Spoilers for the Season 4 finale of Ted Lasso are ahead! You can stream the series with an Apple TV subscription.
Much like early reviews of Ted Lasso’s fourth season, I ended up having mixed feelings about it. Some elements I loved, and it made me so happy that one of my favorite shows was back and airing on the 2026 TV schedule. However, there were other storylines and character arcs that I really struggled with. Now, Season 4 has ended, and everything I loved and worried about was addressed in a way that left me with two hopes for future seasons.
Less Roy Kent
While I was thrilled that Brett Goldstein returned to Ted Lasso at first, I quickly changed my mind, and I started to wonder why Roy Kent was still in the show. With the men’s team not being included in Season 4 in a big way (although many of them, including Phil Dunster’s Jamie Tartt, had cameos), it didn’t give Roy much to do on the series outside of his relationship with Keeley. So, ultimately, his arc felt forced and at times out of character, which led me to hope that we’d see a bit less of Roy moving forward.
Personally, I would have preferred it if Goldstein was a guest star and just popped into the show from time to time. That way, his inclusion wouldn’t feel forced, and his romance with Keeley wouldn’t feel like too much. Now, if Ted Lasso continues, it seems like that could be a road he goes down. That’s because Roy is no longer the manager of AFC Richmond; he was offered a job at Chelsea, and he took it.
So, he won’t be around Ted and the gang as much, and now there’s a really good reason for him to take a step back and just pop in every now and again with Keeley. Obviously, he’ll still be part of the story; I mean, Keeley is pregnant, and he’s the father. However, with his new job, he should naturally be around less, and that hopefully means the show can focus more on the women’s team.
More Alice Chilton
That leads me to my next hope, which has to do with my opinion that the best addition to Ted Lasso was Coach Alice Chilton. As a fan of Tanya Reynolds, I knew this would probably be the case, and boy, was I right. Alice was such a fun and necessary addition to this great Apple TV show. Now, I need to see more of her!
It seems like that could happen too, considering she’s now the head coach of AFC Richmond’s women’s team, while Ted and Beard are serving as her assistant managers. Overall, this is a marvelous development, and I love that it now feels like Alice and her team are really at the forefront.
While that was true for this season, the ghosts of Ted Lasso’s past did haunt it a bit (as seen with Roy’s storyline). What I’d like to see is Alice and the team take center stage and really own the show. This season’s strongest moments happened when we got to see the women growing as a team and Alice stepping into her confidence as a coach (that moment with Shannon about choreography, truly iconic). I want more of that going forward, and Alice’s new job gives me hope that that will happen.
So, if Ted Lasso continues, I hope these dreams become reality. The finale seems to imply that they will; we’ll just have to wait and see how they continue to play this game.
