u/AdMonarch

My therapist other half noted that based on what we learned in Season 4 it appears that Michelle was the one in the marriage who was doing much of the work to keep Ted together emotionally. Due to his trauma and issues, Ted bends over backwards to be a surrogate father and all-round positivity spreader to everyone in his circle but he isn't always honest with others about what's going on with emotionally and psychologically. He is amazing at dealing with/helping people who are not immediate family but not so great at dealing with /supporting those closest to him (see Ted's complicated relationship with his mother). Michelle was the one writing the messages and signs to encourage Ted emotionally and build up his self esteem during his college coaching years. But what was Ted doing to support Michelle? It seems like he was offering her jokes and positive sayings and fun encouragement but not necessarily seeing or validating her feelings of sadness and unhappiness. That's not a healthy relationship situation. The fact that Ted realizes at the end of Season 4 that he needs to spend more quality, emotionally-deeper time with Henry (ie not just being there physically or just doing fun things) is a huge sign of growth on Ted's part.

Remember the scene where Ted says he can't help Henry with his math homework? Just work on the assumption that Jason Sudeikis, Brendan Hunt and Brett Goldstein are artsy fartsy comedians who can't do math and don't worry about the numbers not adding up - because they don't.

Zelda is angry at the patriarchy (specifically her ex who stole her invention and got rich on it and her saying "never underestimate the power of anger as fuel.), but she also has internalized misogyny. She stole her roommate's identity, she belittles Keeley, she ignores Alice, she's ready to drop Gemma once she's injured. She's just wants to be the one "Queen Bee" woman who succeeds - Rebecca is just in the way. And Rebecca and Keeley aren't being fuelled by anger and I think Zelda is angry at that too.

Two scenes - the walk to school one and the little one young girls make the kits one.

Tracey Ullman is 66 and about 20 years older than the actor who plays Mattijs - she's way too old to be the mother of a 10 year old. Plus the Zelka's mother is supposed to be tall like Rebecca. Anyway, I suspect that Zelda won't be back next season, except for possibly a cameo. Someone like Zelda would get quite bored being a minority shareholder - she'll sell her stake in Richmond to fund her next big scheme.

I think they didn't include Sassy in this season because they wanted to focus on Keeley and Rebecca birthing the women's team as co-mothers of the project, as well as show that the two women have a platonic bond that's equally as important to them as the bonds they have with their male life partners. I also think it made the "Ted is finally ready to start dating again" storyline a little easier. Sassy is a great character but she's not the right fit for Ted in terms of being in a longterm relationship. He needs someone like the stage manager or Roy's sister - someone who is warm and nurturing with a sense of humour but not as sarcastic and biting as Sassy.

I do hope they bring Sassy and Nora back in season 5, however.

As I said in another thread, Ted made a career choice that many working mothers make all of the time - choosing a lesser position that allows a better work/family balance - it's wonderful seeing this role reversal for a change. Instead of being a substitute father to the guys on the men's team because he needs to overcompensate for his personal turmoil, Ted has done enough work on himself that he is finally able to fully commit to be the kind father that Henry needs him to be. A father who is proud of his work as an assistant coach of a women's football and one is also willing to give up some things for the sake of quality time with his son (but not at the expensive of everything as Ted did in Kansas). Ted is showing his son that men can take different paths than those that society usually expects. Plus as assistant manager, Ted can concentrate on the aspects of coaching he does best and let Alice and Beard shine at what they do best.

Ted is also making a career choice that many mothers make - choosing a lesser position that allows a better work/family balance. It’s great to see a piece of media portraying a man doing this. Plus I’m looking forward to the potential comedy arising next season when Alice starts making her underling Ted do things out of his comfort zone.

Ted Lasso is a rom com/warmedy/comedy-drama that exists in a mythical fantasy sports universe. The whole premise of the show is over the top - it's based off of commercials created by sketch comedians who love rom coms, musicals and countless pop culture references.

Remember, Elaine Pinter only mentioned two parts of Mae's estate that were relevant to the people in the meeting room - the Crown and Anchor and her shares in Richmond. I'm going to guess that Mae owned multiple properties and invested her money wisely with Pinter and Sons over the years. Aside from the billionaires, the show tends to underplay many of the characters' actual wealth. Ted has probably been earning millions of pounds as a Premier League coach but he lives like a guy who earns a regular Joe salary.

Also, the show exists in an alternate fantasy sports universe where an American football coach can become a Premier League manager, a kitman can become an assistant Premier League manager and a gay Premier League player can kiss his boyfriend on the field without any homophobic backlash.

Mae owned the building and was also likely raking it in as a landlord. Ted’s rent is probably a lot even if Mae was giving him a deal.

