Do We Really Need a 'Ted Lasso' Season 4?

At this point, most people have probably heard the news: After months of rumors and speculation, Apple TV+'s wildly popular soccer comedy Ted Lasso is officially returning for a fourth season. The specifics of this endeavor remain generally murky; apparently, Ted will somehow head back to London to coach the AFC Richmond women's team that was hinted at during the Season 3 finale*. It's unclear what other stories the new season will tell or even what cast members outside of star Jason Sudeikis are returning. 

(*Why they couldn't find a woman to do this job, who can say?)

Obviously, on some level, it makes sense. Ted Lasso is one of the most successful series that Apple TV+ has ever produced, racking up award wins and crashing into the pop culture mainstream on a scale that none other of its series (besides Severance) has managed to come close to. (How much Ted Lasso merch have you seen in the wild?) Of course, Apple wants more of this franchise, in any way they can get it.

There was a time not all that long ago when the idea of Ted Lasso continuing past its originally intended three-season arc would have been met with widespread joy and excitement. The promise of further adventures with these characters who'd come to mean so much to so many should be thrilling; an unexpected and exciting gift that arrives at a moment when it generally feels like we need this show's particular brand of optimism and kindness more than ever. But to paraphrase Dr. Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park, it's hard not to wonder if the folks behind the scenes at Apple were so preoccupied with whether or not they could bring back Ted Lasso that they didn't stop to think if they should. Because at this point, it's a fair question how many of us wanted this, or if it's even a good idea to try and salvage the story Season 3 left behind.

It's not exactly a secret that the third season of Ted Lasso was wildly divisive among both fans and critics. With super-sized episodes, a glut of new characters, and a baffling series of plot twists that involved everything from Nate's poorly thought-out heel turn (and subsequent redemption) to Roy and Keeley's inexplicable (and largely pointless) break-up, much of the series' supposed endgame felt hollow and underbaked. 

The result was a series finale that somehow felt both rushed and weirdly incomplete, a conclusion that screamed WE'RE LEAVING OUR OPTIONS OPEN even as it tried to pretend it was giving its characters satisfactory conclusions to their stories. This mess, many viewers asked themselves, was the fabled three-season structure we were promised? This? Is it any wonder many, from diehard fans to casual viewers, are...more than a bit leery about the process of going back to Richmond again? 

You can argue that this return is, if nothing else, a do-over. A chance to get it right, an opportunity to fix the things the Season 3 finale tarnished or left broken. Maybe we'll get to see Roy and Keeley get back together for real, or an answer to the question of whether Ted and Rebecca could ever be something more than friends.  But on the other hand, it's very possible this fourth season will feel like nothing more than a sad attempt to chase the show's long-gone glory days. 

Weirdly, the choice to bring Ted back feels most...well, wrong. Yes, the show's named Ted Lasso, but if the Season 3 finale did anything, it was to make the case for him to go back to America and be a present, active father to his kid. Though there's plenty to complain about when it comes to "So Long, Farewell" as an episode, that bit did... mostly work. 

At that point, it felt like if the franchise was going to continue, it'd be as a spin-off or ancillary property, something that followed Roy's tenure as the Richmond coach, or perhaps the origins of the women's team Rebecca and Keeley seemed so excited to launch. Now...it looks as though we're going to get a variation of at least some of that, but in a way that makes it all about the one character whose story felt (mostly) finished. Plus, look, it's really hard to get but so excited about the fact that the origin of the Richmond women's team is apparently now going to be the story of the man brought in to coach them. Sigh. 

A world in which Ted is some sort of semi-regular guest star, or a character who pops in for the occasional random cameo when someone has a significant life event would be one thing. Such a move would at least give the new series some flexibility regarding the characters it focuses on and the stories it tells. But by continuing the show explicitly as Ted Lasso, well, that means it's still Ted's story we're watching. And it's really not clear that's a well that's worth returning to, no matter how much we love the character's optimistic tone and folksy charm.

It's also fair to feel anxious about the idea that a resurrected Ted Lasso will somehow tarnish the legacy of those first three seasons and the lightning-in-a-bottle magic that pervades them and their success. Given everything happening around us right now, there's a real need for shows like Ted Lasso, firmly rooted in ideas of radical kindness, thoughtful curiosity, and genuine community. But...is this our most unlikely of heroes returning at the hour of our greatest need or a blatant cash grab by a streamer unable to go of its one real commercial and critical banger? It really could go either way. 

At this point, we don't know who'll be coming back besides Sudeikis. It was reported last summer that the streamer had picked up the options for original cast members Hannah Waddingham (Rebecca Welton), Brett Goldstein (Roy Kent), and Jeremy Swift (Lesley Higgins). Juno Temple (Keeley Jones) is also apparently in talks to return. Nick Mohammed (Nate Shelley) has been teasing the show's continuation on social media for months, so it seems a safe bet to say he's participating somehow. 

 But that leaves the involvement of a lot of fan-favorites (Phil Dunster's Jamie Tartt, Toheeb Jimoh's Sam Obisanya, James Lance's Trent Crimm, Cristo Fernández's Dani Rojas, even Brendan Hunt's Coach Beard) up in the air, let alone whether there is still a place for those characters on this canvas. It feels almost inevitable that scheduling issues or other professional conflicts will keep someone we all love out of the clubhouse, yeah? 

Honestly, it's unlikely that this reconstituted Ted Lasso will be able to make everyone happy no matter what it does. But the one thing it absolutely must do is find a way to make Season 4 feel like a story about Ted that absolutely needed telling and not like someone just wrote a check with too many zeros for Sudeikis and the rest of the writing staff to turn down. Do that, and the viewers will probably forgive the show anything. If not, they'll probably just change the channel.

Ted Lasso Seasons 1 through 3 are currently streaming on Apple TV+.