach Beard, Brett Goldstein will portray the gruff Roy Kent, Hannah Waddingham will play the boss woman herself, Rebecca Welton, Juno Temple will play Keeley Jones, and Jeremy Swift will play Higgins. Yes, even Nick Mohammed in the character of Nathan “Nate” Shelley.
However, we anticipated witnessing most of the rest of the team, commencing with West Ham United‘s new owner Rupert Mannion (Anthony Head).
Sarah Niles as Dr. Sharon Fieldstone and James Lance as Trent Crimm will both return to the program, according to creator Bill Lawrence (now simply, independent).
However, we’d be surprised if Kieran O’Brien didn’t reprise his role as Jamie Tartt’s cruel father. Sam Richardson’s Edwin Akufo, who sought to hire Sam away from Richmond, might probably return as Raja Casablanca, but we’re not sure how long his scheme will take.
SEASON 3 WON’T NECESSARILY BE THE END
Jason Sudeikis has been outspoken about his Ted Lasso three-season plan. As late as June of last year, he said “The story that’s being told — that three-season arc — is one that I see, know, and understood.” And Hunt seemed to be in agreement, adding: “I think it would be pretty cool if, in the face of how much everyone likes this show, that we stick to our guns and really just do three seasons.”
Ted Lasso season 3 plot
As the announcers at Nelson Row pointed out, AFC Richmond is (now) a Premier League club without a championship trophy. It’s probably past time to make a change, and that appears to be the big picture for Season 3.
But first, let’s go back to how the Ted Lasso season 2 finale concluded. First and foremost, Ted dragged his anxiety battle into the public eye after Trent Crimm’s article in The Independent made it abundantly clear. Coach Beard believes he has reconciled with Jane. Higgins has reclaimed his office, and Rebecca is upset that Sam is remaining. We’re still waiting to see if Sam and Rebecca (hi, Cheers fans!) will reconnect.
