This week’s Friday Night Lights contained a series of scenes, each of which was beautifully acted and sometimes quite moving. (You’d have to have a heart of stone not to have both cried and laughed during Tim Riggins’ abject yet hilarious series of on-field apologies to his teammates in a last-ditch attempt to get back on the team; this may have been Taylor Kitsch’s finest moment onscreen yet.)
At the same time, as lovingly crafted and executed as each individual scene was, there was a lot about this episode that just didn’t make dramatic sense in the way the Friday Night Lights we love always used to make sense.
For example: Tami (Connie Britton) had that terrific moment when she blasted the new English teacher for being “inappropriate” with her daughter Julie—not just for being touchy-feely, but also for recommending she read The World According to Garp. That was a perfect FNL touch, reminding us that, as intelligent as Tami is, there’s still an element of small-town small-mindedness to her. (And don’t start writing to me about slagging off small towns—I’m not. I’m just saying, some people in rural areas, as there are those in big cities, can exhibit a narrow outlook on some things, especially when it comes to culture.) Tami’s rage at the teacher provoked another marvelous scene in which daughter Julie (Aimee Teegarden), let Mom know just how embarrassed and betrayed she felt.
We also got a very good Coach-and-Tami scene in which Tami explained to her husband (Kyle Chandler) that she really needed “a night out.” But it wasn’t the night of hoochie-coochie that Coach Eric had hoped for—nope, Tami wanted to whoop it up with some teacher-pals playing Bunco.
As I say, all very good scenes. But they didn’t add up as plot: There is just no way someone as sensitive as Tami wouldn’t have told Coach about her big confrontation with the English teacher, and their daughter’s reaction, before sailing off to Bunco-ville. This lapse is typical of FNL this season when it’s not playing at top-tier level.
Similarly, my jaw kinda dropped when the police officer set up that meet-’n’-greet between Tyra and the brother of the dead rapist. Let me get this straight: He needed closure? She was supposed to go see a complete stranger alone? I understand that the scene was set up so that Landry (Jesse Plemons) would be the one to talk to the guy, and to feel fresh guilt over dumping the rapist’s body, but really—that was too much of a stretch. It was like saying, “Hey, Tyra, you were assaulted by a guy; go chat with his brother and make him feel better, will ya? Oh, and we’re the police, but we won’t be there to keep an eye on the situation.”
And I don’t have the heart to say anything critical about the whole Matt-Carlotta romance—nothing good can come of this. Thank goodness Zach Gilford got two nice scenes: rescuing Smash (Gaius Charles, pictured) after Smash’s knucklehead college escapade, and breaking up with his girlfriend by following Smash’s amusing advice about suggesting an “open relationship.”
It’s not Friday Night Lights’ fault if NBC spent all week promoting Landry’s dramatic walk into the police station to announce he’d killed Tyra’s attacker—a scene that didn’t occur until the very end of this episode. From the commercials, I’d been expecting to see the aftermath of that confession, but, hey, at this point, with FNL’s low ratings, if NBC wants to go crass with its hype, I say, do anything you can in the promotion department to bring more viewers to the show.
And as I said at the top, bravo to Tim Riggins—he was aces all night. Loved all the scenes with that jerk he went hunting with; loved the way he found out that Jerko was running a meth lab; and loved his final moments on the field, mock-apologizing. You bet Coach had Riggins pegged when he said earlier in the hour that Riggins gets away with a lot with his little-boy pout and sensitive-tough-guy demeanor. It worked like a charm on Coach, on me, and with you, too, am I right?
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…Good morning…Yes, it also did not make sense to me that Tami would not mention to Coach the incident with the new teacher; and it doesn’t make sense as well that no one has mentioned Jason; where is he? But I still love FNL…Smash, running for his life, was priceless, and the ferrets guy in his underwear was gross…
I’m not sure I agree…I think Tami WOULD NOT tell Coach about Julie’s teacher precisely because Coach is normally someone who would go off the handle about something like that. Tami may have wanted to handle it herself – ironically, she handled it more poorly than Coach may have.
I thought it was interesting that Tami went off on the teacher for having an inappropriate relationship with Julie….but she didn’t think that she was having an inappropriate relationship with Glenn. I thought Coach was going to explode when he walked in on their lunch scene!!
Seeing Smash run out of that building in his underwear was very amusing.
The sight of Tim’s roommate in his underwear was one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever seen in my life!!
And still no sign of Jason Street!
I agree with Ken Tucker. In this episode, the whole was less than the sum of its parts. The murder storyline took this show in the wrong direction, and the lack of cohesion among the other plot threads isn’t helping matters. I know NBC is trying to minimize the football in order to broaden the audience, but with football at the center, the show was more focused, making it somehow both sharper and subtler. It was more affecting.
