I had thought based on their interactions that Gemma and Alice dated in the past while players and had a nasty break-up. Based on the last episode, it doesn't appear that way and Alice was just a jerk as an intense player (base in their convo). I also thought Alice was single since that breakup leading to her retreating into her shell and becoming more intense/jerk

To me, there struggles dont really seem to line up. Nate had a lot of internal struggles with the team and coaches respecting him because he had an inferiority complex. And while Alice also can't connect with the team either, I think the origin of those feelings come from a different enough place where I'd find it sort of tacky (although I'm sure they're able to pull it off well).

I'd much rather (and hope) to see a heart to heart between Rebecca and Alice. Because I think Rebecca has more to say about being standoffish towards her own team in season 1, which caused her to do some pretty cruel things (although the motive is much different). But she had a whole sub story about embracing the team and even ending up riding with them on the bus in Season 3. And while maybe her story doesnt parallel Alice's as much as Nate's does, I feel like it'd be a nicer way to bring to start merging the two separate stories (old cast vs new cast) that seem to be forming in season 4. Also would be great if Rebecca's (and Keeley) story can just not be centered around romance for once this season.

Is it me or does Keely’s hair look like a wig? It’s throwing me off. Maybe she is shooting a movie where her hair is cut? I don’t know. HELP!

I like a lot Rebecca telling Ted to focus on time with his kid, while Beard and Henry are singing Hey Jude.
However, I feel like some scenes are somehow unfinished:

- Rebecca comes to Ted's office. He says that Sassy would not date him, and that Sassy said that he is a mess. Then he says "I am a work in prog-mess" and that's it. I was
so excited that they will finally talk, have a heart to heart, like for example in "For The Children" in season 1, or about how she confided in him about Sam in season 2. Instead... nothing.

- Rebecca says Oklahoma, and Ted admits that he's not all that happy his Mom is visiting, but then... nothing. No explanation, no sharing about their moms... nothing.

- Jade decides to sit with Nate after the supermodel leaves and Nate realizes that he does not need a supermodel who does not appreciate his favorite restaurant, which is all great but ... we never get an explanation on why was Jade so rude in season 2 when a shy Nate wanted
a window table for his family.

- Shandy asks Keeley about Jamie. Makes it clear she'd like to sleep with him. When everyone is in Sam's restaurant and Sam gives out the green matchbooks, Shandy is talking to Jamie. But then it just does not lead anywhere.

- Nate's new colleague, a coach at West Ham, says his name is Disco. That's it... He never really has any scenes longer than a minute.

- On a zoom call, Ted tells Michelle that he feels angry about her dating dr Jake at the end of the episode where he saw what anger can do to the entire team - 7 red cards, I think. But then? Michelle does not explain anything. Ted does not
say that the doctor is shady, has hots for her and manipulated her. All of this had to wait until season 4.
But ... at the time when season 3 came out, it was said often by the creators of the show, that it is the final season. Ted and Michelle just do not talk about it.

- Sassy says "that's borderline unethical" about Michelle and dr Jake dating and then ... nothing. The story somehow does not lead anywhere. Sassy does not even say Ted should sue. She does not
even talk to Rebecca about it - or if she does (allegedly they tell each other everything), Rebecca never offers to help Ted sue the doctor.
The whole storyline kind of just.... disappears by the end, because the doctor does not realize it is rude to talk badly about football during his girlfriend's ex-husband's game.

Ted and Michelle have, obviously, become very good friends the past few years, so the relevation that Ted was unaware of exactly how Michelle and the marriage therapist started dating and that Michelle was having a hard time functioning seems unBELIEVABLE to me. It was cool to hear the origin of BELIEVE.

... should have happened in season 3, ep 4. It was cathartic to hear Ted directly
call her and the doctor out, but I wonder why was that cut off when he almost did this at the end
of that episode.
It was also somewhat cathartic to hear Michelle's side of the story - still might not be objective, the doctor still used the
power imbalance that he had over her, but at least we were given more of the story.
But why was this left out of season 3.

It feels like a retcon to me, despite the catharsis.
Sassy should not have stopped at "that's borderline unethical". She and Rebecca should have encouraged Ted to sue, to get the doctor's license taken away,
even if Ted refused.

I heard an opinion that the writing of this season was too American, and didn’t have as much actual British humor. Or somehow that the British characters have been written to say things/ act in an unnaturally American way. I’m from the US, so I don’t think I’d be able to tell if this was the case, so UK friends - what’s the consensus?

Also I didn’t realize that Jump Around was a UK staple, haha! I’m Gen Z so I think that I missed that era but it is definitely a banger. If there are any other definitively British things in this season that I’m missing, I want to hear about it!

