by John Tillyard, Contributing Writer
A few years after returning to America, Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) is contacted by his old friends at A.F.C. Richmond, asking him to return to the club to coach the women’s team. Accompanied by his partner in crime, Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt), and a new addition to the cast, Coach Alice Chilton (Tanya Reynolds), Ted is faced with a brand-new set of misfits and players with more talent than sense. Meanwhile, other complications arise off the pitch, involving the club’s shares, the complex relationship between the men’s manager, Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), and the club’s head of PR, Keeley Jones (Juno Temple), and the love life of the team’s owner, Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham).
First of all, I want to state for the record that I do not believe this show needed a fourth season. That Cat Stevens montage at the end of season three wrapped things up in the most satisfying way possible, and every character and story arc felt complete. However, I will not hold that fact against the fourth season when judging its actual quality. This review will be about what this season was, not whether or not it should have been made.
So, with Ted now coaching the women, the show focuses on the very different business and lifestyle of women’s football in the UK. On average, women footballers don’t earn enough to cover their bills, so most have a second job; their games are rarely on TV, and crowd numbers often don’t reach four figures. The show does a good job of showcasing these problems with a brand-new cast. These include Katie “Boots” Quinn (Jude Mack), a goalkeeper who refuses to wear gloves; Lizzie Davis (Faye Marsay), the team captain juggling football with also being a divorced mother of two; Irish twins Niamh and Siobhan Harrigan (Rex Hayes and Aisling Sharkey), who are mainly used as comic relief; and star striker Gemma Jay (Abbie Hern), who has a history with Alice and is studying for a law degree. These characters are given some interesting subplots throughout the season that show that being a footballer is just one aspect of life for many people.
But the new character that absolutely steals the show this season is Alice. She is introduced as a somewhat socially awkward former player and manager of the team, who knows what to do on the pitch as a player and knows what to pass on as a coach, but lacks the social skills to do so. Her complex relationship with Gemma leads to some very powerful emotional scenes later in the season. It touches on the dilemma of whether you should risk pursuing a dream or a career that pays better. Alice’s growth and arc over the season is certainly the most satisfying aspect of the season as well as the clearest justification for the season’s existence. Reynolds’ performance greatly enhances the enjoyment of the character, as she strikes a good balance between stoic and playful energy.
Another major justification for this season is giving a clearer resolution to the romance between Roy and Keeley. These two broke up at the end of season two, and there was no real attempt to rekindle their relationship in the following season. So, season four gives them a subplot that feels like something right out of a rom-com. It’s certainly the silliest plotline of the season and has a lot of contrived moments that border on outright ridiculous. Roy seems a little out of place even in this season, since it focuses on the women’s team while he manages the men’s side. Possibly the writers felt they couldn’t make Ted Lasso without Roy Kent. However, these two characters still have charming chemistry despite their very difficult personalities. They are still both interesting characters: Roy’s tough but caring nature and Keeley’s bubbly vibe, which should be annoying but is instead lovable. Though personally, as much as I enjoy Keeley as a character, I find some of the ridiculous outfits she wears a bit distracting. There is much more focus on the two of them together as a couple this season, and it’s clear from events this season that this will continue should there be a fifth season. One scene during an A.F.C. Richmond women’s game is especially effective at showing a weaker side of Keeley and how much Roy cares for her.
By far the biggest negative of this season is another new character, entrepreneur Zelda Southport (Tracey Ullman), who attempts to advise Rebecca on how to help the team financially and is the subject of a reveal near the end of the season. Zelda, to put it simply, is about as insufferable and annoying a character as there has ever been in a series like this. Every scene she is in is less enjoyable as a direct result of her presence, and her character adds nothing interesting to the story. The reveal about her later in the series doesn’t add much to the story and was a little telegraphed, in my opinion. The character is worthless, and I am completely mystified as to why the writers thought she would be a good addition.
The late Anthony Head is sadly absent from this season, which I was a little saddened by, as Head was definitely still alive when they wrapped filming. It’s a shame his character doesn’t get any proper on-screen send-off. Despite this, Rupert Mannion still plays a significant role this season, though off-screen. Either way, Head did a great job as Rupert Mannion, a back-stabbing owner you loved to hate, and he will be sorely missed.
Ted and Rebecca have far reduced roles this season, which fits with their character arcs being completed at the end of season 3. Ted spends most of the season offering advice to other characters while Rebecca works with Keeley to help promote the women’s team. They are both given subplots which revolve around their love lives. Rebecca is dealing with her difficult long-distance relationship with Matthijs (Matteo van der Grijn), and Ted is using a dating app to find new love. By the end of the season, Rebecca’s subplot is given a clear, open-ended resolution, but Ted’s ultimately doesn’t seem to go anywhere. Unless another season is planned, I’m not sure I understand the point of it. However, it is possible this story arc is not finished yet. Ted’s real time to shine this season comes when he takes the time to talk to a few other characters and deliver his usual life speeches. There is even a scene where he sits with another character and says nothing, because being there was enough. There is some focus on his relationship with his son Henry (Grant Feely), which hits very hard and could lead to further development of that relationship in future seasons.
Coach Beard has an interesting plotline in which his relationship with his wife, Jane (Phoebe Walsh), appears to have collapsed. Jane has a very unusual way of shaming Beard for what happened in their relationship, which I thought was quite creative. The clever thing about this plot is that it skips over what happened between them and instead focuses on the fallout. Beard’s slow progression of coming to terms with his situation shows good growth, and he had a few scenes that I found quite relatable.
The lack of A.F.C. Richmond matches shown this season might turn some off. Only three or four matches of any kind are shown in any capacity, and with some, they don’t even mention the result. In a sense, I understand this approach because the real meat and potatoes of the plot were never about the actual team. The team was simply the device to bring the characters together. However, part of me is unsure what to make of Ted’s role as the team’s manager, given that it’s not clear how successful he’s been. It also meant less screen time for real-life former England international Jill Scott as the co-commentator, who added a lot of good humor when she was on screen.
One last moment I should probably mention, because it sparked so much talk among the fans, is an extremely sad one near the end of the season. It was very unexpected and upset many viewers because of how cruel they found it at the end of what is otherwise a quite uplifting episode. All I will say is that the cruelty and unexpected nature of it is the idea, because sometimes, even when everything seems great, life pulls the rug out from underneath and hits you with something truly horrible.
On the whole, this fourth season probably isn’t quite as good as the previous three. The storylines and character growth don’t seem as strong, and there are a few too many characters that the writers don’t seem to know what to do with at times. However, the real strengths of this show are in the comedy, emotional speeches, and the huge range of characters. Going into this season, I expected it to remain more or less as good as before. But what I was really looking for was something new to make me fall in love with the show in an entirely new way, and I got it in the form of Alice Chilton, who single-handedly justified the fourth season being made. The presence of Zelda Southport significantly diminishes the enjoyment of this show and undermines much of the writing team’s good work. The season does have a lot of filler, plotlines that don’t amount to much and silly moments that similarly drag down the overall quality of the writing. It is still of a high enough standard to be worth watching, and I’m excited about a potential fifth season, which, while not confirmed at the time of writing, seems very likely.
Rating: Liked It
Ted Lasso is currently available to stream on Apple TV
You can read more from John Tillyard, and follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd