Wonderful things happen in Ted Lasso ‘s Season 3 Episode 6, where a trip to Amsterdam gives AFC Richmond the chance to bond as a team.
This review contains minor spoilers for Season 3 Episode 6 of Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso.
We’ve gotten used to Ted Lasso taking little detours from the games and the drama to follow one or more players on various journeys. And, if in the previous series we got a karaoke night, a Christmas episode, and an After Hours homage, season 3 gives us episode 6: a weekend in Amsterdam where most of our characters give themselves permission to be free for a night.
“Sunflowers” is also one hour long, which makes it the longest season 3 episode so far. Not that it needed to be, as part of it kind of feels like a travel advert for Amsterdam, as there are plenty of sightseeing, history lessons, and references to various attractions that don’t really add much to the story.
At some point, Ted (Jason Sudeikis) uses an app to order some food from a fictional place whose name is pretty similar to one that actually exists, and reads the description of the restaurant out loud for no reason other than making us visit it ourselves. Though some of these references are woven into the narrative and become relevant for the characters in one way or another, one can’t help but feel like a consumer in the first half of episode 6.
Thankfully, the Apple TV+ show picks up the pace in the second half of the episode, which gives us enough heartwarming, epic moments to make us forget all about the first half.
“Sunflowers”‘ premise is simple: AFC Richmond has just suffered yet another loss, and Ted decides that a night with no curfew would help boost the team’s morale. And so, most players prepare to pull an all nighter, where the most difficult decision will be finding an activity that everyone would enjoy.
But some of our protagonists opt out of the fun, such as Roy (Brett Goldstein) and Jamie (Phil Dunster), as the former decides that the latter can’t miss a chance to train. But Jamie turns a training session into a sightseeing opportunity that proves meaningful for both of them, as the roles are somehow reversed and both players start to lower their defenses and open up to each other. Watching Jamie and Roy enjoy their night of freedom is one of the highlights of this week’s episode, and you won’t be able to wipe the smile off your face for several minutes.
Leslie (Jeremy Swift) and Will (Charlie Hiscock) get to have their moment in episode 6, as they unexpectedly team up to explore the Red Light District. But Leslie’s puzzling decision soon makes a lot of sense when we discover what he’s really up to, and watching him be in his element is heartwarming and liberating. Will is finally given some screentime too, and the few moments we get with him make us hope for more scenes in the rest of the season.
Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) falls in the canal while she’s having a stroll on her own, but a charming boat owner comes to the rescue and she ends up spending the evening with him as she waits for her clothes to dry. And not only is the stranger in question a handsome man, but – wait for it – he’s also a single, skilled cook with great taste in music, who loves giving foot massages, and who just-so-happens to still have a box of his ex-girlfriend’s (who cheated on him) clothes on his perfectly cozy boat, which, needless to say, fit Rebecca perfectly.
Remember that Facebook group called Disney Gave Me Unrealistic Expectations About Love? That’s a little bit how I felt as I was watching episode 6, as what Rebecca experiences is a fairy tale: things like that don’t happen in real life, even more so since they’re both happy to remain strangers when they part. Even if the two of them have real chemistry in this episode, it feels like we’re never going to see the mysterious stranger again, as he was clearly meant to help Rebecca move on from Rupert (Anthony Head) so that a new phase of her life can begin.
As a TedBecca fan, I look forward to the rest of Season 3, and it’s also truly nice to see Rebecca be happy and carefree for once. At the same time, I can’t help but be a little puzzled by the AFC Richmond owner’s narrative arc this season, and also a little sad that this little adventure will probably not be developed any further.
But who cares, when a truly wonderful thing happens in this week’s episode? And no, I’m not referring to Isaac (Kola Bokinni) wearing a Vivienne Westwood sweater, even if that’s a close second for me. I’m talking about us finding out what Trent (James Lance) decides to do with what we know that he knows about Colin (Billy Harris), and Ted Lasso handling it all with its usual heart and wit. I’m not going to say any more about this part of the episode, as it’s best if you find out on your own, but if you’ve been paying attention to the clues in last week’s episode, you probably know what I’m talking about. Episode 6 is going to make a lot of people happy, and that’s all I’m going to say about this for now.
But that’s not all, because Ted has a breakthrough of sorts this week, and even if he, too, takes a little detour to have his epiphany, we can anticipate great things for AFC Richmond in the rest of season 3.
Even if episode 6 feels a little bit like a travel advert at times and gives us some unrealistic character moments that will probably not be hugely relevant for the rest of the series, it’s also a very liberating, rewarding episode. “Sunflowers” celebrates freedom and individuality, and brings our attention back to what really matters: remembering who we really are, and not being afraid to show our wonderful selves to the world.
Ted Lasso‘s Season 3 Episode 6 is now streaming on Apple TV+.
