My Favorite Stream This Week: ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 4 is like a warm hug
My Favorite Stream This Week: ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 4 is like a warm hug
The narrative hasn’t really broken any new ground thus far in Season 4, but the show’s mere presence is mighty welcome.
Almost as soon as “Ted Lasso” Season 3 concluded in 2023, chatter began to build that a fourth season wasn’t out of the question. Months went by, more rumors persisted, and in 2024, several of the show’s stars had their contract options picked up, indicating that “Ted Lasso” was officially coming back for more episodes.
When that news was confirmed, I was of two minds about it. On the one hand, I thoroughly enjoyed “Ted Lasso” Seasons 1 through 3, even though the show fluctuated in quality from time to time. On the other, I agreed with the initial premise under which the show’s creators produced those seasons — that is, that they created a complete story arc, and there wasn’t much else to say. After having watched the first two episodes of Season 4 of “Ted Lasso,” I can say that in some ways, those fears have been borne out. Regardless, “Ted Lasso” Season 4 was my favorite stream of the week.
When we pick up with Coach Lasso again in “Ted Lasso” Season 4, he’s living happily…ish in Kansas City. He gets to spend more time with his son, Henry, but the rest of his life, including his mind-numbing job as the assistant manager of a local grocery store, leaves him feeling uninspired.
When his old cohorts at AFC Richmond come to town to convince him to coach the club’s new women’s team, Coach Lasso is initially hesitant. But after a surprisingly small amount of cajoling that frankly required a heavy suspension of disbelief, Ted is able to convince his ex-wife to relocate to London with Henry so that he can take the job.
As I said, Season 4 of “Ted Lasso” isn’t perfect. Ted’s initial resistance to returning to England to coach feels rather forced, and the solution to the problem is more than a little contrived. I also felt that the early-season storyline of Rebecca exploring her own feminism as she reflects on why she didn’t consider a woman as head coach for the women’s team was a bit rushed and could have been given a lot more room to breathe. And the will-they-won’t-they narrative that returning characters Keeley Jones and Roy Kent seem to be building towards has been done by the show in the past; does it have nothing new to do with these characters?
For all that, however, there are aspects of “Ted Lasso” Season 4 that are truly excellent. Tanya Reynolds is fantastic in the role of Alice Chilton, assistant coach for the AFC Richmond Lady Greyhounds. She’s a bit humorless, but at heart, she just wants to do right by her players, and she’s understandably displeased by the arrival of Coach Lasso as her superior.
By the end of episode 2, however, even Chilton is a convert to the Lasso way. The show’s trademark humor is fully intact, swinging from wholesome to vulgar and back again in the same joke, in many cases. And early episodes have me keenly interested in getting to know new team members like the keeper “Boots” and the twins Niamh and Sioban Harrigan.
There’s a lot to love about the return of “Ted Lasso,” even if the show doesn’t feel as if it’s breaking a ton of new ground. It’s comfortably familiar in all the right ways, and I’m still ready to follow along to see where the show goes next. Fans can watch “Ted Lasso” Season 4 on Apple TV, which costs $13 per month.
Apple TV
Apple TV (formerly known as Apple TV+) is a subscription video streaming service for $14.99 per month, offering a growing slate of original series, films, documentaries, and specials. Unlike other platforms that combine licensed titles with originals, Apple TV is built entirely around exclusive programming, making it the home of critically acclaimed hits such as “Ted Lasso,” “Severance,” “The Morning Show,” and “Silo.” Its lineup continues to expand with award-winning dramas, comedies, family-friendly shows, and blockbuster original films like “CODA,” which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.