Season 4, Episode 9: SPOILER ALERT

Oh, Ted Lasso, how could you break my heart like that?

The penultimate episode of the fourth season sees one of the most joyous and wonderful collisions of storylines this season, ending on a somewhat expected and still wholly shocking and somber note. Mae is one of the best side characters on this or any show, and you never really realize the effect of seeing her (played by actress Annette Badland) and her Take-No-Shit attitude until she’s no longer here, and having this week’s episode end with the memorial tribute to actor Anthony Head (who appeared in the first three seasons as Rebecca’s ex Rupert Mannion) had this writer weeping over his notes. This episode celebrated Mae almost to a fault, where I began wondering if something would happen to the beloved character as her screen presence rose over the run time. She gets one hell of a sendoff this episode, with a chance to remind the women of the Greyhound team to embrace what she never could and kick the shit out of the opposing team. Just an excellent celebration and a very respectful way to send her off, though it absolutely shattered me all the same. It was great seeing more and more of her over the season, mentoring Henry in his job at the pub or helping Higgins Follow the Anger in finding the mystery share-buyer. I’ll miss Mae…cheers.

A criticism I brought up in previous weeks related to the amount of actual football play in the season is responded to this week, with a few games to close out the season and show the team and the evolution of the characters quite well. Boots finally learns to embrace the gloves (thanks to a wonderful moment with Coach Beard), Shannon finds her confidence, and Alice really becomes a leader in this episode, someone to go to, and the stress she takes on in coaching Gemma’s return to the team. At the risk of missing promotion, there’s a lot riding on this episode, and it all comes together very well. I’m glad the games have been more featured this week, and I only wish we got to see them more over the course of the season.

On the topic of the players, I noticed a few this episode that have not spoken or been featured at all this season. I can’t speak with certainty, but I hope these more “background” players get time to shine next season, as I feel like most of the men’s team got featured in Season 1. I know the show is covering a lot more ground this season than the first, but still…

We finally get our answer as to who the mysterious share-buyer is, and to no surprise, it’s Zelda. I felt like the Rupert misdirection last episode was a bit odd considering we hadn’t seen him all season (entirely filmed before the unfortunate passing of Anthony Head), and it just seemed like Zelda was set to serve a different purpose, and as that had not been revealed yet, it seemed like the worst kept surprise of the season, though not an unwelcome one. This turn of events could have huge ramifications for next season, so I’m wondering when our characters will learn of this treachery.

Probably the weakest element this week was related to the Roy/Keeley storyline, where we learn of Keeley’s pregnancy (the episode is bookended by fainting at the matches), and I don’t dislike this narrative direction, the idea that Roy is relaying the game to her so as not to stress her out is a cute idea that doesn’t really work. I’m still interested in what will happen next, and I’m glad Roy finally knows the secret by the end of the episode, but their story this episode didn’t fully come together.

Issues aside, this penultimate episode is one of the series’ strongest, with a terrific and heartbreaking sendoff to the one of the best characters on the show, and a lot of exciting football and character moments. Where this leaves us for the finale, we’ll just have to wait a week and find out…

4½/5
-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, Yes & Baby, Follow the Anger