'Ted Lasso' Season 4 Episode 4 Ending Explained: How Does Ted Unite The Richmond Women?

Ted Lasso is trying hard. By that, I’m talking about both the show and the lead character. While the latter is not an issue, the show’s desperate attempt to recreate the magic of the past really is. I’m not not saying it has become completely unwatchable, there are, in fact, moments when you feel the warmth, your eyes get moist, and you start smiling. But most of what we’re seeing these days seem very much like the makers are trying to milk the hell out of it. Let’s take the latest episode for example. The core storyline, of bringing unity to the team, does stick, but it’s still the same old thing, and a whole lot of it looks forced. And the rest, which is mainly Roy Kent doing serial dating for Keeley and the Rebecca and Keeley friendship also don’t work. Anyway, this is an article where the focus remains on the main thing, and how the episode ended.

Spoiler Alert

First, let’s talk about the problem. The good news is AFC Richmond has started this season really well. They’re unbeaten for four matches, with two wins and two draws. Sure, there are concerns like the draws coming against really weaker teams but are the show writers considering the fact that this Richmond team itself is playing for the first time? Anyway, as I said last week, football mostly stays in the background this season, so we don’t get to see any on-field action. We get a locker room brawl inside, where our girls are all furious and mad at each other. Yes, I’m calling them our girls because these are characters we’re supposed to cheer for, and despite what little effort the writers of the show are currently putting in, the ensemble cast is doing their best to save the game. 

Anyway, the issue is simple enough. The team is broken into three factions – the defenders, who think the attackers are irresponsible and callous; the attackers, who have this notion of the defenders lacking creativity; and the midfielders, who are people pleasers and caught in the middle. Ted is concerned, and he needs to unite these three groups and make a “team” out of them. The importance and real meaning of the term “team” is highlighted throughout the episode, for which a pair of old favorites – Trent Crimm and Doctor Sharon Fieldstone – has been brought up to take part in a podcast set-up, and it absolutely doesn’t work and seem very much extra. There are also loads of metaphors about these conflicts, most of which fail to leave an impact, except the one where Alice uses the Harry Potter trio to make Ted understand the situation with the team. And of course, Ted is one of those rare people who hasn’t seen Harry Potter; thanks to his son, he’s more of a Percy Jackson guy.

Alright, so what’s the solution? All they could come up with is a pub quiz. And I dare say, it actually works. At least it did for me, and if predictable narratives don’t bother you as long as there’s a good payoff by the end, I suppose it did for you too. The quiz happens in May’s bar, which is very fitting for the show. Among the few things that are still going strong for Ted Lasso, having May as a supporting character has to be one of them. The girls are in no mood to attend the trivia night, which is no surprise, but they can’t say no to their coach. So they all go, and the teams are formed as per coach Lasso’s wishes. He strategically mixes and matches the players to form the team, and also respectfully asks coach Beard to not flaunt his muscle in the game. Yes, Beard is a trivia champion, who starts strong but then has a very awkward moment and goes totally frozen; I’m tired of pointing out story arcs that don’t work, so I’m deciding to not get into this. 

As you’d expect, the girls are teased by a bunch of “Brains,” (I’m referring to the team name), a group of four typical British lads who don’t think women are good enough to play football, or win trivia for that matter. Thanks to Beard going silent, the coaching team fails earlier than expected. One of the teams, consisting of Richmond girls, wins the competition in the end, but only with the help of another (of their) teams. One of the Brains notices that, and makes that an issue, which escalates to an ugly fight, leading to the girls, Brian along with our coach trio getting arrested.

While everyone expected Rebecca to come to their rescue, they’re surprised to see Zelda, the eccentric businesswoman who genuinely seems to be into women football, and also had a wild run in the 80s. This is a character which the show has introduced in this episode, and while it seems like a whacky choice out of nowhere, they might also pull it off; time will tell. Thanks to Zelda, everyone gets bail, and then they get to know that they’re playing Chelsea at home in the next round of the FA Cup. Chelsea are the best team in the country, but a freshly united, charged up Richmond team responds to the news with what sounds like a happy scream. Ted Lasso has clearly done his job right. And as always, let’s do a bit of speculation about the upcoming weeks before signing off.

By now, I’ve given up on both Roy and Keeley. Their relationship, or whatever you’d call it, didn’t work, and the way this show is going, it’s never gonna work, unless the makers decide to forcefeed us with a happy ending. The whole Roy dating many women in order to date Keeley is extremely cliched to say the least; props to Brett Goldstein for all the hard work though. At least the Rebecca and Keeley friendship is a better storyline than Roy and Keeley, and I do hope to see these two achieving more success, in their professional and personal life. I also expect the show to do something so that the audience gets a little more invested in the player ; the characters of the twins, Boots, Gemma, and Lizzy are our hopes there. And lastly, despite the title of the show being “Ted Lasso,” we haven’t seen much of our man either, except the first episode maybe. It almost seems like Ted is orbiting around the characters, while it should really be the other way around. For now, I live for another week to see if Ted Lasso gets any better this season. Share your thoughts in the comments.