Underneath the general blandness of Ted Lasso\u2018s latest season finale are hefty emotional themes that get lost in the shuffle. Pivotal conversations about grief and the inevitable cycle of life and death are strewn in between ludicrous storylines\u2014not least of all Zelda\u2019s. Sorry to Tracey Ullman, but this better be the last we see of her awfully written character, who proves to be entirely purposeless in \u201cBeing Alive.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I digress: Season four has felt unmoored throughout. It\u2019s an improvement on the third season, to be sure, but that was a low bar to clear. The show has clearly lost the sweet edge and skillful execution of its early run.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The finale\u2014penned by, who else, Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt\u2014chugs along because it has to. \u201cBeing Alive\u201d merely touches on feelings that Ted Lasso has more astutely grappled with before, especially in season two when Ted sought Dr. Sharon out for therapy. The happy-go-lucky coach opened up about his father\u2019s suicide, how it affected him, and why he resented his dad for overworking and then \u201cquitting.\u201d As things start to come full circle, Ted realizes there\u2019s a good chance Henry could start to resent him. After all, Ted has been so busy coaching Richmond games that he\u2019s missed his son\u2019s football matches for most of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everything between Ted and Henry is\u2014or should be\u2014Ted Lasso at its poignant best. And yet, the lack of focus on this parent-child relationship so far reduces its significance in the finale\u2014it\u2019s rushed, rather than organically developed. After Mae\u2019s wake<\/a> at the pub, Henry heads upstairs and fires a heavy shot at his father, asking him how Ted\u2019s dad actually died. At first, Ted goes along with the lie that Henry\u2019s grandpa fell down a flight of stairs. Later, he comes clean in a conversation that, in a classic Ted Lasso move, we don\u2019t get to hear. This specific complaint is less about hearing Ted repeat what we already know about his upbringing, and more about not seeing how he tells the story now as a father himself and what Henry\u2019s response is. And dare we include Michelle in this conversation at all, considering she\u2019s just one floor below at the pub?\u00a0<\/p>\n Mae\u2019s death causes a lot of other changes, as almost everyone questions everything after it happens. Keeley\u2014dealing with morning sickness\u2014says as much. But how does she internalize this huge change in her life? Who knows, because Ted Lasso hasn\u2019t bothered diving in. Her storyline has regressed to \u201cKeeley\u2019s pregnant now so we must find ways to keep her bedridden.\u201d Meanwhile, Roy is offered a head coaching position at Chelsea, a job he eventually accepts with his girlfriend\u2019s encouragement. Rebecca doesn\u2019t take the news well at all before naturally relenting and wishing him good luck with a tight hug.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rebecca goes through her own ups and downs in \u201cBeing Alive\u201d in a way that proves Ted Lasso doesn\u2019t know what to do with this character anymore\u2014a strange development because she was a confidently written co-lead before. Rebecca and Higgins, upon finding out (offscreen, duh!) that Zelda is the one secretly buying up the shares, act out dramatically in front of her at a shareholder meeting, making her believe she\u2019s won this game of chess. But Rebecca\u2019s winning move occurs when she brings Zelda\u2019s BFF, Hugo Riddles, out because he helped Rebecca figure out the truth. Fed up with Zelda\u2019s insults, Hugo turned on her. But how does this matter in the grand scheme of things? Zelda, an over-the-top and one-note character, barely holds any value, so to give her and her random friend this weight in the finale is confusing and a waste of precious time.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite this twist, Zelda and Rebecca own an equal stake in the club. That changes with the reveal that Mae obviously left her shares to Rebecca, giving her the upper hand. I\u2019m sorry: Was poor Mae killed off for this? Couldn\u2019t she have just transferred her 2% to Rebecca while, you know, \u201cBeing Alive\u201d? Not only does Zelda seem aimless now, but so does this big character death. Funnily, when Rebecca confronts Zelda over her actions before promptly forgiving her, she asks \u201cWhat happened to women helping women?\u201d Let me twist that question for Ted Lasso a little bit: What the hell happened to making a season about women in full force? Keeley, Rebecca, Mae, and Zelda have suffered (or made us suffer) in different ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n Speaking of, Rebecca ends this season by proposing to her long-distance boyfriend when he visits her in her office. After ruminating over how life is messy and that\u2019s a good thing, she decides to jump into the deep end. She always enjoyed marriage, she tells Ted, but got caught up with the wrong person. Apparently, Matthijs is right one. If you say so, Ted Lasso, because you certainly made no effort to show so in season four. It\u2019s hard to buy into a relationship when they haven\u2019t done the legwork to sell it. But in the words of Michael Scott<\/a>: \u201cBFD. Engaged ain\u2019t married.