Author: John Paulsen (Page 43 of 79)

This episode is named after Tami’s decision to stay in Dillon and have her baby while Eric left for Austin to coach for TMU. I thought it was odd at the time that Tami would insist on staying in Dillon, but if the Taylors had all left for Austin, there wouldn’t be much of a show to watch.

Tami is hanging on by a thread. It was pretty ironic that she told Glen that he had to connect with the kids and then Julie came into the kitchen and yelled at her. Her rant in Glen’s office was terrific, but not in the usual witty way. Based on the scenes for next week, she may be getting some much needed help soon.

Eric is struggling in Austin, but his interaction with Antwone in the car led to a hilarious line. When the two were talking about Antwone taking gifts from boosters, he said, “This started for me in pee wee. I got ice cream.”

Anyway, the split is just one of the many conflicts within the series, which have given the show a much darker feel than season one, and it seems like the series has lost some of the lightheartedness that made it so great. This has a lot to do with Landry’s situation, which just got a little worse now that he realized that he lost his watch while getting rid of the stalker’s body. Methinks that will come back to bite him at some point. He did have a great line when he met his new rally girl – “Do you think all humans are capable of evil?”

For the moment, the incident has brought Landry and Tyra closer together, and at the end of the episode, it appeared that the unrequited love finally became…um…requited.

There is also less humor surrounding Matt since he’s becoming more and more jealous of Smash and the depression/anger that will no doubt stem from being dumped. (By the way, what is with Smash rapping all the time? That just seems really odd to me.) There is some potential, however, with the introduction of the new in-home nurse. She’s sassy, pretty and is moving in, so I wouldn’t be surprised if something romantic develops between the two now that Julie is out of the picture (for the time being).

Buddy also provided a lot of the humor in season one, and he’s going through his own depression over the loss of his family and over his reduced role as a Panthers booster. His meltdown at the party was painful to watch, but it did lead to a funny interaction between Lyla and Riggins when the former asked the latter about what was wrong with her dad. Riggins responded, “I don’t know, Lyla. Maybe he’s had one too many. What do you think?”

It’s clear that the Riggins/Lyla relationship is going somewhere, but I’m not sure if Lyla is going to drag Tim over to the light side or if he’ll convince her to give up clean living to spend some naughty time with him. It could turn into a battle between Jesus and Riggins, which is especially funny considering Landry’s “WWRD” bit in the first episode.

Finally, I sure hope Jason doesn’t go to Mexico to have experimental spine surgery. That just sounds like a bad idea from the start.

Hey, maybe that was the inspiration for the episode’s title.

When last we left them, the Dillon Panthers had won state and Coach Taylor was considering a move to Austin to coach for TMU. I thought that last season’s finale was buttoned up a little too cleanly with the Panthers winning the state championship; it might have been better had the team fallen short in their quest for the title, but that decision might have had something to do with the tenuous footing that the series was on last season.

NBC decided to move the show to Fridays, which an interesting marketing ploy, but one has to wonder, aren’t the people that would be most likely to watch a show about high school football out watching high school football on Friday nights? Friday isn’t a very good night for television, but let’s hope that the word of mouth surrounding the series gives it a much-needed boost in the ratings.

Anyway, Coach Taylor decided to take the TMU job and his absence is causing Julie to act out. She’s flirting with “the Swede” at the pool and it’s causing tension in her relationship with Matt. She called Matt “perfect” yet she’s concerned about how easily they could turn into her parents. “There has to be more than this,” she said. I thought Coach had some great advice for Matt after he found out that his daughter was flirting with the Swede: “Don’t just stand by and let it happen.”

Meanwhile, Tami wasn’t nearly as sassy as usual, but that probably has to do with the fact that she just gave birth and she’s having a tough time dealing with her husband being gone for months at a time. She made her own bed, however, by putting her foot down and deciding to stay in Dillon instead of moving to Austin with Eric. That’s good for us though; if the Taylors had moved, there really wouldn’t be a show.

The episode’s most dramatic moments stemmed from the surprising Landry/Tyra/stalker storyline. The same guy attacked her last season, but the whole series of incidents in the premiere sort of came out of nowhere. Anyway, Landry’s unrequited love is charming and it looks like the two will have a strong connection going forward, for better or for worse.

One of the great things about “Friday Night Lights” is the realism in the conversations between the different teenagers on the show. This isn’t “Dawson’s Creek,” where the kids talk like college professors. These high schoolers talk like high schoolers; they stammer and step on each other’s words, just like real kids do. I could listen to Matt and Landry philosophize all day. The whole “WWRD” (What Would Riggins Do?) bit was hilarious.

Speaking of Riggins, he’s been up to no good all summer, boozing it up and sleeping around. He had a great line when the newly religious Lyla asked him what he’s been doing recently. He replied, “I had a three-way with the Stratton sisters.” There appears to be a Lyla/Riggins storyline brewing – it looks like Lyla might have her newfound faith tested by her attraction to Tim.

Lyla also had a great line when she said a prayer before dinner – “And please let other people at this table have the strength to realize that a mother of three should not be wearing skinny jeans.”

Going forward, it looks like conflict abounds. Coach Taylor will struggle with his decision to leave Dillon, Matt’s jealousy of Smash’s increasing profile could cause issues between the two while Riggins clearly has a personality conflict with the new coach. “Friday Night Lights” is great because the characters are so distinct and they each have their own crap to deal with. Moreover, it’s a small town, so everything intertwines eventually.

The big question is, when and how will Coach Taylor return to Dillon for good? Is this something that’s going to happen mid-season, or will he coach for TMU for an entire year?