Ted Lasso – Season 3 Episode 3 “4-5-1” Recap & Review

The Zava Effect

Episode 3 of Ted Lasso begins with Colin waking up, getting dressed, and heading downstairs to greet his boyfriend, Michael. They talk about football and how little Michael knows about it as well as his trip to Dubai. Colin says goodbye and gets into his car, telling himself that he’s a strong and capable man and then drives off.

At the Richmond Training Center, a whole welcome event seems to be organized for Zava. Ted and the other coaches discuss the team structure for their future games. They agree that Zava needs to be in the starter line which means they have to drop someone. Beard says it’ll have to be Colin. The more pressing matter is choosing either Dani or Jamie to be moved to a midfielder position. They settle on Danny, seeing as Jamie would take the news harder. Leslie enters and tells them it’s time to go.

Everyone, including Ted, is nervous as Zava is at a different level than any of them. Like a lot of the conversations in Ted Lasso, this one also segues into a sound of music reference and Julie Andrews. Everyone mentioned their favourite Julie Andrews character — it’s Maria for Roy, Eliza Doolittle for Beard, Mary Poppins for Leslie and Ted, and surprisingly, the queen of Genovia for Trent Crimm.

In the locker room, the team look at the new space made especially for Zava. They talk about his greatest goals and Richard mentions how he moves like a panther.  Isaac calls him gay. Colin seems unbothered and joins in on the joke. Jamie enters and gets annoyed seeing all of the preparation for Zava.

Later, the press and public have been waiting for a while but there has been no appearance from the man himself. Rebecca asked Leslie to make sure that the contract is signed and legal. Keeley tells Rebecca that Zava’s agent has tracked his phone to Mykonos. Shandy is shadowing Keeley for the day and is also there. Rebecca’s also getting late for an appointment but doesn’t tell Keeley what it is yet. Leslie returns and says that Zava e-signed the contract but didn’t sign his name. He signed the words, “You’re welcome”. Rebecca tells Ted and Keeley to go upstairs with her while Leslie talks to the crowd.

While heading up to the office, Keeley compares Zava to Daniel Day Lewis and talks about how they need to adapt to accommodate genius. They enter Rebecca’s office to find Zava sitting in her chair. She introduces him to Ted, Keeley and Leslie and he seems to impress all three of them with his standard and eccentric manner.

Zava finally meets the rest of the team as well. He looks at them all, nodding at Roy, and begins by addressing the most important person in the room — the kit man. After speaking to Will about the time when he was a ball boy himself, Zava tells the team to breathe with him. They all breathe in and out, although Zava’s exhale goes on for much longer. Afterwards, Zawada tells the team that they are now one.

Zava goes into the coach’s room and they awkwardly follow him. He re-arranges the markers on the board and tells the coaches he’ll see them the next day. They see that he’s placed one marker away from the rest.

Rebecca heads to her mysterious appointment which turns out to be with her mother’s psychic, Tish. Tish tries to warm things up with a joke about a cocktail and then they begin. Tish reveals that she knows about both the men, Rupert and Sam but turns out Rebecca’s mother is just quite talkative. When she realises Rebecca is a sceptic, she reveals that Rebecca’s mother too was a sceptic once. She brings out a bowl and they both put their hands on it. She tells Rebecca she can see a green matchbook in her hand and it’s a special object. She then sees thunder and lightning and Rebecca is drenched, upside down, but safe. Having had enough, Rebecca pulls her hands away and gets up to leave. Tish tells her that she’s going to have a family and she’s going to be a mom. Rebecca flares up and calls Tish cruel.

Keeley talks to some of the players from the Richmond team and tells them the press wants to talk about Zava. She tells them to keep things light and positive whereas Shandy suggests they say something shocking that goes viral. Keeley isn’t too sure about this but just then Roy enters. He says Leslie told him to go and ask if he’s needed for any interviews. Shandy picks a bone with him, eventually asking him why he dumped Keeley and they argue.

In the coach’s room, Jamie enters and asks to talk to them. Roy is there as well. He tells the coaches that he’s excited about Zava, but people like him are self-absorbed glory hunters. He says Zava will mess things up for them. Ted suggests that he give it a game or two before making a decision. Beard asks Jamie if he’s being ironic, and to everyone’s surprise, Jamie corrects him and says no, he’s being hypocritical.

