Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Ted Lasso Season 3.The Ted Lasso episode, "We'll Always Have Paris," was... a lot. In an hour of television, we see a video leak, a freak-out of a possible proposal, a love story on top of another love story, and of course, a heavy dose of our favorite AFC Richmond players in the locker room. However, this particular episode was hard for Keeley (Juno Temple), who has already been given the short end of the stick this season. With an intimate video of her being hacked and leaked for the public, Ted Lasso gave a commentary on this real-life issue, but how they handled it leaves a lot to be desired.
To recap one of many subplots in this episode, a private video Keeley once sent to someone — who is later revealed to be Jamie (Phil Dunster) — is leaked and exposed to the wider public along with other female celebrities in a hack akin to the one in 2014. Jack (Jodi Balfour), her girlfriend and boss, thinks more about protecting her brand than comforting Keeley. She sends Keeley a lawyer-produced apology statement and then tries to concoct another one for her, both of which Keeley says she will not read — she doesn't need to apologize. Jack then walks out, implying the dissolution of their relationship. So, was Keeley right? Should she apologize?
Does Keeley Need To Apologize?
No, she doesn't — she was violated. Something that was private and for one person was taken from her without her consent and spread across the world to see. We are in a world post-Pam and Tommy, post-2014 leak, where, hopefully, the general public has come to understand that celebrities deserve their privacy as much as anyone else, and the idea that there's a price to pay for being famous only gives more license to dehumanize people. The dehumanization intensifies when we consider that in Ted Lasso, it's mostly female celebrities who were hacked and exposed.
Let's go back to 2014 when hackers released a plethora of intimate photos of female celebrities on 4chan. Many actresses, models, and public figures were subject to being reduced to just semi-nude images that they took, which they have the absolute right to do. However, as with many things that plague our society, the response to it missed the mark. While many people saw what a severe violation it was, there were some who felt the need to chastise these folks for taking naked photos of themselves. Instead of looking at the misogyny at the heart of the issue, this toxic corner of our society critiqued the victims of such acts rather than look at why someone would want to leak private photos in the first place.
'Ted Lasso' Takes the Easy Way Out
In the episode, the AFC Richmond team gets a whiff of what had transpired with the hack. It works less like a scene on television with characters talking to each other and more as a vessel for various talking points to collide with each other. We get the guy who thinks that no one should take nude photos. We get the guy who defends the women. We get the guy who's somewhere in between. The closest thing we get to the hackers getting any focus is when Jamie says, "The only people to blame are the dickheads who steal your sh*it and put it online." But it's undercut immediately when he says: "That's why I delete all the photos on my phone." This exercise in social commentary is hamfisted with the best of intentions. As the team decides to go through their pictures and delete them, it doesn't feel like a natural conversation with people, but just a show giving its view on the matter that ends with the conclusion that if you are famous, your private photos should be deleted.
It seemed like Ted Lasso wanted to enter into the conversation about fame and humanity and privacy and rape culture, but fell terribly short. The leak is only contained to how embarrassing it is to have those pictures out in the world. We didn't get an examination or a discussion of the violation of privacy that Keeley, or any other female celebrity, is entitled to have. By saying "delete photos," Ted Lasso is accepting the idea that these women don't have a right to privacy. By saying "delete photos," it's letting the hackers off the hook. By saying "delete photos," the show gives up an opportunity to delve deep into a societal issue with care and nuance.
Ted Lasso clearly felt like this problem was part of the social fabric and needed to be discussed, but it decided to go the route of least resistance and uphold the status quo. By advocating the deletion of pictures, what they are advocating is the lack of action needed to fight back against society's ideas of women as just sexual objects. For a show that's about positivity and forward-thinking, it's strangely defeatist. It's tantamount to rape discourse advocating women should walk with others at night, watch their drinks, or walk to their cars with keys in their hands. It's on the women not to be violated, but it's not on the men to not violate. Ted Lasso's stance surrounding the hack is starkly conservative and refuses to even examine the misogyny inherent in these hacks.
So, what's next for Keeley? What's in store for her after the events of this storyline? It's hard to see what the show will have for Keeley considering all that she has been through so far. But, it's becoming clear that Keeley will have to find a way to rise like a phoenix and rise above the obstacles that she has faced in both her personal and professional life. If not, then what's the intended goal of putting Keeley through all this trouble if it's not for character growth?
New episodes of Ted Lasso Season 3 premiere every Wednesday on Apple TV+.