After saying goodbye to Mae, it would have been difficult for the fourth-season finale of Ted Lasso to begin any other way. It is raining in Richmond, the pub is closed, and everyone seems lost without the woman who looked after that community, even when she had to put its regulars in their place. Even the rude men who harassed the players are crying, as are the three supporters who were practically part of the furniture at the Crown & Anchor. Mae was a mother figure to them, and “Being Alive” finds its most moving moments in her absence, while setting in motion the changes that will reshape the club.

There is plenty to resolve: Keeley’s pregnancy, a job offer for Roy, Alice’s future, and Zelda’s threat to Rebecca’s control of Richmond. Some of the solutions confirm exactly what we had been discussing here, particularly the role of Mae’s shares. The attempt to present that outcome as a major twist works less well than the conversation between Ted and Henry, which turns the community’s grief into something deeply personal.

Henry initially worries about the pub’s future and the possibility of having to move. During the tribute to Mae, however, he cannot bear the Irish song performed by the twins and leaves. Ted notices the pain his son is trying to hide and follows him. Their conversation turns to the death of the grandfather Henry never knew, and to the fact that Ted is approaching the age his father was when he died, stirring the boy’s fear of losing his own father, too.

Ted reassures him, but initially leaves unchallenged the version of that death his grandmother had told him. Later, he confesses to Beard that he feels uncomfortable about not having been honest with Henry. His friend tries to comfort him, assuming there must have been a good reason for the lie, but Ted eventually returns to the conversation and tells his son the truth about his father’s suicide. It is one of the finale’s most important moments: he needs to find a way to discuss his pain with Henry without continuing to hide an essential part of the family’s history.

Meanwhile, Keeley is still feeling sick because of her pregnancy, and Roy faces a change that also makes him nauseous. His agent, Derek, keeps calling because Roy has received an offer to coach Chelsea. When he gathers the Diamond Dogs, with Alice joining them, Roy chooses to discuss his fear of not being a good father to the baby and leaves out the job offer. Nate reappears, now a father himself, and receives such a warm welcome that the previous conflicts seem completely behind them. It is strange to see him so happy and settled, as though nothing had happened after everything we watched, even if forgiveness is part of the show’s premise.

Roy ultimately decides to accept Chelsea’s offer, although he will remain at Richmond until the end of the season. Rebecca is furious when he tells her his decision, but their conversation paves the way for his departure. Between fatherhood and the opportunity to lead one of England’s biggest clubs, he faces a future that demands more than the certainty and swear words with which he usually responds to everything.

For Lizzy, the difficulty is more immediate. Her husband fails to keep his promise to look after the children, and she risks missing the most important match of the season. She eventually arrives late, with her children, because that was the only way she could be there. It is a concrete example of the demands of motherhood and a career: her professional commitment depends on support from someone who promises to share the responsibility but fails to show up when needed.

The match gives the Lady Greyhounds the celebration they had been missing. Keeley’s video, using footage of an outraged Rebecca, goes viral, and the players have a packed stadium for the first time. The men’s team turns up to support them; Sam is among the familiar faces we see again, and Shannon gets her opportunity to take center stage on the pitch. Ted thanks them all, reminds them that Mae will be watching from heaven, and asks them to enjoy themselves. The match’s result ultimately becomes secondary: the achievement the episode shows us is those full stands, with the community finally showing up for the team.

Zelda’s resolution is much less convincing. At the shareholders’ meeting, she admits to her scheme, and the earlier references to the scorpion story receive the explanation we were already expecting. Her target was the men’s team and the power to make men listen to her. After feigning outrage over the sale of the shares that threatened Rebecca’s majority, Zelda finally abandons her role as the supportive friend.

Except Rebecca had already spotted the maneuver and was putting on an act herself. The solution comes from Mae, who leaves her 2% stake in Richmond to Rebecca, securing a narrow majority sufficient to preserve control of the club. It was precisely the possibility we had discussed: the shares Mae bought were not part of the story by chance, and she ends up protecting Richmond even after her death. Her other legacy is equally affectionate, as the pub goes to the three supporters she looked after so well.

The problem lies in the weight the episode gives the betrayal. Rebecca forgives Zelda and answers the scorpion fable with another version, in which a woman keeps trying to save it, despite its stings, because helping is part of her nature. That generosity fits the show’s values, but the conflict ends so easily that it drains the threat the season had built. Zelda remains a shareholder, although without the majority needed to control the club. For anyone following the clues, there was no great surprise, and the betrayal ultimately has few consequences.

Rebecca also proposes to her boyfriend, and he accepts, adding another happy resolution to the episode. Jane finds success with her play, while Beard continues to navigate their relationship and his increasingly strange wigs. These resolutions reinforce the show’s desire to settle its characters’ lives, even when some of those stories are less engaging than others.

The decisive change comes at the end. Ted asks Rebecca to appoint Alice Chilton as head coach of the women’s team, and he stays on as her assistant, initially alongside Beard. Roy’s departure might have suggested Ted’s immediate return to the men’s team, but the finale chooses to recognize the woman who had been doing the work and needed to be given the corresponding position. It is a well-constructed conclusion to that relationship, accompanied by the revelation that Alice had deliberately been lowering Ted’s chair to make him fall: the running joke throughout the ten episodes finally gets its explanation.

There is something to appreciate in the way the season revisits its characters. Their appearances emerge within the story, without having to gather everyone at once to prove that nobody has been forgotten. For those who have been watching from the beginning, each return offers the pleasure of recognizing a continuing story, and the men’s team supporting the women is part of that. The season knows it can count on the affection we have already developed for these people.

What was missing was similar attention to the new characters. We reach the end of the ten episodes without a deep understanding of the players’ lives, or even Alice’s. Admittedly, we had three seasons to follow the men, and not all of them received the same development, but there was still more room to understand who they were beyond the pitch. The women’s team needed that investment, especially in a season that made its creation the reason for bringing Ted back. Familiarity with the older characters makes up for some of that gap for fans, but does not resolve it.

It is also striking how sad Ted remains. There is a very clear melancholy about him, even as the stories around him find happy resolutions. His honest conversation with Henry is an important step forward, and they end up closer, remaining in London, but that closeness does not mean Ted is entirely happy there. On some level, it was a downbeat season, despite the insistence on steering almost everyone’s life toward a positive conclusion.

Rebecca keeps Richmond and gets engaged, Roy prepares for his career move and fatherhood, the pub stays with the three friends who have always been part of it, and Alice finally takes charge of the women’s team. These are outcomes that could allow the story to stop here, if that were the choice. Still, there is a sense that Ted has more to experience in this new arrangement, particularly because the vacancy Roy leaves keeps the leadership of the men’s team unresolved. Ted and Beard could return to that side of the club, but the episode does not confirm that path.

The women’s team already has its leadership in place; the big question becomes the future of Richmond’s men’s team. The finale handles that continuity well and leaves room for another season, while retaining an unease that the reunions and happy resolutions cannot erase: Ted has managed to tell his son the truth and recognize Alice’s place, but still seems to need to find his own place in the life he has chosen to keep in London.