A Plague of Consequences Strikes Dillon
Matt tries to figure out how to deal with the women in his life. Zach Gilford by Bill Records/NBC
Episode Recap: "Bad Things"
Regular readers of this blog know that this show make me cry on a pretty regular basis. Tonight's episode was no exception, though I'm not sure what part was most affecting. You'd think it would be Jason still coming to terms with his paralysis after recovering some muscle function, but that's really just par for the course on this show. As usual,
Connie Britton's flawless portrayal of a new mother with a crumbling psyche was wrenching to watch. Was there any scene in which she wasn't desperately trying to swallow her sobs? And the thing is, it all seemed so completely organic - there was no screaming or a melodramatic "Why me?" moment. It's hard not to love a show that allows its characters to fully comprehend the ridiculousness of their choices, and when Glenn (the guidance counselor in need of guidance) asked Tami why exactly she and Eric were living apart, her acknowledgement of, "I don't know, that was just my idea, it was just a stupid idea," was just the kind of simple truth that would actually be said in real life.
Buddy started coming to terms with the effects of his idiotic choices tonight as well. Having the Panther pep rally taken away from his car dealership by the new, "hillbilly mouth-breather" of a coach just killed him. I'm not sure if he's totally gotten that the reason this is all happening is because of his seriously unstable family life, though. For him, football and family were always totally separate, but as he drunkenly mumbled tonight, he's lost them both.
As for the much-maligned Landry and Tyra situation well, if you're not OK with it, my guess is that you hated their scenes tonight, and if you are OK with it - and I still count myself in that latter group - they gave us some wonderful moments. Landry can't stop beating himself up for killing someone, and while Tyra's glad the guy's dead, she wishes that she had been the one to do it. I wasn't a huge fan of
Adrianne Palicki last season, but she showed some real subtlety tonight. As I saw it, she seems equally divided on wishing it had been her doing out of pure fear and revenge, and wishing it had been her doing because yes, she knew Landry had a thing for her, and she feels guilty that he - a guy that she really didn't have a more than platonic interest in prior to the incident - would do this for her. Say what you will, but I think that Palicki and Jesse Plemons are doing an amazing job with the material they've been given.
In other parts of the episode, we witnessed the possible reconciliation of Lyla and Riggins, the improvement of Jason's muscular control, and the not-really-that-sad breakup of sweet Matt and sour Julie. Matt certainly has enough on his plate between the new live-in nurse for his grandmother with the exacting standards and being virtually ignored by Coach McGregor, so it's probably better for him that he and Julie are going to be taking some time apart. That, and she totally kissed the Swede
before breaking up with him. Julie, don't worry. You will never be your mother because Tami has way too much class to do something like that.
Finally, can I just mention how great Eric Taylor was tonight? I'm sure a couple million heads nodded in agreement when his boss said, "I bet you were one hell of a high school coach, Taylor." He had too much personal integrity to tell star player Antwone Beltraine to lie to the disciplinary committee about accepting gifts from boosters, and he didn't sugarcoat things at the hearing. And for Eric's honesty (saying that the committee should take away all of the gifts Antwone received and basically asking to be given time to teach him how to be a better person), the kid was only suspended for three games. Not exactly a lesson taught or learned. Maybe Antwone needs to spend some time in Dillon. Then he'll learn all about personal responsibility.
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