Despite a time jump, Ted Lasso Season 4 feels a lot like Season 1, which isn’t a great sign for the show’s future.
After a three-year hiatus, Ted Lasso returned to Apple TV on August 5 with its Season 4 premiere. The new season jumps ahead three years since the Season 3 finale, with Ted living in Kansas City, having moved on from AFC Richmond. However, Rebecca, Higgins, and Keeley offer Ted a coaching position, but there’s a major difference this time around. The trio wants Ted to coach AFC Richmond’s women’s team, which is struggling financially.
While Ted didn’t formally accept the job with the Richmond trio, the promotional materials reveal Ted will head back to Richmond and join the team. If that premise sounds familiar, it does. Ted Lasso Season 4 appears to be following the same playbook as Season 1. While there are some positives to running back what previously worked, Ted Lasso Season 4 might run into problems if it mimics the same plot points.
Why Ted Lasso’s Season 4 premiere feels like a remake of Season 1
Ted Lasso Season 1 was a phenomenon. Because it premiered during the height of the pandemic, the show became a beacon of hope as its positive message resonated with so many people. Ted Lasso Season 1 became a critical juggernaut and won seven Emmys.
The problem with chasing the past is it can cloud your future. It’s unlikely that Ted Lasso will ever reach the highs of Season 1. Ted Lasso was scripted as a three-season show. Season 4 was never supposed to happen. Now that it’s here, it’s hard to justify why the show returned after the Season 4 premiere if it’s just going to repeat the beats of the first season. The show needs new ideas and storylines for its characters, especially for Ted. You can only go so far as the positive coach attempting to turn underdogs into winners.
Switching to a women’s team and dealing with problems those teams face in 2026 is a smart decision. However, having Ted come over to coach the underdog team is more of the same. We’ve seen that storyline before in Season 1.
Because it’s a new team, there will be new characters to cheer on. However, so many familiar faces are back from the earlier seasons, including Rebecca, Keeley, Higgins, Roy Kent, and Coach Beard. Are these fan favorites going to take a backseat to let other characters shine? After one episode, it doesn’t feel that way.
There are still nine additional episodes of Ted Lasso Season 4, so things could change. However, I’m hesitant to think they will.
Originally written by Dan Girolamo at ComingSoon.
