Review: ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 4 Sees Apple’s Beloved Comedy-Drama Struggle to Find a Fresh and Compelling Path
According to CinemaDrame News Agency, film critic Charlotte Thompson wrote in an exclusive review: More than three years after its original finale, Ted Lasso returns to Apple TV+ with the optimistic American coach (played by Jason Sudeikis) taking the helm of the newly established Richmond Women’s team. A show whose fate remained uncertain following its third season, it continues to be television’s warmest and kindest series—populated by endlessly compassionate characters who treat every setback as an opportunity for forgiveness. Yet despite all its best intentions, Season 4 leaves a sense of exhaustion and hollowness, suggesting that the “Richmond Way” may have finally run its course.
New showrunner Jack Burditt (creator of the acclaimed 30 Rock) has successfully reined in some of Season 3’s excesses, such as sluggish pacing, convoluted plotlines, and moral self-satisfaction. The five episodes provided to critics out of the 10-episode season clock in at a manageable average of 45 minutes, while Ted’s tone has been calibrated down from that of a “saint” to simply a “very kind man.” Furthermore, all male players—with the exception of Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), who now serves as Richmond’s coach—have been written out, making for a streamlined narrative.
However, the primary issue is that after shedding its previous clutter, the show fails to replace it with anything compelling. The women’s team players have not yet been given enough space to build an emotional connection with the audience, though actors such as Jude Mack (as the cheerful, unpredictable goalkeeper), Faye Marsay (as Lizzy), and Abby Hern (as the fiery Jemma) show promise. The only breakout newcomer is Alice (brilliantly played by Tanya Reynolds) as the assistant coach—a blunt, uncompromising figure who stands as the sole holdout against Lasso’s wave of toxic positivity, making her the most engaging element of the new season.
This season, the main conflict is not a fierce sporting rival, but rather the abstract concept of an “unfair system” and systemic inequality in women’s sports—a struggle championed by Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) and Keeley (Juno Temple) as they fight for the team’s success against skeptical executives, hostile fans, and inadequate facilities. Important as the subject is, the series struggles to make these hurdles feel tangible, failing to deeply capture the players’ personal passions, motivations, and dreams.
Meanwhile, rather than evolving, the core characters have largely regressed. Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt), despite getting married last season, remains trapped in his toxic relationship with Jane; Keeley and Roy Kent are once again caught in the writers’ indecisiveness regarding their relationship; and Rebecca continues to hesitate over committing to her new partner. At the center of it all sits Ted Lasso himself. While Jason Sudeikis still shines in moments where sadness glimmers behind his smiling facade, the show’s sluggish rhythm and absence of genuine stakes reveal that the writers no longer know what to do with him. Having won over everyone around him and disarmed even his fiercest critics in previous seasons, Ted returns like a mythical hero to a realm he has already reshaped entirely in his own image—a hero who has no critics left to conquer.
