Ted Lasso Season 3 Just Gave the Game Away With Nate

“One of the disheartening things we spoke about way back in the first year in the writers room is that when people that were crapped on and mistreated finally get some power, success, money, leverage themselves, they often go one of two ways,” Lawrence told The Hollywood Reporter‘s TV Top 5 podcast in 2021. “It’s either I’m never going to be that bad example that was the cause of some of my trauma and abuse. Or, now it’s my turn because my self-esteem sucks.”

The upshot of it all is that Nate Shelley is now well and truly the bad guy of Ted Lasso … or is he?

There are certainly some subtle signs that Nate might return to the Light Side at the conclusion of Ted Lasso‘s third and likely final season. In this episode alone, Ted hesitates to remove the little LEGO figurine that represents Nate from his LEGO diorama of the AFC Richmond “Dog Track” stadium because he know he one day might win him back. Additionally, there’s the fact that the three-season arc of this series appears to closely hew to the story of the original Star Wars trilogy. As the very first promotional photo from this season revealed, Ted Lasso, Nate Shelley, and and Rupert Mannion are all giving off Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and Emperor Palpatine energy. If Darth Vader could ultimately be redeemed then why can’t Nate Shelley?

But the real reason why we think Nate Shelley could one day return to the good guys isn’t any of those things. No, it is something far, far dumber. The real reason Ted Lasso may have given the game away on Nate’s ultimate fate is because of the mobile phone he uses.

As you are certainly aware, Ted Lasso is produced and distributed by Apple Inc. streaming service Apple TV+. As one of the largest and most successful companies in the world, Apple is understandably protective of its brand. In a 2020 interview with Vanity Fair, Knives Out director Rian Johnson revealed that Apple is happy to provide free Apple products for TV shows and movies to use, provided production abides by one very important stipulation.

“Apple, they let you use iPhones in movies, but—and this is very pivotal—if you’re ever watching a mystery movie, bad guys cannot have iPhones on camera,” Johnson said.