Ted Lasso fans got their answer to one of Season 4’s biggest cliffhangers this week, after Episode 9, titled “Mae Rides the Bus,” ended with a stunning gut-punch. Actress Annette Badland has now confirmed to Decider that her character, pub owner Mae, has died.
In the episode, Mae joins the Lady Greyhounds on a road trip and finally gets to experience football fandom the way she always wanted, cheering from the supporters section instead of sitting with Rebecca in the team’s private box. She spends much of the episode smiling and celebrating alongside the crowd.
But after the team wins, the camera pans back to Mae’s seat and she’s gone. A steward rushes to Rebecca’s side and delivers the line that left viewers baffled: “Excuse me? I’m sorry to interrupt, but there’s been an incident. It’s Ms. Green.” Rebecca’s face drops, she walks into the locker room mid-celebration, locks eyes with Ted across the room, and calls him outside. Their conversation is drowned out by the song “Oh Love” by Kingfishr, but Ted’s reaction says everything.
The mystery name, Ms. Green, turns out to belong to Mae herself, whose full name is Mae Green. She had collapsed at her seat during the game.
The actress learned her fate in person
Badland told Decider that Jason Sudeikis delivered the news to her personally rather than by phone or email. “Yes, Jason told me himself. He came to my dressing room,” she said. “Chip [Hamilton, Jason’s assistant and the show’s coordinating producer] said, ‘Oh, Jason wants to see you.’ And I said, ‘Oh, I’ll go to his trailer.’ And he said, ‘No, no, he’ll come to your room,’ which I thought was a bit odd. And I joked with the kids and said, ‘Oh, Jason wants to come to my room! You might not see me again!'”
“Then Jason came and spoke to me, and told me the storyline. So, I began to think, ‘Oh, this is great.’ Because he told it episodically, as the events and scenes happened. And then it came to, ‘And she passes.’ And you kind of go, ‘Oh.’ But we talked afterwards and discussed it, and I gave him a couple of ideas which have changed Episode 10, which I can’t talk about.”
Badland said leaving the show wasn’t her choice, but that she and Sudeikis discussed the storyline afterward and that her input shaped elements of the upcoming finale, though she declined to say more.
Could Mae return?
Even with her character’s death confirmed, Badland hasn’t ruled out a comeback of some kind. “You never know,” she said, floating a possible concept inspired by a classic holiday film. “There is a film called It’s a Wonderful Life, where an angel keeps popping back. Maybe Mae can pop back up as a sort of conscience.”
Ted Lasso’s Season 4 finale premieres Wednesday, October 7, on Apple TV.
