(S01E11) After almost a month off, Friday Night Lights is back on a new night. It's great to see a new episode, but will the move give the show a much needed ratings boost? We'll have to wait and see. They did pick a good episode to come back with though. There was a lot of good stuff going on this week.

They tipped their hand with where this episode was going in the previously on segment. Lots of Street and Saracen, and a look back at Saracen talking with his dad. That was driven home with the scene where Henry returned home. At first, I thought it maybe missed the mark a little bit, because it didn't seem to be the happy homecoming it should have been. Of course, as we found out later, it wasn't a happy homecoming.

Almost all of the Saracen story was really good. They've done a great job over the first ten episodes setting up the stresses and pressures on Matt. He's been put in a very difficult position, raising himself and taking care of his grandmother at an age when he really shouldn't have to. Part of what got him through all of that was the belief that with his father's return would come a break from all of it. A chance to just be normal and let someone else carry all the weight. When that didn't come through, he finally snapped. And that was a fantastic scene.

The part of the story that I had some problems with was Henry's insistence that they aren't done over there, and so he has to return to Iraq. It was necessary for the story, in order to get the move to Oklahoma angle in play. But it seemed a little forced, like there could have been a better reason for him to have to go back. Or better yet, just don't float the idea that he could opt out of his service. Either way he's forcing Matt away from everything he knows. It did make for a nice little cliffhanger though.

The Street and Lyla story continues to impress me. The opening scene in the record store was very cute. "What Clay and I have is special. America loves him and so do I." I'm not nearly as cynical as Herc, who upon hearing that Lyla was back in the picture responded, "No. Booooo. Uh uh." I think they need to be together, and I like how their story is playing out.

Street has been given a lot to deal with considering his injuries and all that goes with it. To add the drama with Lyla to it is a lot. It is hard not to like Lyla though. She tries so very hard. Like bringing along the "Dirty, dirty, dirty quad porn." I felt bad for her when Street told her, "You want to get laid that bad, call Riggins." Ouch. That was just mean. But Lyla is in it for the long haul now. Was I the only one that thought of Joey from Dawson's Creek when she was climbing in through the window? I also really liked the scene between Street and Tami.

Tami had a nice go of it with Riggins this week as well. Connie Britton is just amazing. Her detective work to determine that he hadn't been doing his homework was fun. "It's about a gal named Scarlet obviously." But kidding aside, you know she really is concerned about him. And you also had to know that it was going to lead to the inevitable confrontation with Eric. Her plan to have Landry tutor Riggins was great and led to a really nice scene with the two of them at the end. Even though I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone that really enjoyed Crucifictorious, there was Riggins applauding. I'd like to see more of those two together.

It was a big week for Eric. Aside from taking in Matt when things went south with his father, and giving him some of that great Coach Taylor advice, he got the big call, nicely foreshadowed with his appearance on the top ten high school coaches list. Would he be interested in a position as quarterback coach at UT? Of course he would. I'm curious to see how that plays out. Should the series continue to struggle, I could see that being part of the wrap up. The Taylor's leave Dillon as Eric begins his college coaching career. And hey, if Friday Night Lights can't get a second season, I'd watch the heck out of a show about the Taylor's at UT.

As far as football, it was short but well done. Matt's failures set up the showdown with his father well. But we also got a little reminder that the Smash story is still progressing. I would think that scoring a touchdown on a broken play, blocking a punt, and then scoring the winning touchdown all points to the fact that Smash is still on the juice, and it's working. More to come on that front soon I'm sure. Overall, another really good episode. I look forward to next week, and to the ratings.