4-5-1
After spending the night at his new boyfriend Michael's house, Colin heads to work, where everyone is buzzing about Zava's first official day at Richmond. At the club, the players express their excitement over Zava joining the team, but tease each other for "sounding gay"; Colin joins in on the joking. Ted, Beard, and Roy discuss how to fit Zava into the team's formation: one player will have to be benched, and either Jamie or Dani will have to be moved from the striker spot to midfield. They elect to move Dani to midfield and drop Colin from the starting lineup, at which Colin is disappointed but understanding.
Rebecca visits her mother's psychic, Tish, despite being a skeptic. Tish claims to have visions of Rebecca holding a green matchbook, the phrase "shite in nining armor", and Rebecca upside down, drenched, surrounded by thunder and lightning, but safe. Tish also tells Rebecca that she will have a family and be a mother, which upsets Rebecca greatly, as she previously wanted to be a mother but never had children because Rupert claimed not to want them. At work, Keeley lets Shandy shadow her and Rebecca, but finds herself frequently disagreeing with Shandy's bold, abrasive approach to PR.
Zava quickly ingratiates himself with the team and staff, but also insists on switching from a 4-4-2 formation to a 4-5-1, with the team's only objective being to get the ball to Zava so he can score. Jamie tells the coaching staff that he's concerned about Zava's egocentricity throwing off the team's dynamic. Before Zava's first game with Richmond, Ted tries to call Henry back in Kansas, but ends up speaking to Michelle's new boyfriend Jake, a.k.a. Dr. Jacob Bryanson, Ted and Michelle's former marriage counselor. Ted almost has another panic attack, but is pulled out of it by Zava scoring from the halfway line mere seconds into the match.
Zava single-handedly carries Richmond on a 6-game winning streak that puts them near the top of the league. To celebrate, Sam invites the entire team to his Nigerian restaurant, Ola's, which is still a few weeks away from its grand opening. Colin brings Michael to the restaurant, but introduces him to the team as merely his friend, which Michael plays along with. Roy offers to train Jamie to help him become even better than Zava. Sam gives Rebecca and Keeley "something to commemorate the evening": green matchbooks with Ola's logo on them. As he walks home from the restaurant, Trent Crimm sees Colin and Michael kissing in an alley, but he says nothing and keeps walking.
Tropes featured in "4-5-1" include:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Michael makes a crack about Colin's driving that Colin can't help but laugh at.
- And That's Terrible: Sassy points out that their former therapist dating Ted's ex-wife is "borderline unethical". Yeah, and borderline illegal.
- Also Artistic License for psychology, while not illegal, every professional ethics statue for therapy prohibits this for at least a specific time frame longer than would have happened in the show. It's not borderline, it's definitely and clearly unethical.
- Artistic License – Sports: AFC Richmond are shown playing Manchester United at Old Trafford, wearing their all-orange away kit as their traditional red and blue uniforms clash with United’s red. In reality, Richmond would likely be forced into a third kit, as the orange is still too similar to United’s red - as seen when Manchester United played Blackpool in the 2010/2011 season.
- The Beard: Inverted with Colin's boyfriend, who shows up at Ola's and pretends to be Colin's wingman. "Can I talk to your wall-eyed girlfriend while he hits on you? Badly?"
- Berserk Button: When Tish finishes with a prediction that Rebecca will become a mother, she goes from bemused to furious in two seconds flat.
- Black Comedy: Has Sassy ever done anything with a client? Ted, she's a child psychologist, so, yes, twice.
- Book Dumb: Roy proves that he and Jamie are quite alike in this respect, when he tries to call Jamie a "pre-Madonna", only for the latter to correct him.
- The Cameo: The show once again shows Soccer Saturday being hosted by Jeff Stelling with former AFC Richmond coach George Cartrick, although Paul Merson has replaced Chris Kamara following the latter's retirement in 2022.
