This episode contains spoilers for “Ted Lasso” Season 4, Episode 9, “Mae Rides the Bus.”
When character actor Anthony Head died earlier this year, it was only natural to assume that a tribute to him would appear in the new season of “Ted Lasso.” The actor had worked consistently since the 1970s, appearing in tons of TV series and making a special mark in shows like “Merlin” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” but “Ted Lasso” brought him some additional popularity late in his career. He played Rupert Mannion, Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham)’s vindictive ex-husband and the sneering, calculating villain of the first three seasons. Head seemingly relished the opportunity to portray an ultra-rich baddie with few (if any) redeeming qualities; there was an effortlessness to Rupert’s villainy that made it seem as if he was simply rotten to the core. Rupert is the type of character viewers love to hate — the kind of guy who’d buy a rival football club and hire an AFC Richmond assistant coach just to spite his ex-wife.
But when Season 4 of “Ted Lasso” began, no tribute appeared. (Instead, the season kicked off by trying to force this show into a cinematic universe in which it absolutely does not belong.) The lack of tribute in the premiere seemed like an odd choice at the time, but now that an Anthony Head tribute has popped up at the end of the ninth episode of the season, it’s clear why the people behind the show made the decision to wait.
Why did Ted Lasso Season 4 wait until Episode 9 for its Anthony Head tribute?
Anthony Head did not film any new material for “Ted Lasso” Season 4 before he died, but even though Rupert Mannion does not appear on screen in this season, the character hovers over a significant subplot. In Episode 8, there was some discussion that Rupert might be the mysterious person who’s been maneuvering behind the scenes to quietly acquire ownership shares of AFC Richmond. Savvy viewers immediately clocked that new character Zelda Southport (Tracey Ullman) was likely the actual culprit, and Zelda’s underhanded backstabbing was confirmed in a secret phone call during Episode 9. That lets Rupert off the hook, and clears the way for a confrontation between Zelda and Rebecca Welton in the Season 4 finale.
With Rupert’s character out of the equation and his off-screen arc completed, Deadline reports that the producers felt like this was the proper moment to include the tribute to Head. “We will miss him, I respect him, and it’s a great honor to be in the episode that is dedicated to him,” Annette Badland, who plays Mae, the proprietor of The Crown and Anchor pub and vocal AFC Richmond women’s club fan, told the outlet. Mae gets some nice moments in this episode before she sadly dies during the team’s victory, in what is the latest example of the show letting down its female characters. But thankfully, Badland herself is just fine.
The “Ted Lasso” Season 4 finale hits Apple TV next week.
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