Ted Lasso (Season 3), Episode 6: Recap and Ending Explained

Ted Lasso (Season 3), Episode 6: Last season, Ted Lasso took a detour (from the usual proceedings) and did “Beard after Hour,” an episode entirely focused on Coach Beards’ sort of absurdist journey through London over the course of the night. In my humble opinion, that was more miss than a hit, but I also liked that they tried something very different from the usual fare. That’s why when I first got to know about the latest episode being set in Amsterdam over the course of the night after a friendly match (against Ajax, who else), I was cautiously optimistic.

And well, I’m really happy to say that, unlike last season, this time it has worked wonderfully. Instead of Coach Beard (who we actually don’t get to see until Morning – another wise decision), it is everyone after hours this time which works in the show’s favor. Because Ted Lasso is everyone’s show, which includes the audience. Titled “Sunflower” and clocking in at one hour and three minutes, it is also the longest episode of the show and maybe the best yet, I dare say.

Ted Lasso (Season 3 Episode 6): Recap

Richmond’s rough patch on field continues as they suffer a 5-0 defeat against Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena. With the team crumbling like that, our favorite characters are also struggling inside a dark tunnel. Roy loses his cool while doing an interview, Rebecca tries too hard to hide her overall disappointment with the current state of life. Ted is clueless about what’s wrong with the team as well as his own life and Beard is Beard. We don’t know how Nate is doing as we don’t get to see him in the episode. There’s one exception though, which is Keeley Jones who goes off to Norway with her girlfriend Jack within the first five minutes of the episode. I’m sure we all are really happy for her.

Now let us look into the night.

Ted and Beard

The two best friends are at a point of all-time low with their shared professional careers. Ted being Ted decides to lift up the night curfew (a thing pretty common for professional football teams) to give both the team and himself a night off to do whatever his heart desires.

But what is it that the heart desires?

Despite being best friends, Beard and Ted have very different ideas about good times. So it is no surprise they both end up hella bored. Beard takes refuge in drug-infused tea and leaves to do Beard (after-hours) things. Ted texts Rebecca if she wants to hang out but doesn’t get any response and eventually ends up at Van Gogh Museum, then an American burger place run by Australians in Amsterdam. This is the most essential part of the episode where we are going to come back in detail.

Rebecca and the man on the boat

Trying too hard to project she is doing alright when she clearly isn’t, Rebecca accidentally falls down in a canal from a bridge while talking to a random man on a houseboat nearby. The man rescues her, and then disappears while Rebecca takes a shower in his boathouse. He comes back and explains that he disappeared because he didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable taking a shower in an unknown toilet with the fear of a stranger peeping on her. The Dutchman (played by the actor ) charms her by cooking food and offering a foot massage which she initially refuses. But soon, she realizes that the man has absolutely zero bad intentions and is only being nice while not trying to hide the fact that he is pretty much smitten by her. Well, we can tell she is, as well.

Higgins and all that Jazz

The nicest person on earth, our very own Higgins takes William, the sweetest ever kit-boy to the red light district of Amsterdam with the plan of deflowering the young fellow. However, William finds out that Higgins does have a very moving reason for visiting the particular hotel. It is where Jazz musician Chet Baker died. Given the kind of love Higgins has for jazz this is a pilgrimage for him and tagging William along is the best possible thing he could do after all.

Sex show, crazy party, movie night and a tulip

Meanwhile, the Richmond players fight over what to do on their night off and reach literally nowhere. In-house local boy Jan Mass proposes the idea of attending a crazy party arranged by his cousin, but the hitch is it is two hours away. The other alternatives are Sam wanting a movie night, Van Dame wanting to experience a sex show, and Dani’s desire to see one tulip because a whole field of tulips would overwhelm him.

Trent and Colin

While his teammates keep arguing about overnight plans, Colin bows out by faking illness and sneaks out to explore the city on his own terms. He ends up at a gay bar, and while ordering a drink, he comes across Trent, who has followed him, of course. While Colin tries to keep his secret guarded, Trent assures him that he already knows and Colin has nothing to be worried about.

And finally, Roy and Jamie and Windmill 

These two have become quite a dynamic duo, and I’m absolutely loving it. While coach Ted has given the team a night off, coach Roy is not gonna let Jamie go. So Jamie goes for his usual grueling running season with Roy but he seems pretty much optimistic about doing it, as we see him sightseeing the city on foot and Roy getting tired running behind him. 

Ted Lasso (Season 3 Episode 6): Ending Explained

How does the night end for everyone?

Well, Higgins gets to play and pretty much nails it at the Jazz bar; while William has his “first time” in life, and considering the way we see him talking to his mother the next morning, it was clearly great for him.

Colin and Trent end up sharing a beer and having a great time together, where Trent makes his LGBTQ orientation pretty much clear, and Colin talks about his wish to live one life instead of two. I got to say this story arc is very well handled so far.

The team doesn’t manage to pick any of the choices, but in the end, they opt for something better. It is pillow fighting night, and nothing can top something like that, after all.

Jamie and Roy get more personal with each other, where Jamie shares his story of visiting Amsterdam twice with each of his (abusive) parents, and Roy shares his story of never learning to ride a bike because his grandfather (who was supposed to teach him) died. Roy is also not over his relationship with Keeley, and her having a girlfriend does bother him. Well, he might not have a girlfriend, but now he has a friend who would do anything to make him happy. Being that friend, Jamie takes it upon himself to teach Roy to ride a bike which ends up with the duo finding a windmill. This is another story arc where the writers have done a great job.

Also, Read – Nate vs. Ted Lasso: Evaluating the Role of Mentorship & Leadership, and Navigating its roots

Lastly, Rebecca’s night only gets better with the man on the boat, where she falls asleep in the end, and we see the man gently putting a blanket on her. While he makes breakfast in the morning, she asks him, “did they?” to which he says no. Rebecca kisses the man before leaving and promises not to forget him. He says she might because Alzheimer’s is a real deal. They both laugh, and she leaves. The last we see, the man is still making breakfast and mumbling, “Did we? Of course we did”. We know what you mean, unnamed man.

How does Ted draw inspiration from Van Gogh?

At the Van Gogh museum, a lonely, confused Ted finds himself marveling at the painter’s work. He notices Van Gogh’s famous painting “Sunflower,” which shows sunflowers at different stages of life. A chance meeting with the museum curator makes Ten ponder over his life further as the curator repeatedly emphasizes Van Gogh creating beautiful things despite battling with his demons. This also implies the painter’s resilience in the face of adversity.

Later that evening, Ted finds himself reminiscing about his childhood at the American burger joint while looking at a basketball game featuring the Chicago Bulls. Staring at the Television, Ted suddenly develops an idea based on the famous Triangle tactics. Ted works on the idea for the whole night and presents the idea to Beard in the morning- which turns out to be eerily similar to Total Football. This is a very sweet coincidence that Ted, who doesn’t have much technical knowledge about football, found Total Football in the land of its inventor, none other than Johan Cruyff.

As the Richmond bus leaves, Rebecca starts to sing Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds (Don’t Worry about a thing), and everyone else joins in. Life is still as complicated as it was the day before, but something has changed for all of them.

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Ted Lasso (Season 3), Episode 6 Links: IMDb
Ted Lasso (Season 3) Episode 6 Cast: Jason Sudeikis, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Hannah Waddingham