'Ted Lasso' finally starts to do right by the Lady Greyhounds

In its first four minutes, Ted Lasso Season 4, episode 7 addresses my biggest complaint with the season: It finally prioritizes the lives of the Lady Greyhounds.

For the entire season, Richmond's women's team have operated more as a mob than as a crew of individuals. They've attended parties and pub trivia together, they've practiced and played games together, and they've heard their fair share of Ted (Jason Sudeikis) pep talks together. But, with the exceptions of Coach Alice (Tanya Reynolds) and striker Gemma (Abbie Hern), we've barely gotten to see who they are by themselves, off the pitch.

That all changes at the top of episode 7, titled "Yes & Baby," which details the many struggles the Lady Greyhounds are facing in their personal lives. Lizzie's (Faye Marsay) flaky ex has bailed on his promise to take one of their sons to school and watch the other, leaving her to juggle getting to practice and caring for them. Twins Siobhan (Rex Hayes) and Niamh (Aisling Sharkey) are facing a steep rent increase, Boots (Jude Mack) can't fix her car, and Shannon (Shannon Hayes) has a side job as a food delivery courier.

It's clear that their careers as second-division pro footballers aren't financially life-changing. Nor does anyone in their orbits seem to care about their achievements. Gemma's law professor dismisses her Richmond career as just a "football thing."

It's a welcome change to see Ted Lasso wrestling with the tougher realities its female players are facing, especially in contrast with the men of its first three seasons. No luxurious bachelorette pads or high-level endorsements await the Lady Greyhounds as Richmond works to get the team off the ground.

While the rest of the episode primarily focuses on Ted Lasso's main ensemble, it still makes much more room for the Lady Greyhounds than it has in the past. We actually get to see more of their dynamic in practice scenes, which have usually been reserved for Ted, Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt), and Alice to chat. Now, as Alice tries to say "yes, and" more, Ted Lasso begins to build a new, more open dynamic between her and the players, one that lets multiple members of the ensemble shine. (Shout out to Mady (Annelise Heywood) for wanting to play blindfolded to "sense" the ball, a gag that I wish Ted Lasso could have followed through on onscreen.)

"Yes & Baby"'s refreshing focus on the Lady Greyhounds culminates in their final locker room scene, when they question the new "Believe" sign. Like much of Ted Lasso, it's a bit on the nose, but then again, why should the women's team just get the men's team's hand-me-downs? And what good is just believing in the face of not being able to pay rent? Alice's amendment of the sign — changing it to "believe and win" — speaks to the fire and drive of every member of the team.

Each of these scenes is a welcome and necessary step toward getting to know the Lady Greyhounds better, both as individuals and as a team. But is it too little, too late? Why, seven episodes in, are we only just really getting to know the team that Ted Lasso came back to London to coach?

The answer is that in attempting a soft series relaunch, Ted Lasso has had a tough time balancing its older characters with the entire team it created to justify bringing the show back in the first place. Episode 7 shows promising signs of finally being able to strike that balance (at the continued sacrifice of the 30-minute episodes I've yearned for since Season 2). However, with three episodes left, the jury's still out on whether Ted Lasso can stick the landing and do justice to the Lady Greyhounds.

New episodes of Ted Lasso premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV.

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