Spoilers are ahead for the finale of Ted Lasso Season 3. If you haven’t streamed the hit comedy, you can watch it with an Apple TV+ subscription.
Throughout Ted Lasso’s Season 3 finale, we’re taken on an emotional rollercoaster, especially when it comes to Ted and Rebecca’s relationship. While it’s humorously and intentionally teased that they slept together at the beginning of the episode, the majority of the final installment is dedicated to the heartfelt and sad goodbye between Hannah Waddingham’s and Jason Sudeikis’ characters. The emotions were really running high, for both actors and the audience, during their final goodbye in the airport, and while speaking with CinemaBlend, the director broke down what went into filming the scene.
In Ted and Rebecca’s final scene together, they are seen saying “So Long, Farewell” in an airport terminal right before Sudeikis’ character boards his plane to head home to Kansas. Declan Lowney, the director of the episode, told me that for symbolic purposes they really wanted to get a plane flying away in the background of the shot. However, that became a logistical issue, as he humorously explained when I asked him about the scene in an interview for CinemaBlend:
The airport was tough because it's an airport. It was at Stansted Airport in North London. Hannah was amazing, she was in great form, but she was quite tearful, and needed to be in her space. But I positioned her so she was standing with her back to the runway. And it really isolated her. So when you see the wide shot, you know, she's so tall, but all around her is just glass and vast nothingness out there behind her. And for three hours, it became Britain's quietest airport, we didn't have one fucking plane going past. And she's blubbing, and I’m going ‘There’s one coming, there’s one coming. Oh it’s going the other fucking way.’
As Lowney explained, this scene is incredibly emotional, and you can see tears welling up in Rebecca’s eyes throughout the entire sequence. So, as they filmed all these takes and waited for a plane to take off in the background, the director noted that Waddingham may have felt a bit annoyed about how long it was taking, especially considering the emotional toll the scene likely took on her. The Emmy-nominated director continued his story, telling me:
So, trying to get her to not peak too soon in the hope of getting a plane. And she's going ‘Hang on I'm just about to destroy my makeup here. And you're more interested in the plane in the background?’ But it's just a metaphor to see Ted's plane take off behind; it would have been awesome while they're having their moment.
Waddingham has humorously explained how she might have “cost the studio” for cracking up during scenes with Nick Mohammed. Although, in this scene, it sounds like the planes were causing the delays. I'm sure Waddingham wasn't actually mad or really annoyed in that moment, however, it seems like it would have been hard to shoot it so many times.
It really would have been powerful symbolism to have a plane flying away in the background as Ted and Rebecca said their last goodbye. In the end, they got close, but couldn’t get a plane in the background. While the director was “disappointed,” he was still super pleased with the scene, and the actors’ performances specifically. He said:
So I mean, you're relying on them to do what they do so brilliantly and they did so brilliantly. And again as a moving thing to shoot, and I’m pretty sure that was the last scene they shot together Yes, I think we tried to structure the end so people were getting their goodbyes.
Saying goodbye is never easy, and after seeing the development of Ted and Rebecca’s lovely friendship, their farewell was extra emotional…for everyone involved. Overall, both the director and the two actors did a magnificent job in the scene, and it acted as a perfect way for the AFC Richmond manager and coach to say so long to one another after a life-changing three seasons.
