Review: ‘Ted Lasso’ Still Has Stories Left to Tell in Season 4

Ted Lasso is back at just the right time.

When Ted Lasso Season 3 concluded three years ago, it ultimately felt like a true series finale. Ted (Jason Sudeikis) moved back to Kansas City, Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) found love with a new man, and even though Keeley (Juno Temple) didn’t resolve her feelings between Roy (Brett Goldstein) and Jamie (Phil Dunster), it left possibilities open so that both sets of shippers could feel hopeful.

Since Sudeikis had previously compared Ted Lasso seasons to a Star Wars trilogy, many were surprised when Season 4 was greenlit, with most of the main cast returning, including Mr. Lasso himself (who was previously rumored not to be coming back).

There hasn’t been a lot of fanfare around this new season, and yet, there wasn’t a lot of fanfare when the original series dropped during COVID times. Ted Lasso Season 1 came as a total surprise, taking an NBC commercial one-off and expanding him into an episodic character.

What’s Ted Lasso Season 4 about?

In Season 4, Rebecca, Keeley, and Higgins (Jeremy Swift) show up at Ted’s door with a proposition: Will he coach their women’s football team in the UK?

Ted, who’s now an assistant manager at a Whole Foods-type grocery store, is of course reluctant to commit (probably in the same way Sudeikis might have been), because, haven’t we done this before? Ted even jokingly asks Rebecca if she wants him to tank the team, a reference to the original plot. But no, she believes in him.

The 40-plus minute episode almost feels like a TV movie, as we spend time with these characters a little longer than we normally would (Higgins’ visit to the Negro Baseball Museum in Kansas City is a strange detour). The episode is also a love letter to the Midwestern city we hear so much about through our title character but never see (Rebecca ruins every garment she brought with barbecue sauce).

With his mother (the lovely Becky Ann Baker) moving out of the home he grew up in and son Henry a tween with a voice change, Ted might have some future life adjustments to grapple with, as therapy isn’t a quick fix, but an ongoing process (would love to see Dr. Sharon Fieldstone return!).

Like the show itself, Ted Lasso is a character that’s hard to not want to stay in touch with, and in a post-Bear world, it’s refreshing to return to a series that’s a true comedy through and through (even if it does have its more poignant moments). As a character who ushered in the Biden era, Lasso is also the perfect respite from our current toxic political times.

Maybe there’s not a lot of fanfare for Ted Lasso Season 4, but that’s just the way he’d want it. No need to celebrate his return. He never really left.

Ted Lasso Season 4 episodes drop on Wednesdays on Apple TV.