Despite the wise teachings of Ted Lasso‘s sacred yellow and blue sign, when the end credits rolled on Season 3’s divisive finale back in 2023, I refused to “BELIEVE” it was the end of Ted’s (Jason Sudeikis) story.

The unshakable feeling that Apple TV‘s Emmy-winning comedy was incomplete stemmed in part from the fact that those involved were unable to definitively call “So Long, Farewell” a series finale. Though selfishly, I also hoped the comforting cultural phenomenon had more to give. While some thought Ted’s heartwarming journey home was a perfect conclusion, his heartbreaking split from his Richmond family left me unsettled. Fan-favorite storylines like Roy (Brett Goldstein) and Keeley’s (Juno Temple) romance felt unfinished. And Keeley and Rebecca’s (Hannah Waddingham) last-minute Women’s League proposal teased fresh narrative direction. After a three-year hiatus, Ted Lasso is finally back in the game. The first of ten episodes premiered Wednesday, August 5 on Apple TV, and as the show shines a spotlight on the Lady Greyhounds, Season 4 smells like potential.

When we last left Ted, he was back in Kansas City, coaching his son Henry’s (Grant Feely) soccer team, a dream gig he’s since given up to work at a grocery store. Though he’s still spreading joy and doing Employee of the Month-worthy work in Season 4’s premiere, his lack of passion and professional purpose is palpable. So when Rebecca, Keeley, and Higgins (Jeremy Swift) fly into town and ask him to coach AFC Richmond’s new women’s team, the offer is as tempting as it was for the show’s writers to reference honorary Kansas City Queen, Taylor Swift. While Ted selflessly refuses to abandon his family again, his son and ex-wife Michelle (Andrea Anders) sense the London-shaped hole in his heart and decide they could use a change of scenery. A people-pleaser like Ted is hard-pressed to say no, so they move to London together, and he excitedly takes on the new challenge.

Aside from the fact that star players like Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) moved on to other teams, and core characters like Nate (Nick Mohammed) are inexplicably absent from Season 4’s first four episodes, the club feels conveniently frozen in time. Roy and Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) are still managing the men’s team while Rebecca, Keeley, and Higgins work to ensure the women’s team’s success despite disheartening statistics and lack of faith from (male) fans. A new team brings new talent, led by Alice Chilton (Tanya Reynolds), a profoundly passionate, qualified assistant coach who’s understandably skeptical of the chipper mustachioed man hired to do her dream job. The Sex Education star is a standout MVP, brilliantly embodying a socially awkward, strong-willed woman who struggles to keep her guard up as Ted tries to win her over with cheesy jokes and earnest charm. Her straight-faced, no-nonsense approach to the game serves as a unique source of humor, helping anchor the team amidst Ted and Beard’s silly shenanigans. And we get hints that greater depth and personal traumas lie beneath the surface.

The closest thing Season 4 has to Roy and Jamie’s delicious, long-standing Season 1 rivalry is unresolved conflict between Alice and her former teammate Gemma (Abbie Hern), a skilled striker who gave up her professional football career to pursue a law degree. Lizzie (Faye Marsay), a mature single mom balancing her family and her dream like Ted, is the team’s center back. Boots (Jude Mack), the Lady Greyhounds’ fearless, glove-less goalie, brings a hefty ego to the pitch. Twin rivals Niamh (Aisling Sharkey) and Siobhan (Rex Hayes) play defense. And rounding out the roster is a familiar face who sweetly brings the series full circle.

Since the team is so freshly formed, the Lady Greyhounds lack the personal history that helped the men’s dynamics feel so lived-in. As a result, new players feel far less developed than their male counterparts did five episodes into Ted Lasso’s debut season, though the Ted-centric premiere is partially to blame. After such a long hiatus, the bold break from form may frustrate fans eager to return to Richmond, but meeting Ted on his turf (rich with women’s soccer history) and seeing how the sausage is made felt necessary — especially after Season 3 showed several major moments happen off-screen. Season 4 will have to work harder to develop characters and get viewers as invested in interteam dynamics and individual players’ stories as we were in past seasons. I’m eager to learn more about who these women are on — and crucially off — the pitch, because as a wise woman declares in Episode 3, “Life is so much more than football.”

