I never thought that cheerleading could get more dramatic than what I saw in Bring It On, but wow, that Britney girl was so incredibly petty. Based on the look on her face when the coach said that she wouldn’t be “flying” since Lyla had shown up, it certainly seemed to me like she made the website just to get Lyla to quit. It’s obvious that she didn’t get this mean streak from her parents, considering her father seemed disgusted by her when he went to apologize to Buddy. Either way, I was glad to see Lyla smile and enjoy herself again, after taking the power away from those who made her life hell. Her “yeah, the whore with the website” line made it pretty clear that even if she wasn’t getting over this, she was going to have fun for that one day. Her scenes with Jason hurt. It struck me that if this were any other show, we would have seen them reconciled by now, or at least after Tim went to go talk to him, but that hasn’t happened yet. I...
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Buddy Garrity, I forgive you. Even towards the beginning, when he was talking with Tami about what was going on with his daughter, it seemed that he was really hurting. The fact that he left the game to talk to her after her public humiliation spoke volumes about his dedication to his family. Yes, he’s (how to put it delicately?) not a nice guy when dealing with his beloved Panthers, but his, “It’s only a game, you’re my daughter” line just got to me. Remember how I said that no one on this show was beyond redemption? This just proves it.Tim and Lyla are personae non gratae in their respective social circles, and Tim especially seems OK with suffering quietly. I don’t know what it is about this team and smashing up cars, but it definitely sends a statement. The fact that a guy so full of rage earlier on this season is now so docile shows how much he cares for Jason, and how much he knows he’s screwed up. (Speaking of Jason, I would like to apologiz...
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While I appreciated Coach Taylor’s scared-straight approach to teenage dating, I would never, ever, ever want to have a conversation like that with my dad. I actually found myself saying the word “awkward” out loud. How many of you want to hear your father say, “Boys think about sex every minute of the day. That’s why they lie,” and “Your mother wanted me to add that football players are the worst offenders, but I think it pretty much crosses all lines”? Julie took it much better than I would have. I can’t say I blame her parents. The poor sophomore rally girl in Tami’s office — the one who was agonizing over whether it was worth it to have a threesome with her Panther in order to be a football player’s girlfriend — certainly gave me pause. So I can only imagine what kind of realization it forced upon Tami, who is unfortunately caught in between what her husband does and where her daughter is.Of course, Julie decides...
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Question: As I enjoy watching Friday Night Lights immensely, except for the herky-jerky camera work, one thing has dawned on me about the show. While critics and fans have been talking it up to keep it going, I believe Kyle Chandler needs to be praised, too, and that his performance merits strong Emmy consideration. He has been incredible at balancing compassion with toughness. He's also very believable, and he really is one reason the show is so good.
Answer: Funny you should mention it. Kyle Chandler is one of my "Five Reasons We Love Friday Night Lights," which appears in the current issue of TV Guide, on stands now. (Shameless plug over.) In an item labeled "Best. Coach. Ever.," I write: "In a career-defining performance, Kyle Chandler gives the show its hunky spine and rock-solid conscience as beleaguered coach Eric Taylor. He's a father figure for his players, a role model for the town, a sex symbol for the PTA moms. He's compassionate but brutally demanding. The tougher he gets,
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Hot off the news that NBC has ordered a full season of Friday Night Lights, we got a glimpse into what life is like post-high school football in a place like Dillon — and it ain’t pretty. Tami hit the nail on the head when she said of the local football stars, “They don’t know what to do with themselves, they fall flat on their faces.” We had Lucas, whose life completely fell apart during college, such that he never graduated. His desperation to get a coaching job was so disturbing that it actually pained me to watch him plead with Coach Taylor. On the other hand, if he had been offered a job, what kind of effect would he have had on the kids?The most emotional moment last night was, of course, when Street led his team onto the field. I don’t know why I got choked up (that’s a lie, I get teary at Kleenex commercials), but it was certainly something to watch the entire town rally around him. No one close to him could really agree on whether he sho...
