Ted Lasso Season 4 Divides Critics: Soft Reboot Struggles to Balance Renewal and Nostalgia
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Ted Lasso has returned to Apple TV+ for a fourth season after a three-year gap, adopting a soft-reboot approach that opens with Ted working a modest grocery store job in Kansas City before circumstances draw him back to football and London. New showrunner Jack Burditt has attempted to tighten the show's pacing and trim its previous excesses, though critics remain split on whether the revival succeeds, with reviews highlighting a persistent tension between fresh storytelling and reliance on familiar nostalgia.
Episodes still run 45 to 47 minutes, suggesting earlier pacing issues have not been fully resolved. Some critics praise the season for genuine creative renewal, crediting the introduction of AFC Richmond's women's team with opening up fresh narrative territory beyond the show's established formula. Others argue the season undercuts its own reboot ambitions by leaning too heavily on familiar plotlines and sentimental subplots, leaving the verdict on this comeback season divided among reviewers.
- Ted Lasso season four returns after three years with a soft-reboot structure
- New showrunner Jack Burditt trims excess, but episodes remain lengthy
- Critics split: praise for the women's team plot, criticism for nostalgia-heavy retreads
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The origins of Ted Lasso lie in a comedy series that debuted on Apple TV+ in 2020, starring Jason Sudeikis as an American football coach hired to manage a struggling English football club despite having no experience in the sport. The show became a cultural phenomenon for its optimism and humour, winning multiple awards, before what was billed as its final season aired in 2023.
Season four marks a surprise return after a three-year gap, arriving under new showrunner Jack Burditt rather than the team that steered the earlier seasons. It resets much of the story, moving Ted away from football before drawing him back, and also expands the focus to include a women's football team connected to the original club, AFC Richmond.
The comeback matters because it tests whether a much-loved series can be revived without losing what made it popular in the first place, a challenge familiar from other "soft reboots" across television. It is also a significant moment for Apple TV+, which relies on high-profile shows like this one to attract and keep subscribers in a crowded streaming market.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Advocates for the reboot argue that Ted Lasso deserves credit for taking real creative risks rather than simply repeating a winning formula, particularly by expanding into AFC Richmond's women's team, which opens genuinely new storytelling territory and reflects the broader game rather than just the men's side. They contend that resetting Ted in Kansas City before drawing him back to London shows a willingness to interrogate the character's arc rather than freeze him in place, and that a new showrunner trimming some of the prior excess is a sign of self-awareness and growth, even if imperfectly executed.
The case against
Sceptics argue that the season's persistence of 45-to-47-minute episodes shows the pacing problems that dogged earlier seasons were never truly addressed, undermining claims of meaningful renewal. They contend that leaning on nostalgic subplots and familiar character beats, even alongside new elements like the women's team, suggests the show is reluctant to fully commit to reinvention and is instead hedging between comfort and change, leaving the season feeling caught between two identities rather than confidently inhabiting either.
Coverage
- Consequence — Ted Lasso season four repeats old pacing problems, review finds
- Collider — Ted Lasso returns for season 4, focused on women’s football
- The Verge — Ted Lasso returns at an important time for Apple TV
- Variety — ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 4 Is Both a Promising Reboot and a Tedious Sequel: TV Review
- The Hollywood Reporter — ‘Ted Lasso’ Review: Season 4 of Apple’s Hit Soccer Dramedy Struggles to Find Anywhere Interesting Left to Go
- Deadline — Jason Sudeikis Sets Up ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 4: “It’s Getting Back To Doing What He Loves”
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