Season 4, Episode 2

This week, Ted Lasso is back home in Richmond, where he belongs, right? The second episode of Season 4 introduces us to new characters, sets the ball rolling for the potential conflicts of the season, and ties it all together with a terrific opening and coda that reminds us that SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE, AND SOME THINGS DO.

From the very start of the episode, “Curiouser and Curiouser!” positions itself as a fascinating redo of Season 1’s early episodes and informs the audience that we’ve been here before, but never like this. I love the idea that they are acknowledging the similarities that this season will have with the original much like any sequel that returns to the same turf, but in that same moment, this is a different Ted Lasso. It’s a different Rebecca Welton. It’s a different Higgins…Roy Kent…Keeley. And Beard? He’s been through some things in the interim.

We again confront the viability of a women’s team, and the stakes feel higher than the first time Ted Lasso joined Richmond as a coach, and seeing how easily he could become known for tanking Richmond’s 1st ever women’s team. Immediately, he’s confronted with an assistant coach who has resigned, and a locker room that is essentially a large closet.

The story with (soon-to-be-ex) Assistant Coach Chilton is classic Ted Lasso, and it showcases the lax viewpoint he wears as he begins to discover the new personalities of his team, as well as recognizing the unbearable weight of the women on his team knowing that the odds are stacked against them. There’s a nice wake-up moment when Ted witnesses an injury that leads him to an understanding of this philosophical different that leads him down his path with Chilton, and I really appreciated how it plays off of his time with Richmond’s male team and Roy Kent, further exemplifying the rhyming poetry of it all. Still, Ted’s curiosity for his team and their “origin stories” has me so excited to peel back the layers and tell some new stories.

Rebecca’s story is my favorite of the episode, with her struggling to answer the question I asked when I heard about the season’s story: should Ted Lasso coach a women’s team? Should any man be the head coach of a women’s team? I love how she is forced into a defensive position when given push-back, and her heavy turn into a more feminist approach than she’s already had when confronted with the possibility that she might’ve been wrong.

Roy Kent and Keeley give us a bit of an update in the locker room renovation, a very funny (and hopefully true to life) collection of scenes that show us the spark that may still exist without giving wholeheartedly into it. I really enjoyed the flickering lights and the uneven benches bit, and there’s a classic feeling to their story which, again, highlights that things are different this time around.

Coach Beard has always been the series’s excuse to go over-the-top and zany, and so much credit has to be given to Brendan Hunt who gives the character a lot of heart and realness despite his shenanigans-forward personality. I love the conversation that he and Ted share in the pub about, again, how things are different now, and the choice of Chicago playing in the background reminded me of the emotional teenager I was, riding book while rocking out to smooth slow sad anthems from the band.

Coming out of the second episode, we’ve gotten a glimpse on how this story will differ from everything we’ve seen before, but this is a show that is comfortable with being nostalgic for the past, so I’m wondering if we’ll see any of the Richmond players from the past integrate into the new season given that Ted spent time reconnecting with the old stomping grounds of the locker room.

All in all, Season 4’s 2nd episode is a significantly stronger episode that sets the show on an upward trajectory. The jury is still out on how the rest of the season will handle Ted’s ex-wife Michelle and son Henry seeing as they do not appear in this installment. I didn’t love the final moments of the last episode as I didn’t buy the character choices of moving all three of them across the pond for this new coaching opportunity, but I’m also leaving space to be convinced. “Curiouser and Curiouser!” sets the tone for the rest of the season, seemingly, and it feels like the momentum is here.

4/5
-Kyle A. Goethe

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