Ted Lasso Season 4, Episode 9, “Mae Rides the Bus,” features the most unexpected developments this show has ever had, and, sadly, they don’t have the desired effect. This episode, written by Jack Burditt & Julia Lindon and directed by Matt Lipsey, takes massive swings that will change Ted Lasso forever. Simultaneously, some of the season’s most glaring issues reach a boiling point. Ted Lasso Season 4 tries to course-correct from how Season 3 ended, which takes up a significant portion of what should be a women’s team-led chapter.
Just as the season feels like it’s turning a positive corner, “Mae Rides the Bus” yanks Ted Lasso off track – yet again. There’s something to be said for how the choices made in this episode take the characters, the football club, the season, and the show in a new direction. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t feel earned or satisfying. Instead, it asks if Ted Lasso has “jumped the shark.” One of the few great aspects of “Mae Rides the Bus” is that it’s structured like a penultimate episode of a TV season. The momentum builds to give Ted Lasso the energy of waiting for the other shoe to drop.
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What About Gemma’s Recovery Time?
The most appealing quality of “Mae Rides the Bus” is that everything is finally built around the women’s team and their game against Bristol. It’s a genuine silver lining. The women’s team’s prominence opens Ted Lasso up to dynamics that have been relegated to minor storylines this season, like Alice working with and believing in Shannon. It feels wonderfully full-circle that Ted is the one to tell Shannon that she’s playing – only for her to go on and score the winning goal. The issues arise in the fact that Ted Lasso speeds past the six weeks in the wake of Gemma’s injury. Broadly, the team falls in its standing, but the show doesn’t get to see what that means for the team or the club.
“Mae Rides the Bus” delivers that massive change through verbal exposition to create relegation stakes for the penultimate episode. It’s also such a missed opportunity not to follow Gemma through the mental and physical effects of the recovery process. That’s a loss for Gemma, who is one of the only new characters Ted Lasso Season 4 has tried to get to know on any deeper level. It’s also a shame for the show. It loses the chance for any commentary and exploration about the prevalence of injury in the women’s game and the difference in medical funding and research to the men’s game.
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Keeley’s News Isn’t Exciting – It Could Be
Then again, there is also no follow-through with Roy. His knee injury has been a part of the character (and the show) since Season 1. Even so, Ted Lasso Season 4 doesn’t spend any time on what the surgery or the recovery means for Roy. His character rarely exists outside of his relationship with Keeley (His contract being up in the air isn’t explored). Even that distinction meets its problems with the pregnancy reveal. Ted Lasso loses months since Roy and Keeley reunited.
“Mae Rides the Bus” jumps to the next development before the couple can navigate what it means to be in a relationship again on-screen. They haven’t even had a real conversation about anything other than their relationship status this season. Now they’re having a baby, which is jarring in a reflection of the show’s poor pacing and priorities. Keeley and Rebecca’s conversation insinuates that it should be exciting, but the show gets in its own way. The episode backs that up with flimsy evidence. Keeley says that work is going well, insinuating that no one has filled her in about the shareholders, or that she’s not concerned about it. Also, Rebecca mentions that things are good with Matthijs and Jelka, which is difficult to process after their last on-screen interaction.
But, yes, it’s generally joyful to see a happy couple be happy. It also seems like “Mae Rides the Bus” may be a reason for Keeley to reflect on her relationship with her mother. Before there’s ever a pregnancy, her high blood pressure has the perfect opportunity to be that inciting incident. Ted Lasso fleetingly discusses that dynamic in previous seasons. Maybe a silver lining of this broadly exciting development is that the show will do that now. Sadly, Ted Lasso Season 4 doesn’t provide many reasons to be optimistic.
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Mae and That Jaw-Dropping Twist
Ted Lasso doesn’t explicitly confirm Mae’s fate. However, “Mae Rides the Bus” delivers this season’s truth bomb: Rebecca telling Ted about Mae, suggesting that the bleakest option is reality. The episode also foreshadows this with Mae mentioning her age, wanting “the full experience” with the team, and wanting to rest before the second half. So, when a TV show kills a character, there has to be a reason for that loss. Mae’s story clearly wasn’t done, but was entering a new chapter, like the show itself. Her day with the women’s team leaves a bitter taste. It feels like one last gasp to satisfy her character before killing her.
Is the lesson that great wins (Promotion into the Super League) can also come with great loss? Is it that life is unexpected? Ted Lasso may be doing the thing where life and death coincide with Keeley’s pregnancy and Mae’s death being in the same episode. Mainly, though, it seems like the show’s boldest move to amplify the shareholders’ plot. Mae has a lot of shares that she won’t sell even upon her untimely death. So, presumably, they belong to her estate now.
So did she have to die? It wouldn’t be surprising if Zelda tries to manipulate that situation to her advantage. After all, “Mae Rides the Bus” finally predictably reveals her as “a mustache-twirling villain” but has yet to define her motivation. Overall, it’s a shame to relegate Mae to a plot device when she’s been a staple for this show. This season is building to an extremely somber season finale that could bring back old and new characters, hopefully, in memory of Mae. That is, if Ted Lasso doesn’t do another time jump past what it needs to show.
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Other Winning Moments:
- Ted in a press conference for the first time in a long time
- Henry playing football (off screen) and making the extra pass like Jamie
- “Thank God you were sat with Rebecca and her Warrior Princess guns of steel.” – Roy
- The twins’ Oo Gloobley story and Ted’s reaction to it
- Keeley asking Siri if she’d be a good mom
- Shannon running drills on the pitch and Alice watching her
- A Lilly Allen reference
- Suzi Campbell’s return
- “What brings no benefit to the bee brings even less to the hive.” – Beard
- Mae dancing to “Jump Around”
- Alice’s body roll
- The women walking out to Beyoncé
- Boots understanding why keepers wear gloves
- Rebecca telling Higgins she wants to sell out Nelson Road for the women
- Roy doing an Irish accent
- In memory of Anthony Head
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Mae dieing felt very obvious. But “in memory of Anthony Head” was such a gut punch.
Beard going full Jared Leto.