Ted Lasso Season 4 Episode 9 Recap: Is Mae Really Dead After Richmond’s Promotion?

Ted Lasso Season 4 Episode 9 gives AFC Richmond one of its sweetest victories, then wipes the smile off Ted’s face within minutes as a mysterious incident involving Mae Green turns promotion day painfully bittersweet.

Ted Lasso Season 4 Episode 8 left the Lady Greyhounds without their star striker after Gemma injured her knee, while Roy and Keeley finally stopped running circles around each other and rekindled their romance. Higgins also discovered that someone had been surreptitiously buying Richmond shares, although Rebecca remained convinced Rupert was behind the scheme. Episode 9 picks up several weeks later, and Richmond’s form has gone south without Gemma. Their promotion dream is slipping, Keeley receives life-changing news, and the club’s mystery buyer finally steps out from behind the curtain. Yet Mae, Richmond’s indefatigable pub landlady and supporter, becomes the person who gives this episode its heart and its cruel final question.

Keeley’s Surprise Gives Roy Something New to Celebrate

Credit: Apple TV

Keeley gets so animated during Richmond’s defeat to Southampton that she passes out, and although her blood-pressure history initially provides an explanation, the medical staff suggest another possibility. She could be pregnant. Several tests confirm it, and Keeley is thrilled but understandably apprehensive. She and Roy have only recently reunited, while her career has finally found firmer ground, so motherhood arriving now was hardly pencilled into the diary. Rebecca becomes the first person she trusts with the news.

Keeley eventually has to miss Richmond’s pivotal Bristol game to keep her blood pressure under control, and Roy stays with her. His solution is wonderfully daft: he recreates the match using Keeley’s cosmetics while giving her a considerably calmer version of live commentary. After Richmond win, Keeley finally tells him. Roy responds by calling it the happiest he has ever been, which mercifully avoids manufacturing another relationship crisis when these two have already spent enough seasons making life difficult for themselves. 

Gemma Knows When to Put Richmond Before Herself

Credit: Apple TV

Gemma’s original knee injury turns out to be less severe than feared, although Richmond’s attack has suffered badly during her absence. Against Bristol, the Lady Greyhounds fall 2-0 behind before Gemma returns and immediately wins a penalty. She converts it herself, but another knock leaves her limping. This time, something has changed. When Alice recommends taking her off, Gemma agrees rather than fighting to remain on the pitch. Earlier in the season, she might have interpreted that decision as someone doubting her; now she understands that playing hurt could damage both herself and the team.

Her exit finally gives Shannon the opportunity she has spent so long overthinking. Shannon takes it. Richmond claw their way back, Lizzie puts them ahead, and Shannon adds the decisive fourth goal after dribbling through the defense. The 4-2 victory secures promotion. For a player whose greatest opponent has often been her own nerves, scoring the goal that seals Richmond’s ascent is one heck of a way to introduce yourself.

Zelda Finally Shows Her Hand at Richmond

Credit: Apple TV

Rebecca and Higgins are still barking up the Rupert tree while the actual threat has been sitting comfortably beside them. The mysterious buyer needs the Milk sisters’ substantial stake to put Rebecca’s ownership under serious pressure. Zelda learns about them while posing as Rebecca’s trusted adviser, and her billionaire friend Hugo Riddles subsequently tracks them down.

Ted Lasso Season 4 Episode 9 confirms that Zelda has been orchestrating the share purchases, with Hugo operating on her behalf. Whether the Milk sisters actually sell remains unresolved, so Rebecca still has time to discover that her new confidante has been playing a decidedly crooked game. I suspected Zelda long before Rebecca did, but watching Rebecca hand useful information directly to the woman undermining her still hurts.

Is Mae Really Dead After Richmond’s Promotion?

Credit: Apple TV

Ted invites Mae to Bristol because she’s supported Richmond through thick and thin, and her presence feels especially apt when she tells the players she once wanted to play football herself. The opportunity never existed for women like her in the same way it does for the Lady Greyhounds, so watching Richmond earn promotion carries an extra personal significance. Mae chooses the supporters’ section over the VIP area and celebrates the comeback with everyone else. Then, while the dressing room erupts after the victory, Rebecca receives news of an “incident” involving Mae.

She approaches Ted alone and tells him something we never hear. His expression changes immediately. The episode strongly implies Mae has died. Until Episode 10 says it outright, I’d leave a sliver of hope. Still, naming the episode Mae Rides the Bus, giving her that speech, and ending with Ted devastated hardly looks accidental. If Mae is gone, losing her immediately after Richmond reaches the division she desperately wanted these women to reach is painfully apt. She gets to witness the destination even if she cannot join them for whatever comes next.

Do you think Mae is gone, or is the show saving one last reprieve for the finale? And how badly will Rebecca regret trusting Zelda? Bring your theories to the comments, and follow FandomWire for more Ted Lasso coverage.

Ted Lasso Season 4 streams on Apple TV.