SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for the Season 4 finale of “Ted Lasso,” now streaming on Apple TV. There’s a new coach at AFC Richmond, and it’s not Ted Lasso. The Season 4 finale of “Ted Lasso,” titled “The Departing Lass,” ended with Ted (Jason Sudeikis) handing the AFC Richmond’s women’s team manager job to Alice Chilton (Tanya Reynolds), while he demotes himself to assistant manager alongside Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt).
Alice is ready for the challenge, having been instrumental in the team’s rise. And at the same time, it turns out Ted has been thinking about his father lately — who died by suicide when Ted was just 16 — and realizing that he still has been absent too much for his own son Henry, he knows it’s time for a change. Meanwhile, there’s also a switchup on the men’s team, as Roy (Brett Goldstein) has been offered — and has accepted — a huge job managing the Chelsea team.
But he and Keeley (Juno Temple) are about to have a child, so he has a lot to ponder. Not to be outdone, Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) proposes marriage to her boyfriend Matthijs (Matteo van der Grijn). And as the team mourns the death of pub owner Mae (Annette Badland), she winds up saving the day from beyond the grave.
That’s because Zelda (Tracey Ullman) is ultimately thwarted in her attempt to buy up a controlling interest in AFC Richmond by Mae’s last will and testament, which gives her shares in the team back to Rebecca — keeping her at 51% ownership. Oh, and Nate (Nick Mohammad) dropped by to visit Nelson Road — and take part in a reunion of the Diamond Dogs, who are called into duty when Roy asks for advice on being a new dad. And Beard, having gone through some midlife crisis looks this season, got a haircut.
That’s a lot of story, not to mention a new version of the opening theme, now performed by Brandi Carlile. Hunt, who also serves as an executive producer and writer on “Ted Lasso,” spoke with Variety about the Season 4 finale — including whether there will be a Season 5. That was something Jason wanted to happen from the beginning of the writers’ room.
He saw Ted stepping down as just kind of fundamental to what the season was going to be. Which is why Episode 1 starts with the close-up of his nametag to “Lasso assistant manager,” and then we land on Ted Lasso as an assistant manager at the end. In terms of the fake-out, yeah, just a tiny little goose for the last moment.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