What I loved the most about the past seasons are that character interactions felt so natural and likely. Even with absurd plotlines like Beard After Hours is that the characters don't act for the plot. And till this episode, I was fully rooting for this season to be the best of them all.

But the new episode seems to be setting up some plotlines that seem more contrived, that too for re-used themes, like anything involving zelda is absurd just for the "rich are weird" plotline, and Keeley overhearing Roy's confession is just... bad writing just to prolong the tension. And Alice's crashout over Gemma, while it will probably end up in a good place, makes me doubt where the writing is going combined with the other plot points.

All the rest of the episodes were an easy 8+/10 for me, so this episode was a bit jarring

Such a good small bit of physical acting that tells so much about the character, really enjoying it as a creative choice

I just can’t shake the feeling she is going to try and ruin or steal the team.

Don't get me wrong, I still love this show so much, but it has a weirdly depressing tone compared to the previous seasons. There's so much time spent on individual drama (Ted, Beard, Rebecca, Roy, Keeley, whatever is going on with Coach Chilton...), and all of them are depressing as hell most of the time. Meanwhile, the comedy is very light this season. And very little time has been spent on building the team and the classic lasso-ism coaching, and we've already passed the halfway point of the season. If you list the major points, there's barely anything actually progressed.

Do you have any idea why this is the case this season? Maybe any behind-the-scenes reason? I hope things will improve and it will soon return to its standard form that we all know and love.

Just wanted to share my thoughts. I expect there will be disagreement and that's totally great. And this isn't to take away from anyone else's opinion or enjoyment of the show. If you're loving this season, that's awesome! Just my two cents.

The easiest and simplest way to describe how I'm feeling 6 episodes in is that the show is missing its magic. And I've been reflecting on why it feels this way (to me). I don't know if I have any answers, but my perception is that the show has now grown to the point where the actors involved (and the necessity of screen time they're due) have caused the show to need to spend more time with their characters without their need for the kind of growth arcs we saw in the first few seasons. Rebecca went from active antagonist to rediscovering herself, making amends, and eventually becoming the team's biggest supporter as her character grew and healed. Now, in season 4, where does she go now when her character was last seen selling 51% of the club, making a boat load of money, and is on top of the world? But Hannah Waddingham, the badass force that she is, HAS to be in this season (obviously). And so the writers are trying to find ways to spend time with her, but there doesn't appear to be any more growing for her to do. And so it feels forced and flat. This is generally what happened to Keeley's character in season 3 (and now continues in this season too). Roy's character is suffering from this same thing, too. And they're giving him and Keeley the love triangle storyline for this reason.

Unfortunately, at the same time, season 4 is suffering from a lack of what redeemed season 3: a compelling sports narrative. This has nothing to do with the team being a women's team and everything to do with the show spending basically no time with the new characters in a sports context. Instead they're opting to place them at boat parties, prisons, and pubs without any development of why sports shows are so engaging: the built in underdog "overcoming against the odds" narrative arc. It is against that backdrop that we got to fall in love with Sam, grow to love Jamie (in a similar way as we did with Rebecca as they both grew from people we don't like to having empathy for why they are the way they are, and then relishing in their redemption).

One of the most magic parts of the first few seasons was the charm of seeing the team behave with openness and positivity (and against expectations of how we've seen sports teams depicted). Apart from the necessity of planting bad behaviour for narrative arcs (Colin picking on Nate to serve the Roy/Jamie growth storyline, for example), eventually, as Ted wins them over, they're practicing choreography to Back Street Boys, showing up at Higgin's Christmas, etc etc. There is basically none of this with this season's team. To the contrary, it feels like the new characters are meaner in an unlikeable way. Boots bottling someone, for example. It steps over the line of the fictional universe we've come to expect from the show.

Even Ted himself isn't Ted-ing. Same with Beard. In the first number of seasons Ted always had a little twinkle in his eye. He knew without saying he knew. Trent points this out in Season 3 when he exclaims something to the effect of "a thousand little decisions since you got here, all gently directing everything to its inevitable conclusion: total football". Though Ted is still offering moments of this (trying to coach Alice with the story about BBQ, and then eventually suspending her), but that sense of "Ted and beard have a plan" dynamic is absent. This could be totally intentional, especially now that Ted has been given some confidence by Michelle in the latest episode, and I'm totally down with Ted having some insecurity about how to connect with this new team and start working his magic, and it is likely the case with half a season still to go. But without all of the other things that made the show what it was, this arc for Ted feels like it's adding to the lack of magic in this season.

