Ted Lasso Season 4, Episode 1, “Home,” is mainly a reintroduction to its titular character after a three-year hiatus. The season premiere, written by Joe Kelly and directed by Declan Lowney, is seamless in that the cast doesn’t miss a beat with these characters. Alternatively, the show itself must address the time that has passed between seasons. “Home” does so most pointedly with Ted, who seems to be smiling through being stuck in time. This episode is an attempt to unpack that with him. Even with its best intentions, it does feel a bit repetitive.
Along the way, there are Easter eggs for Ted Lasso superfans. They make it all the more rewarding for those who have rewatched the first three seasons between the Season 3 finale and now. However, this season premiere can also be a frustrating watch for what—or who–it decides to hang onto from the past. Mostly, though, “Home” serves its purpose. It tees up an exciting new era for Ted Lasso and raises the anticipation for the AFC Richmond women’s team.
MORE: It’s the Perfect Time for ‘Ted Lasso’ to Introduce the AFC Richmond Women’s Team
Not in Richmond Anymore
This show has never been and will never be a stranger to a Wizard of Oz metaphor. This episode continues that trend with more pointed references, including Keeley’s sparkly ruby heels. Instead of Ted being Oz (ie Richmond), Rebecca, Keeley, and Higgins make a heart-stopping arrival in Kansas (City). There aren’t many personal developments to learn about Keeley…somehow. Understandably, she has thrown herself into work with the women’s team.
Juno Temple shows how much the work means to Keeley. Her eyes light up at the CPKDC stadium and during the KC Current match. All that said, it’s objectively wild to imagine that she and Roy have been in some friend-zoned situationship for three years. So, they haven’t progressed from where they were at the end of Season 3. That’s disappointing for both of them.
Likewise, it’s equally hard to believe that Rebecca is still dating the Dutch boat man. Matthijs. Long-distance relationships exist and succeed, but there’s no reason to believe that this one would, regardless of Rebecca and Ted clearly being soulmates. It doesn’t help that the three years when their commitment to each other developed happened off-screen. It will be curious to see how prominent Rebecca and Matthijs’s relationship is in this season. To believe their compatibility, there needs to be a lot more than heavy-handed FaceTime calls.
Regardless, Rebecca and Keeley’s relationship remains more important and interesting. A fascinating tension arises between them as they navigate this new business venture. Rebecca is holding on to reality so Keeley can have those stars in her eyes. That path gives Ted Lasso Season 4 so much to explore.
MORE: Ted Lasso Season 3, Episode 9 Review: “La Locker Room Aux Folles”
Other Side of the Sunflower
In many ways, “Home” feels like the contained counterpart to Ted Lasso Season 3, Episode 6, “Sunflowers.” It’s about unlocking new paths of inspiration and understanding that home isn’t only a place. It’s the same themes in a different font – Ted is with all those things that are home to him, and yet….
Namely, the Gates BBQ, which makes Ted feel at home, is soothing to Rebecca, even though it stains her shirts to the tune of the Rule of Three. Something about the tether between Ted and Rebecca…. Also, it’s a subtle visual that the BBQ box stands in for the pink biscuit box–until Rebecca revives the tradition.
Meanwhile, for Higgins, his side quest at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum parallels Ted at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Ted Lasso’s approach to spotlighting sports history makes the exposition less stilted. It’s also a functional representation of the characters’ willingness to learn. That is important in a season about a second-division women’s football team.
Whether it be the very real and very devastating fact that women couldn’t legally play football in the UK until the very recent 1971 or the Twickenham women’s team folding, the Richmond squad is up against a lot more than they ever were with the women’s side. The script sums up a bit of that when Twickenham’s team is described as “a well-intentioned but financial liability that was draining resources rom the men’s team.” Ted’s Richmond culture may be helpful or necessary for a foundation, but it can’t be everything. Ted Lasso knows that.
MORE: Ted Lasso Season 3, Episode 7 Review: “The Strings That Bind Us”
Ted Has to Make the Choice Himself
“Home” functions as a vehicle for answers about Ted, who is predictably not as happy as the end of Season 3 wants to believe. The scanner beeping like a fading heartbeat is anything but subtle. He’s no longer coaching, completely removing himself from that point of joy. He’s working at Ronnie Fowch’s grocery store, which has all of its own baggage. There’s literally a “Changed Your Mind? No problem!” sign in the store that he’s ignored. Plus, he keeps every single reminder of Richmond locked away. He’s even avoided Rebecca’s calls for three years! Also, coaches and dads having conflicting jobs isn’t new to Ted. He’s been aware of it — the tether between Jamie and Henry in his mind. It’s an excuse.
Needless to say, Ted is not thriving, and the episode has to take him on the journey. He has to get to a place where he wants to go back to Richmond and take the job. After all, he’s already been in a similar place in Season 3. Rebecca offered him everything to stay. So, Ted Lasso Season 4 has to find a different path to make this something Ted wants. In turn, it can be a bit repetitive. After all, Ted points out the whiplash of his mother’s shifting perspectives. That alone emphasizes that they’ve all been here before — just three years ago.
So, “Home” pivots by approaching the question through Ted’s relationship with his dad and Henry, now played by Grant Feely. It often feels like the first three seasons could do more with Ted’s complex relationship with his father. So it’s fulfilling to get into that a bit more. It’s also beneficial to meet Henry again after three years. He’s probably changed the most! Ultimately, Ted decides to come home for Henry. “Home” confirms that he’s going back for both of them.
The fakeout with the texts is a good resolution to the iPad bit, even if Henry didn’t hear Ted and Michelle talk about a change of scenery being good for him. It also helps the Ted Lasso Season 4 premiere land in an emotionally satisfying and nostalgic place. Ted’s rejection of tea leads into that familiar theme song. Every bit of promotion for the season has said it. Now, it’s official – Ted’s back!
MORE: Ted Lasso Season 3, Episode 5 Review: “Signs”
Other Winning Moments:
- Ronnie Fowch and his Butterfinger — the payoff of a joke
- Hearing Tim Howe’s score again
- Ted’s “We’re in America, my friend” paralleling the boots bit in Season 1’s “Biscuits”
- Henry is still #9
- Rebecca wearing the hat for Henry’s team
- Ted saying Henry plays like Jamie Tartt — “in cursive”
- The Taylor Swift name-drop in an episode set in Kansas City
- A copy of Esther Forbes’s Johnny Tremain” and a dartboard in Ted’s childhood room
- Marcus Mumford’s cover of The New Basement Tapes’ “Kansas City”
- The Thunder Gong Easter egg
- Roy won the FA Cup with Richmond
- Trent Crimm returned to sports journalism to write about Jamie leaving Richmond
—
