Season 4, Episode 7

It’s hard to view this new season of Ted Lasso through the lens of a three-season predecessor that I adore and have watched several times, often in binge form. I’ve seen some negative comments about the episodes of this season that are heavily contrasting the treatment of male and female characters, and it doesn’t surprise me, as this often happens with a beloved property that is resurrected years later. While Ted Lasso doesn’t fall to the same scrutiny of major franchises, I can definitely understand wondering about how little we have of this season to resolve some of these plot threads. Well, in “Yes & Baby,” a lot of the puzzle pieces have fallen into place and many character arcs have received a shot in the arm.

It’s the return from winter break at Richmond, and we’re seeing a number of players in their day-to-day struggles. Gemma is struggling with juggling her practices with getting an internship. Lizzie has an unreliable ex and is frequently bringing her kids to the pitch. Shannon’s delivering food because the pay isn’t great for a woman footballer. Coach Chilton is returning to the team, and she’s making active steps to improve her situation with the players.

Chilton’s story here is the one to watch. Her learning about saying “YES” more and then immediately taking it to a literal ALWAYS is both funny and extremely in character, and it’s easy to spot how difficult it is throughout the episode. Ted even recognizes the change and gives a classic TL wisdom of “Yes &…” that becomes the highlight of the episode and is so wonderful epitomized in the BELIEVE sign and the way that he lets Alice make the situation her own and score a win with the team.

Rebecca and Higgins have another potential disastrous situation brewing with the agent for both Danny Rojas and Roy Kent has arrived to threaten leaving the club, and they enlist Zelda for help. I know Zelda’s been a mostly divisive character this season, and we haven’t entirely discussed it, but I agree that she’s been hit-or-miss, but I have faith that there is something with her character brewing in the background. I don’t quite know what exactly it is, but we don’t have all the cards in play with her yet. For this episode, she’s proved her loyalty and harsh abilities in dealing with the cunning agent, and the time she spends with Rebecca is more fun than the Zelda/Keeley dynamic.

It’s interesting to see Beard dealing with the “old” comment he received last week, as he’s never seemed the type to care, but in the post-Jane era, his attempts to be young again are funny enough, admirable, though I’d also argue that they belong to a different show. I’m happy that they gave Beard a handful of odd choices to influence it, but it feels a bit too reminiscent of Creed’s hair dye fiasco on The Office, and this show is usually more creative in how they run these types of plots.

Roy deals with the aftermath of his inadvertent actions this week, ending his relationship with Dr. Beaumont but not really understanding why. I love the storylines where Roy comes to terms with his age, and the injury portion as well as his adopting of the scooter is pretty great stuff. With the relationship, I almost wish we had more time to see their relationship as ti stands as we kind of whizzed right past it. It would’ve given Keeley time to think about her choice in not immediately taking back Roy when he asked. All the same, we’ll have to see how this development plays out.

Ted finally shoots his shot with the stage manager this week, ultimately failing but making the noble effort. This is the most curious part of the episode as we just didn’t get to develop past it. Hopefully, we’ll circle back to it next week because I NEED to find out the repercussions and how this initial wound changes him, if at all.

These back half of the season episodes have really highlighted a “falling into place” attitude with the many disparate plot points and characters, and it feels like classic Lasso stuff. The “Yes &” moment feels wholly integral to this show and the kinds of warm inspiration they can mine from their characters and life experiences, and it’s one the reasons that I adore tuning in each week.

4/5
-Kyle A. Goethe

• For more Ted Lasso: Home, Curiouser and Curiouser!, Richmond’s Got Talent, Greyhounds’ Day Off, Riches of Embarrassment, Don’t Jump Around Much Anymore