Ted Lasso Season 4 Episode 2 Review: New Coach, New Conflict

Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0

4

Ted is back! Roy is back! We are officially back at AFC Richmond!

As Ted Lasso Season 4 Episode 2 reveals, while some things stay the same… a lot will change, as well.

If Ted Lasso Season 4 Episode 1 was a bit of a slow warm-up lap, then Ted Lasso Season 4 Episode 2 is kicking off the match, giving us a glimpse into the season’s core story.

Ted Lasso has never shied away from nuanced topics, exploring them with its signature blend of folksy, witty humor and emotional vulnerability.

Ted Lasso Season 4 Episode 2 is finally starting to dive into everyone’s efforts to get AFC Richmond’s Lady Greyhounds off the ground.

I’m intrigued to see how they explore the logistical and emotional challenges the characters will overcome in the process.

We also get our first look at some brand-new faces, including new series regular Coach Alice Chilton, played by Sex Education’s Tanya Reynolds.

Coach Chilton is a foil to Ted in almost every way. Brusque and matter-of-fact, Coach Chilton is disliked by Rebecca, Keely, and Higgins, and critiqued as joyless, curt, and hard to work with.

Having served as the assistant coach for the women’s team, she has been passed over for promotion to the new manager role (which, of course, has gone to Ted).

Chilton is, quite understandably, miffed, and tells Rebecca it’s time for her to hand in her resignation. As she’s leaving the office, she asks whether she was ever considered for the head coach role, and Rebecca answers bluntly and honestly, “No.”

But when she asks Rebecca if she considered any woman for the role, Rebecca is quite taken aback, grudgingly admitting that, no — in fact — she didn’t.

The once-over Coach Chilton gives Rebecca in response is so scathing that even I, on the other side of the screen, felt the heat of her ire.

This scene kicks off the two core narrative arcs of the 47-minute installment, both of which work successfully to hook the viewer into the show’s upcoming conflict.

Rebecca feels compelled to confront how she lives out her feminist beliefs as the team’s senior leader, and Coach Chilton must question whether her love for her team and growing belief in Ted’s leadership style are enough to keep her on board.

Much of the episode’s strength lies in Rebecca’s introspective journey, prompted by Coach Chilton’s confrontation.

Rebecca feels deeply challenged by the implication that her actions suggest she may not be as feminist as she believes she is.

The episode chronicles her attempt to reconcile her self-view as a fierce advocate for women with the question of whether she has internalized some of the patriarchal ideals and structures of her male-dominated industry.

She initially meets Coach Chilton’s critique with defensiveness, frustrated that her uphill battle to become team owner and to create the women’s team went unrecognized.

But this also leads her to question whether the definition of “pro-women” is broader than it was when she started her career.

It’s a comedic, slightly awkward, but ultimately genuine attempt at self-reflection throughout the episode, and it’s clearly only the beginning of her journey as leader of the AFC Richmond enterprise.

“What’s your definition of a feminist?” Rebecca, floundering and curious, asks Roy (who is perhaps not the character best suited for a philosophical response to such a question).

This line gets to the core of something I’m hopeful the show can handle with grace and nuance: How do you create a space that truly champions women, and do it right?

And when people approach the success of this women’s team as a common goal, but envision getting to that success in very different ways, how do you reconcile these different perspectives?

What are the challenges — financial, interpersonal, and otherwise — and how will they overcome them?

This is fundamentally an interesting story, and an opportunity for the show to analyze the tensions between some of the girl-boss feminism Rebecca is currently steeped in and the complex work required to make this team a success.

It will call for questioning and challenging many internalized norms in her environment, and will require a lot of collaboration — which won’t always be easy, given the characters’ different viewpoints — to create an environment at Richmond that is as inclusive and supportive of the women as possible.  

Keely’s unabashed vigor and eagerness to do whatever it takes are bound to conflict with Rebecca’s financial pragmatism, and Coach Chilton will inevitably force them to confront their own biases about what constitutes a good leader.

The episode hints that Ted has a lot of learning to do, too.

He is beginning to realize that becoming a coach for this team is not the same as stepping back into his old shoes, and that the way he leads it will need to adapt.

But what’s wonderful about Ted is that perhaps no TV character is quite so open to being wrong, which allows the viewer to learn right alongside him.

Tanya Reynold’s Coach Chilton should be a real bright spot this season (even if her energy is more akin to a storm cloud).

Reynolds nails the dry, sardonic, humorless delivery of her one-liners, providing a perfect contrast to Ted’s relentless optimism.

This opposites-attract chemistry is seamless, and she feels like she fits effortlessly into the cast’s well-worn dynamics.  

While Coach Chilton and Ted may be the most overtly disparate in temperament, it’s Coach Chilton’s dynamic with Rebecca — the undercurrent of animosity, the tension and intimidation each feels toward the other — that may prove most interesting this season.

Coach Chilton quickly softens to Ted’s approach as he recognizes (as he should) all the work she has put into getting to know each of the players on the team and how much love she has for the sport.

She may be cold and brusque, but she cares. Deeply. And that’s something Ted recognizes and knows can’t be replaced.

In a critical moment, he acknowledges her frustration at being passed over for the job, demonstrating that he wants to build a partnership based on respect and, hopefully, mutual growth.

And when Coach Chilton teared up upon seeing the new women’s locker room for the first time, I officially became bought in to learning more about the passion hiding beneath her tough exterior.

Just as Ted says, her story is just getting started — and it looks to be a complex, interesting one at that.

Ted Lasso Season 4 Episode 2 has a few other bright spots: it teases new big personalities on the new team — which I’m excited to see get more screen time — and reminds viewers that Roy and Keely have as much chemistry as ever.

In their first scene together after our three-year hiatus (and apparently, it’s also the first time these characters have been alone together, too), the tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

When Roy asks Keely for advice on whether he should let Beard go from the men’s team to rejoin Ted, Keely replies: “I think keeping two people apart that belong together is bad, not just for them, but for everybody.”

I chose to read that line as a meta reference hinting that the writers know keeping the two apart made little sense, and they’re taking the chance to fix that mistake.

One thing Ted Lasso Season 4 Episode 2 makes clear is that each character’s personal journey will not always be clean and easy.

If there’s a story to be told after resurrecting Ted Lasso from its metaphorical bed, it’s this: the work and the self-discovery are never done.

Every character has growing and learning left to do — about themselves and from each other.

And hopefully it’s a journey that teaches us more about ourselves: how we, as individuals, show up and create inclusive, equitable spaces as well.

So Ted Lasso fanatics, what did you think of Ted Lasso Season 4 Episode 2? Are you excited to see more of Coach Chilton’s character?

Let us know all of your thoughts in the comments!