‘Ted Lasso’ Season 3 Episode 6 Review: A Night to Remember

I must admit that after last week’s episode of Ted Lasso, I was nervous about where this third and final season might just end up. That episode was an uncharacteristically rushed and illogically characterized hour of television that indulged some of the show’s lesser angels. Color me relieved and delighted by this week’s “Sunflowers” which does far more than set Ted Lasso back on solid ground. With a storyline reminiscent of last season’s standout “Beard After Hours,” which was itself a loving nod to Martin Scorsese’s After Hours (1985), “Sunflowers” dispels with any ounce of clutter in favor of a sprawling but focused hour and change of Ted Lasso goodness. The wonder of it is not just that “Sunflowers” is the best episode of this season, but that the whole creative team pulls multi-season strands together to put it in the running for one of the show’s finest.

After getting trounced 5-0 in a friendly in Amsterdam, everyone connected to AFC Richmond is simply miserable. Ted (Jason Sudeikis) makes the executive decision to cut the team loose—no curfew for a night on the town. From there, the Richmond family fractures up into a collection of different adventures. Roy (Brett Goldstein) makes Jamie (Phil Dunster) run through the city with him, which leads them into tender territory. Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) heads out alone only to fall into the river and spend the evening on a houseboat with a kindly divorcee. Colin (Billy Harris) peels off from his party-seeking teammates only to wander into a heart-to-heart with Trent (James Lance). Rounding it off Higgins (Jeremy Swift) takes Will (Charlie Hiscock) on a jazz pilgrimage, while Ted and Beard (Brendan Hunt) imbibe in some powerful fungi. It is, in short, a night packed to the gills. 

Any episode with this many tendrils runs the risk of diluting story impact in favor of narrative spread. “Sunflowers” deftly sidesteps that by wrapping up all the football-related issues and dividing characters up before the now-classic Ted Lasso opening credits roll. Traditional comedy television writing gives you an A-plot with your key story, a B-plot with a secondary plot, and sometimes a C-story or “runner” that crops up for a joke here and there. “Sunflowers” somehow supports pairs of each A, B, and C without any of them turning the corner into underserved. That alone would be a feat of screenwriting, but what the Ted Lasso writers go on to do is weave those six distinct plots into the best sort of warm hug feeling that the show excels at when firing on all cylinders. When it comes to all-in-one-night episodes, they remain, unlike Richmond, undefeated.

Starting with our C-stories and working backward, we begin with Higgins and Will, and then the majority of the Richmond squad back at the hotel. Higgins repeatedly refers to a trip “to the red light district” which raises everyone’s eyebrows, not least of all Will when Higgins ropes him along. It turns out that the trip is a pilgrimage to see the spot where famed jazz musician Chet Baker died, and then take in a show. The Higgins-Will pairing gives both actors room to play and unlocks a possible mentorship connection that could pay narrative dividends. Similarly, the chaos of a group of professional soccer players deciding between going to see a sex show, driving two hours to a party, or staying in for a movie night provides a steady flow of laugh lines. It also provides an excuse to hang with a wonderful group of performers having a blast. 

Concurrently, the B-stories, focusing on Ted, with a small assist from Beard, and Colin/Trent make space for so-far season-long developments. Colin quickly ducks out from the team shenanigans and finds his way to a gay bar, only to freak out and try to run away when Trent follows him in. That surprise leads to a poignant pay-off: Trent hasn’t mentioned Colin’s sexuality, even after seeing the kiss, because Trent himself is queer and was waiting for the right time. They spend the night talking, dancing, and finding an unexpected friendship as a result. It is equal parts tender and energetic, as opposed to the mostly sullen Ted plot. After gulping down some shroom tea, Ted wanders through a Van Gogh exhibit and ends up at a kitschy American restaurant. With help from a gloriously goofy animated sequence, Ted breaks through his coaching doldrums and emerges with a new plan. 

Even for all the wonderful stories above, it is the A-stories that put this episode in the Ted Lasso pantheon. Continuing their training regimen, Roy makes Jamie hop off the bus and run through Amsterdam with him as an excuse to blow off steam. Roy’s angry because Keeley (Juno Temple) jetted off to see Jack (Jodi Balfour)—not because of what she’s done but because he ended their relationship and opened the door for her to be with someone else. Jamie picks up on that and just rides the wave, chattering about bridges and windmills like a peppy tour guide. That is until an attempt to ride bikes out of the city reveals that Roy can’t ride a bike. His grandfather was going to teach him but then the man died so Roy never learned. Jamie decides to teach him, and in a sequence both heartwarming and tearjerking, all set to “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” in a brilliant Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) homage, they succeed. It is a flat-out brilliant continuation of what has grown into one of Ted Lasso’s most rewarding pairings. 

The A-story to rule them all this week though belongs to Rebecca. Last week, I criticized season three for underwriting Rebecca. In “Sunflowers,” they put her on her own and give her a houseboat-bound rom-com that made me wish it would just spin off into a whole movie. After she falls into the river and loses her phone, a muscled and kindly man, whose name she never learns, brings her aboard his houseboat. He puts her clothes in the wash while she showers, and gives her all sorts of space so she feels comfortable. As the night goes on they talk, drink, and eat, and it is charming, hilarious, and as inviting as the best bubble bath. Waddingham practically dazzles as she acts her way through Rebecca sluffing off all her recent stress just to connect with this random stranger. Once she leaves the next morning, we cannot help but wish that maybe she had stayed just to get more time with this duo together. 

With “Sunflowers,” Ted Lasso recaptures a crackling forward momentum for season three. It is a showcase for the obscene amount of talent present in everyone working on this program. Last week may have been a stumble, but I should know better than to ever expect anything besides a wholehearted comeback from Ted Lasso.