The first 3 seasons of the show were partially about fatherhood, positive male role models and positive versions of masculinity. So motherhood themes are an integral part of this season's feminist and women's issue themes and the logical mirror of the first 3 seasons. And the mothering themes includes figurative mothers like Rebecca and Mae. Motherhood is a huge issue in women's sports - some women's sports leagues are now incorporating childcare/funds for caregivers into the professional contracts so the athletes can travel with their children. Next season we're likely getting Roy as a stay at home Dad while Keeley continues her career and I'm looking forward to that (provided it's done well).

That conversation between Rebecca and her mother is definitely signalling something but I tend to think it's the "monsters" comment that's important. Also Zelda is likely in between Rebecca and her mother in age (Tracey Ullman is 66, Harriet Walter is 75 and Hannah Waddington is 52). So Rebecca's mother is 2nd wave feminism era (but obviously not a feminist!). Zelda is sort of a bridge age between 2nd and 3rd wave feminism and as a punk rocker is sort of a precursor to riot grrrr feminism. Rebecca is 3rd wave feminism age - although she doesn't really represent it. All 3 of them represent a lot of the contradictions of the various eras of feminism (as does Keeley).

Soccer is now the number one rec sport for kids in Canada because hockey is too expensive.

For all we know the various women's teams that Zelda owns also have male coaches. Most of the women's football teams in the UK have male coaches. Male coaches are pretty common in most women's sports although that's starting to change. It seems weird to me that she'd be angry at Rebecca for hiring Ted when she's likely done the same thing. Plus Zelda acted like Alice didn't even exist.

Interesting theory - Chechov's Vanity Fair?

Zelda obviously doesn’t like other women and I think that Rebecca’s mother’s line about women being monsters is going to come into play. Sure, Zelda hates men but she also seems to use and discard women. She badmouths Keeley, she ignores Alice and is only nice to Rebecca and Gemma because she wants something from them. I think Zelda is angry at the world and wants to be the only woman on top - a woman that monstrous men admire. Zelda seems to connect better with the type of men who wronged her, instead women who might have been similarly wronged. That said, I’m assuming that Zelda is somewhere in between Rebecca’s and Rebecca’s mother’s age. Maybe Zelda was one of Rebecca’s father’s mistresses? Or maybe she’s had a history with Rebecca’s mother?

While she’s not there yet, part of Alice’s journey appears to about her learning how to be the “mother” for the women’s team, similar to how Ted was a father figure to the men’s team. Presumably, once she’s fully mastered the Lasso Way (and adapted it to best address the needs of women players), she can pass on life lessons to the women’s team members that can be passed on to future generations of women footballers.

Tracey Ullman is 66 and over 20 years older than the actor who play Matthijs. Even is Zelda is supposed to be a a few years younger than Tracey is, she’s too old to be Yelka’s mother. And if Matthijs had been married to a billionaire, why would he be living on a houseboat and working full-time? He’d have gotten a huge divorce settlement, and if he still wanted to work, he’d likely be a pilot on a private jet or run his own company or just pilot for KLM once in a while like the actual Dutch King used to do.

Even if Zelda's company wasn't involved in the Higgins report, Zelda would have known for some time that AFC Richmond was forming a women's team. Zelda might just have wanted an opportunity to swoop in and take over the club after others had put in the work developing the women's side, so she could just get the glory. And part of that glory is being the one and only woman owner of a women's football team in England.

Maybe the Frog and the Scorpion fable is the clue? Perhaps it’s in Zelda’s nature to do whatever needs to be done for her to remain the one Queen Bee powerful woman in the sporting world? There can only be one and Rebecca is in the way.

To quote Roy Kent, "I think she's hilarious."

It seems to me that aside from Alice and the on again/off again couple, there appear to be several queer-coded characters on the women's team which is completely in keeping with women's football. And the cast includes out LGBTQ actors - Faye Marsay is an out bisexual. Rex Hayes is nonbinary and I presume Jude Mack is too, as they use they/their pronouns. The character of Boots might even be a tribute to real life Canadian nonbinary footballer Quinn) - the first out nonbinary player to be in the Olympics. Keeley is canonically bisexual and that doesn't change just because she's in a relationship with Roy. For a TV show is isn't specifically meant to be a queer show like Heated Rivalry or the new beer league softball comedy Slo Pitch, Ted Lasso is better than many shows in terms of queer LGBTQ. I imagine we might some more queer relationships among the women's team in the next season. But then, of course, some people will complain about too many relationship stories.

That's how the old newspaper personal ads worked - just words on the page. And then later the 1990s voicemail personal ads just had voice recordings. So Bantr is just a 21st century version for the smart phone age.

In the early 80s, Tracey Ullman recorded a great cover of the late Kirsty MacColl's They Don't Know. The video features a cameo of Paul McCartney. It's kind of too bad we didn't get a scenes of Zelda singing one of her punk rock hits. And yes, Ullman has been a major pop culture figure for a long time and there'd be no Simpsons without her. People do seem to either love her or hate her, however.