At Nelson Road, everyone prepares for Richmond’s next match. Inside, the coaches pump up the players and tell them the strategy for the match —send the ball to Zava no matter what. As they give the instructions, Zava himself is meditating in a corner. When they put their hands together, it takes a soft whistle from Isaac to rouse the star player. Instead of putting his hand in, Zava pushes his way to the centre so everyone’s touching him when they cheer.

Ted lingers behind and decides to give Henry a quick call. He realizes he left his phone at home and decides to use the landline at the office instead. He’s bothered when he realizes he can’t remember Michelle’s cell phone number. He calls the home landline which is picked up by Michelle’s new boyfriend. Thinking it’s telemarketers, the man picks up and answers in a comical way

Initially, Tad is amused but he soon realizes that the man is Jacob Bryanson. The same Dr. Jacobs who used to be Michelle and his marriage counsellor. He hands the phone to Henry and Ted wishes him luck for his soccer match. Michelle then tells Ted that they should talk about things later.

Just before the match begins, Ted begins to get anxious but is soon distracted by the first goal scored by Zava right from the half-life itself. Richmond wins the match. And the next. And the next, as we see from a montage — Zava meditates and scores goals using impressive skills like the scorpion kick, Richmond goes higher up the list of the Premier League.

Ted stalks Jake online, Nathan unhappily watches Richmond’s win streak and Rebecca looks for a green matchbook while lighting a candle at her house before stopping herself. During a match against Leeds, Jamie almost scores a goal but Zava intercepts and it becomes his goal instead. Roy notices Jamie’s sour reaction.

Meanwhile, Sam works on his new restaurant and seems to get along very well with one of the chefs. Ted rants about Jake to Sharon during his therapy sessions. The news presenters discuss how Richmond is winning because of Zava and not Ted’s coaching. Instead, they praise Nathan as a tactician. During the match against Manchester United Zava uses a bicycle kick to win the match yet again. Elsewhere, Rupert curses as he watches.

As the team celebrate, Sam invites everybody to his new restaurant. Whilst there, they all have a good time and Zava makes an appearance too. Michael comes in and Colin introduces him to the rest of the group as a friend and wingman. They all get along, while Keeley asks Rebecca about her session with Tish, but Rebecca says she won’t be going back. Sassy arrives as well.

Ted vents to Beard about Michelle, Jake and Henry going horse riding together. His rant is soon interrupted by the appearance of Jane, who engages Beard in other ways. Jamie sits alone in a corner, sulking. When Roy approaches, they talk about how he used to be the best but isn’t anymore. Jamie admits he wants to be better and Roy offers to train him if he’s serious about it. Jamie says he is and Roy tells him his training starts at 4am the next morning.

Sassy tells her friends that she will try her luck with Ted and if not him, then Zava. Shandy goes up does Zava and tells him to update his social media to promote the team. He seems enamoured by her confidence.

When asked about Shandy, Keeley seems hard-pressed for compliments. Rebecca looks at Sam chatting with the chef from his restaurant. They look happy. The girls turn to look at Roy. Then, they look at each other and clink their glasses to better things ahead.

Sam’s chef gives him a box as a gift and he begins handing them out to everybody. They’re little green matchbooks. Rebecca takes a look at it and thinks back to Tish’s words. Trent takes his leave from the party as well but on his way out he sees Colin and Michael kissing in an alleyway.

The Episode Review

A lot is going on in this episode but, like Ted’s speedy quips and references within references, this feels like the show’s charm. After all, these are a set of truly interesting characters and you do not mind spending time with each of them. Zava’s character was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting a Season 1 Jamie 2.0 but these eccentrics are far better. I’m sure it’s also masking the way his self-image will surely affect the rest of the team in the future.

Ted’s handling of this, considering his emphasis on teamwork, will be intriguing. His personal woes seem slightly clichéd, but really everything depends on how the writers work the aftermath of it. Otherwise, I’m also pleased that Rebecca’s attention is elsewhere and not simply tunnel-visioning towards Rupert.