I Watched the 'Ted Lasso' Premiere — Here Are 5 Questions That Need to Be Answered This Season

SPOILER ALERT! The following contains full details of the Season 4 premiere of Ted Lasso, “Home,” now available on Apple TV. Please don’t read further if you don’t intend to know everything that has happened so far.

Ted Lasso is heading back to England…next week!

After a lengthy three-year hiatus, the Emmy-winning sports comedy finally set foot back on the proverbial pitch. And, while fans were treated to a healthy dose of the familiar, including the return of fan-favorites Ted (Jason Sudeikis), Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) and Keeley (Juno Temple), the Season 4 premiere also veered into the unconventional. For one, we stayed stateside, as the episode was entirely set in Kansas, with Ted having transitioned from being the heralded coach of AFC Richmond to a part-time grocery store manager/full-time dad. But it wasn’t long before the call came from across the pond, as Ted and his family would be moving back to the U.K. for him to coach the fledgling women’s team. After all, as much as he may deny it, football is life.

Assumingly, next week will throw Ted — and us — right back into the fray, as he attempts to coach another team from the brink of obscurity to mainstream success. But after watching the premiere, we certainly had some questions about how the rest of Season 4 may look. And, if they’re not answered in the next nine weeks, we’ll have to give this show’s return a red card.

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How long can the Richmond women’s team last?

Listening to Rebecca, Keeley, and Higgins (Jeremy Swift) pitch Ted on coaching the AFC Richmond women’s team, you’d be remiss not to feel a sense of deja vu. Granted, he was first brought overseas initially as an attempt for Rebecca to sink her newly-acquired team, while this gesture seems to be much more sincere. But the concept sounds remarkably familiar, as we are yet again watching Ted head across the pond to lead a ragtag group of footballers to a promising season.

It should be noted, however, that Season 1 was not actually a storybook ending for the men’s team. Certainly, the team made some improvements from the doldrums it previously resided in, hitting some highs and lows over the course of the season. But, after losing to Manchester City, they are actually relegated out of the Premier League. Of course, the team’s misery is only temporary, as over the course of two seasons, they not only make their way back into the league, but wind up one game away from winning the championship.

Given the inspirational tone Ted Lasso has taken on in its latter episode, it would be a shocker if Season 4 didn’t end with some form of victory for the women’s team. But the question remains: How realistically could a brand-new team do in its debut season? And, perhaps more importantly, even if its successful on the pitch, does that matter? Higgins provides the grim news to Rebecca while in the U.S. that a women’s team has gone under due to lack of interest. As passionate as the Richmond fanbase has gotten over the years, getting them to care about the new group is a horse of a different color.

Is Rebecca’s relationship made to last? And could Ted find love?

Fervent shippers of Ted and Rebecca had their hopes dashed in the Season 3 finale. After a very brief red herring, the speculation that the two would get together is promptly dead and buried. In fact, Rebecca capped the show’s initial run by encounting Matthijs (Matteo van der Grijn), a Dutchman she had a chance dalliance with while in Amsterdam.

In the premiere, Rebecca says the two are going strong, having apparently been in a long-distance relationship for the past few years. Indeed, we find the two of them FaceTiming, and it seems like their chemistry is still palpable. But will Matthijs simply exist on a screen all season long? Could the show challenge a long-distance relationship by putting something — or someone — right in front of Rebecca’s face? Season 4 will either need to do some heavy lifting building out the Rebecca-Matthijs dynamic, or a new partner could be afoot.

And not for nothing, could Season 4 see Ted finding love? With his marriage apart in Seson 1, he did entertain a brief thing with Rebecca’s friend Sassy (Ellie Taylor). But, outside of that, the show really hasn’t made an effort to give Ted a romantic interest. When we see him and Michelle (Andrea Anders) in the premiere, the two seem completely copacetic, with her even eager to move to England with Henry (Grant Feely) to co-parent their son. So, after spending years getting in a good space with his ex, this could be the time for Ted to finally find his match.

Related: ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 4 Is Coming: The Shocking Season 3 Twists You Need to Remember

Are we headed for a Roy and Keeley endgame?

