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Season four of Ted Lasso has struggled to find consistent footing, and the uneven storytelling keeps pulling the show further from its original identity as an uplifting, warm-hearted sports comedy. What’s aired instead feels shallower, less funny, and less emotionally resonant, leaning on worn-out plot devices (the ongoing Roy/Keeley saga) and overplaying its comedic hand (Tracey Ullman’s Zelda). Bill Lawrence’s departure ahead of season three may well be the root cause of this decline. Familiar characters no longer feel true to themselves (Rebecca, Keeley, and Roy included), get pushed to the margins (Higgins), or are handled poorly (Beard, unfortunately).
Still, episode six, “Don’t Jump Around Much Anymore,” penned by Dylan Marron, manages to recapture some of the show’s former spark thanks to a returning face. Jamie Tartt is back, and his presence energizes the episode considerably.
Jamie Tartt’s Big Return
Jamie turns up at the launch party for his own vodka brand. Roy, Keeley, and Rebecca show up too, with Roy hoping to catch Jamie making a fool of himself — and Jamie obliges.
He admits that he misses his friends, particularly Roy, while living in Barcelona, and keeps the quips coming throughout. Having already established himself as a standout performer by the end of season three, Phil Dunster once again dominates the episode simply by leaning into Jamie’s brash confidence. His return restores some of the warmth and humor Ted Lasso has been missing.
A standout moment arrives when Roy, forgetting his injured knee, joins Jamie in wildly dancing to House Of Pain’s “Jump Around” — and ends up back in the hospital as a result. It’s baffling that he still hasn’t learned his lesson.
Roy, Keeley, and the Mess Between Them
The endless will-they/won’t-they between Roy and Keeley continues to serve no one, least of all the show itself, and frankly it’s become exhausting. Three years post-breakup, and the two still haven’t had an honest, private conversation about what went wrong between them.
Roy has remained hung up on her, while Keeley has thrown herself into work and encouraged him to date other people rather than hold out for her. Her comment to Rebecca that spending New Year’s Eve with Roy or not doesn’t matter feels hollow — she hasn’t shared that holiday with him in ages, so the claim rings false.
When Roy ends up in the hospital, Keeley, Rebecca, and Jamie are introduced to his girlfriend, Dr. Erin, played by Laura Haddock — a painful moment for Keeley, given that she’s the one who pushed Roy toward dating again. Yet her reaction, floating the idea to Rebecca and Jamie of reporting the doctor, feels like a jarring departure from who Keeley is.
The episode also leans on a well-worn trope: Keeley overhears a sedated Roy mumble “I love you,” then walks off before he can finish with her name. It’s a messy, frustrating beat.
The Zelda Problem
Elsewhere, Tracey Ullman’s Zelda throws an over-the-top New Year’s Eve bash on a boat for the Lady Greyhounds, who spend the night dressed up, dancing, drinking, and snacking on lavish food. Over the course of the episode, Zelda morphs from a potential team benefactor and Keeley’s ally into an unpredictable loose cannon.
She shouts toward Tony Blair, “You little war criminal, come and give me a kiss,” and name-drops Prince Andrew as another guest at the party. After firing a gun into the air following her speech, the gathering spirals into a masked, Eyes Wide Shut-style scene that sends Higgins and his wife fleeing.
While the bonding among the women had value, it came wrapped in Zelda’s increasingly absurd behavior and yet another mishandled storyline for Beard. He misreads a friendly night with a younger woman — Zelda’s Botox technician, Claudine — as a sign she wants to kiss him, only to learn she thinks he’s too old. He really can’t catch a break.
Alice Finds Her Way
Alice provides one of the episode’s better threads. Despite being suspended, she works up the nerve to attend Zelda’s party, battling insecurity over her outfit, her difficulty making small talk, and the sense that the Lady Greyhounds don’t care for her.
She pushes through anyway and has a moment with Gemma, who reassures her that the team doesn’t dislike her — they simply don’t know how to read her yet, since she’s far less transparent than Ted. Hopefully this nudges Alice toward opening up rather than resenting Gemma for sharing their talk with the rest of the team.
The episode also introduces Alice’s girlfriend, though she’s never given a name on-screen — the subtitles simply label her “[partner],” which feels like an unfortunate oversight.
The Show’s Deeper Problem
Ted Lasso has typically kept its biggest emotional conversations off-screen, a choice that made season three feel sluggish and uneven. Now, though, we’re watching two otherwise sensible characters behave in ways that strain credulity. Love making people act foolishly isn’t inherently a flaw — the show has always mined that. The real problem is that Roy and Keeley have handled conflict with maturity before, like in season one, when Keeley came clean about sleeping with Jamie simply because Roy was slow to make a move. He took it in stride, and the two moved forward together. Their charm always came from facing problems as a team, not manufacturing new ones.
Jamie, we missed you too.
KEY FACTS BOX:
– Episode: “Don’t Jump Around Much Anymore”
– Written by: Dylan Marron
– Cast highlights: Phil Dunster as Jamie Tartt, Laura Haddock as Dr. Erin
– Notable song: House Of Pain’s “Jump Around”
– Setting: New Year’s Eve
Source: avclub.com