By George & Josh Bate
The following is a NON-SPOILER review of episodes 1-4 of Ted Lasso Season 4
Just weeks after the conclusion of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, football returns, albeit in a decidedly different and more comedic form, with the fourth season of Ted Lasso. The acclaimed Apple TV comedy series won a multitude of Primetime Emmy Awards for its superb first two seasons before a third and, at the time, final season yielded more mixed reception. This reaction engendered the sense from many that a series so heartwarming and quirky surely could not end on such a relatively mediocre note, even if the criticisms were blown out of proportion.
Enter Ted Lasso Season 4, an attempt to return the hit series to its glory days that doesn’t quite hit the back of the net.
Season 4 picks up several years after the conclusion of Season 3. Ted (Jason Sudeikis) has returned to Kansas City, Missouri, where he takes care of his son and has a job as the assistant manager of a local grocery store. When Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham), Higgins (Jeremy Swift), and Keeley (Juno Temple) make an unexpected visit to Kansas City and offer Ted the role of head coach of AFC Richmond’s newfound women’s team, Ted deliberates whether to maintain a steady, unfulfilling life in the states or once again cross the Atlantic for another footballing adventure.
Retaining the same creative quartet of Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly behind the scenes ensures that the new season retains the same uplifting tone, folksy one-liners, and witty idioms that made the original run so beloved. Not every comedic beat lands, but the cast are, across the board, so committed to the unabashed joy and sincerity of the material they are working with that it is difficult not to crack a smile in almost every scene.
Due to the nature of Season 3’s rather definitive conclusion, which saw Ted leave his position as manager of AFC Richmond and relocate to the United States, Season 4 feels more like a legacy sequel than it does the organic continuation of the story. The issue here is that Season 3 premiered just three years ago, meaning any of the nostalgia factor that drives the emotion and entertainment value of other legacy sequels like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Halloween, or Ghostbusters: Afterlife is nowhere to be seen.
The pivot to AFC Richmond’s women’s team breathes fresh air into the series, although it comes at the expense of many of the established characters fans around the world fell in love with. Ted, his laconic assistant coach and best friend Beard (Brendan Hunt), the hot-headed Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), and the aforementioned trio of Rebecca, Leslie, and Keeley all return but gone are all the other lovable members of the ensemble, including Jamie Tartt, Nate Shelley, Sam Obisanya, Dani Rojas, Colin Hughes, and Isaac McAdoo.
As a result, Ted Lasso Season 4 feels like a legacy sequel in which a sizable chunk of the original cast didn’t return. Think Tron: Ares, Independent Day: Resurgence, and the Frasier reboot. These aren’t exactly favorable comparisons and speak to how the new season lacks the well-roundedness of established, quirky characters that characterized the original three seasons. Sure, The Force Awakens excels with Han and Leia returning, but what if Chewie and C-3PO weren’t in it? Something would feel missing. It’s this same sentiment that hinders Ted Lasso Season 4.
Entering the fold, however, are a collective of new characters associated with AFC Richmond’s women’s team. The most prominent of these new characters is the grumpy, stoic assistant coach for the women’s team, played by Sex Education’s Tanya Reynolds. Andor and Adolescence’s Faye Marsay, meanwhile, portrays one of the central women’s players, as does Enola Holmes 2 actor Abbie Hern.
It feels harsh to pit these three new characters against the likes of Jamie Tartt and Nate Shelley, who had three seasons to grow and evolve, but the first four episodes of Season 4 offer disappointingly little to suggest that Reynolds, Marsay, and Hern’s characters will come close to matching the quality and heart of the original run’s supporting cast.
Thankfully, those who return for the new season give it their all and seamlessly step back into their iconic roles. Sudeikis once again brings inspiring optimism and charisma to the role of Ted Lasso, underneath which lies a profound emotional intelligence and vulnerability tied back to challenges with mental health. Waddingham once again excellently plays a character who may have a tough exterior at times but is also silly, attentive, powerful, and poised. Temple injects ample energy and light-heartedness into the proceedings as Keeley, while Swift plays Higgins with the same wisdom, warm-heartedness, and awkwardness. And finally, Ted Lasso simply wouldn’t be Ted Lasso without the man who’s here, he’s there, he’s every-fucking-where – Roy Kent. Brett Goldstein’s career has surged into the stratosphere following the success of Ted Lasso but thankfully returns to the fold here as the lovably grumpy and unexpectedly caring former player and now manager of AFC Richmond’s men’s team.
VERDICT: 6/10
Ted Lasso returns to the football pitch for a fourth season that, after its first four episodes, doesn’t quite hit the back of the net. The hit Apple TV series that concluded (at least for the time being) on mixed footing with a third season that, in our opinion, was subject to harsh criticism undergoes a soft relaunch with a story that pivots the narrative to AFC Richmond’s women’s team. While breathing fresh air into the narrative, this pivot comes at the expense of many of the established characters from the original run, who are disappointingly absent this time around. In turn, Season 4 feels akin to a legacy sequel in which a sizable chunk of the original cast doesn’t return (think The Force Awakens with Han and Leia but no C-3PO or Chewbacca). So far, the new collective of characters don’t appear to match the draw that the absentees had, although there is still plenty of time to flesh them out. Most successful is the new season’s ability to retain the same uplifting tone, folksy one-liners, and witty idioms that made the original run so beloved. Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddington, Juno Temple, Brett Goldstein, and Jeremy Swift all seamlessly step back into their iconic roles and anchor a new season that, while failing to justify its existence quite yet, will undoubtedly put a smile on your face.