Juno Temple and Rebecca Waddingham in “Ted Lasso.”Credit: Apple TV
So speaks Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster), Ted Lasso‘s lovably arrogant striker. In the show’s fourth season, he’s no longer a Richmond Greyhound. Instead, his stardom has reached new heights in Barcelona, leading him to launch an apple vodka brand. (The branding is Adam and Eve-themed, naturally.)
Jamie’s vodka launch is one of the centerpieces of Ted Lasso Season 4, episode 6, which is also the show’s take on a New Year’s special. However, while New Year’s would be the perfect time for the Apple TV series to look to the future, it remains frustratingly stuck in the past.
When Season 4 first launched, a common concern among critics was that a fourth season of Ted Lasso— which had ostensibly ended with Season 3 — had no purpose. From my perspective, the purpose seemed clear: to examine women’s sports in tandem with their meteoric rise around the world. But as the season rolls on, it’s become increasingly evident that Ted Lassoonly views its women’s sports angle as window dressing to bring the old gang together and rehash tired old storylines.
Why, three years after Ted Lassofirst packed up its cleats, are we still spending time on the unfunny, unsettling relationship between Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) and Jane (Phoebe Walsh)? Why has the show trapped Roy (Brett Goldstein) and Keeley (Juno Temple) in a labyrinth of hackneyed rom-com plotlines? Even Jamie’s appearance, likely a one-episode event before he returns to Barcelona, screams that the show has little idea of what to do this season other than ruminate on what came before. (Credit where credit is due: This self-reflection can occasionally work, as evidenced by the sweet discussion between Ted (Jason Sudeikis) and Michelle (Andrea Anders) in episode 6.)
Still, there is one very clear, very obvious place Ted Lassocan be focusing all the energy it’s spending on dredging up the past, and that is Richmond’s Lady Greyhounds. The show has invested a lot of time in Coach Alice (Tanya Reynolds), and thank goodness for that, because Reynolds is giving a dynamite deadpan performance that’s the perfect foil for Ted Lasso‘s trademark optimism. If the show gets too saccharine, you can always count on her to cut through the sweetness.
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Annelise Heywood, Rex Hayes, Jude Mack, Abbie Hern, and Tanya Reynolds in “Ted Lasso.”Credit: Apple TV
The same can’t be said for the rest of the team, though. Most players have one or two identifying characteristics. Gemma (Abbie Hern) is a law student by day, elite striker by night. Lizzie (Faye Marsay) is a single mother. Boots (Jude Mack) never wears her goalie gloves. Siobhan (Rex Hayes) and Niamh (Aisling Sharkey) are twins whose favorite activity is bickering. But Ted Lassoneeds to go deeper with these characters to truly make them stick.
Think of all the chances Ted Lasso has missed to help us get to know the Lady Greyhounds better. On a broader level, the show highlights the sexism female athletes face, but it never acknowledges very real issues like the pay gap between men’s and women’s soccer players. How does this impact the relationship between the Lady Greyhounds and their male counterparts?
Think of all the chances ‘Ted Lasso’ has missed to help us get to know the Lady Greyhounds better.
There are several missed opportunities for more granular character work too. During her tryout, Lizzie talks about being unable to find childcare for her son, and at the New Year’s party, she mentions paying for a babysitter. Other than that, Ted Lassodoesn’t spend much time examining how her newfound pro footballer status has impacted her relationship with her son. Elsewhere, both Gemma and Niamh have extra reason to be heartbroken after Richmond’s close to Chelsea: Gemma because of a missed goal, Niamh because she scored an own goal while trying to deflect a shot. Yet Ted doesn’t sit either of his players down for a one-on-one “be a goldfish”-style pep talk the way he did with Sam (Toheeb Jimoh) during a Season 1 scrimmage. Instead, he gives a pep talk to the entire team.
That’s one of Ted Lasso‘s biggest problems with the Lady Greyhounds so far: treating them solely as a collective, instead of a group of individuals with rich potential. Yes, not all of the male Greyhounds were too deeply defined, but the grand majority had personalities beyond just yelling at one another. Perhaps Ted Lassois just playing the long game with its Lady Greyhounds and will further develop them this season, but with only four episodes left, that possibility seems unlikely.
The lack of depth to the Lady Greyhounds is just one part of Ted LassoSeason 4’s biggest problems. In an effort to tell a story about the future of women’s sports andreunite fans with beloved characters from the first three seasons, Ted Lassohas spread itself far too thin. Now, it’s in the middle of an identity crisis, caught between what the show once was and what it could be. If it could just return to basics by focusing on its core team and ditching the supersized episodes, maybe it could rekindle some of that Season 1 magic. Until then, it’s been one own goal after another.
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Belen Edwards is an Entertainment Reporter at Mashable. She covers movies and TV with a focus on fantasy and science fiction, adaptations, animation, and more nerdy goodness. She is a member of the Critics Choice Association and the Television Critics Association, as well as a Tomatometer-approved critic.
