“Follow The Anger” is the type of Ted Lasso episode that makes you go, “Damn, if only the rest of the season was nearly as meaningful and fun to watch as this.” The eighth installment of season four largely encapsulates the series’ strengths: a focus on character collaboration and team spirit, while finding the time for them to work on themselves in a high-pressure situation, as seen in how Alice and Ted handle the Lady Greyhounds’ latest setback. In fact, the scene in which Ted and Alice sit wordlessly next to each other to deal with their respective cry session/panic attack of sorts is season four’s most memorable moment so far. It felt real and palpable, and also reminded me of how Rebecca helped Ted out with something similar in season one’s Liverpool-set episode.
This hour is a satisfactory payoff to season four’s entire slow build with Alice, and Tanya Reynolds makes the absolute best of the meaty material she gets. Alice has spent a lot of time begrudgingly grappling with her fate, whether it’s being the assistant coach, not head, or the idea that the team doesn’t like her. But after Ted briefly suspended her for her attitude, she has started to face reality more maturely. Alice realizes her own value and wants to ensure that everyone on the team knows theirs. It’s incredibly sweet. Alice becoming more vulnerable and approachable is a direct result of working with open books like Ted and Beard, as well as a testament to her own resolve to let others see who she truly is.
So it takes a toll on Alice when their star player, Gemma, injures herself during a match. Gemma’s knee giving in halts the Lady Greyhounds’ winning streak, and to make matters worse, Richmond’s pricey doctor has no urgency to check her out, leaving Gemma homebound. At first, Alice goes to talk to her, hoping to motivate Gemma and to let her know that everyone’s by her side. But when she hears from their ace goal-scorer that she might be quitting for a prestigious law internship, Alice loses it a little bit. It’s a testament to her growth that she doesn’t react promptly or vocally, taking the time to think about how to handle this crisis.
One of the ways in which she does so is by earnestly asking Rebecca for help. I’ve waited for these two women to interact again all season after episode two, “Curioser And Curioser,” and it’s nice to see there’s no more lingering animosity between them. Alice opens up to Rebecca, speaking from experience about the difficulties of being hurt as a player and watching everyone figure out how to move on in case you can’t play again. Alice doesn’t want Gemma to go through it, so she asks Rebecca not to give up on Gemma and to let her know that she matters—perhaps, deep down, Alice hopes that it’ll motivate Gemma not to leave the team. And it works. Rebecca holds up her end of the promise, too, hand-delivering a gift basket and shooting the shit with the players at the hospital where Gemma is finally being treated. This is the Ted Lasso that I was missing.
Alice’s approach certainly makes Ted proud, particularly because he doesn’t know how to handle the situation at first either. When the team asked for pay raises in episode seven, “Yes & Baby,” all he could do was listen instead of actively support them (which, by the way, was frustrating!). And now, with Gemma out, he can only look on as the rest of the Greyhounds train half-heartedly because they’re worried about and need her. It isn’t until he walks in on Alice breaking down that Ted takes a moment for himself, too. As Alice sobs and Ted goes through the motions of calming himself, they silently sit side by side in their shared office. If nothing, it’s a sign that Alice feels connected to the guy enough to be as vulnerable as she is.
This solemn, lovely interaction inspires a Ted Lasso-level locker room monologue from, well, Ted Lasso, about the catharsis of expressing your feelings and letting it all out. He gives his players—and all of us—a pep talk about how it’s actually okay to cry in the workplace if the situation demands it. And no matter what you do or where you work, at some point, it’s going to make you want to pull your hair and weep. But as Ted says, “You don’t have to hide or apologize or be ashamed of what you feel” because “there is crying in football.” For a sport associated with macho behaviour in general, it’s lovely to hear this out loud in Ted Lasso, thanks to episode co-writers Jamie Lee and Brett Goldstein.
Goldstein being one of the scribes is likely why Roy/Keeley are bearable, or maybe it’s just that—after what feels like 30 years and not three—they address their true feelings for each other. While heading to Chelsea’s ceremony to honor Roy on their Shed Wall, the two of them are dressed to the nines. Or, as Caroline puts it, “It’s like Mattel made Barbie and Ken sex dolls or something.” And yet, Roy and Keeley continue arguing because it’s the only way they know how to behave with each other. Their intense yearning pours out as unbelievable anger. Things get worse when Roy’s new tech-forward car breaks down, forcing them to take the train, which agitates a claustrophobic Roy even further. By the time they reach the venue after riding on a scooter, the event is over and two of Chelsea’s workers whom Roy recognizes are sweeping up. Still, he gets up on the stage to give his speech to an audience of three, including Keeley. However, instead of talking about his career, he takes the advice that Ted gave him earlier in the episode about simply creating the right moment instead of waiting for one.
So, with a mic in his hand, Roy confesses what everyone already knows: He’s in love with Keeley! It’s as if the past three seasons of Ted Lasso never happened. But even I can admit that Roy saying, “On the rare occasion that I make you smile, that’s when I feel like a legend,” is excellent rom-com material. As is the way in which Roy lifts Keeley up on a literal pedestal and admits that the two of them deserve each other and are, duh, meant to be. Their reunion is not as satisfactory as Alice’s character development in this episode; it leans more on the “Well, that’s over,” side. And with that, dear viewers, our long nightmare with Roy and Keeley is over. We made it, and with two whole episodes to spare.
Stray observations:
- •Brett Goldstein gets the line delivery of the season because of the way he says, “Yeah, now I’m just going to have to use my stupid key,” in a way that’s equally sad and grumpy.
- •Higgins spends most of his time trying to find out who is sneakily buying up Richmond’s shares in an effort to secretly take over the team from Rebecca. He gets some assistance from Mae, whose advice is to “follow the anger.” This makes Higgins and Rebecca assume Rupert is behind it, but my money is on Zelda, who hangs out with Rebecca a lot in this episode. It would be the ultimate betrayal.
- •I don’t know how I feel about Higgins’ adventures being framed like a thriller, but I do love that he gets actual screen time and that his rendezvous with Mae at the pub (to find out info!) leads to Mae using her watermelon-flavored vape and saying, “It’s like sucking on a Kool-Aid man’s dick.”
- •Michelle gets about two seconds of screen time, which is how we know she’s enthusiastically attending the Lady Greyhounds’ games.
- •Rebecca, impressed by Alice’s dedication to Gemma, advises her to be honest about her feelings. Does this mean we’re officially getting a love triangle between Alice, her unnamed girlfriend, and Gemma?
- •I like how the team has made the BELIEVE sign their own, with multiple post-its added to Alice’s “Yes and” concept.
Saloni Gajjar is The A.V. Club‘s TV critic.
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