The fourth installment of Apple TV's "Ted Lasso" lit up screens worldwide with its finale “Being Alive” released Wednesday, over three years after the conclusion of the third season. “Ted Lasso” season four has been highly anticipated by fans, with over 290 million minutes of streaming time for the release of its premiere Aug. 5. Even so, the season did not shine quite as bright as its predecessors, failing to reach previous seasons’ level of emotional depth and plot complexity. “Being Alive” was the 10th and final episode of season four, and a fifth season has not yet been greenlit.
The show tells the story of former collegiate American football coach Ted Lasso, played by Jason Sudeikis, as he navigates coaching professional club soccer in London with no prior experience in the sport. The audience follows Ted’s journey as he adapts to coaching an unfamiliar sport and traverses the complex social dynamics of football club AFC Richmond. Despite his personal challenges, Ted’s perpetual kindness and happy disposition has a surprisingly strong and delightful impact on everyone around him. The end of season three saw Ted take a step back from coaching football and move back to the United States to spend more time with his young son Henry, played by Grant Feely, who remained in the U.S. for the first three seasons.
Season four picks up on the implication of season three’s finale, with the owner of AFC Richmond, Rebecca Welton, played by Hannah Waddingham, launching a new women’s team at AFC Richmond. The season begins with Rebecca and select AFC Richmond company visiting Ted at home in Kansas City, Mo. They enjoy the city’s barbecue and midwestern charm, but ultimately convince Ted to return to London and coach the women’s team, now with his family, including Henry and Ted’s ex-wife Michelle, played by Andrea Anders.
The returning characters from season three were joined by the new faces of the notoriously rude and difficult assistant coach, Alice Chilton, played by Tanya Reynolds, Zelda Southport, an obnoxious and eccentric billionaire rising to power in the world of women’s sports, played by Tracey Ullman, and the athletes on the women’s team. Although the new mesh of characters stumbled upon their own set of obstacles, the season fell rather flat in terms of character and plot depth when compared to other seasons.
The season fails to zoom in on a particular character at any point to reveal their inner stories in the way that prior installments had dove deep into touching backgrounds. Sparingly, audiences get glimpses into the personal life of Lizzie Davis, played by Faye Marsay, an athlete for the women’s team navigating the chaos of also being a mom of two. Still, this exploration does not reach as far as prior character studies, and audiences may miss opportunities to connect with those on-screen.
In addition, newcomer Zelda Southport, who ends up as the villain of the season, has extrinsic motives that feel rather disconnected from AFC Richmond, other characters and emotional elements. These motivations do not hold comparable weight to those of the previous antagonist’s. Rebecca’s sleazy ex-husband Rupert Mannion, played by Anthony Head, fuels a spitting marital hatred that drives the central conflict arc of seasons one through three. Comparatively, Zelda’s lack of emotional attachment to AFC Richmond, coupled with the main conflict’s awkward resolution, caused season four’s conflict to lack true depth across the board.
Despite lacking the same level of development and emotional connection, season four still managed to address important themes such as fatherhood, feelings of failure and the purpose of one’s life. Throughout the show, Ted has dealt with underlying guilt for leaving his son in the U.S. to work in London — prompting his choice to return to the U.S. in the finale of season three. Now that his family is in London, he no longer has to choose between his son and his passion, instead battling with how to be a good father in finding the right balance.
Although season four has elements of progressive character growth, emotional substance and touching themes, its execution comes off as superficial. In adding new cast members and their intended arcs, the show struggled to balance the stories of its existing crew when encountering so many new faces. This imbalance held the stories of new characters at a surface level, missing the emotional understanding that characterizes the show as a whole.
Similarly, returning characters resemble hollow caricatures of their past selves at times, acting in ways that are not always believable, perhaps in an overdone effort to recreate the characters’ classic quirks to the standard fans were anticipating. To compensate for a half-baked plot and absent emotional depth, the season offered an onslaught of corny interactions, pop culture references and excessive jokes that did not always land quite right.
Season four was not wholly without substance, and remained consistent with the iconic positivity of “Ted Lasso” that is widely loved. However, it underdelivered comedically and only scratched the surface of the complexity achieved in past seasons.
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