Ted Lasso will be back on Apple TV+ for a fourth season, defying expectations of a definitive ending that many held. The series retains the optimism and heart it has built its reputation on even as the new episodes, from August 5 onward, take a different tack. To frame things clearly before one gets to the next chapter, a recap of how matters have unfolded with Ted and AFC Richmond is in order.
How It All Began
Jason Sudeikis stars as an American college football coach who signs on to manage an English soccer side without a day’s experience in the game. In a sense, he is hired through the machinations of Rebecca Welton; the AFC Richmond owner brings him on staff to further her end of ruining the club and getting at ex-husband Rupert Mannion.
Yet the calculated disaster of it all turns into something more. Ted’s unflagging positivity and the way he insists on not being transactional about the job or the players changes the culture at Richmond and wins over the locker room entirely. Rebecca too is won over and lets her scheme go, becoming a staunch ally. They may have been relegated at the close of the first season but the team has matured enough to bring a quick return to the Premier League within reach.
Season 2: Shifting Dynamics
Off the pitch the characters are given more depth. Rebecca has to deal with the death of her father and one sees a vulnerability in Roy Kent and Jamie Tartt that was not there before. There are complications for Keeley Jones in her work and private life. Nate Shelley undergoes the most pronounced change, the once reticent kit man succeeding as a coach and eventually taking Rupert up on an offer to head West Ham United, severing all ties with Ted and his staff at Richmond.
A Chapter Closes in Season 3
This is the most personal of seasons for Ted. The character we know is forced to be more vulnerable when faced with the dissolution of his marriage and what he has suppressed for so long, not to mention his desire to be with Henry. Richmond deliver their best showing ever on the field, coming in second in the Premier League where they were never expected to be.
But having done what he came to do at the club, Ted decides it is time to return to the United States and be there for his son. We last see him back home and full of the same old verve, coaching Henry’s youth side. It serves as a fitting resolution.
There are also some seeds sown for the future. Rebecca and Keeley propose launching a women’s team for AFC Richmond. With Rupert no longer in the picture, Rebecca has sold 49 per cent of the club to the fans to fortify the bond with the community and has connected with Matthijs, the Dutch pilot from Amsterdam. As for Keeley, she is on with her PR career and might yet reconcile with Roy.
Life at Richmond After Ted
With Ted gone the coaching staff has to be reshuffled. Roy Kent takes over as manager of the men’s team and brings his usual intensity to it, even seeing Dr. Sharon Fieldstone to keep his emotions in check. Nate Shelley comes back on as an assistant after coming to terms with his errors at West Ham.
Meanwhile, Coach Beard has decided against going back to America with Ted. He has settled down in England since marrying Jane Payne.
What to Expect in Season 4
The third season may have looked like the end of the story but the new one has a premise of its own. Ted is in the UK again but not to coach the men’s team; he is now in charge of the women’s squad at AFC Richmond, the venture Rebecca and Keeley pitched.
It is a new phase for the show. The characters have come to a measure of stability and self-knowledge but have other challenges to contend with. Three seasons in and Ted Lasso has shown that an ending is just as much a beginning. Apple TV+ will stream the new season from August 5.