I doubt it. Ted wasn’t in a relationship with Sassy, they were just FWB. Sassy would only be relevant to Michelle if she was going to be involved in Henry’s life.

Yes, I’ve wondered about that too. It is a bit of a mystery, why it took so long into their marriage for them to have Henry. I saw a copy of the pilot script online, and in it Ted is described as 40 years old, and Henry as 10. So that would mean he and Michelle had Henry aged about 30, which would be more understandable - they got together in college, established careers, bought a house, then had a child (then we might wonder why they had only one, but still).

My guess is that the character ages were largely because of practical/production reasons - I think the Ted Lasso script was probably written when Jason Sudeikis was 40 or close to, but not shot until he was 45. I’m not sure why Henry got aged down except that younger kids are kind of cuter.

In-universe, I think your theory about fertility issues is a good one. My other head-cannon was that maybe Ted was a bit fearful of parenthood and kept putting it off, because of what happened to his dad.

I have a theory that Ted played up his American-ignorant-of-all-things-British schtick a little bit. Not in a malicious or manipulative way, but just because he thought it was funny, and being funny is part of his toolkit for disarming people. Maybe also because he was actually quite sharp, and he sometimes found it useful to let people think he was a bit dumb.

It’s similar to the way he pretends to not know that George and John are dead, or is pretends to be amazed that his son has teeth and can talk. In those cases we know he’s teasing, but I like to imagine he did it lot, on the quiet. Like I bet he’d learned the offside rule a lot sooner than he let on. And I reckon he’d heard of Zava (Zava was so super famous even people with no interest in football, like Colin’s boyfriend Michael, had heard of him - it seems like you’d have to work pretty hard not to know who he was), but he pretended not to. Ted committed to the bit :)

Brendan Hunt in the AMA said something along the lines of Ted and Michelle being in a “good place” as co parents at the end of the series. But I don’t think there’s any doubt that the writers have left the door open to the possibility of Ted and Michelle reuniting.

The series starts with Ted moving to a different country in order to save his marriage. I liked the idea that Ted’s journey was him coming to terms with the end of that relationship and finding happiness anyway. But the writers hint at a full circle - that maybe Ted gets what he wanted in episode one.

By the end of S3, Michelle seems to have tired of Jacob and kicked him to the curb. There were a few times when the direction and script wanted us to notice Michelle “softening” towards Ted: her smile after the Facetime call, their banter at the pub, her lingering look outside the taxi. Mae tells Ted “nothing is impossible”.

Ted never wavered in his love for Michelle, and he was super upset at the idea of Michelle marrying someone else. It seems that he’ll be staying in the house he used to share with Michelle and Henry. I suspect the writers knew that a lot of viewers wouldn’t like the idea of Ted and Michelle reuniting. But it seemed like it was what Ted wanted, and Jason Sudeikis. I wonder if a less ambiguous ending, where they clearly get back together, was pitched but rejected.

Dr. Sharon allowing Ted to cross professional boundaries wasn’t great either. She let him into her personal life, even though she didn’t want to.

Yep. The teacher was a plotline that went nowhere. In the end she was just a nice person who liked Roy. Cool. What was her storytelling purpose?

I get it. I’ve seen some viewers say they’re happy just to have more time with the characters they love, no matter what they’re doing. I guess it must be nice to be so easily pleased? I’ll just go hang out in curmudgeon’s corner, feel free to join.

I see people argue a lot that “real life isn’t neat either”. So therefore it’s ok for the show to be messy or boring or not make sense at times.

It’s true that real life does indeed include a lot of boring side-plots I couldn’t care less about. But that’s not what I’m looking for in arts and entertainment? I can just go read a newspaper or talk to my neighbour if I want that. And Ted Lasso as a show never pretended to be “true to life”. People don’t need happy endings, just satisfying stories they care about. Some would say that’s what S3 TL delivered, but many wouldn’t.

All your points have been well-discussed on the sub over the last 6 months, OP. There are many who agree with you, many who will not hear a word of criticism about the show no matter what, and many who don’t care either way.

I couldn’t look when he spat. I shut my eyes when I could see it coming. Did he ever wipe it off the mirror?

Thanks so much! You don’t happen to remember which episode that was mentioned in, so you?

Fantasy/cyberpunk author Jeff Noon wrote a sort of future-set sequel to the two Alice books. It’s called Automated Alice.