Ted Lasso Review: Season 4, Episodes 4 and 5

You win some, and you lose some. In these two episodes of the fourth season of Ted Lasso, our favorite characters face some big wins, and big losses. How everyone handles this emotional rollercoaster, well, you’ll just have to read to find out!

In this series of articles, I’m reviewing and recapping the things that happen in each episode of the newest season of Ted Lasso. *Know before reading ahead that this article contains spoilers!*

Let’s see what Ted and the Lady Greyhounds have been up to since Episode 3 . .

EPISODE 4: “GREYHOUNDS’ DAY OFF”

I think this has been the best episode so far into this season of Ted Lasso. I absolutely loved it! This isn’t to say that the previous episodes of this season haven’t been good, because they have, but I just felt like we finally got to see Ted interact with his team and build that teamwork camaraderie that is so fun to watch. That was one of the big pulls of the other seasons, and we’re finally starting to see that connection between players and their coach. Now Ted has to figure out how to get his team to work together when he can’t be with them 24/7, especially in the locker room.

Guess who is back! It’s Trent Crimm—I knew he would be making a cameo soon. And it’s not just Trent who made a feature this episode, but also Dr. Sharon Fieldston. The two discuss the involvement of cliques and how they can interfere in sports teams, as we witness the Lady Greyhounds have those exact problems.

Ted, Alice (Coach Chilton), and Beard get fed up with the cliques, and the tension that continues to brew, so they force the team to all go attend quiz night at Mae’s pub. Ted makes the teams, and we get to see the personality of these players start to shine through the footballer personas. All the girls work together to defeat a group of young men who can’t help themselves making fun of women’s football—and what a mistake that was.

My current favorite character is “Boots”, AKA Katie Quinn, Goalie on the Lady Greyhounds. Loved watching her break a beer bottle over an asshole’s head—nothing can bond a group of women together more than another group of men acting like idiots. Just like a Goalie, she seems to be like a glue that holds this team together. She may not shine out on the field like a striker, but she quietly bridges the gaps between all the cliques, and acting as the teams hype-women, gets everyone riled up when needed. I’m super excited to find out more about all these new characters, and develop new favorites on the Lady Greys!

During this episode as well, Keeley and Rebecca have to figure out the new dynamics of their personal and professional relationship, as friends and as business partners. While Rebecca isn’t new to this world of CEOs and business politics, Keeley is. Both of them have to learn to be open to new ideas, but also when to let things go. I really enjoyed watching this plot play out. I think it’s a vital part of their relationship that has to grow and change, and I’m really pleased that the writers made a point of creating an episode surrounding that before the conflict exploded.

All in all, a great episode! It’s been my favorite so far. Let’s see what happens next in episode 5 . . .

EPISODE 5: “RICHES OF EMBARRASSMENT”

Oh, Coach Chilton. I love her to pieces, but she has a lot to learn about being a head coach. I know that sometimes to us as the audience, Ted’s positive attitude comes across as a lot, and that goes the same for characters who haven’t met him yet. At the same time, however, his personality and positive attitude is why he makes so many optimistic changes in people’s lives. Alice may seem it as an exaggeration, but it really is just who Ted is, despite his shortcomings and his own baggage.

She needs to take a small page out of his book when it comes to her own coaching strategies. This episode, I was really wanting to see that change from her. From a hard-ass to a slightly-less mean mentor; even just a small change in attitude would have been seen from the team. Alice has to learn the hard way what it means to be a mentor, and unfortunately, it will take more than just one episode.

I think Ted made the right call in suspending her. He realized his mistakes from the past with Nate, and needs to go about this in a different way. Coach Chilton does seem like the kind of person that needs an exact consequence of her actions to one; think about why the Lady Grey’s do not respond to her, and two; see what she is missing by not being there with the team everyday.

The Lady Greyhound’s lost their first match against Chelsea, with a half attended stadium and lots of mistakes made out on the field. Everyone seems to be struggling this episode, the opposite of the joy and teamwork we saw in Episode 4. Keeley continues to doubt herself and her abilities, which isn’t helped by the fact that she encouraged Roy to date other people, and now he actually is dating someone seriously. Matthijs wants to take a break from his relationship with Rebecca, because they are both miscommunicating their needs when it comes to the distance part of their relationship. Long story long here, everyone seems to be a bit of a mess.

My favorite part of this episode has to be Rebecca being fully smashed, walking around on her football field in front of the whole (but half-filled) stadium. An absolute stunner. I think she needed that.

OH JANE, HOW WE’VE MISSED YOU

Special mentions from these episodes!

It was so fun to see Jane again in Episode 5; we all know very well the affect she has always had on Coach Beard. It’ll be very fun to see what happens next in their continued tumultuous relationship. It’s a bit in the show that I honestly never get tired of and always look forward to. Between Alice and her temper, and Beard and his dramatics, I think Ted is going to have his hands full.

I thought it was really fun to see how the Lady Grey’s already care for Ted and Beard, and that in their short time as a team together they have already built up great camaraderie. In the beginning seasons of the show, we saw firsthand how hard Ted had to work to not only get the respect he deserved from his coworkers and his family, but also his entire team. I think everyone but Dani Rojas hated him from the start. It’s nice to see that Ted’s reputation in England has prolonged so much that the women has no issue with him being their head coach.

Hopefully in the next episode of Ted Lasso, our friends can get a broom and starting cleaning up those messes, bit by bit.

Until next time!

All episodes of Ted Lasso are currently streaming on AppleTV+