Ted Lasso Season 4 Episode 5 puts Richmond’s biggest test yet on the pitch, but the result against Chelsea isn’t what leaves Ted with the hardest decision of the week. His growing problems with Alice Chilton finally reach the point where he has to do something about them.
Away from the team, things aren’t going particularly well either. Keeley’s attempt to find her way back to Roy has worked a little too well for someone else, Rebecca starts pulling away from Matthijs just as he’s planning to spend more time in London, and Beard once again finds himself back with Jane.
Ted and Alice Clash Before Richmond Faces Chelsea
Richmond is preparing for its biggest match so far, against Chelsea, and Keeley wants people in the stands to see it. She has a new ad ready to promote the game and is hoping for a packed crowd, although filling the stadium proves harder than she expected.
Ted has a different problem. Alice isn’t happy with the attention the players give him, and her frustration comes out during training when the team starts asking Ted about himself. She confronts the players and makes them run laps.
Ted tries to get through to her without immediately turning the situation into a confrontation. He explains his approach through one of his usual analogies, hoping she’ll understand why he handles the players differently, she doesn’t.
The difference between them becomes impossible to ignore once the Chelsea match begins.
Richmond struggles through the first half and goes into halftime down 2-0. Alice responds by laying into the players as they leave the pitch. Ted doesn’t like what he sees and tells her that they’ll talk after the match. Inside the locker room, he does almost the exact opposite.
Rather than focusing on everything the team did wrong, Ted lets the players get to know him. He talks about himself, answers their questions and tries to build the kind of connection he believes the team needs.
The response on the pitch is immediate. Richmond scores twice and gets back to 2-2.
They don’t complete the comeback. Chelsea scores again and wins 3-2, but Richmond has gone from a terrible first half to pushing Chelsea all the way to the end. Ted and the team can see something worth building on despite the loss, but Alice can’t.
Ted and Beard both realize that whatever Alice is trying to do with the players isn’t working alongside Ted’s approach. This time, Ted doesn’t try another analogy or wait for her to come around: he suspends her.
Keeley’s Plan for Roy Backfires
Keeley has spent the season hoping that Roy’s dating experiment would eventually bring him back to her.
Now he’s finished his ten dates, so she asks how it went. For Keeley, there’s still an obvious hope behind the question. The entire idea was supposed to help Roy work through whatever was stopping the two of them from finding their way back to each other.
Instead, Roy tells her that his final five dates were all with the same woman, the doctor he met in Episode 4 wasn’t just another date.
Keeley realizes that while she was waiting for Roy to complete the experiment, he found someone he actually wanted to keep seeing. Later, she breaks down in Rebecca’s arms as it sinks in that she may have pushed Roy toward someone else rather than back toward her.
Rebecca Pulls Away From Matthijs
Rebecca initially gets some welcome news when Matthijs returns to London with his daughter, Jelka. He tells her about a new job that will bring him to London more often.
Instead of being excited about having him closer, Rebecca becomes nervous about what the change could mean for their relationship. Ted encourages her not to let those fears take over, but something Jelka says about why Matthijs might be coming to London brings those doubts right back.
Rebecca confronts Matthijs the following day. The conversation doesn’t go the way she wants. Matthijs realizes that Rebecca is pulling away and becomes frustrated with her. Rather than continuing to push, he suggests that they spend some time apart and take a break.
That’s the opposite of what Rebecca wanted, and now she’s left wanting to repair something she helped push away.
Beard Can’t Stay Away From Jane Either
Beard’s relationship with Jane isn’t getting any simpler.
He and Ted go to see her play, and afterward Beard confronts Jane about it. She agrees she won’t continue performing in the production herself, but that doesn’t mean the play disappears. It has already been purchased and is heading to the West End. More importantly, Beard once again ends up drawn back to Jane.
For Keeley and Rebecca, Episode 5 leaves them dealing with relationships that suddenly feel further away than they did at the beginning of the episode. Beard has the opposite problem. No matter how complicated things become with Jane, he keeps finding his way back.
At least Ted ends the episode having made a decision about his own problem. Richmond may have lost 3-2 to Chelsea, but the second half showed him that his approach is starting to work with the players. Now he has to figure out whether Alice can be part of it.