Luckily, Ted Lasso wastes no time establishing the dire importance of women’s sports and stories in a world that fails to appreciate them properly. From its immense streaming success to the cast’s eagerness to return and a deep desire for on-screen stories that chip away at cynicism, there are many reasons why Ted Lasso is making a comeback. Among the most crucial is the chance to celebrate and champion women’s sports, while raising awareness of misogyny and gender gaps that athletes face in the real world. Five episodes in — in ways big and small, serious and lighthearted — writers thoughtfully address underfunding, lack of resources, pay disparities, low media attention, and other cultural biases.

You could fill two Internets with what Ted doesn’t know about coaching a second-division women’s football team, but he doesn’t doubt for a second that women are just as capable and worthy of playing the game as men. That unwavering belief, plus his relentless positivity, empathy, tenacity, and self-acknowledged “deeply ingrained white male privilege” make him an ideal coach and ally — not savior — to an underdog team with so much to prove. Ted may steal the premiere spotlight, but the standout Episode 2 shows how heavily a women’s team can benefit from the Richmond Way and why this iteration of the series is so meaningful.

Ted Lasso’s third season was heavily criticized for uneven pacing, supersized episodes, and confusing narrative choices, so I’m eager to see if Season 4 delivers tighter storytelling. Early episodes ranging from 42 to 48 minutes prove the show isn’t suddenly shooting for half-hour runtimes, which isn’t always a bad thing. And in the romance department, it’s clear Sudeikis isn’t racing to service fans. Beard and Jane (Phoebe Walsh) are still deeply dysfunctional. TedBecca fans will be troubled to learn that Rebecca is still doing long-distance with her Dutch knight in shining armor, Matthijs (Matteo van der Grijn) — though I have doubts the relationship will survive the season. Ted may be getting a love interest of his own, which makes me a bit giddy. And tragically, after three years of mounting sexual tension, TV’s strongest situationship soldiers, Roy and Keeley, are somehow still “just really really good friends.” Their electric chemistry remains the most swoonworthy part of the show, and as a fellow rom-communist, I have faith that they’ll be endgame eventually.

Some Season 4 storylines feel oddly out of character, like Rebecca worrying that she, of all people, isn’t a feminist and an infuriating test of Roy’s interest in Keeley designed to keep them apart. But the show’s quintessential humor and heart are perfectly intact. The jokes still hit, the tears still stream, and I can’t overstate the immense comfort of watching these Emmy-winning stars reprise career-defining roles. Ted’s stache has become an extra limb for Sudeikis, who seamlessly taps into the coach’s upbeat, witty personality and raw emotional complexities without missing a beat. His energy is contagious, and you won’t realize just how much you missed it until your body is buzzing. Waddingham and Temple are as essential and enchanting as ever, even when their characters struggle to stay in control. And every time Roy Kent sexily growls a fresh F-bomb, skin clears, crops flourish, vision corrects, sun shines, and an angel gets its wings. The gruff, gentle-hearted gaffer is in Goldstein’s bones. Had he not valiantly risked rejection by sending creators that self-tape after writing Season 1, we’d all be worse off.

Ted Lasso is cathartic comedy at its finest. It’s a sharp, soothing, silver-lining seeker that holds a mirror up to viewers, challenges us to be better, and serves as a relentless reminder of goodness in the world. Regardless of where Season 4 goes next, it’s unquestionably good to be back. But Roy Kent taught us we can’t settle for fine, so fans deserve a return that makes them feel like they’ve been struck by fucking lightning.

At one point in Season 4, Rebecca says, “This team, if given a chance, can be truly great,” and I agree. The first half of Season 4 confirmed the show has plenty more wisdom, warmth, and laughs to share. But the Lady Greyhounds, Ted Lasso also has a lot to prove in those final five episodes. Only time will tell if Season 4 is victorious. Until then, you’d better BELIEVE I’ll be rooting for it.

New episodes of Ted Lasso Season 4 premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV.