“Ted Lasso” is back for a fourth season on Apple TV after a three-year hiatus, but does the feel-good football comedy still have its magic?
The Independent’s review takes a critical look at the return, arguing that the new series—centered on Ted coaching AFC Richmond’s women’s team—feels largely unnecessary and commercially driven, recycling familiar beats while struggling to match the charm and heart of the series’ first two seasons.
Nick Hilton for The Independent:
Several much-loved characters have departed the series (Mohammed’s Nate, Phil Dunster’s Jamie Tartt, most of the men’s team players, and, of course, the late Anthony Head as Rebecca’s nemesis Rupert), which means an influx of new faces to replace them…
Despite all this upheaval, the show’s creator, Bill Lawrence, and key cast do a good job of making it still feel like Ted Lasso. But it also feels pointless. And cynical. “Last time I hired you for all the wrong reasons,” Rebecca tells Ted, and she approaches him for the new gig. “This time I absolutely want to hire you for all the right ones.” But even though there is an attempt at some broad feminist commentary and critique… it really feels like the show has wasted the earned conclusion of its arc in pursuit of more episodes, more revenue, more Emmys. Sudeikis continues to be charming, [Juno] Temple is a highlight as the mischievous Keeley, and [Tanya] Reynolds brings plenty of new deadpan charisma – yet the return, after three years, feels a bit flat…
The acting, while effective, is often hamstrung by sentimentalism, which pushes it into hammy (and a painfully stilted Jill Scott cameo makes Chris Powell look like Laurence Olivier). And while the show has always been gently amusing rather than laugh-out-loud funny, this new series does feel acutely short of gags…
The show was about bringing some… touchy-feely shmaltz and exposing it to the rough winds of Premier League football. Can you be an eternal optimist on a cold, rainy night in Stoke? Having answered that question, the show has nowhere to go but limp on like an ageing striker whose powers are fading before their eyes.
MacDailyNews Take: Cue the sad trombone.
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Hmmm..
I watched episode one.
I liked it.