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Last night, Saracen showed us yet again why he’s the best character on network television right now. He’s a regular guy who wrestles with serious issues, fights pressure on all sides, but in the end always does the right thing. I have to give credit to the writers for this show, because they really know (in the words of Jason Street) “how to break a guy’s heart” — or a girl’s heart, as the case may be. Saracen gets me every time. He manages to be someone whom his team respects, but he hasn’t “crossed over,” as his friend implied. He pretty much embodied tonight’s theme, and I have to give it to the writers again. Each week they have some overarching theme — such as integrity and loyalty to old friends — and it’s never sappy.As much as I disliked the Lyla/Riggins/Street triangle last week, I thought that this week’s scenes were incredible. How many conflicting emotions registered across Riggins’ face when...
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Can I just mention how excited I was that we got this show a full night early this week? Seriously. Way excited. That said, I was a little disappointed by the first half. As much as I love all the characters on this show, I’m finding that I could do with a little less of the Lyla-Riggins drama, and I’m not totally sure what the Tyra story line did to further anything, though Adrianne Palicki did a nice job in a predictable role. Of course, as in the game, they pulled it all together in the final quarter.Really though, the episode picked up right around the time Coach Taylor — I have to call him "Coach," I just can’t bring myself to write “Eric,” I just have too much respect for the guy — pulled Matt into his office to tell him he wouldn’t be a starter. It hurt. You could tell neither of them wanted this, but it was also clear that Coach Taylor wanted Saracen to succeed, which was why he insisted he keep practicing the plays. And boy did tha...
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I’d like to get the best line of the night out of the way before delving into weightier topics: “I think I told that kid to get our daughter in the back seat of a car.” Coach Taylor’s realization that Saracen is interested in his daughter was that kind of nervous smile-inducing moment when a character really comes alive. Was this not symbolic of the mixing of team and home life for all of our characters? Everyone was affected, but Matt, Coach Taylor and Tami were the real standouts last night.I have to admit that I found myself tearing up during Matt’s videoconference with his father in Iraq. When his dad asked if Matt was going to start the next game, and he had to admit that there was new quarterback and that all bets were off, you could feel the disappointment on both sides of the line. His father saying ‘Well, it takes the pressure off, right?” was a no-confidence vote that Matt had to choice but to respond to with “Yeah, yeah, dad....
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Matt Saracen, we hardly knew ye. Just as the team finally coalesces, they’re getting this new QB. That final scene left me incredibly frustrated. I guess that it just came to a point where security in talent trumped integrity, but I have to say I’m disappointed. It’s a touchy issue, what with Tatum being a displaced Katrina survivor and his family living all together in one room in a crappy motel, but I can’t say it didn’t hurt. I wonder, though, if Saracen is in some way relieved that he won’t have to deal with all of this pressure anymore. He’s watching his grandmother succumb to what seems like Alzheimer’s, his father is in Iraq, people are screaming “loser” at him, and yet he’s enduring everything with such grace. I know I might be jumping to conclusions, since we don’t know what’s really going to happen with Tatum, but damn it, I like Saracen.It would seem that if last week’s episode were all about suspense,...
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Suspense. Last night’s episode was all about suspense. Not just in the most obvious ways — the build-up to the big game, and the will-they-or-won’t-they-win kind of thing, but in the way the whole show was formatted. Some of our questions were answered (Street’s definitely paralyzed and Riggins and Smash are really starting to lose their cool), but so much of the episode left us wondering. Did the Panthers win the game? Will Coach Taylor be fired? The final shot of the football hanging in the air was a fantastic symbol of all this suspense. I think it was a brilliantly executed episode on both the production and acting fronts.While light on actual football, we got to see a lot of character development last night. Tim Riggins is quickly identifying himself as the most complex person on the team and Taylor Kitsch did a wonderful job in the scene where Riggins watches the shot of Street getting hit over and over again. It was tough to watch him go to pieces, especia...
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