\u201d<\/p>\n Not even the poor Lady Greyhounds\u2019 get proper time in this episode. It\u2019s their final, sold-out game at Nelson Road. Even the former AFC Richmond players drop in to watch, including Dani Rojas and Sam Obisanya. But we don\u2019t get to see the end of the match\u2014in an absurd editing choice, \u201cBeing Alive\u201d just cuts to the shareholder meeting. All we see of the team is what we already know: Lizzie\u2019s ex is a piece of shit, Siobhan and Niamh are the most fun sisters, Shannon is the team\u2019s breakout star now that Gemma is benched, and Madi and Margi are complicated exes. Yeah, this team has bonded, but it\u2019s too bad the show hardly allowed its viewers to bond with them. The only one unscathed by Ted Lasso\u2018s bizarre treatment of its female characters is Alice Chilton, who has had a fantastic season-four run<\/a>, cemented by her exceptional turn in the finale. We deserve a season or show entirely about her because Tanya Reyn<\/p>\n When Alice was introduced as a grumpy assistant coach, she pointed out how Rebecca never even considered her for the job she flew all the way out to Kansas to hand to Ted. But it was also clear that Alice had some learning to do herself when it came to teaching the players, minus the tough sarcasm. She\u2019s done exactly that, and is a crucial, beloved part of this team. Heck, she even joins the Diamond Dogs (And Cat) when Nate visits just in time for Roy to walk in to ask the dudes and Alice for advice. Roy is nervous about becoming a father, with each guy (Ted, Beard, Higgins, Nate) and Alice discussing parenthood in one way or another. Alice\u2019s tip is my favorite: \u201cDon\u2019t disappear when you feel inadequate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Roy\u2019s fears about becoming a dad are grounded in reality; one that Ted Lasso badly wants to comment on, as seen with Ted\u2019s arc or the other complicated dad-child relationships on this show (Jamie! Rebecca! Nate!). And yet, like it has with almost everything, Ted Lasso loses its way with a surprising inadequacy. There\u2019s only so much the committed performances from Hannah Waddingham, Tanya Reynolds, Brett Goldstein, and Jason Sudeikis can do. Is it still fun to see these familiar characters banter? Yes, but the Diamond Dogs scene is a reminder of how good we hadback when the show invested in coherent character dynamics. There are a few touching moments in \u201cBeing Alive,\u201d like Roy opening up Ted\u2019s gift of the little green statue or Alice earning her promotion while Ted voluntarily takes a demotion to assistant coach so he has more time to spend time with Henry. At the same time, Ted Lasso is no longer a coherent TV dramedy; it\u2019s a string of very few commendable moments begging for a reaction. And most often during season four, that reaction was a shrug.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stray observations:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Keeley, in response to Roy musing whether they\u2019re inadvertently responsible for Mae\u2019s death because they\u2019re bringing new life into this world: \u201cWho the fuck do you think you are? Thanos.\u201d (A hilarious thing to say to Brett Goldstein, who made one brief MCU appearance and was never to be seen again). Saloni Gajjar is The A.V. Club\u2018s TV critic. Want to make sure you\u2019re seeing more of her recaps and reviews? Add The A.V. Club as a preferred source on Google<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Speaking of Goldstein, his facial expressions are off the charts when Beard tells the story of believing Jane was pregnant for 11 months. Yikes.
\n\u2022 Jane pops at Mae\u2019s wake in a hot dress and accidentally injures Beard in the process. This whole endeavor, and some words from Matthijs (of all people), make Beard reconsider his actions. He opts for a fresh start not by shaving off his beard, but by going bald like Rebecca\u2019s fianc\u00e9. Perhaps in season five, Beard travels the world and rarely shows up?\u00a0
\n\u2022 Emma Stone and Richard Schiff\u00a0 are starring in Jane\u2019s West End play about her relationship with \u201cthe Bearded Coach.\u201d Sure, Jan.\u00a0
\n\u2022 With Roy gone, will new-ish girl dad Nate take over the men\u2019s team? Currently, he\u2019s the head coach of the Polish national football club, and he has a daughter with Jade. They\u2019ve named her Athena, presumably because the two met in a Greek restaurant.\u00a0
\n\u2022 Mae leaves The Crown And The Anchor to the three Looney Tunes-esque regulars with one instruction: \u201cDon\u2019t fuck it up.\u201d They likely will.\u00a0
\n\u2022 Rebecca tells Roy that she wants his and Keeley\u2019s child to call her Auntie Supreme. Doesn\u2019t exactly roll off the tongue, but it does fit Rebecca.\u00a0
\n\u2022 Brandi Carlisle softly, beautifully sings the Ted Lasso theme song in this episode instead of Marcus Mumford.
\n\u2022 That\u2019s all from me, folks. As a former Ted Lasso fan, I\u2019m not mad, I\u2019m just disappointed. But I hope you had a better experience. And maybe we\u2019ll do this again for season five in 2029 or something.\u00a0<\/p>\n