Ted Lasso Season 4 Episode 1 Review: What Will Ted Do?

When Ted Lasso ended, for what we all believed to be good, everything felt weird. It didn’t seem like the ending we wanted for our favorite characters, and saying goodbye simply didn’t feel right.

Now, three years later, Ted Lasso Season 4 Episode 1, “Home,” proves we aren’t the only ones feeling the devastating consequences of that finale. Years later, we find a still very depressed Ted working a part-time job at a supermarket.

The wife of a former (American) football player he trained says it best, “I’m so confused.” We are confused because Ted’s return “home” was supposed to be a happy ending, but as we come face-to-face with him again, we see that’s not true.

Ted is still the same man we saw all those years ago. He is still trying to teach right from wrong and instill kindness in everyone he comes across.

The moment he pretends to steal from his job and get caught to teach a lesson to his younger coworker is the perfect representation of the man he’s always been. The man we were never meant to say goodbye to.

But even then, we can still see Ted isn’t fully happy. There is a longing for the life he left behind.

This is clearly shown to the viewers when Michelle is answering a question outside Henry’s school, and Ted gets distracted by the children playing football. His mind and his heart are in two places at once.

When Rebecca (perfectly dressed in biscuits-with-the-boss-pink), Keeley, and Higgins show up at his doorstep, we know they’ve come to bring him back. But we also know Ted won’t say yes that easily.

First and foremost, because Ted has clearly created space between him and his past, refusing to address it. Rebecca states this when she mentions she’s reached out to him several times with no answer.

The only way in which Ted would have been able to stay away from Richmond was by ignoring everyone. That’s exactly what he has done, and it seems to have cost him everything.

The other reason we know Ted won’t say yes as easily is Henry. He believes that being close to his son is what he has to do to raise him happy and fine.

What Ted seems to forget is that Henry needs a happy father in order to be happy himself. Henry senses his father’s hesitation and sadness the moment he announces they offered him a job but will be rejecting it.

What Henry doesn’t know (because he is a fictional character, of course) is that most viewers dislike his grandma for the way in which she treated her son. For the way in which she forced Ted to feel even guiltier for living far away from his son.

It is quite shocking to see this same woman tell her son to accept the job in Richmond. Ted himself points out how insane this sounds after she was the one to say Henry needed him.

But it seems she now realizes what her son has needed all along. She tells Ted to figure it out, but the truth is that she’s telling him to go.

Telling Ted to come back for Henry was a mistake, and maybe this is her way of making up for it.

It’s important to highlight that Rebecca doesn’t just want Ted back because of what he means to her. She understands the incredible value he adds to any team he coaches.

Even though it’s fun to see Ted teasing her by asking her if she wants to hire him to sabotage the women’s team, it is even more thrilling to watch her recognize his worth. Rebecca directly tells him she wants him to recreate the culture he helped build with the men’s team and that she’s hiring him for all the right reasons this time.

This tiny moment proves, once again, if we’re honest, that Rebecca might be the one person who sees every bit of Ted and appreciates him for it. She sees his weaknesses and his fears, but she values them just as much as she values his strengths.

This is palpable throughout the entirety of Ted Lasso Season 4 Episode 1, “Home.” If you pay close attention, Rebecca spends the entire trip watching Ted with a knowing look.

A look that sees through the walls he’s built around himself all these years.

Even though Ted leaves Rebecca with a no, the episode ends on a hopeful note. As he asks Michelle what she thinks about moving to London, Henry gives him the okay.

This support, this encouragement, to follow his heart and do what’s best for him is what Ted needs. He wants to know he’s doing the best for his son while simultaneously putting his happiness first.

After all the sacrifices he’s made and all the happiness he’s brought others, it’s time Ted did that for himself.

Ted Lasso returns exactly the way it started. It feels like the show we first fell in love with so many moons ago.

The funny and heartwarming show that stole people’s hearts, kept them going through a world pandemic, and earned several awards is back with a vengeance.

It’s the little detail of Rebecca having BBQ sauce on her clothes and bringing several bags of takeout on the plane. It’s the relationship that continues to be professional but loving between Rebecca and Higgins.

It’s Keeley’s passion and her belief in wishing fountains. It’s the biscuits-with-the-boss-pink box that now carries a tea bag. It’s Ted’s sad smile and the hope that he will eventually be happy again.

Ted Lasso is all those moments that make these characters feel like our family. And while the season has just started, it is exciting to think where it might go.

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Ted Lasso airs Wednesdays at 3/2 am on Apple TV.

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