The parts of the seventh episode of Ted Lasso’s fourth season with the Lady Greyhounds are so endearing, vital, and overdue, I’m tempted to move past other issues like the show’s insistence on dragging out a will-they/won’t-they we’ve already lived through. But since the torture continues, so does the complaining. The annoyance isn’t just because of what Ted Lasso puts Roy, Keeley, and all of us through; it’s because of what the two of them put poor Erin through. Has there ever been a clearer case of “this TV character is getting strung along for no reason” in recent memory?
After Roy confessed to being in love with Keeley last week (duh!), I assumed his doctor/girlfriend would’ve broken up with him by now. Instead, she pops up at his office exactly when Keeley is telling him about how Chelsea wants to honor him with a ceremony. For the rest of the day, Roy can’t seem to shut up about Keeley, no drugs needed. The thing, though, is Brett Goldstein and Laura Haddock—who previously co-starred as love interests in SuperBob—share excellent chemistry, as evidenced by their kiss alone. At this point, I’m so annoyed by Roy and Keeley playing these stupid games that I almost want Roy to end up with Erin. Thankfully, Erin has more sense than that, and she politely dumps him, letting him know that he should end up with the woman he loves.
To that, Roy responds with his signature “fuuuck.” This particular “fuck” translates to either him realizing he really is in love with Keeley (literally who doesn’t know it at this point?) or it’s because he realizes he’s masking his true feelings poorly. Either way, I hope that we’re spared from this misery by next week’s episode.
When it comes to romance elsewhere, Rebecca doesn’t even mention her reunion with Matthijs. Instead, she makes a spur-of-the-moment decision to hire, ugh, Zelda as the team’s official advisor. Keeley is delighted, of course, but I’m skeptical of Zelda’s agenda. In “Yes & Baby,” she appears to help Rebecca and Higgins out of a tough situation when Roy’s agent tries to negotiate for a pay bump. And yet, her method isn’t extraordinary or anything—she just pretends to be an agent (using the fake name Dolly Partonberg!) from Chicago to gather intel. Her behavior so far hasn’t warranted the decision to hire her, especially not from Rebecca of all people, who was so against bringing Zelda on in the first place. Once again, Ted Lasso does a very poor job of justifying why these particular women are behaving the way they are.
On the plus side, I’m less confounded by the women’s team at last because the show deigns to spend some time with them. “Yes & Baby” opens by following the players as they go about their day before heading for training: Lizzie preps breakfast for her kid, only to see that her ex has bailed on picking him up once again; Gemma’s law professor puts her up for a prestigious internship, but the interview clashes with the training schedule; sisters Siobhan and Niamh deal with a rent increase; Shannon pulls double duty as a food delivery girl to earn extra cash; Boots’ car breaks down; and Madi and Margie continue their on-and-off relationship. It’s nice to see each of their private lives, sure. But this scene has a larger purpose, too.
Toward the end of the episode, the women tell Ted that, well, exposure simply isn’t enough for them anymore. They’ve got bills to pay/kids to take care of/money to earn for their well-being. It’s only fair that they want actual salaries to reflect their popularity and hard work. When you think of athletes, the assumption is that they’re well-paid. In this episode alone, Roy’s agent—who is also Dani Rojas’ agent—requests even more money for his clients. The men’s team easily got the budget that the women had to fight for, and even then, they got their spacious locker rooms only once Coach Ted entered the picture. The Lady Greyhounds have been slowly making their mark, and they demand fair compensation in return. For now, all Ted can do is nod along.
It’s nice to see Ted Lasso tackle this pay gap storyline. However, the show has a tendency to drop major arcs without a conclusion or to wrap them up off screen. So I hope the writers have, in season four’s remaining four installments, continued this necessary conversation.
Finally, we have a worthy Alice storyline again. Back from her suspension with newfound motivation, she’s ready to try and gel with the team as best she can. And to do that, she relies on a self-help tape that advises her to simply say yes to everything they ask of her. Thankfully, Ted and Beard notice how easy it is to take advantage of Alice now, so they guide her with another principle: Yes… and. It’s not the improv go-to, in case you were wondering: Ted and Beard present a whole spiel about the importance of agreeing with someone while nudging them to do what you want. It’s a difficult needle to thread, but by the end, Alice figures it out.
Alice uses this advice best after she’s questioned about moving Ted’s BELIEVE sign from the coach’s office to the locker room. Why should the women’s team have leftovers of the men’s team, they rightfully wonder, when they deserve something of their own? In response, Alice adds her twist, pasting a Post-it note that says “And Win” under the BELIEVE. It’s not exactly the same as pay equality just yet, though, is it? Still, does the show manage to find some of its groove again, thanks to some more focus on the team? Yes, and we’ll see how long that lasts.
Stray observations:
- Beard has a new look, fit, and blue contacts now because that’s his takeaway from recent disasters with Jane and Claudine, who called him “old.”
- Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand” plays when Roy rolls in on his scooter, nicknamed Black Beast, and that’s when I discovered how I still associate this song not with Peaky Blinders, but with the Scream franchise.
- I like the detail that Roy only has one chair for himself in his office so that nobody who visits lingers on longer than they have to. It’s extremely unlike Ted’s approach as coach. It also made me wonder if we’re ever going to see Roy with the AFC Richmond dudes.
- Ted points out that there’s a tendency to date coworkers at this football club. I’m sure the Ted and Rebecca shippers are going to have a field day with that one.
- Speaking of Ted’s love life, he spends this episode struggling to make a Bantr profile. He seeks Keeley’s help to do it, and mostly completes the task, only to delete and it goes back to meet the nameless stage manager. It’s a bust, though, because Ted’s too late and she’s already met someone else.
- I’m obsessed with Ted confirming for his dating profile that he’s never watched Industry. I think the types of TV shows that Ted Lasso would enjoy are… Ted Lasso.
- “The only drugs I’ve done have come from the Earth, although they’ve afforded me the opportunity to go well beyond it.”
- “If human beings never said no, we’d all have a timeshare in Maui and be members of the Latter-Day Saints, you know?”
Saloni Gajjar is The A.V. Club‘s TV critic.
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