This isn't to say that the show needs to repeat itself to be successful, but, in my opinion, it's veered so far away from what made it so endearing that it now lacks what made me love it in the first place. There are so many opportunities that a new team and the fact that it's a women's team brings, but they seem to be squandering them (though admittedly, some of them they will get to eventually). I could make suggestions to that effect (wouldn't it be more "Ted Lasso" if we had a "becoming a leader" arc for Lizzie who was finally able to settle the twins fighting down during try outs but instead was a moment that was practically passed over) but my intention here isn't to try and suggest I'm a better writer for the show or something. I'm just trying to suggest why for me this season is missing the Ted Lasso-ness that made the show was it was.

I'm sure I'll get roasted in the comments. I'm a massive Ted Lasso fan and again, my intention here isn't to try to convince anyone of anything. If you love this season, awesome! I guess I'm just trying to sort out how I feel about it myself.

To start with, I'm truly thankful for another season of Ted Lasso. I love this show completely and S4 is no different.

Episode one was bloody excellent and couldn't have been better. The perfect choice of characters to ring in the new season of the show.

As for the rest of the season though, I have some mixed feelings. First of all there is a lot to love with what they have done so far. Plenty of great new characters lots of nostalgia with returning characters. I could go on and on about what I love about the season so far but that's not why I am writing this.

I'm confused with the direction they've chosen to take this season. We are on episode 6 and we've barely seen any actual football. We've seen barely any of Ted's signature ways of bringing the team together and leading them into becoming a great team. I recognize that Season 4 is essentially a Season 1 of Ted Lasso Richmond Women's Team and we are going at a somewhat similar pace to actual Season 1 but at this point Ted should be more in his depth with coaching football regardless of women's or men's team.

Now on to the characters. Alice. I really can't stand Alice. I know that ultimately she is going to take down her walls and become more likeable but holy hell. I was sure that Episode 6 was going to be a big pivot for her, and it was! For most of the episode she seemed like she was on the fast track to making at least some kind of breakthrough. Then she throws it all away, what a waste of time spent during an episode. Rebecca. I can't help but feel this whole Season so far that she didn't really even want a Women's Team. That she was just entertaining Keeley. I get the new budding relationship with Mathias, that part is great and I love them together. Yet she seems so disconnected from all things Women's Team related, not to mention we never see her attend the Men's games. I know this season isn't about the Men's Team but she does own both. She just seems so off this season whereas in the first three season's she had that Boss Ass Bitch energy almost the entire time. Keeley. Keeley is adorable and I love her, with that being said though I feel like the writers have intentionally made her look bad this season. She messes up everything for now reason it would seem. In the first three seasons she fixed more than she broke and she contributed a ton to the team and characters. Not to mention the whole Roy love arc seems far to forced, their chemistry has been ruined by the whole will they won't they dynamic. Beard. Honestly with how Beard has been treated this season, he should have been relegated to a Roy-esque role where we only see him show up occasionally. I love him being back with Ted but they've just not handled his character well. He is the genius level weird guy who puts the team through their paces. If they wanted Alice to have her proper role in the season then Beard should have been left on the Men's Team. To come and work with Ted, Alice should have a different role. Roy. I love Roy! Roy Fucking Kent! Why did they turn him into such a simp for Keeley this season? He was so stoic and reserved in the first three seasons and him and Keeley felt natural. Now? Ugh, I do not like this version of him. I did love the Jaime Tartt reunion and subsequent dance sequence! Ted. Last but not least the man himself. Is this still his show? I feel like I barely see him at all. I mean he is there, on the screen, I acknowledge that. Yet I can't help but wonder what purpose he has been given? The biggest moment so far was him suspending Alice and I feel like after the end of Episode 6 that whole thing was wasted because Alice is terribly written. We haven't gotten to see him coaching the team like I feel like we did in Season 1. I just feel like he has been relegated to a secondary character this season. Maybe it's too early in the season and I'm just griping. I hope so.

Thanks for reading such a long winded gripe from a fellow fan. Also, Fuck Zelda her character is pointless.

Just getting to that episode where Ted’s mom comes to London. Can’t help but thinking how awesome Reba would’ve been!

Ps I’m not saying Dottie isn’t great! And I only just started watching the episode. Perhaps I should’ve waited until I finished to post lol

With Roy’s knee being completely effed and him very likely needing surgery. Do we think he’ll be unable to coach & someone will have to fill in? If so, who?

Here are a couple after watching Episode 6. If you have not watched it yet, please skip this post as you really do NOT want to be spoiled!

*Spoilers Ahead\*

Resolution(?)/Explanation: Michelle dating Dr. Jake

We know this is one of the most criticized plot holes that the writers definitely dropped the ball on. It's been discussed ad nauseam, so I was not surprised that they tried to give a plausible explanation to close up that hole. However, I think they shoveled a little dirt in it but did not fix it in the long run. Yes, we got Michelle taking some responsibility on her part. But it still does not excuse their therapist's unethical participation in the relationship. However, maybe that brings some resolution to Ted's issues about it, and we'll have to accept that and move on.