Also, whither Waverly? I’m not saying to bring her back, necessarily, but she just disappeared like Judy Winslow on Family Matters. As I saw mentioned somewhere, Smash’s scene as the love doctor for Matt’s relationship woes would’ve been a good time to throw in a line explaining her absence. Hopefully such an explanation is coming soon…
I was also a little bleh about this episode. I thought the same as many when I was watching it, where I was enjoying the scenes, but not enjoying the episode overall… I thought the “Tyra, Meet The Brother” set-up was ridiculous. I thought the Matt/Carlotta stuff was just plain bad. I thought the English Teacher stuff was weird. I was also really disappointed when the show started with a football game, explaining that there was a quarter left in the game (Yay, we get football on FNL) and then the next scene was the post-game yell/speech?
If the show is cancelled, can we just have the “Smash’s Mom, Coach Taylor & Grandma Saracen Weekly Variety Show”? Then instead of having to make a coherent plot, they can just string together random scenes like it felt like they were doing this week. And occasionally, Buddy can swing by to croon a song or two. I’d watch as faithfully as I do now…
Or how about a Special Episode where Smash’s Mom, Coach Taylor, Riggins, Buddy Garrity and Grandma Saracen take a road trip so that Grandma can meet Angie Dickinson? I know it doesn’t make any sense, but neither does some of the stuff happening now…
I feel guilty ragging on this show because I really, really, really, really want it to make it. But they can do better.
I also can’t stand the Matt/Carlotta thing. On top of being creepy, it was poorly developed, badly acted on her part, and I don’t think they even have any chemistry. I’m just trying to ignore it.
The Smash things were amusing and I loved everything about Rigginsthis episode. He has become my favorite of the Panthers, with Matt going to the bottom of the pile.
The best thing about the episode for me was the Julie/Tami/Noah/Glen/Coach SL. Well-played all around, especially by Aimee Teegarden. And really, how is TWATG a “salacious” book? I felt for Julie….how mortifying. Thank God they’ve redeemed Julie finally. I look forward to seeing how this SL plays out.
I can’t believe Matt lost it to his grandmothers nurse!!!!! Hate that storyline …still holding out for him and julie. Other than that still my favorite show. Adore Tim Riggins!
They’ve introduced too many new characters and storylines. Get rid of Carlotta, Tami’s sister, and Noah. Focus on the core characters and yes, focus on football! There are those of us who actually like to watch the football aspect of the show!
I still think that this cast deserves an Emmy. Connie Britton deserves one alone for the look on her face when she walks into Julie rooms and Shelly tells her to “give them a minute”. I rewound that scene several times because it’s like you a watching a real mother and her reactions, not an actor.
Tami needs to apologize to the English teacher.
I love this show. You’d think Connie and Kyle were married in real life. However, I do kind of wish they’d focus a little more on football. I’m not much for sports, but in last season’s episode a game loss was a big deal. In this episode, no one batted an eye that the team lost a game. The scenes with Tim Riggins were the best, can’t get into the whole Matt/nurse storyline.
I keep waiting and hoping that the writers will get back to what worked so well last season. Chasing after ratings has lowered the bar I think and sadly, it’s not getting them more viewers. I miss Jason and Lyla. Riggins at home and a bit of football thrown in. Where were Buddy and the new footlball player. Why do they take the time to intoduce us to that guy, show him put some letters under a pillow and not follow up? I agree that they need to dump Noah, the sister, and Carlotta. Too many characters to remember. Greys is suffering from the same disorder…
C’mon FNL writers–get back in the game!
what im hoping for is next episode landry gets sentenced to death by hanging and after it happens his father, ridden with guilt, chokes himself to death. then, last but not least, tyra, blaming it all on herself, starts dating riggins again. and…cue the fnl music. viola, we are back to the normal, wonderful friday night lights format we love.
FNL is still better than about 99% of what’s on the air. (Only 30 Rock and Dexter are better, if you ask me.)
Goodness, I love this show! I agree that it’s not as tight as it was last season, bur I’m not ready to let it go like I have ‘Prison Break’. Tim Riggins is the hottest thing on FNL.Did you see his body in his uniform? Wow! I’m definitely a Riggins girl! I don’t care if Street comes back. Also get rid of Carlotta; her accent bugs me.
