Ladies, gentlemen, soccer fans of all ages—the pun-wielding, beloved, mustachioed Ted Lasso has returned. After a three-year hiatus (one that was initially meant to be permanent), the award-winning comedy is back for a once-impossible season four, the first episode of which is available now on Apple TV. (Subsequent episodes will follow every Wednesday until a finale on Oct. 7.)As a reminder, season 3 ended with our hero’s emotional return to Missouri, where he reunited with his young son, Henry. After successfully elevating the once-derelict AFC Richmond to new heights and transforming the lives of those around him in the process, Ted had, at the time, declared his work across the pond done. Fashionista and entrepreneur Keeley Jones, meanwhile, rounded out her arc by proposing a women’s squad to reformed Richmond owner Rebecca Welton, and ex-team captain Roy Kent, a once emotionless, soon-to-be-washed-up footballer, became coach of the men’s squad. In the first episode back, which takes place years after Ted’s U.K. departure, viewers are treated to an update on the majority of these characters, who show up in Kansas City to woo Coach Lasso on a new job opportunity abroad. For a full recap and review, keep reading below:'Ted Lasso' S4E1 recapConsidering the circumstances under which S3 concluded, the first episode of S4 is all about setup. Ted was resolute in his decision to return home to the States—the premiere, therefore, works to deconstruct this choice and introduce a bit of doubt into the narratives around our hero. We get a bit of that at the start of the episode, which opens with Ted working as a cashier in a grocery store, as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as ever. While walking through the aisles, he runs into a former football player, at which point Ted reveals that he is working part-time at the store while “making up for lost time” with his son. Although she is kind about it, the player’s wife is nonetheless confused—the man her husband calls the greatest role model in his life works ... in food service? Already, the tension between Lasso's potential and his circumstances is building. Shortly after, Ted is called to leave work early and meet his ex-wife, Michelle, at Henry’s school. The problem at hand turns out to be a non-issue (the principal simply failed to recognize what were Public Enemy lyrics written in Henry’s notebook), but the seeds of doubt are planted again when Ted catches a glimpse of kids playing soccer outside the building. He looks on distractedly (and longingly), before driving home to his house on an idyllic suburban street.There, waiting for him in a big black car, are Rebecca, Keeley, and Rebecca’s somewhat-bumbling personal assistant, Leslie Higgins, who makes a showstopping entrance in sneakers and tall socks—one of the episode's great laughs.Over K.C. barbeque, the quartet fills one another in on their last couple of years. Ted says he’s back home and “loving life.” Keeley shares a few updates on the women’s team—she has designed new uniforms and landed a sponsorship—and notes that she and ex-boyfriend Roy are “really, really good friends” (though we get the sense it is actually more complicated than that). Rebecca says that she and Matthijs—the handsome Dutch man with whom she shared a kiss or two in S3—are in their “honeymoon period," which viewers should take to mean they are now dating. And Higgins just got heated flooring in his bathroom. Classic Higgins.Of course, none of this explains why the three of them are in town. Keeley attempts to dismiss the visit as an info-gathering trip around the NWSL’s K.C. Current, but Coach Lasso is understandably dubious—of all the gin joints, these three chose to patronize the one in Missouri? Rebecca, sensing his understanding, then levels with him; she reveals that she would like Ted to coach Richmond's ladies’ team, and Ted asks to sleep on it.The next day, Coach Lasso attends a garage sale at his childhood home. By this point, he has already informed Henry that he has been offered another job in England, and emphasized that he will not be taking it. But as the coach works to help his mother, he is briefly overcome with emotion at his lack of emotion surrounding his career. He presses his mom on why she—nor anyone, for that matter—never asks him about his job. She replies: “If you don’t care about it, why should I?” The tension builds.Later that evening, Ted stands on the tarmac and bids Rebecca, Keeley and Higgins goodbye. With an air of regret, he tells his former boss that he can’t take the gig in Richmond, and must stay home. Rebecca then hands Ted a small box, and utters the central thesis of the episode: “Sometimes, home is just a state of mind.”Back at his house, a pensive-looking Ted steps into his office, holding a cup of tea. (Rebecca’s gift, he learned, was a single tea bag, with the note: “Ted, Let It Steep.”) With an air of reflection, the mustachioed man looks around the room, which is covered in AFC Richmond memorabilia: a newspaper clipping written by Trent Crimm; a soccer pitch built from LEGOs; a framed photo of him and Nathan Shelley. Overcome, he pulls out his phone and texts Michelle: “What if we all moved to London?”The reply that comes through is actually Henry—the boy took his mom’s phone, which is a joke that harkens back to earlier in the episode—but he says that both he and Michelle believe “a change of scenery would be nice."Ted softly smiles, then takes a sip of his tea. As expected, he spits it out in disgust.'Ted Lasso' S4E1 reviewNostalgia is everywhere these days. Nothing is new; everything is rebooted, reworked or resurrected. In some instances, this strategy proves a success—take The Devil Wears Prada 2, for example, which climbed to over $650 million worldwide 20 years after the source material first debuted. For others, however, the attempt at capturing what once was results in a downright flop.The concern with reviving Ted Lasso for another season was that the story had run its course. Co-creator Jason Sudeikis had said initially that he envisioned the show on a three-season arc, which meant that adding a fourth, however badly die-hard fans might have wanted it, ran the risk of poisoning the series’s legacy. A show is only as good as its final episode, and for all of S3’s shortcomings, the finale stuck the landing; would it be worth it to undo that hard-won victory for, what, a payday? Another award? Something to do?It’s too early to know whether S4 will be the return-to-form audiences are anticipating, but the first episode certainly bodes well in that regard. The long-awaited premiere was every bit as warm, affecting and lighthearted a watch as you remember, with the same relentlessly upbeat humor and pop culture-y sensibilities that made the series’s initial installment so beloved. Indeed, you get the sense that Ted is as easy a character for Sudeikis to slip into as he would a worn pair of jeans—that is to say, comfortably, and without much effort at all. 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