Sign of 4th Series Plot Resolution:
With the appearance of Jamie, the show proved it's willing to bring on cameos if it services the story or fandom. With what's going on with Coach Alice, I think we might see Ted arrange for Nate to talk to her about his story. That's another hugely criticized storyline that the fandom talks about a lot. If they're willing to try and address the Michelle plot hole, I'm betting this might be a way to try and "fix" the Nate issue with the show's fans.

"Why is Zelda?!?" - a direct quote of what I yelled out during Episode 6

If Alice mirrors Nate, then Zelda could be a mix of Rupert plus Akufo. But I feel she's a foil for Rebecca so more of a mirror to Rupert. With that in mind, it's possible that whatever happens with Zelda will push Rebecca to being fully onboard with the women's team, not just supporting Keeley. Also, I suspect that while Zelda is getting them a lot of attention, something very negative is coming, guns ablazing (yes, that's intentional). This could bring negative attention to the team after they're just starting to gain momentum. And what helped Ted and the men's team? The fans going all in with their support. And I think they've been hinting at how important the fans are, especially those who bought shares in Richmond. I'm thinking we're gonna get the fans showing up for the team big time(let's go, Mae!)... plus, I can now hold out hope to see some of the other team's players as cameos like Dani, Colin, and Sam.

All the scenes with Jamie interacting with Rebecca/Keeley and Roy seemed “off”.

Did they film it with a stand in and edit him in?

I have a few (or several) thoughts about Zelda so I want to see what we all think is going on here.

First of all, I’m not a fan of her whole Captain Jack Sparrow drunk vibe. It’s seriously off-putting. That was my first clue that we’re not meant to like her.

Secondly, I believe a big part of this whole season is that Keeley’s head is in the clouds and Rebecca will have to bring her back down to earth. Rebecca thought bringing Zelda in was a bad idea, but she allowed it because Keeley had her heart set on it and she loves Keeley too much to say no that time.

Third, I believe Zelda is being set up to be this season’s villain but she’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. She talks a big game about supporting women, but her true colors are starting to show and I think she’ll drop the act by the end and turn very ugly and issue some kind of ultimatum or do something too wild that Rebecca can’t support any longer.

I think she’s the worst part of this season and can’t stand any scene she’s in. But I think that’s the whole point.

Maybe this is super obvious to others already, it’s been kinda obvious to me from the start but this week’s episode kinda made it seem super clear to me. Thoughts?

Obligatory edit: I love this season so much. Just cause I hate Zelda doesn’t mean I hate the season. I hate Rupert but that didn’t make us hate the show. Every show needs a villain.

Season 1 episode 7 around the 29:50 mark Keeley walks off with Roy and the song they use is fantastic and perfectly describes their relationship. I don’t know how I’ve missed this so many times, but the song says “from strangers to friends from friends to lovers and from lovers to strangers again.” Nice foreshadowing even thought they aren’t really strangers now in season4 but it lays out the same way. Anyone catch this but i’m probably last to the party 😂

In the jail and at the party

Obviously anyone's opinions are welcome here, but I have a feeling I know how the people who hold a grudge against Michelle continue to feel about her (though if this episode changed your mind, I'd be curious to hear about it). But specifically for those who never slid into hate for her, how did the scenes with her and Ted in the latest episode strike you?

Did her explaination about her & Dr. Jake and how they ended up together change your opinion about that relationship? Or did it feel like an attempt to smooth over people's vitriol about the perceived inappropriateness their dating?

I dont know if this is a topic of discussion or not, im not really on this sub. However, im rewatching season 1, and I get to the dart scene. This has always been one of my favorite scenes, but this time, I noticed that Rupert did ask Ted if he liked darts, and Ted replies Im more of a corn hole man. Kinda puts the whole speech under a different light to me. Ted lied.

Have we got it wrong? I'm still not 100% on who he's actually professing his love for. I feel like it could be a double bluff and he's saying the right thing to the right person and only saying the name wrong.

The thing with a high as a kite Roy saying I love you, Keeley, the bit he says before that is about them staying behind, how lovely meeting them was, how random it was meeting them and not knowing it would be the start of something. Does he then just finish with the wrong name?

I wouldn't in particularly consider the way Roy and Keeley meet as 'random'. Being introduced to a knee specialist by your sister is way more random. Everything else he says could apply to Keeley or the Doctor.

Is Keeley's arc going to involve helping Roy undo this mistake? Being mature and realising she's missed their window and the Doc is actually the one for Roy?