Ted Lasso is back with his pleasant surprises:

Pete and Mike have a fun conversation about the latest episode of Ted Lasso.

Ted is back in London, this time to coach the women’s soccer team:

At the start of the episode, Ted wakes up back in London. He meets a few familiar faces on his way back to the A.F.C. Richmond field to start his first day back. But first things first, he has to meet the press for his presser. Of course, the only questions he gets are about the men’s team and his thoughts on where it’s going. He attempts to steer the conversation back to the women’s team, but it does not go that way. We get to see a few familiar faces from the first three seasons in this episode. Roy Kent, Coach Beard, Rebecca, Keeley, and Leslie. We also meet some new people: Coach Alice Chilton, played by Tanya Reynolds, who has a reputation for being a bit prickly- sound familiar? Coach Chilton put a lot of work into organizing binders with information about all the women on the team. Of course, Ted has his own system, but he does read all her work and is impressed.

Coach Chilton, however, has submitted her resignation letter to seek a job where she is wanted. It is mentioned multiple times that her last day will be the upcoming Friday. But that gives Ted a bit of time to show Alice his way of doing things. During their interactions, he would ask about the players: which twin sister was the older one, why the goalie did not wear gloves, and so on. Elsewhere in the stadium, Keeley is working on improving the women’s locker room, and she convinces Rebecca to let her use the visitors’ locker room instead of a pricey renovation. Roy shows Keeley all the psychological tricks in the locker room to get into the visitors’ heads. The benches are not level; some lockers are taller or shorter; hooks are higher; and one set of lockers is right in the middle of the room, making it harder for the players to see the coaches and for the coaches to see the players. Roy fixes all the issues, making Keeley’s job a lot easier. To say the least, Alice was shocked by all the changes Keeley and Ted were making for the team, and there was a split second when we could see she was on the brink of tears. She maintains a hard shell; is this because of something in her past?

Long story short, too late, I know, but Alice is offered the assistant coaching job, and with all she has seen Ted do in this past week, she accepts. Ted knows she is the best candidate, given all she has been doing so far for the team, especially when their lead striker went down with a torn ACL, and Alice went to the hospital with her.

Not all sunshine and rainbows:

While Ted and Alice were working with the team, Leslie was reading over a very thick binder. In short, if the women’s team does poorly, it could affect the men’s team as well. Rebecca hopes Ted will repeat the magic he had with the men’s team. I have a feeling that with Ted being back in London to coach the women’s team, it will bring the fans in to see the matches. Ted and Alice will have their work cut out for them for sure, even more for Rebecca to bring another winning environment to the city.

I am hopeful that this will not be a one-and-done new season. With the writing on the show so good, this new model could work for at least another 3-4 seasons.

Coach Beard:

Yes, Coach Beard is still with Roy, coaching the men’s team. However, he misses Ted so much; in fact, it was giving off stalker vibes, but in a fun way. They met up for a drink at one point in the episode, and it was like watching two ex-lovers discussing who they are with while the Chicago song You’re the Inspiration played in the background. That alone added a level of humor to the scene. It is writing like that that will make this new season entertaining to watch for sure. I thought Coach Beard was the MVP of this episode, especially with how wild his hair and beard were.

Be sure to keep an eye on the website, as we will be covering the new season of Ted Lasso, and check out our other coverage of incredible Apple TV shows.

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