Even though he’s allegedly, here, there and everyf—kingwhere, the Season 4 premiere had a surprising lack of Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein). The final moments of Season 3 had the grumpy ex-footballer become the new manager of AFC Richmond in Ted’s absence, allowing him to fully embrace the team that made him who he was. Perhaps most surprising, however, is the person he had not embraced by season’s end: Keeley.

The two were the perfect “will they/won’t they” of Season 1. On paper, they’re complete opposites, him a cursing curmudgeon and her an excitable fashionista. But, somehow, the two were just able to work. At least, for a little while. After formally becoming a couple throughout Season 2, we found out in the beginning of Season 3 that the two had split, crediting it to their increasingly busy schedules.

The finale did address the Roy/Keeley dynamic briefly, albeit by bringing in a long-forgotten third member of the love triangle in Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster). Believing that Keeley had gotten back together with her ex, Roy confronted his longtime rival, leading to a fight between the two and a plea with Keeley to choose between them. And, reminding us of the feminism that will drive her to make the Richmond women’s team, she rebuffs them both, arguing she’s not a thing to fight over.

Quite frankly, the ending to that storyline stunk. In an episode full of satisfactory resolutions for the characters, it felt like a disservice to both Roy and Keeley to end their up-and-down dynamic on such a dour note. Luckily, Sudeikis and company will get another bite of the apple in Season 4. And, with Jamie out of the picture for the season, it would be difficult not to imagine that we’ll see a reconciliation between the two, albeit with many episodes of teasing the various missed connections between the two. And speaking of Jamie…

What happened to Jamie — and the rest of the Richmond players?

One of the final moments of the Season 4 premiere saw Ted ruminating over all of his Richmond keepsakes. And, in a particularly interesting close-up, we see a rather interesting news piece written by none other than Trent Crimm (assumingly in The Independent). In the glances we get, it seems that, in the years between seasons, Jamie has left England behind, apparently off to some Spanish-speaking country.

Right now, the identity of Tartt’s new team is unknown (knowing popular teams in Spain, our money’s on either Real Madrid or FC Barcelona). But it’s clear, barring a drive-by appearance or two, we won’t be seeing much of Dunster in Season 4. Which begs the question: How much will we see of any of the men players? We already saw in the Season 3 finale that Sam (Toheeb Jimoh) left Richmond to join the Nigerian national team. But what about the other footballers we got to know over the first few seasons, like Isaac (Kola Bokinni), Colin (Billy Harris), and Dani Rojas (Cristo Fernández)? While the men and women both play on the same pitch, depending on how singular the focus of Season 4 is, there’s a chance the Richmond players we know and love may not be back.

What cameos will we see in Ted Lasso Season 4?

On that note, there are actually plenty of cast members who were not announced to be returning in Season 4 — at least not in a full-time capacity. Besides Jamie, the biggest omission from the main cast is definitely Nate (Nick Mohammad). Granted, the character had far from the best arc on the series, going from meek kitman to backstabbing rival assistant coach to regretful returning assistant coach. Still, Nate ends Season 3 on staff with Roy and Beard (Brendan Hunt), both of whom have been announced to be in the main cast this season. Did Nate choose to explore other passions, despite his clear talent for playcalling? God forbid, did he betray Richmond yet again and sign onto another rival team?

And what about some of the other team-adjacent characters from the first three seasons. Dr. Sharon Fieldstone was hired by Richmond full-time as their resident of mental health, and was even seeing Roy for regular sessions. But Sarah Niles is not listed as a part of the main cast. Considering how Season 4 will take place at the Richmond facility, wouldn’t it make sense for Fieldstone to still be around? Has Trent Crimm (James Lance) truly left the team behind after penning a successful book about them? Or has Rebecca’s decision to give 41% of the team’s ownership to the fans renewed his interest? While not all of the main cast is back, hopefully we’ll get at least a couple of peeks at these people who were so essential to the show’s initial run.

Related: ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 4 Must Fix Season 3’s Biggest Problem