Warning: This post contains spoilers from Season Three of "Ted Lasso."
Ross and Rachel, Sam and Diane, Harry and Sally — these are just some of the iconic will-they, won't-they couples throughout pop culture history. And some "Ted Lasso" fans want to add another pairing to that list: Ted and Rebecca.
Their differences are stark. Jason Sudeikis’ Ted Lasso is a happy-go-lucky soccer (football?) coach with a bevy of inspirational puns on hand, while Rebecca, played by Hannah Waddingham, is the team's high-powered and intense team owner.
Their friendship has become one of the emotional pillars of the show, unfolding over biscuits and unexpected moments of vulnerability. Both have learned to trust each other not only with the fate of the soccer club, but also with their own struggles.
"Am I mess?" Ted asked Rebecca earlier in Season Three.
"Of course you are, that's why we get along," she responded.
But some fans want their relationship to progress further, making the jump from platonic to romantic. And they are interpreting a 30-second moment from Episode Five, Season Three as proof that a Ted-Rebecca pairing is a matter of "when," not "if."
The moment starts in the aftermath of a fight between the pair. After AFC Richmond loses yet another game at the start of Episode Five, Rebecca storms into Ted's office and yells, "Are we ever going to win another f----- match?"
Ted and Rebecca walk past each other in the practice facility, missing each other completely. Both are distracted — Ted, by the news that his son, Henry, had a bullying incident at school, and Rebecca, by the continuing accuracy of a psychic she visited in a previous episode.
The psychic told her that she would have a family, and several of the significant symbols mentioned by the psychic continue to pop up, like the green matchbook Sam gives her.
Her trusty director of football operations, Leslie Higgins, weighs in by saying he does believe in the power of psychics.
"The universe is full of things we can't explain, Rebecca. Fingernails, what's that about?" he tells her. "And psychics, even if some of them are charlatans, they can help us see something in ourselves that we can't quite see ourselves."
In the next scene, Ted and Rebecca breeze by each other before turning around to make up. Before she can even begin to apologize, Ted tells her, "I know, I know, you are still feeling bad about yelling at me the other day, right?"
As Rebecca smiles in acknowledgement, he notes, "I can be a little bit psychic."
Her smile falls in horror, before she composes herself and responds, "No, yes, I shouldn't have bullied you."
Both look at each other, shocked at the irony of the conversation, before turning away awkwardly. As they walk in opposite directions, they wear matching spooked looks after the interaction.
Was it a coincidence, or a major moment in their relationship? The answer is unclear. But some fans are taking this mental alignment as an important clue.
One fan called it a "turning point," describing it as a moment where the characters are close to realizing their true feelings, indicated in stories with an italicized "Oh."
"Ted and Rebecca are almost there," they tweeted.
"They've been married for at least 20 years they just don't know it yet!" the same user tweeted about the scene.
"wow...ted and rebecca really are soulmates huh," another person tweeted about Episode Five.
Another person posted a clip of the Ted and Rebecca's expressions after the moment, captioning it, "and it was in that moment that ted and rebecca realized what had been crystal-clear to the viewer all along."
It's not the first time the show has teased a Ted and Rebecca relationship. Many fans noticed in Season Two that when Rebecca was chatting with a mystery man on the dating app Bantr, a scene of Rebecca texting in the app was immediately followed by a clip of Ted smirking and typing on his phone.
Not everyone is on board the Ted/Rebecca ship, however. Some are adamant in their belief that Ted and Rebecca should stay friends.
"I'm fascinated by how the lasso fan base is divided into those who think it's obvious ted and rebecca will end up together and those (like me) who think there's absolutely no way that's happening," one person tweeted.
"Am I the only person who thinks what makes Ted and Rebecca’s relationship great is that they are Friends, not friends with benefits, not unrequited love, just friends. Their friendship has helped them both grow," another user wrote.
Another fan theory supporting a Ted and Rebecca endgame hearkens all the way back to Season One, before they were even friends.
While trying to win over his new boss, Ted gave Rebecca several green army figures from his son, intended to "protect" him. The original name of the toy soldier brand was Matchbox, meaning Ted technically Rebecca a green "matchbox" a long time ago — evidence of the psychic's prediction coming true.
"the moment rebecca makes the connection between the green matchbox, green army man and ted lasso it will be over for all of us," one fan tweeted.
Could it all just be a red herring? Depends on what you believe.
