"Leave No One Behind"
I declare Friedman's First Law of
FNL to be that for every person whose life starts going well, another must suffer. How else to explain the improving lives of Tyra and Landry versus the declining fortunes of Smash and Saracen?
Tyra and Landry had a pretty rough couple of months between the murder and their non-breakup. But in a swift moving series of events, Landry confessed his crime with no ill effects and Tyra realized that he's the one who sets her heart aflutter. I can't help it. I like them together, if only to see them happy for the first time in seemingly forever.
Also generally happy this week were the Taylors. For once, Julie had a just reason to be her sullen teenage self for once, when Tami didn't show up for her driving test (instead bringing the now 2-7 girls volleyball team home for dancing and sundaes). But once Tami finessed the DMV worker and Julie was able to take her test, all was forgiven. It was lovely to see Gracie, Julie, Tami and Eric all living together in some sort of harmony à la season 1. Plus, at the DMV, we had one of the best exchanges of dialogue from the whole show, when Tami asked the tester, "Hey are you a Panthers fan?" and he responded with, "No, I hate football." As if working at the DMV didn't make him enough of a pariah!
On the other end of the emotional spectrum was the perennially abandoned Saracen. I can't imagine I was the only one shocked that our QB1 called his art teacher a bitch (to her face, no less). After skipping school and joining the Riggins School of Life (Lesson One: "I always skip [school] Wednesdays." Lesson Two: Learning to tell strippers, "I'm almost done with high school."), Matt found himself unprepared to lead a Smash-less team, both emotionally and physically. Showing up to practice drunk will do that to you. The scene where he broke down in the shower, screaming at Coach, "You left me for a better job [] Everybody leaves me! What is wrong with me?" managed to remind us both how much we love Matt Saracen, and how much we hate the Emmy, Golden Globes and SAG voters for ignoring this show. Pure perfection.
And Smash. Oh, Smash. As though being suspended for three games wasn't enough, TMU has revoked his scholarship ("They say I've got questionable character. That's the mark of death, Coach."), casting a pall over his senior year. It's hardly the end of the world: as my father, whom I was lucky enough to watch this episode with, pointed out, other schools are not going to pass up a chance to grab this talent. Just look at Randy Moss after his Notre Dame scholarship got revoked. He's certainly feeling no pain now (and let's face it, probably won't be for quite some time). But I can certainly understand the degree of panic that Smash must be dealing with right now. His speech to his teammates showed immense character (if only TMU could have seen it), and for once, he's realized that there is a Panther team beyond the force that is Smash Williams. That didn't make watching him in sob in frustration, anger and sadness any easier. (And as always, brava to Liz Mikel, who does a beautiful, understated job as Smash's mother. It never goes unnoticed.)
Peter Berg will join the cast of the show next week, which will probably cause the universe to explode somehow. If it doesn't, I'll see you then for one last episode (that hopefully won't serve as the de facto series finale) before a strike-imposed hiatus. Clear eyes! Full hearts! Can't cancel!
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