I agree with most of the comments posted so far. There were definitely nice moments throughout, but FNL also had some glaring omissions that would NOT have slipped through so easily last season. What happened to Jason Street? There hasn’t been a mention of him in weeks, he just disappeared. And Santiago? After building him up the last couple episodes, how does he not even have a cameo? And I thought the “breaking up” talk was the perfect opportunity to somehow mention Waverly. Alas, no such luck. Anybody know how many more pre-strike FNL episodes are left?
i completely saw connie britton out tonight in austin at a great dive bar. i think i scared her though cause i went up to her and said i loved the show…then she got up and left not soon after. she also asked me if we went to college together and i’m like 15 years younger than her so i don’t know if she was trying to insult me…anyways she is goregeous in person, seemed super sweet and is TINY.
And was anybody else shocked that Tammi didn’t close the door when scolding Noah? It’s been shown repeatedly that she’s very particular about closing doors as a counselor, so that seemed like another hard-to-believe slip-up.
In fairness to the writers & cast, “we” don’t know the terms NBC set for FNL’s renewal last summer. If you recall, it was a long time before the network decided to renew it. Probably a lot of give & take between the network (wanting bigger ratings), and the FNL team (wanting to keep the show’s original premise in check). Its been hit & miss this season, but it’s also still on. Guess we have to be grateful for that.
I agree with alot of the comments.
What’s going on this season. We have been loyal followers and are hoping it gets better, don’t loose this one!
Riggins is the best!
Coach and Tami are the sweetest couple, don’t screw that up.
Matt and Carlotta, forget it, Matt and Julie, that was sweet, the way the show use to be.
Don’t let Landry take the fall on this one, he was wrong in not reporting it, but he’s a kid. His dad on the other hand…
Bring back more football too, it was fun to watch, that’s what we expect, football, along with the personal sides of the characters.
Love this show. The Riggins apologies, especially to the kid who never played, was the cherry on the sundae. Love it. I am excited to see where things go now that Riggins and Santiago are on the squad, and hopefully Landry with this murder cleared up. Cant wait till next Friday.
I agree with your thoughts on the episode. I was speculating that the brother of Tyra’s rapist might be trying to figure out who might have killed his brother. Though I have heard of families reaching out to make amends. The storyline with Tami and her little teacher friend is gagworthy. They seem to be trying to infer that she will end up having an affair with him, and I can’t see that happening. I love Tami and Eric, and they better not ruin that. Tami’s sister needs to go! Love Tim Riggins and his apologies. Coach was right about how he gets away with things but the apologies were great. I somehow missed the commercials so Landry confessing was a shock. Very interesting indeed because it effects him, Tyra and his father. I look forward to seeing what happens next week.
I thought that Landry pulled the assaulter off of Tyra last season? Was she actually raped? I didn’t think so, but that’s how they seem to be playing it now. So confused…but all I know is that Riggins is so good! His accent is much better this year.
I love the idea of Carlotta and Matt for some reason. I don’t want him back with Julie. She dumped him to be with the swede and then when that didn’t work out thought she could just get him back. NO WAY. So Matt is goijng to lose his Virginity to an older woman. Can’t wait to see how that plays out. Also I loved the scene with Smash running in his underwear and Riggins apologizing. Julie is on my bad side right now. She is acting like such a brat. I didn’t hate the Landry/Tyra sl in the beginning but now I am. Especially since it seems like Landry is always bailing Tyra out and she returned the favor by breaking his heart. She should be glad he even wants to talk to her.
Hey all, I think everyone needs to realize how a television series episode is made, and how in the name of efficiency episodes can seem disconnected with each other. It’s happened when shows enter their second season and when they get a lot of episode orders (see Entourage as well). Writers split up the storylines, actors are given time in and time off set so some are featured in one episode and not in others, and plots are drawn out to fill the season. This is how the television industry is run for maximum efficiency, which explains the high number of episodes FNL got done before the strike, but also why the episodes plots don’t feel as tight. Storylines are decentralized and farmed out with pieces of episodes being written by different groups of people.
Even the mediocre episodes of this show are WAY better than anything else on TV. The cast is phenomenal. Where is Street?
Personally, I don’t really care if there are lapses within the show. It’s soo entertaining and I believe that the writer’s do a good job of wrapping up what’s important. And of course Tami not shutting the door was intentional to spread the rumor. Otherwise, it would’ve probably ended there.
I just Love FNL!!! This week was great if only because I got to see my favorite show.Tim was soo good loved his attempt at Humility.LOL.Tami is my hero,always right on as a VERY tired mom.Loved Eric being worried,he just misses her.Julie is a brat.Not sure about Matt yet,dont think I like it though.Agree the sister needs to go,just an annoyance.I hope all the extra epis put us on TOP!!!