I will still maintain, to this day, that the first season of Ted Lasso is perfect. When the series first premiered on Apple TV back in 2020, I had my doubts about whether a character from a series of NBC Sports commercials could carry an entire story. The way the series brought together comedy and drama in equal measures is not easily done – but in the hands of Bill Lawrence, creator of Scrubs, it seems effortless. Ted Lasso walked home from the Emmys with the Outstanding Comedy award as well as actor awards for Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, and Brett Goldstein, all irrefutably earned.
It’s certainly not a hot take to say the show’s quality dipped in seasons 2 and 3; while still a good show, the series lost sight of why people fell in love with the first season, why they desperately needed to see more of Ted, the man whose spirit could not be killed. While diving into his trauma, depression, and panic attacks was well written, the series lost some of the spark it had. Thankfully, the supporting characters, particularly Phil Dunster’s Jamie Tart, filled out the amazing character arcs the few times Ted’s fell short. All in all, Season 3 ended on a good note, with the glaring exception of Roy and Keeley not reconciling.
Three years after the series finale in March of 2023, Apple TV announced that the Richmond Greyhounds would be returning in a fourth season, set in real time three years later. Ted would return to England with his son Henry in tow and take up the mantle as head coach of the newly established Richmond Women’s Team, the Lady Greyhounds. The supporting cast of Coach Beard, Roy, Keeley, Higgins, and Rebecca would all return as main characters… and I think that’s where the issues of Season 4 both start and end.
Season 4 really only introduces a few new characters; most notably is Alice Chilton, deftly played by Tanya Reynolds (Delicious, Sex Education). Alice is incredible, and certainly the highlight of the season. She is hardened but loving, and is only so outwardly brash with everyone because she cares so much. She is compassionate to a fault, which makes her appear to be uncaring because she does not know how to express it. She has been beaten down by hateful men, but she doesn’t believe she should have to adjust herself to fit the unfair, patriarchal world she lives in. She is a good person, and all the reasons why contribute to her miserable loneliness. A perfectly crafted foil for Ted Lasso himself.
The new Lady Greyhounds team introduces a wealth of amazing new characters, all played by electric and charismatic young actresses, who do not get half the screen time the show owes them. Lizzie and Gemma are at least given background storylines, but none of them get to have real screen time the way the returning characters did. Niamh, Siobhan, and Boots have the same promise that members of the men’s team like Isaac, Colin, and Sam did, but are genuinely thrown on the sidelines in favor of spending hours and hours on the most exhausting manufactured drama possible between the returning cast. Not to mention the manufactured drama of killing a beloved minor character seemingly only for shock value.
I will be straight about this – watching Roy and Keeley go around and around, three years after we had last seen them, and then still need an entire rom-com plot of contrived misunderstandings ending in a pregnancy was outright miserable to watch. Two episodes in, I still did not understand what was keeping them apart other than that the show wanted them to be. Shoving in another love interest for Roy that goes nowhere sucked, and was only superseded by the drama between Rebecca and her boyfriend Matthijs.
After three years of relationship, Rebecca asks an innocent question and that freaks him out enough to ask for a break, and then returns randomly and says “sorry.” Then we’re supposed to be excited about this proposal? From a man who abandoned his girlfriend of, I repeat, three years after asking a question about his ex-wife? Thing is, from the single episode we saw Mattijs in during season 3, I actually feel like this entire plot was character assassination. I don’t think this man has treated Rebecca well, and this season would be exponentially better if it had begun with them already married and settled rather than ending with it.
Then we get to the absolute worst character in the full run of this show, Tracey Ullman as Zelda Southport. The villain of this season is so boring, unlikeable, and obviously evil that from the first time she’s on screen there cannot be a single viewer who thinks she’s genuine. Her betrayal is played up like a big twist, but it’s not – she might as well have been twirling a cartoon mustache the whole season. I know Ullman is a beloved veteran actress, but some combination of the writing and her performance makes this character unbearable by the end of the season. If I could magically remove her from the show, I would.
With all the negatives out of the way, I want to firmly say that Ted and Alice’s individual and combined stories were beautiful in Season 4. This was the material that feels at the quality bar of the first season, especially watching Alice learn from Ted, both who to be and who not to be, and Ted learn to put himself back out there. I love the way the season ended, with him finding the courage to ask out the stage manager and finding out he waited too long; it was always about him taking the action, not the result.
Similarly, seeing Alice learn to embrace societal norms and kindness while not letting go of who she is resulted in a wonderful story with Gemma, ending in Alice taking the well-earned position of head coach of the Lady Greyhounds. I also loved seeing Ted step down to assistant coach so he could spend more time with Henry and continue with the team he loves so much. Sometimes, you can have it all, and the only thing standing in your way is your own pride.
I don’t think I want another season of Ted Lasso, although it will probably happen. This finale was a great ending point for all the characters, and with it being so good, the only thing still irking me is how long and circuitous a route it took to get there. If this season had shrunk down to 6 episodes, it would have flowed much better, but I’m so, so happy all the characters are now exactly where they’re supposed to be. I won’t pretend I didn’t cry a little when the football hooligans inherited the bar; all logic dictates that they will run it into the ground, but, like we learned to do over the course of this wacky adventure, I will always choose to believe.
Score: 6/10 – Decent
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