"I’ve been a Keeley Jones superfan since the pilot of Ted Lasso. She’s a powerful career woman, a loyal friend, and she can walk in six-inch platforms without face-planting, which is a talent in and of itself. So to me, she can do no wrong, and with a love triangle (square?) in tow, the entire Ted Lasso series had me practically glued to the screen waiting to see what Keeley Jones would do next.
When we first met Keeley in season one, she was dating Jamie—an immature football player who, from what we could tell, only worshipped her inside the bedroom. But when their breakup hit Jamie harder than any of us, including Keeley, could have anticipated, he slowly started to turn a new leaf—and in season three, we see a whole new, kind, and thoughtful, side of Jamie, which begs the question: Should Keeley give Jamie a second chance? The easy, albeit unpopular, answer is yes, IMO.
I found myself waiting for Keeley and Jamie to get back together throughout season three like a classic will-they-won’t-they trope, and I would have supported it wholeheartedly if they did. Ahead, I am explaining exactly why I think that Keeley should explore her relationship with Jamie again.
Jamie has matured… a lot
The arrogant, selfish, and conceited Jamie we met in season one is a far cry from the Jamie we see in seasons two and three. Sure, he was still a little bit of a prick post-breakup (anyone remember Lust Conquers All Jamie?), but that was short-lived before he swallowed his pride and quieted his ego by returning to AFC Richmond. Since then, Jamie has worked tirelessly trying to earn back the respect of his teammates and coaches, as well as the respect of Keeley.
Lack of maturity and not being able to take accountability for his actions are two of the main reasons why Keeley broke up with Jamie in the first place, but now, we see a grown-up, genuine Jamie who is way more capable of being the selfless and loyal partner Keeley wanted in season one.
Jamie and Keeley have a strong emotional connection
Emotional connections with exes have a tendency to linger, and that’s definitely the case with Jamie and Keeley. Jamie’s feelings never go away for Keeley which is made clear toward the end of season two when Jamie confesses to Keeley that he is still in love with her, but since she is with Roy, he apologizes for saying it and putting her in that position.
But together or not, they have a strong emotional connection as two people who are trying to put their past aside to form a friendship. So it’s no surprise that when Roy needed help getting through to Jamie before a big game, he goes straight to Keeley because he knows that she would be able to connect with Jamie.
Whether or not they want the feelings to be there, they are, and this is what makes their will-they-won’t-they storyline so strong, leaving us to wonder how happy they might be together now if Keeley let herself see that connection through again.
Source: Apple TV
Jamie has a new level of dedication
Committed to bettering himself both on and off the field, Jamie has a level of dedication and determination we haven’t seen in him before throughout season three. Getting up at 4 a.m. day after day to run tirelessly on Roy’s “whistle”? Old Jamie would never. But he sees this as an opportunity to be the best version of himself which has become an ongoing theme in Jamie’s story since his breakup with Keeley.
When Jamie says to Keeley “I’m becoming the best version of myself, the kind of man you always knew I could be,” toward the end of season two, it seems to me that he wants her to see that he is changing his ways and that her opinion of him means a lot to him. With his heartfelt honesty and newfound ability to commit to the things that matter to him the most, he is much better suited to be a loving partner to Keeley now than he was before. And if Keeley wasn’t hung up on her short-lived situationship with Jack or her breakup with Roy through the majority of season three, we could have very well seen a Jamie and Keeley reunion before the series end of Ted Lasso, and I would have, despite what anyone else says, officially been #TeamJamie.
Jamie is willing to fight for Keeley
When Jamie was still working toward becoming a better man, Keeley was with Roy, and even though he was in love with Keeley, he respected their relationship tenfold. But since the split of Roy and Keeley, Jamie slowly began inching his way out of the friend zone—starting with admitting to Keeley that he really thought that they would get back together again.
Throughout season three of Ted Lasso, we see Jamie always making it a point to talk to Keeley when she’s around the locker room, and it didn’t go unnoticed by Roy. So when Roy asks Jamie out for a beer in the final episode to tell him to “step aside,” Jamie responds with a slow “… no” because nothing is official between Roy and Keeley, and he knows in his heart that he and Keeley are “meant to be together.”
Jamie never pushes Keeley into giving him another chance, even when he and Roy ask her face-to-face who she would choose, but her lack of a solid answer may be a hint that even though Jamie and Roy have come a long way, they both have some growing to do before either of them are able to have a relationship with her again. I’m glad to see that this only created a small riff in the newfound relationship between Jamie and Roy because their relationship is one of my favorites from this series—unless Jamie and Keeley got back together, of course—then that would ultimately be my favorite.