As I watched the episodes of Ted Lasso season four that were provided for critics, I found myself reckoning with what the show was when I fell in love with it, and what it had become by the end of season three. I am normally not one for the “nicecore” brand of comedy series — my tastes veer more toward 30 Rock and Veep than what Bill Lawrence normally offers. But dang it, Ted Lasso got me, which I suppose is quite meta for how the character’s positivity inevitably impacts every character for — in the show’s ethos — their betterment.
The series starts with a basic fish-out-of-water premise – American football coach Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) is hired by wealthy new divorcée Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) to be the new manager for England’s middling Premier League football team, AFC Richmond. Little does Ted know, in her effort to destroy the one thing her ex-husband Rupert (Anthony Head) truly loves, Rebecca hired him to fail miserably and tank the team. To Rebecca’s surprise, as well as others in and around Richmond, Ted’s alternative approaches to coaching and inherent kindness toward others has unintended and surprising domino effects for the club, including for team captain Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), cocky team hotshot Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster), and model/influencer Keeley Jones (Juno Temple), whom Rebecca hires to manage PR for the team.
Season one struck a chord with both critics and audiences because it managed to be earnest without being too saccharine, its hopefulness centered on the cracks in people that let the light in. There was a grounding force inside the melancholy, and the show was genuine in its compassion toward anyone who was willing to be true, hold themselves accountable, and do the tough but right thing. It can feel a bit cloying now, but the “be curious, not judgmental” scene late in season one’s run still provides a real wallop when watched in context. Characters alternately hurt and healed each other, organically, over the course of those first 10 episodes.
But season two arrived, and the wheels started to come off. The central relationship and most meaningful source of conflict in season one — the dynamic between Ted and Rebecca — never fully gelled again, and that axis failed to hold the story together in subsequent seasons. As a result, other narrative arcs spun out with it. Episodes became bloated as supporting characters grew more prominent in the story, to mixed results. Storylines outside of Richmond took us away from the team, where the show is obviously always at its best. Some character and relationship beats just flat out failed to make sense (I still couldn’t give you a definitive reason for why Roy and Keeley broke up, outside of the show demanding it). The show’s sense of earnestness started to feel mawkish instead of emotionally earned. By the time season three rolled around, it sometimes felt like Ted Lasso was even a secondary character in his own show.
Picking up in season four, we see Ted living his post-Richmond life in Kansas. It’s not exactly pretty, and in fact, somewhat underlines why Ted’s choice to leave London in the show’s initial run didn’t actually satisfy the story that had been told up to that point. As the creators will note, it was always their intention that Ted would eventually leave Richmond to go back to Kansas and be with his son. It was their closing point to this three act story. Ted was a Mary Poppins-like figure in many respects. He came in to Richmond, sprinkled his magic, and left things better than when he started. But the Ted the show allowed us to get to know wasn’t actually Mary Poppins. He was depressed, verging on suicidal, a character that the show painstakingly (and rightfully) depicted as on his own healing journey. He was a man of his own wants and needs. While it’s correct that he should be in his son’s life, it never made complete sense why Ted had to go back to Kansas, separating from the support system he had created across the pond, with even his second-in-command, Beard (Brendan Hunt), remaining in London. One might argue it’s something he simply had to do for himself, but the show never convinced me that returning to Kansas was a meaningful step forward, especially when Rebecca herself presented a perfectly good alternative in the season three finale (his son Henry (Gus Turner) and ex-wife Michelle (Andrea Anders) come to London, Ted becomes the highest paid manager in the league). If there’s a single through line to Ted Lasso, it’s the importance of good father figures, and despite being present for his son, I wasn’t convinced that Henry would be getting the best version of Ted.
As suspected, the Ted we meet in the first episode of season four has a much smaller life. He is happy to be with his son, but he’s emotionally cautious, and clearly in want of something bigger for himself than his assistant manager job at a grocery store. You don’t get the sense that this is a man who is at peace with his choice to leave London. Naturally, Rebecca, Keeley, and Richmond’s Director of Communications, Higgins (Jeremy Swift), come in to save the day, offering Ted the position of the new manager of Richmond’s under appreciated and under funded new women’s team, hoping he can instill some of that Lasso Way among them.
Once the show gets back to London, it starts to feel more like the show I loved, mostly because the women’s team does feel like a pleasant reset. Episodes are under fifty minutes again, and primarily focused on the club. Roy Kent is Roy Kent. Rebecca and Keeley are Rebecca and Keeley. The newest main character, Coach Alice Chilton (Tanya Reynolds), quickly mixes in well with Ted and Beard, bringing a welcome amount of acerbity to undercut the earnestness a smidge. The show will never sing in the same way that season one does, and right now, there is more a sense that there simply hasn’t been enough real story for the wheels to come off yet. Somehow, Rebecca still gets stuck in storylines that never quite service Waddingham’s dramatic and comedic range. Some jokes land flat, and unfunny bits go on to long. I can do without ever having to hear another Harry Potter joke in my life. But truthfully, even when the writing isn’t up to par, the cracker jack cast will always make the show a pleasant affair. Admittedly, I am interested to see what the show decides to do with the Richmond women’s team, especially with an early focus on the challenges and sexism in women’s sports. Without giving too much away about those first four episodes, it’s a lot of the same, but enough new in the mix to feel like the show is getting a chance to take a breath and start fresh.
In short, while Ted Lasso season four is still far from what it was at its best, it is still highly watchable, and maybe that is enough.
You must be logged in to post a comment.