While Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso was originally billed as a workplace comedy following English football team, AFC Richmond, the series became known for its fascinating character dynamics. One of the most popular amongst fans and critics alike was the complex bond between Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster), Keeley Jones (Juno Temple), and Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein).
Jamie and Roy were positioned as rivals in the show’s first season, as the former’s arrogant attitude clashed with the latter’s old-school mentality. At the same time, Jamie and Keeley were in a failing romantic relationship and, once the inevitable break-up occurred, Keeley found herself drawn to Roy.
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After leaving AFC Richmond for a bit, Jamie underwent an intense period of growth, largely due to bonding with Roy off the field. During this time, Jamie and Keeley remained close, and the three slowly became one of the series’ most interesting dynamics. It was one that fans latched onto, seeing the romantic potential between the three, and one that even the creators of the series seemed to embrace.
A TV Love Triangle That Almost Broke the Mold
Love triangles have long been a mainstay in television, but almost none of them have been brave enough to take the leap to explore how the same-sex characters in these relationships would work. Before the season three finale, the relationship between these three never felt like it was motivated by jealousy but instead by mutual respect, accountability, and, of course, a rippling romantic and sexual tension.
At the center of this relationship was Jamie’s odyssey of unlearning the toxic masculinity his abusive father placed upon him, an arc which also felt like the series slowly uncovering his queerness as well. His rivalry with Roy was nothing less than heated, and in season three it was revealed that he had a poster of both Keeley and Roy hanging on his bedroom wall. Just as it felt like the series was finally going to make this throuple a reality, player Jan Maas (David Elsendoorn) points out that if ten percent of the population is gay, statistically, there should be members of the club who identify as such. Everyone’s heads swivel to Jamie, who touches his heart and says that he’s flattered his clubmates would assume he’s queer.
This reaction never felt like the writers poking fun at Jamie’s meticulously styled hair and love for fashion. Instead, it felt like they were slowly showcasing what the show’s queer fanbase had believed for years; that Jamie, in healing from his abusive childhood with the help of Keeley and Roy, was also allowed to come to terms with his sexuality. This came in the middle of the series’ continued commitment to the relationship between him and Roy, paired with the constant infatuation the two men had for Keeley. These nods in season three felt like a natural progression towards polyamory, and as the show wound down, it became impossible to see a future for these characters where they weren’t together.
Courtesy of Apple
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Just when it felt like Ted Lasso would deliver their promises of a true love triangle where all corners of the relationship touch, somehow, it all crumbled in the Season 3 finale. After getting into an uncharacteristic physical fight, Jamie and Roy asked Keeley to choose one of them, to which she obviously refused. Broken beyond repair, their respective and conjoined storylines lost all momentum, crumbling under the weight of a writers’ room that would rather tear these characters apart then see them finally together. Not only was it unlike these characters, it was unlike a series where realism was often abandoned for heartwarming moments.
There was no resolution for Jamie, Keeley and Roy as characters, nor the relationship they had together. The same can be said for the new unexpected season of Ted Lasso. Instead of letting the show rest as it should, it’s been brought back from the dead, and while this could have been a great way to make up for what the series did to their most engaging relationship, it seems like the writers are still at odds with what should be the natural progression for these characters. In the show’s fourth season, Roy is still a grump, Keeley is still as bubbly as ever, and Jamie has surprisingly left AFC Richmond.
Ted Lasso failed to capitalize on its previous romantic momentum of a throuple, and continues to destroy the two characters left at the center of it. In season four, the relationship between Keeley and Roy is no longer engaging, and has instead turned into a frustrating relationship that should never have crumbled in the first place. The two feel like husks of the fascinating characters they once were, both of them now existing as tropes of themselves who are lacking any depth, and any character arc. While the series is still fun to watch at times, it feels like Keeley and Roy as characters can’t recover from the annihilation of their relationship with Jamie.
Instead of keeping in line with the moving brand of the show, Ted Lasso doomed three of the show’s most engaging characters by separating them. The idea of this throuple wasn’t simply born from fan speculation, but text woven into the foundation of this series. When they were on screen together, Jamie, Keeley and Roy exposed each other’s flaws, and pushed each other to be better. Now that the core of this relationship has left the premises, the two remaining members resemble two ships that have long been abandoned at sea.
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