Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Ted Lasso Season 3 episode, “4-5-1.” Read at your own risk!
Ted Lasso Season 3 kicked off with the same old optimistic attitude for its characters, but there wasn’t much reason for AFC Richmond or its fans to feel that way. The football club was projected by many analysts to finish at the very bottom, which would mean they’d be relegated back out of the Premier League after battling their way back in. Fortunately, that hasn’t been the case ever since the club signed the superstar Zava, but can it possibly last?
“4-5-1” showed Zava in action on the field, and while folks like Jamie Tart aren’t sold on him, pretty much everyone else is. Ted Lasso showed Zava helped lead them on an unexpected winning streak via a montage, which has now put them near the Top 5 teams of the Premier League for the season.
It’s a surprising turn of events for the team, and I can’t help but wonder if Ted Lasso is teasing fans with success only to deliver a bigger fall for the team in the future. After all, one of the first things we learned about Zava when it was first revealed he was a free agent was that he was known to be a problem on former teams. Granted, it was also said he produced great results and produced championships for those teams as well, but at what cost?
So far, Zava hasn’t appeared to be as much of a nuisance as advertised. While he is definitely a out-there figure who marches to the beat of his own drum, he’s done nothing to inconvenience the team thus far. For example, missing his first public appearance wasn’t exactly great, but not something that Zava did intentionally and not a huge deal.
If there’s one negative thing I can say about Zava, it’s that he only does what he wants to do. So far, we haven’t seen him take any instruction from his teammates or anyone on the coaching staff. To be fair, Zava is described as a generational talent who doesn’t really need to be told what to do to be successful. Still, given his free spirit, this may become a problem down the way.
There’s no telling if or when problems with Zava might spring up on Ted Lasso, though I do wonder if we might see them ahead of next episode’s match against West Ham United. With the team going up against former assistant coach Nate‘s new team and Rebecca looking to get a win over her ex Rupert who owns the team, it would be a pretty awful time for Zava to cause issues. As such, that’s precisely why I’m expecting it to happen. Conflict makes for good television!
There is a chance Ted Lasso might surprise me. After all, this series has often subverted expectations when it comes to typical television tropes involving drama and often attempts to put a more positive spin on things. Perhaps Zava won’t be a problem and will lead AFC Richmond to win the Premier League. There are still plenty of episodes on the way, so we’ll have to hold onto our Apple TV+ subscriptions to find out.
Stream new episodes of Ted Lasso on Wednesdays on Apple TV+ (opens in new tab). If you’re really far behind, there’s still plenty of time to catch up and see why Ted Lasso is one of television’s most relatable characters.
