Season 4, Episode 4

The fourth episode of Ted Lasso gives off all the nostalgic vibes of the previous iteration and catches us up with a few characters as well as giving a classic story of overcoming the team’s clique situation.

The framing device of Trent Crimm’s podcast gave us a worthwhile bit of voice-over narration that became very “JD in Scrubs”-like, but it was also nice to find an excuse to bring back Trent and Dr. Fieldstone and catch up a little there. Several of these statements circled the narrative this episode, most specifically “lose the dressing room, lose the team.” Ted’s got a problem this season: he can no longer just barge into the dressing room now with the Richmond’s Women’s Team. He can’t fully embrace the interpolitics of the team without easy access to the dressing room, having to wait on Chilton to confirm that it’s safe to enter. While the eventual Pub Quiz seems a little convenient, I didn’t really mind as it led to some solid character work and more than a few of the episode’s best laughs.

The Pub Quiz subplot also made use of the more-Flanderized Coach Beard. Beard’s evolution into a more Kramer-adjacent role has been quite enjoyable to watch for me, as I don’t particularly mind having one ludicrous character. Beard has always felt like he’s just on a side quest, and that allows his standalone stories to give a different flavor and let him slide into the main story when needed. This time, we get a bit more info on him and Jane and whatever happened between seasons, but I’m still left with questions.

Keeley and Rebecca continue on with their journey of discovering how to work with each other with a flip on the classic trope of internal fighting and altering a friendship with work. The introduction of Zelda Southport at a Women’s Football Business Summit (which contains a whole lot of men, by the way) creates a new rift in the dynamic, but I appreciate how the series quashes some of these conflicts instead of letting them linger. Giving these two characters time in the benches to figure out their problems allows us to move forward. I’ve been watching several other shows that have season-long stories that all feel like they could be solved much faster. Ted Lasso allows for a few season-long stories, but it also brings closure to some as the season goes on.

The only real downside to the episode was with Roy, who gets stuck in a pretty familiar trope of having to go on ten dates before he’s allowed to ask Keeley out again. They make a few swerves, but I don’t really know how to take the progression of it in the story. It ultimately felt out of place for Roy, and a little bit like something Jamie Tartt would have done, so I’m very mixed on it, but we’ll see how it all plays out in the rest of the season.

“Greyhounds’ Day Off” is another welcome Ted Lasso installment, full of character and heart and comedy, and while I believe it stumbles a bit with a secondary plot, the strengths of this episode far outweigh any negatives.

4/5
-Kyle A. Goethe

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