Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for the Season 3 premiere of Ted Lasso.Attention, Greyhounds: Ted Lasso is back with its long-awaited third season. After ending the previous season promoted back into the Premier League, Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis), Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham), and the rest of AFC Richmond are getting ready to face off against their former friend, Nathan Shelley (Nate Mohammed), and Rebecca’s ex-husband, Rupert Mannion (Anthony Head). While the season premiere stunned audiences with the new relationship status of fan-favorite couple Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) and Keeley Jones (Juno Temple), it has also given us plenty to be concerned about when it comes to the series’ protagonist.

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Who’s Ready for a Journey?

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Image via Apple TV+

Ted Lasso has a sneaky tradition where they let you know which character will go through the most dynamic character arc over the course of the season. The first character shown on screen is also the last character seen as a bookend to the season. In Season 1, it was Rebecca, who was hellbent on wanting to destroy the one thing her ex-husband Rupert loved most in the world, AFC Richmond. As the season goes on, she gradually is transformed by Ted’s kindness and begins to care for her team. Rebecca ends the season, covered by S. Pellegrino water after Ted spits it in her face (accidentally, of course), determined that the Greyhounds can get promoted next season and come back to win the whole thing.

Season 2 begins with Nate the Great, the former kit man turned assistant coach of AFC Richmond. Unlike Rebecca, his journey takes more of a downward spiral, leaning into the darker parts of himself. Though he finds his success with his inventive plays, he fears his position after Roy joins the coaching staff; plus, his dad (Peter Landi) doesn’t give any type of affirmation to his son. Nate goes from being bullied as a kit man to becoming the bully of the new kit man, Will (Charlie Hiscock). After letting his feelings of being underestimated build, he explodes at Ted at the end of the season, admits to leaking Ted’s panic attack to Trent Crimm (James Lance), and accepts a manager position with West Ham United FC under Rupert.

Season 3, meanwhile, starts with our titular, mustached protagonist himself. Ted is at the airport as he sits with his son before Henry (Gus Turner) flies back to Kansas. As it zooms out on Sudeikis’ face, Ted is looking worn down and defeated. After having Henry with him for six weeks, Ted really drags his heels before letting Henry get on his flight. He even asks his son to hug Michelle (Andrea Andrews) and tell her that he loves her. From this opening scene, audiences can see that Ted is not in the best place emotionally at the start of the new season: both the football season and the series itself.

What’s Going On With Ted?

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Image via Apple TV+

Concerns about Ted’s well-being don’t stop with the opening scene. After Ted has a brief talk with Dr. Sharon Fieldstone (Sarah Niles), there's a montage of him going back to his apartment alone and cleaning up all the activities he did with his son. Ted confesses to Sharon that he’s really questioning why he’s still coaching at Richmond; in his mind, he knows why he came in the first place, but now he believes being there is doing more hurt than help at this point, even though the Greyhounds are back in the Premier League. To drive the point home, there’s an almost identical shot of Ted in the shower where he lets the water just wash over him, the same way he did at the end of the series premiere.

Over the course of the season premiere, it becomes more and more clear how Ted is on shaky ground. While he does stay true to himself by not retaliating against Nate’s recent mean comments about him, Ted does take self-deprecating shots at himself. He gets the press to join in on making fun of himself as a “dumb American” and “crazy” for his panic attacks. He’d rather redirect punches his way and compliment Nate’s strengths as a tactical coach than hit back at the competition.

The last scene of the episode really brings this all together as he hops on FaceTime with his son after he makes it back to Kansas. Before he hops on the call, Ted is seen with a glass of hard liquor next time– he only breaks out the hard liquor when he’s down as mentioned in Season 2 Episode 4’s “Carol of the Bells.” Then as he’s on FaceTime, Ted reminds Henry that he doesn’t like being away from him; Henry understands because he reminds him of the reason Ted’s still there is to win the whole thing. In the same call, Ted finds out that Michelle is dating someone new after Henry shows off his new Infinity Gauntlet. The way his voice cracks as Ted says “great” tells us that this new information hits him hard as the episode rolls into credits.

Ted, It’s Time to Believe in ‘Believe’ Again

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Image via Apple TV+

In the middle of the season premiere, Ted, Roy, and Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) take the team to the sewers as a visual metaphor for them. The team is brought down by the pundits’ predictions for the season, projecting AFC Richmond to finish last and be relegated back to the Championship League. In order to clear the muck in their heads, the players need to make their own internal sewer system by leaning on each other when they’re struggling, like borrowing joy from Dani Rojas (Cristo Fernández) or confidence from Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster). The thing is, though Ted was teaching the team this valuable lesson, it’s a lesson that Ted needs to learn, too.

The people closest to him see the lack of fight in him. Though Rebecca really wants to beat Rupert this season, she needs her manager to fight back and fight for this team to win the whole thing, like he said at the end of Season 1. His own son reminds Ted of this, too, while on FaceTime with him at the end of the episode. Ted tries to soften the blow by saying that winning isn’t everything; Henry responds, “You gotta try right?”

Since Ted is the first character audiences see this season, we know that there’s so much to explore with him this season. What’s haunting about the season premiere is that Ted is not ready to fight back for his team or for himself. When we leave him at the end of the episode, he’s hit hard because his ex-wife is moving forward in a new relationship. The road ahead for him appears to be very rocky, meaning that our favorite fictional coach has further to fall before he can pick himself back up again. Ted needs to create his own internal support system to clear the muck that’s taken space in his head. The good news for him is that because of his impact on AFC Richmond, he already has a community of people to rely on and help him get back on his feet. Ted taught Richmond how to believe, and now, it’s time for Richmond to teach Ted how to believe again.