The Ted Lasso Finale Gives Us An Unexpected Sound Of Music Reference

"Ted Lasso" mastered the pop culture reference. Unlike many shows, which immediately date themselves by referencing recent pop culture landmarks and feel forced when they do so, "Ted Lasso" found a way to naturally insert references in its dialogue, and into its scripts.

The characters love to talk about what they like, and more importantly, they get very excited when that love is shared by others. Despite the problems in season three — its double-sized episode lengths and unfocused story — the season gave us several all-time great "Ted Lasso" moments and storylines, like Colin's coming out speech, or the fact that Jamie Tartt and Roy Kent became the best parts of the show. Whether this is actually the end or we get to see more of AFC Richmond, this show has been a true gift.

One of the things I will miss the most about "Ted Lasso" is its references, because they tell us so much about the characters. This is a show all about confronting archetypes and subverting expectations for a show about rich football stars. Part of how "Ted Lasso" did that was by showing us who these people are outside the field via what they reference. Rom-coms are a usual topic of conversation and a big part of the vernacular of the players, as are musicals. Every season we see the players gather around to watch a movie, usually a rom-com, and cry their eyes out together.

The "Ted Lasso" season 3 finale felt like the culmination of many things, as the show paid off and brought back many elements from across its three seasons. Arguably the most delightful, however, was the musical performance, with the AFC Richmond players giving us a rather good "Sound of Music" reference in song and dance form.

A big part of the episode dealt with the fallout of the news that Ted would leave Richmond at the end of the season, with plenty of tearful goodbyes. None were as fun, however, as the players themselves saying goodbye to Ted, and they did it the best way possible. 

At the end of their last practice, the team surprises Ted with a full musical rendition of "So Long, Farewell," the song from Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1959 musical, "The Sound of Music," and its 1965 film adaptation — complete with Dani Rojas in the role of little Gretl, and Roy Kent mouthing the lyrics to the song in the background.

It is a fantastic scene with rather good choreography, but it is not the first time a musical number happens on the training grounds at Richmond. In the penultimate episode of season 2, Ted and Coach Beard also have the team train and perform a musical performance of NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye." In both instances, the moment the coaches give their approval to the performance the team celebrates like crazy, going absolutely nuts, even more so than when they win the climactic match in the finale. 

The reason these performances work as more than references is that they show how much the players have grown, how much they've opened up to one another that they are comfortable doing silly things like a song and dance number to say goodbye to their boss and do so completely earnestly and not tongue in cheek.