Ted Lasso has always worked because it was about much more than football. Season 4 understands that immediately. Instead of rushing Ted back to Richmond, Episode 1 spends almost 40 minutes in Kansas reminding us what made him worth following in the first place.
I rewatched the series before the premiere, and it reminded me why I loved it so much. Ted Lasso was funny and comforting, but it was also thoughtful in a way that never needed to announce itself. Over three seasons, the show dealt with mental health, anxiety, alcoholism, divorce, difficult family relationships, co-parenting, different kinds of trauma and the decision to choose yourself over a relationship. It could make you laugh through a short scene and then hit something meaningful without suddenly feeling like a completely different show.
That balance is still there in Ted Lasso Season 4 after Episode 1. The humor works, the emotion works; more importantly, Ted still works.
Ted Lasso Season 4 Understands That Ted Was Never Just a Coach
The smartest choice in the premiere is not sending Ted straight back to football.
Years after leaving Richmond, Ted is back in Kansas City working as an assistant manager at a grocery store. On paper, his world looks much smaller. In reality, Episode 1 uses that setting to make one of the clearest points about his character.
Ted’s goodness was never tied to being AFC Richmond’s manager.
He has meaningful interactions with people everywhere he goes. He knows the employees around him, their personalities and their problems. He talks to an older woman. He notices the young employee who is stealing. He knows another worker is most likely high. He doesn’t necessarily agree with everyone’s choices, but his first response is still compassion. That’s Ted.
He doesn’t need a locker room or a football club to make an impact on people. Put him in a grocery store, and he’ll still find a way to make the people around him feel seen.
The mundane setting actually helps the premiere. It shows that his life did not become meaningless when he left Richmond, but it also quietly establishes that something is missing.
Ted is doing good work. I’m just not convinced he’s fulfilled by it.
Kansas Gives the Premiere Time to Find Its Heart Again
I really liked that the episode takes its time before bringing us back to the UK.
Rebecca, Keeley and Higgins arrive in Kansas City, and suddenly the old rhythm starts coming back. There are jokes, callbacks, familiar relationships and the kind of small character moments that made earlier seasons so easy to spend time with.
Rebecca becoming obsessed with Kansas City barbecue is exactly the kind of running gag this show does well. Higgins accidentally ending up at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum while trying to visit the jazz museum gives him his own little detour. Keeley and Rebecca get time together outside football.
None of it needs to race toward the season’s main story.
After being away from these characters, there is something nice about simply watching them exist together again. Once the gang starts falling back into place, you remember why you missed them.
And yes, I’m aware that’s partly nostalgia talking. I don’t particularly care.
The Wizard of Oz References Are Everywhere
The premiere is packed with Easter eggs, but the Wizard of Oz references are the most obvious and the most fitting.
Rebecca, Keeley and Higgins are essentially traveling to Kansas to bring Dorothy back to Oz.
The episode keeps playing with that idea. Keeley’s clothes include the pigtails, gingham dress, and ruby shoes associated with Dorothy. Ted greets the group with “Lions & tigers & bears, oh my!”. He drinks from a Wizard of Oz mug, and the episode’s title, “Home,” naturally brings us back to the idea that there is no place like it.
It works because the entire episode is really asking what “home” means for Ted now.
Kansas is home because Henry is there. It’s where Ted returned because he wanted to be present for his son.
But Richmond is part of him too.
The premiere doesn’t treat those two ideas as opposites. There are plenty of other references tucked into the episode as well. Thunder Gong, the annual charity event associated with Jason Sudeikis, gets a nod. Red Apple cigarettes appear, the fictional cigarette brand used across Quentin Tarantino films. Ted has a Casablanca poster in his house, while the final tarmac scene calls back to it. There are Taylor Swift references too.
Some are obvious, some are there for people who enjoy spotting them. Either way, the show’s old habit of mixing pop culture into everyday conversations is very much intact.
Bringing Ted Back Only Works If Henry Comes With Him
The real problem Season 4 has to solve is Ted’s Season 3 ending.
He left Richmond because he wanted to be close to Henry. You can’t spend an entire season building toward that decision and then have Rebecca show up a few years later, offer him another coaching job, and make Ted immediately say yes.
The premiere knows that. His first answer is no. Rebecca wants him to coach Richmond’s new women’s team, but Ted doesn’t hesitate because football was never the reason he went home. Henry was.
