'Dancing With The Stars' Season 14 Dream Casting
What To Watch On TV This Week
Friday Night Lights: Black Eyes and Broken Hearts
(S01E16) After where we left off last week, it was pretty clear what direction we would be heading this week. Where we would end up, that was the mystery. The resolution to the "Blinders" cliff-hanger wasn't all that was on the agenda though. And as good as it was, it wasn't even my favorite part of the episode. This week, that title goes to the Taylor family drama. While part of that plays off of the controversy surrounding the team, there were also a couple great scenes as a result of Eric and Tami's struggles with Julie. Her fall from grace has come about a little quickly, but I'm willing to chalk that up to the compressed time of the television season.
Even though the setup could have been smoother, the results made for a great payoff. I've said it before, but it bears repeating. Much more than a show about football, Friday Night Lights is a family drama, and a very good one. The fight over Julie's new friendship with Tyra early in the episode was well done. Connie Britton continues to amaze me as Tami. Eric's explanation about the one person that doesn't wear enough clothes, and the other one that used to be a pretty good kid kind of confused me while he was saying it, but I think that made it work. It had the feel of real dialog, not just another well constructed line.
The continuation of things at the police station just added to it. "All the other parents have picked up their perps. Why can't we pick up ours?" Tami is a tough customer. I also really liked the conversation between Eric and Counselor/Wife/Friend Tami. Eric was in a tough spot and it again showed just how important Tami is to what he does. Both "Anyone else I can talk to?" and "The three of you scare me." were also very good lines.
Meanwhile, back at the Coach McGill controversy, I liked how both sides played out. They did a nice job of showing just how important Smash is as a leader for the team. Saracen has certainly surpassed everyone's expectations where his play on the field is concerned. But he still leaves a lot to be desired as a leader. He just doesn't have the Smash swagger.
The scene with Waverly in the background pushing Smash down the road to revolution was interesting. Not only did it show Smash having second thoughts, but the look from Mrs. Williams told us just what she was thinking. Something we saw later when she finally put her foot down. I got the feeling that hit mother's ultimatum came as something of a relief to Smash. He got in over his head and swept up in the drama of the situation.
Coach McGill's end of it also provided some good stuff. The key scene, I thought, was when he visited Eric and told him about how he had grown up. That seemed to be the first time that he really acknowledged that he made a mistake, and showed remorse rather than anger. And I think that is what eventually led to Eric's decision to keep Mac on. "I know what's easy, but I know what's right." was another good line. It does seem now that Mac and Smash have come to an understanding and things are going to be ok on that front. I'll be curious to see if the whole issue gets dropped, or if they revisit it. A scene where Mac confronts Buddy about trying to get him fired would be good.
The Julie/Matt romance got what I would have called an expected sub-plot. The whole hot-tub, rally girl break up was destined to be short lived, so their reconciliation didn't come as any sort of surprise. It did provide some fun scenes though, including some of the best Landry bits of the series. From the way he threw Matt under the bus for the mixed CD, trying to impress Tyra, to his running conversation at the jewelery store. "Reach into those Alamo Freeze pockets....Three girls in a hot tub is diamond bad....Blood diamonds." And of course his reaction to the strip club, complete with his Crucifictorius t-shirt. "Her, a naked lady. No big deal." Landry is a fun character, and he added a nice comedic element to an otherwise pretty heavy episode. And we can't forget that final "Will you be my girlfriend?" moment with Matt and Julie. Very cute, and a nice touch for Valentine's Day.
The only thing that didn't really work for me was the brief Street update. It seemed almost shoe-horned into the episode and didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know. The whole thing could have just been passed off as a line from Lyla acknowledging that he had left for tryouts and that would have been fine. I'm still curious to see where that all ends up, but I would like it to get more time when they do it. Could it be that making the rugby team leads to Street calling off the lawsuit?
Finally, another win for the Panthers. Some pretty good football footage to go along with it too, and more than we have seen in an episode for quite some time. An interesting twist to how they won as well. Kyle Chandler was great in that post-game speech. It looks like they are going to be able to stretch the football season out to the end of the television season. It should make for quite the dramatic finish.
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