The fourth season of Ted Lasso is wrapping up this week, with the season finale episode dropping Wednesday on Apple TV. While the 13-time Emmy Award-winning comedy carried over some of the characters from the first three seasons, this restart of the story focused on the titular coach coming back to Richmond to coach the club's new women's team.
Season 4 has a Certified Fresh 89% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and it's primarily because they got fans back to what makes Ted Lasso so great.
From the beginning, Jason Sudeikis and the writers impressed upon the new cast that this wasn't a retread of the men's team. The reboot was special in its own way.
"I think the fact that we kind of all got given the freedom to step into that properly, I think is
why it works," says Jude Mack -- who plays goalie Boots -- in a recent interview with For The Win. "I think we've got all that Ted Lasso hope and joy and warmth, and we're still very much in that world, but they feel distinct and they feel specifically defined rather than vague."
Viewers get to feel present in the locker room with the new team of players and follow along with their journey through discovery, support and eventually, success.
Mack gave credit to the football training process before filming for a lot of that camaraderie among the team that emanates through the screen. "Our job is often turning up on the day, and you're meeting someone there, and then it's like... you've been in love for 10 years," Mack explained. "It's like, okay, great, let me just create all of that history and chemistry, let's just do that in the moment."
"It made our jobs quite easy because we all met and fell in love and were just obsessed with each other and became a real gang of mates."
All 10 episodes of Ted Lasso season 4 are streaming now on Apple TV.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: 'Ted Lasso' goalkeeper reveals why 'freedom' made Season 4 special