That’s why Michelle and Ted’s mother matter so much in this episode.
Michelle doesn’t tell him he has to stay. She makes him consider whether returning to coaching might actually be good for him. His mother pushes the idea further when Ted goes back to his childhood home.
Ted remembers his father and how important his father’s work was to him. His mother recognizes something Ted is still struggling to say out loud: Henry doesn’t only need his father physically nearby. He also wants to see his father happy and fulfilled.
That works because Ted’s memories of his own father have always been so important to who he is.
The show isn’t telling Ted to choose a job over his son, it’s asking whether there is a version of his life where he doesn’t have to choose.
The Premiere Doesn’t Undo the Season 3 Ending
This was probably my biggest concern going into Season 4.
Ted returning to England could easily have made the end of Season 3 feel pointless. He left Richmond for a reason. If the show simply reversed that decision because it wanted another season, it would have weakened everything that came before it.
Episode 1 avoids that: Ted stayed; he went home. He spent years close to Henry, he co-parented with Michelle, he built another life.
Only after doing all of that does the possibility of Richmond come back into the picture.
The final reveal makes the point even clearer. Throughout the episode, Ted keeps approaching a room in his house without going inside. When he finally opens it, we see that he has kept an entire room filled with memories from Richmond.
He moved home, but he never stopped caring about that part of his life.
That doesn’t mean leaving was a mistake; it means people can want more than one thing.
Ted’s Family Could Be the Key to Making Season 4 Work
The biggest change is that returning to Richmond doesn’t appear to mean leaving Henry behind this time.
Ted reaches out about accepting Rebecca’s offer and moving the family to the UK. Henry, using Michelle’s phone, gives him the response that finally pushes him to say yes.
That changes the entire setup. Ted can return to coaching without repeating the same conflict that drove him home in the first place.
It also looks like his family will have a much bigger place in this new chapter. Henry and Michelle moving to London means the show doesn’t have to separate “Ted the father” from “Ted the coach” anymore.
And that’s where I’m interested to see where Season 4 goes. Ted wanted to be there for his son; he did that. Now the question is whether he can also find the part of himself that was clearly missing.
The Humor and Emotion Still Feel Like Ted Lasso
The most reassuring thing about Episode 1 is how quickly the show’s tone comes back.
The jokes still feel like Ted Lasso. The pop culture references are still everywhere. The callbacks are fun without completely taking over the episode.
But more importantly, the emotion still feels right.
This series was always at its best when the comedy sat next to something real. Ted could make a joke and then, sometimes in the same conversation, hit on grief, fear, family, or the things people are avoiding.
Episode 1 gets back into that groove without trying too hard to prove anything.
There’s humor in Rebecca destroying barbecue. There’s silliness in the Easter eggs. Then there is Ted standing in his childhood home thinking about his father and what fulfillment might look like for his own son to witness.
That’s the balance I wanted back.
Ted Lasso Season 4 Has Me Excited Again
After rewatching the original series, I remembered exactly why Ted Lasso became one of those shows I could keep returning to.
It made you feel good without pretending life was always good. That’s a difficult balance, but the premiere still succeeded at it.
Season 4 could have opened with Ted walking back into Richmond and relied entirely on applause, nostalgia, and familiar faces. Instead, it starts in Kansas and makes us spend time with the man he became after leaving.
I think that’s the right choice. We see that Ted can make a grocery store better simply by being Ted. We see that he made good on his promise to be there for Henry. We also see that part of him is still sitting in that room filled with Richmond memories.
By the time everyone comes together again, it feels less like the show is undoing its ending and more like it is making room for another part of Ted’s life.
And once the gang is back together in London? Yeah, I definitely missed this show.
More From Ted Lasso
View all Ted Lasso coverage
FAQ
Why did Ted return to Richmond in Season 4?
Ted initially rejects Rebecca’s offer because he wants to remain close to Henry. After conversations with Michelle and his mother, he begins considering whether returning to coaching could still work without giving up his role as a father.
What team does Ted coach in Season 4?
Rebecca asks Ted to return to AFC Richmond to coach the club’s newly formed women’s team.
Does Ted’s family move to London in Season 4?
Episode 1 sets up the possibility of Ted returning to England with Henry and Michelle rather than leaving his family behind.