Season 4, Episode 5

As we come to the midway point of Ted Lasso’s fourth season, we see a lot of the season’s storylines hit their zenith, culminating in a classic episode that hits all the important beats while offering up some shocking moments and at least one uncertain plot point.

It seems that the dueling approaches between Ted and Coach Chilton have reached an important and uncertain standing. While Ted is very hopeful, slowly inspiring the team and pushing for gradual increases in skill, Alice’s way of pushing down and her rigid rule over the team have created a situation not uncommon to Ted, and I really enjoyed his understanding of his perceived failure with Nathan Shelley come back to haunt him and influence his ultimate decision in the episode. These conflicting styles are having an adverse effect on the team, and Ted’s outreach to Alice is ultimately denied, causing him to make the most shocking decision of the season, and one that will likely weigh on him as we enter the back half. I loved how this episode’s ending played out, particularly because it hearkens back to the theme of the season, the cyclical nature of the story, and how some things do not change but these central characters have evolved since we first met them and their choices have been influenced by the past.

The way in which this central conflict is tied to Ted’s personal journey this season was excellent, pairing his perceived loneliness with the team’s need to better understand their new boss. There’s a barrier between Ted and his team, possibly stemming to little moments like not being allowed in the dressing room at times, and especially the effect of Alice’s rigidity and involvement, and the way that they try to help uplift him are really cute. This all culminates in a dressing room speech that is one of the series’s best.

Keeley and Rebecca continue feeling out their relationship with each other through the lens of their relationships outside of work. Keeley comes to realize that she may have made a big mistake, and Rebecca receives what should be good news from Matthijs that she can’t quite wrap her head around, leading to an unraveling. Keeley’s story this season has shifted in a dramatic way due to Roy’s decisions in last week’s episode, and I found myself much more enthralled with it this week than I had been prior to.

I found Rebecca’s story, while a common inverse of a traditional dramatic arc, to be rather uninspired and predictable. Now, I hope they can find a unique twist in later episodes, I don’t think her character was given anything interesting to do this week. At least it gives her something to do with Zelda and gives a bit of a reprieve (though not entirely) from dealing with the public perception of the women’s team.

The other sore point of the episode was Coach Beard’s storyline. Though we’re given a lot more context to his time after Season 3 and some further resolution to the mystery of Jane, I just don’t think it worked. I’ve never been particularly fond of the Jane subplot, and I think where we find her in Season 4 and ultimately where we leave them at the end of the episode falls a bit flat. Thankfully, it gives Ted a nice character beat, but I didn’t care for the evolution of Beard this time around.

Time will only tell if these decisions will aid or hinder the rest of the season, but the high-highs of this week’s episode far outweigh the low-lows, and this week carries what is likely the best episode of the season so far. I’m terribly enthralled in where the remaining five episodes will take us, and I’m also questioning how much story we’ll be able to squeeze out of just five remaining episodes.

4½/5
-Kyle A. Goethe

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