Ted Lasso Season 4: Can the Magic Survive Repetition?

Ted Lasso is back on Apple TV, and the first thing you notice is how comfortably familiar it feels. The show that turned optimism into a cultural touchstone returns with a fourth season that pairs the same warm-hearted playbook with a cast of new faces. Familiarity can be a strength. It can also be a trap. Which is this season’s fate?

Apple TV’s soccer dramedy once vaulted the platform into the cultural conversation, winning critics and audiences with its mix of sincerity, awkward humor, and surprisingly sharp emotional hits. Season four doesn’t reinvent the wheel. Instead, it hands Ted a new locker room and asks whether the series’ proven formula can still spark the same goodwill—and drama—when the opponents and stakes shift.

Critical reception and scores

Early reactions have been mixed but mostly positive. On Rotten Tomatoes, season four has drawn 72 reviews and sits at an 89% critics’ score. Metacritic’s compilation, based on 29 reviews, rates the season at 62 out of 100. Those numbers tell the story of a show that many critics appreciate, even as others question whether the show’s mojo has been stretched.

Screen Rant (80/100) praises the new season for carrying over the charm that made viewers fall in love with Ted. “It still has that appeal,” the review argues, and that appeal goes a long way. RogerEbert.com (80/100) sees the season as a welcome return, noting that the series keeps centering empathy—not as naive platitude, but as everyday choices that shape lives. The critic calls the season an unnecessary follow-up that nonetheless pleases.

Several reviews land in the middle. Collider (70/100) points out that not all new storylines land with the same emotional weight, and that some members of the Lady Greyhounds squad can feel defined more by their problems than by full identities—though standout performances, like Reynolds, still shine. IGN (70/100) calls the opening hopeful, but hedges on whether this season fully recaptures the old spark.

More critical voices worry the series is retreading familiar ground. The Guardian (60/100) says the show leans on its comforting relationships rather than letting the new team feel fully autonomous. Variety (60/100) describes season four as a routine sequel to what came before. IndieWire (50/100) argues the show sometimes slips back into its safe, optimistic blueprint—an endlessly smiling coach trying to instill belief in players who have every reason to doubt him.

At the lower end, The Hollywood Reporter (40/100) calls the new season surprisingly hollow despite good intentions, suggesting Richmond’s storylines may have run their course. Empire (40/100) is blunt: the magic feels tapped out, and nostalgia props up moments that once felt vital.

Bottom line: this season proves Ted Lasso’s core warmth hasn’t vanished, even if the show occasionally leans on that warmth as a crutch.

So what should viewers expect? Fresh faces and familiar beats. Moments that still land hard. Moments that miss. The question now isn’t whether Ted can be kind—he always will—but whether the series can surprise us again without losing the qualities that made viewers care in the first place. Tune in, and judge for yourself.