- Celebrity Paradox: AFC Richmond play away at Crystal Palace during the montage - Palace play their games at Selhurst Park, the stadium used as as Richmond’s home of Nelson Road.
- Character Focus: Colin. This episode confirms that he's gay, which has so far only been implied, and shows off how different his personal dating life and his work life are.
- Cold Reading: Played for Laughs. When Rebecca first arrives for her session with Tish, the latter makes several vague but accurate statements about Rebecca, such as having freed herself from "a man with a dark soul" and finding solace in a man half her age. When Rebecca asks how she knows that, Tish points out that she's spoken to Rebecca's mother once a month for six years - of course she knows what's going on in Rebecca's life. Later, she remarks that's she'd correctly guessed Rebecca would be a skeptic not because of her psychic abilities, but because Rebecca's mother had been a skeptic as well.
- Contrast Montage: After Zava's first match, the episode cuts back and forth between AFC Richmond wiping the floor with multiple opponents week after week, while individual characters like Ted, Jamie, Colin, Roy and Rebecca are struggling with their own personal issues.
- Dare to Be Badass: After seeing Jamie moping over Zava overshadowing him, Roy tells Jamie that if he really wants to get back in the spotlight, he needs to stop sulking about it and instead start pushing himself in training even harder than before so he can rise to Zava's level. Roy offers to train him himself and Jamie accepts it.Jamie: I don't want to be him. I want to be better than him.
Roy: I'll fucking train you. But only if you mean it. - Dude, Not Ironic: Beard calls it ironic that Jamie is calling Zava an egotist who doesn't care about the team. Jamie counters that it's not ironic, it's hypocritical. Beard concedes that he's right.
- Even the Guys Want Him: Many of the straight Richmond players express having something of a crush on Zava, with Sam noting that some people's charms exceed the bounds of orientation - giving Paul Newman, Idris Elba and Norm Macdonald as other examples.
- Everyone Has Standards: While Roy is mostly amused by Zava taking away Jamie's spotlight, even he's displeased when Zava steals what would have been Jamie's first goal of the season.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: Jamie is skeptical of Zava's greatness. He has a point: Zava is a phenomenal individual, but not really part of the team.
- Friendship Moment: Despite the coaches focusing on Zava, Isaac takes a moment to check in with Colin.Isaac: You all right, bruv?
Colin: I am a strong and capable man. - From Bad to Worse: Bad: Ted's ex-wife is dating again, and didn't tell Ted before letting him around their son (albeit as a "friend"). Worse: The new boyfriend is their former marriage counselor, which calls all sorts of things about the end of their marriage into question.
- Hidden Depths: When Beard asks Jamie if he realises the irony of him being worried about another player's ego, Jamie corrects Beard that he's being a hypocrite rather than ironic. He also not only corrects Roy about the meaning of prima donna, but contends that Roy's assessment that "before Madonna female vocalists didn't have to work that hard" is incorrect by citing Tina Turner and Stevie Nicks, who most people from his generation wouldn't be as familiar with.
- Hypocrisy Nod: Jamie acknowledges that he’s the last person who should be talking about other people’s egos. The fact that he's self-aware enough to acknowledge this, however, is a sign of his Character Development over the past season.
- I Kiss Your Hand: Zava greets Keeley this way, even calling her "my queen". A closer look reveals he was actually kissing his own hand, which can be read either as yet another instance of Zava being an egomaniac, or his way of abiding to traditional hand-kissing etiquette, in which you're not supposed to actually kiss the lady's hand.
- It's All About Me: Zava and his ego.
- Internal Reveal: After Trent leaves Sam's restaurant to head home, he spots Colin making out with his boyfriend in a nearby alley.
- Jerkass Has a Point: During an episode of Soccer Saturday, George Cartrick dismisses the idea that Ted's coaching is responsible for Richmond's recent run of success and it's clearly a result of Zava's spectacular play. For once, he actually isn't wrong.
- Lampshade Hanging: Upon learning Ted's ex-wife is now dating their former marriage therapist, Sassy points out that a therapist dating a former patient is a huge breach of ethics in the field.
