Ted Lasso S4 Review
Ted Lasso as a whole is one of my favorite TV series of the last few years. I checked it out on a whim not really expecting to enjoy it. I know next to nothing about soccer and sport-based shows are not normally my speed. However, I immediately fell in love with this show. Its cast of characters are so amazing. The comedy and the emotion are really well balanced. The finale of season three and at that time the series was a very poignant and fitting end for the characters. The finale left me in tears and totally satisfied with the series. When Ted Lasso S4 was announced I was hesitant about returning to the Lasso universe. I felt that a lot of what they’d done didn’t need to be continued. I thought the premise of Ted returning was interesting but that they would need to find a really strong reason. They did just that. AFC Richmond is starting a women’s soccer club and they want Ted to come back and reinforce his coaching style that he brought for the Men’s team.
In the first episode of Ted Lasso S4, we find Ted living back in Kansas, working at a grocery store and co-parenting his son Henry with his ex-wife Michelle. In all honesty the first 10 minutes or so do feel a little bit like someone doing a Ted Lasso impression. I think it’s just due to the fact the most of the characters we meet in this setting will more than likely never appear on screen again. At times it started to feel like “we got the Ted Lasso cast to reunite for this CostCo commercial.” The episode picks up these pieces quickly and finds the charm of the prior seasons pretty effortlessly when more familiar characters are back with Ted.
Rebecca, Keely, and Higgins are visiting Kansas with a laundry list of tasks, not the least of which is to visit Ted, try Kansas City Barbeque, and ask him to coach their new women’s team. AFC Richmond seems to be one of many professional teams exploring adding women’s professional soccer to the programs. While they’re on their visit they get news of another club shutting their program down due to costs. The crew from across the pond is also there to visit a state of the art facility built specifically for Women’s Soccer in the area.
Ted is struggling figuring out which path to take. Where he is at, he’s content, he is able to see his son whenever he wants, he can watch him grow up and attend his games and school events. But he is not fulfilled, coaching is what he’s best at and it’s effectively been completely removed from his life other than his “life coaching” bits at work and with his son. Ted is also grappling with his mother selling his childhood home and many of the things inside. Ted seems to feel that his memories of his father are tied to this house. Both his mother and his ex-wife are encouraging him to take this job and become Coach Lasso again. Ted does turn Rebecca down when he drops them off at the airport.
I think my biggest gripe with this episode and other episodes like it in sequel series’ and series continuations is that the stakes are relatively low. At no point during this did I truly believe Ted would not return to coach, it’s literally the premise of the show, it’s why they made a new season. It reminds me of when teachers would make me do “icebreakers” with classmates I’ve had for 4 or more years. That being said, it wasn’t so much about if Ted would take the job or not, it’s how he would deal with his family. Clearly moving by himself was not the best option. At his core Ted is a family man. The next logical choice would be to discuss what his family thinks about moving over seas.
I think what hooked me the most is the same thing that had me coming back in the first go around. The cast and crew are very talented and passionate. Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso is so endearing. Hannah Waddingham as Rebecca is such a nuanced character. Plus so many other amazing performances throughout the series. Another thing I enjoy about this is that it’s not the typical “rags to riches” or “rising from the ashes” sports story. It focuses much more on the usual culture of sports and flips it on its head. Ted is much more focused on developing his players as people than he is on winning games, at times this is to his detriment. The series took the normal toxic sport culture and effectively did away with it over its original three seasons.
I enjoyed the first few episodes of Ted Lasso S4 that I got the privilege to see early. I’m excited to get to know the new AFC Richmond team and see some of the old characters from the prior seasons. Roy and Coach Beard are two of my favorites and I look forward to checking back in with them. I fully believe that if you enjoyed the series in its first three seasons that this will be easy for you to jump back in, or, if you’re a first time viewer, now is a perfect time to pick up the show and give it a chance.
In season four, Ted returns to Richmond, taking on his biggest challenge yet: coaching a second division women’s football team. Throughout the course of the season, Ted and the team learn to leap before they look, taking chances they never thought they would.
