Friday Night Lights: Don’t call me Sweetheart, Sweetheart
February 10, 2009 by Jaimie Campos
Filed under Television
It’s a bye week, fans, so no football. Instead, this week on FNL, it’s all about Needs!
First off, Landry needs Tyra, and needs her so bad, in fact, that he’s under the impression the two are still dating. Or sorta. Or mostly. I don’t know, but apparently, it involves them occasionally holding hands, their hanging out, and her offering to come by his place to nurse him back to health after he gets his wisdom teeth pulled. Tyra, however, has needs of her own. And by needs, I mean “needs,” if y’all know what I’m saying. I think you do. So she lies to Landry about a family emergency, and instead saves a horse and rides a cowboy, or in this instance, local celebrity Cash, a bull rider in town “for a while.” Well, I don’t blame her, if you saw that kiss. Landry, not as dumb as he looks, later puts Needy Girl together with Randy Cowboy and comes up with the answer, “I got played,” and he and Tyra have a huge ol’ fight. Tyra is genuinely upset that she’s hurt Landry, so I’m not mad. I have faith they’ll all do the right thing….eventually.
Next, we have Principal Taylor, who needs to a) chill, b) wisen up against Mama McCoy, and c) get a better storyline, because I am so tired of hearing her whine about the JumboTron. Mama McCoy somehow convinces our savvy PT to flirt a bit with the superintendent to plead her case, and as every working woman knows, that just makes you look desperate, especially when you have no chance of winning. But PT thinks it’s her only way to fight off Buddy Garrity’s whoring it up with the superintendent on the golf course. The truth is, as we all knew, that PT could never win this fight in a football town. The night before the big debate, she cries, and for once, Coach Taylor plays Supportive Coach. He tries to cheer her up by telling her she stood up for what she believed in, so she’s a winner after all. Tami and I would both prefer a real win. The best she can do is smile and take the loss gracefully in front of the boosters and football fans, and then volunteers Buddy to host the PTA’s Winter Silent Auction, unbeknownst to him. Well, small victories, I guess.
Not that I don’t love Coach, but he’s been a bit disappointing about PT’s Buddy Garrity issues. Because he’s the coach, and the boosters support football? I don’t know, but he’s repeatedly changed the subject whenever she vents (not that I wouldn’t be bored, too) and makes it about his issues, at which time Mama Taylor has his back. In this episode, for example, Coach wrestles with the pressure of keeping his football team winning, balanced against his loyalty to Matt Saracen. But JD is too good to ignore. Coach worries that the freshman will get killed by the big guys on the field, and trusts in Matt’s experience. But there’s no longer any denying that JD’s Got Talent. Tami speaks for everyone at home, falling in love all over again with a man who cares so much about his kids that he’s not ruled by winning only. He cares about the impact of his decisions. Nevertheless, he decides to give both quarterbacks equal playing time during the next game, switching off on plays to confuse the other team.
You can’t blame Coach for that. Sorta. Mostly. It is a game and the object is to win. But could anybody be carrying more on their shoulders than Matt Saracen?
Which brings us to my favorite character, Little Matty Saracen and All That is Wrong with the World. First, Matt’s constantly worrying about said benching and JD McCoy all over the news. Next, his grandmother’s fighting him over her meds and her breakfast. Then his mother shows up at school (the nerve!), but don’t forget she abandoned him so many years ago, so viewer sympathy = zero. All Mom wants to do is worm her way back into his life and help him out, but Grandma hates the bitch, so an offer to have Mom take Grandma to the doctor turns into a nightmare. Matt takes a cue from his grandmother, devoted to her as he is, and tells his Mom to take a hike. It’s a great scene, not at all overplayed as these moments usually are, capped off with her calling him sweetheart and him casually, yet authoritatively, telling her, “No. Don’t call me that.” She does leave, heartbroken, but what do you expect? Ordinarily, I don’t care for this actress, but I actually end up liking her here. And rooting for Team Saracen! Grandma concedes that while she doesn’t care for Mom, and doesn’t forgive her for abandoning Matt, maybe Grandma could have been a little nicer to her, or helped her out when she was dealing with Papa Saracen, who sounds like a real piece of work.
As a result, Matt realizes he does need the help, and hunts down his mother. They come to an agreement to try to make it work, at least while Dad’s in Iraq.
And finally, in the longest good-bye ever, it’s time to catch up with Smash! He needs a break, and so do I, because here’s another story that’s run its course. I’m sure that I’d be happier if I’d been invested since Season One. Coach continues training with our boy, trying to keep Smash’s nerves from ruining his try-out. You can’t blame him, as they’ve already been delayed once. Smash discovers that Coach’s lead at A&M is actually a “front end” guy, or essentially: not a coach. Further discouraged, Coach tells him to pull it together on the way over to the school. They’re forced to wait an hour, watching the team practice, until the Front End guy comes out and tells them to come back next week. So Coach pulls a Coach and walks up to the A&M Coach, or AMC for our purposes, and as we’ve learned before, Coach = God, so he easily convinces the AMC into trying Smash for a few runs. Smash lights up the field, but the AMC sends him home. Which is just a set-up so Smash can be home with his family, Mom helping her daughter do schoolwork, Smash watching television with his other sister, when he gets the call from the school that he’s made the team. He’s going to college! Screaming! Screaming! Happiness! Screaming!
As if there were any doubt in your mind it would end this way.
Smash shows up at Coach’s house a few hours later. They share a heartfelt hug and thank you but it’s Coach, so no smiling! But he sends his boy on his way, as Smash is leaving immediately for practice the next morning.
Talk about needs: No beautiful people this week! Nationwide, the women scream for Tim Riggins, and the men yell loudly for Lyla. Instead, we end this week with Landry, Saracen, and a completely clothed Riggins bringing Smash to the football field to say goodbye over beers and a few passes.
Okay, I’m sold. This is a good show.
Next week: Who’s Jason Street? Time to watch old episodes!
Season 3, Episode 4: Hello, Goodbye (originally aired October 22, 2008 on DIRECTV)
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Fridays, 9/8C on NBC