- Malaproper: Roy tries to call Jamie a prima donna but instead calls him a "pre-Madonna", since he's under the impression that the term means "before Madonna, female vocalists didn't have to work that hard". Jamie corrects him on this, even though he's ironically the one who's more prone to making malapropers himself.
- Meaningful Look: As Zava meets the Richmond players for the first time, he and Roy approach one another. There's a brief look between them, they exchange a respectful nod, and then Zava passes on.
- Musicalis Interruptus: The opening theme starts playing as Colin gets in his car to drive to Richmond, only to abruptly be cut off when he crashes into the bins at the end of his driveway. It then starts again a few seconds later.
- Must Have Caffeine: Inverted; Colin's boyfriend Michael makes coffee and offers some to him, but Colin says he doesn't drink anything with caffeine in it since his body is a temple—or, as he puts it, "more like a church in an airport".
- Not So Above It All:
- When Ted apologises to Roy about bringing up musical theatre early in the morning, he admits he doesn’t mind since he used to have a crush on Julie Andrews.
- As everyone goes around sharing their favorite Julie Andrews characters, Trent admits his is Queen Clarisse from The Princess Diaries.
- Not Staying for Breakfast: Subverted. The episode opens on Colin waking up alone after clearly having slept with someone the night before, but it turns out that the other guy is just downstairs making coffee.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Ted and Jake both freak out when the latter picks up the phone at Michelle's place. The fact that Jake is their former therapist (making his relationship with Michelle borderline illegal) is just icing on the cake.
- Ted has another panic attack at the game right after his surprise phone call with Jake.
- Rebecca quietly loses her shit when Sam hands her a green matchbook, like her mum's psychic predicted.
- Pet the Dog: While part of it is his usual showboating, Zava first states his intent to talk to the most important person on the team before calling out for the kit man. When Will sheepishly steps forward, Zava reveals that he was a kit man on his first team back when he was 11, and Will's "passion" for the team is what motivates him.
- Queer Establishing Moment: The opening scene at Michael's house removes all ambiguity from Colin's previously only implied homosexuality.
- The Reveal:
- Colin is confirmed to be gay, after being hinted at previously. However, it’s shown that no-one at Richmond knows, as Colin and his partner put on a front of just being friends when he joins them at Sam’s restaurant.
- Turns out Ted is already acquainted with Michelle's new partner. He's Dr. Jacob Bryanson, the therapist the two of them saw in an effort to save their marriage.
- Sarcastic Confession: When the team are teasing each other for sounding like they’re attracted to Zava, closeted homosexual Colin makes a similar comment but the rest of the team think he’s just going along with the joke.Colin: Okay, you guys have convinced me - I’ll have sex with Zava.
- Secret-Keeper: Trent spots Colin having a snog with his boyfriend in the alley by Ola's.
- Serious Business: Isaac is really, really into the moimoi at Sam's restaurant.
- Ship Tease: Sam has really nice energy with the chef at Ola's.
- Smart Ball: Jamie grabs it in this episode. First, he points out to Beard that the proper term for his complaints about Zava is him being (somewhat) hypocritical rather than ironic. Later, he corrects Roy on calling him a "pre-Madonna" instead of "prima donna" before identifying several female artists who were successful before Madonna.
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad: In-Universe, this applies to Zava - Richmond’s strategy effectively becomes "Pass to Zava" and he even goes as far as to poach a goal from Jamie as it was about to cross the line anyway.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: When Roy states that part of his crush on Julie Andrews comes from knowing that she'd tell him off if he'd been bad, everyone else (Trent, Higgins, Beard and Ted) in the room hums in agreement.
- Truth in Television: All of Zava’s outlandish goals are based on actual goals that have been scored in real life.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Rebecca's mum's psychic tells Rebecca she's going to be a mother. Rebecca tells the woman to fuck off. Rebecca is at an age where not having had kids is a painful, triggering point.
