Warning: Reviews of Ted Lasso season 4 episode 8 will contain spoilers.

Sitcom contrivances can sink a TV show into lazy plotlines or character arcs, or they can be smartly subverted. For the most part, Ted Lasso has always been a show that uses tried-and-true sitcom developments in a way that doesn’t feel grating. Episode 8 of season 4 does this again in a few key moments, but the end result feels mostly satisfying. Once again, Ted (Jason Sudeikis) feels like a tertiary character within his own show, instead focusing on Chilton (Tanya Reynolds) and Gemma (Abbie Hern) and Keeley (Juno Temple) and Roy (Brett Goldstein). Oh, and Higgins (Jeremy Swift) goes on his own side quest.

Let’s start with Higgins first, whose entire arc within episode 8 is a sitcom contrivance, and surely has lasting implications for the remainder of the season (and beyond?). He discovers that some Richmond shareholders have been abruptly selling their shares, and begins contacting them to understand why. Maybe this is one of those aforementioned TV contrivances, since I’m not entirely sure it’s legal to contact shareholders directly, but it continues when every one of them hangs up on him before he can get more information, as if they’re being held at gunpoint by the mafia on the other end of the phone. He gets more clues once he goes to a shareholder’s home, but a simple second phone call or a follow-up conversation would make this storyline much shorter.

By the end of episode 8, those in charge have surmised that Rupert (Rebecca’s ex, and the owner of West Ham United) may be the one coercing Richmond shareholders to sell, in order to surreptitiously buy the club. We’ve seen Ted Lasso season 4 bring back previous characters for bit appearances, so bringing Rupert in as the villain would certainly align with how the show has been going so far. If this had happened earlier in the season, it could have introduced more existential drama into the success of the women’s club, but it seems the showrunners are hedging their bets for a season 5, and perhaps this could be the arc of future proceedings.

Meanwhile, in sitcom land, Roy is being honored by Chelsea with a spot in their Hall of Fame, and he brings Keeley along as his date. In order to get there, Roy introduces his new, state-of-the-art SUV, tricked out with bulletproof glass and tires, voice-command controls, and more. There’s a bit of fun with the couple’s foibles with modern technology, but would Roy Kent, who’s remained the same stoic, no-nonsense character on Ted Lasso since the beginning, ever purchase such a vehicle? It feels much more authentic to the character to delay his journey because of his claustrophobia on the tube station, as we see near the end of episode 8. Nevertheless, this week’s installment ends with Roy declaring his love for Keeley and the two officially back together again (as if there was ever any doubt).

But the crux of season 4 episode 8 revolves around relationship between Gemma and Alice. After Gemma injures her leg during a match she has to weigh her options for the future as she waits for an MRI. Does she continue with her law degree, or take the chance on rehabbing and potentially coming back once she’s back in shape? Tanya Reynolds has handled her introduction with Ted Lasso and ran with it, and episode 8 gives her the dramatic spotlight, feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of losing Gemma as a player. It still feels like there’s more being left unsaid between the two, some kind of unspoken history, regarding why Alice feels so invested in her, beyond her potential as a great footballer. But maybe that’s another storyline that’ll have to wait for season 5.

I still don’t know where season 4 is headed, with only 2 episodes left now, since so much of the focus has been off the pitch. We do see, via a montage during the opening of episode 8, that the Lady Greyhounds have climbed up the leaderboards and stand a chance at promotion. But since Ted Lasso has focused so much more on the financial viability of the team, I’m not sure what level of investment I should feel with them. With Ted a secondary character throughout most of the season, the Roy-Keeley of it all essentially wrapped up, and the team unified towards winning and playing together, what dramatic stakes are left unresolved?