Friday Night Lights: You Don’t Talk To Me That Way!

And so, my friends, it is the Beginning of the End. All the trouble that’s been a-brewin’ in Dillon, Texas, is about to combust. And what a combustion we are in for.

But first! Let’s get the small, but significant details out of the way. Team Saracen (Captain of the Team = me) suffers a blow this week, in part because Saracen receives about five minutes worth of screen time. But also, a heartbreaking story! Grandma and Shelby are still at odds, which results in Grandma falling out of the car while Shelby’s pulling out of the driveway. Old ladies are crazy! Literally! The doctor says that Grandma’s going to be fine, but it’s Episode Two of Season 3 all over again as the Doctor tells Matt that his grandmother’s mental faculties are going and he needs to look into more permanent, qualified care. Shelby jumps all over this, causing Matt to resent and blame her for the accident. Later, Grandma has a mentally unstable moment with Matt, leaving him feeling helpless, an emotion he conveys effortlessly just by standing over his crying Grandmother. In the end, he makes up with Shelby and asks for her continued help, and she heartwarmingly responds, “I was never going anywhere.”

Over on Team Landry (Captain of the Team = Tyra), our new Man with a Backbone comes to Tyra’s aid as she arranges Mindy’s bridal shower. And Holy Bridezilla, Batman. As Tyra finalizes plans, Mindy decides she wants a tea party. Because it’s classy. The strippers in attendance make it extra classy, natch. Enter Landry, whose mother happens to have a scone recipe. Not only that, but he’s perfectly capable of telling Mindy to shut up, and she listens! Why do we not see more of that? He helps Tyra with preparations, right up until the moment the strippers – er, the guests, arrive – and Tyra plays the part perfectly of the girl who sees the ex-boyfriend in a whole new light. Also, Tyra receives her SAT scores and she’s about 100 points short of being college material. According to the numbers, anyway. But Landry gives her a cute pep talk, and who cares! The shower is a success, strippers, scones and all. But when the throngs clear out and the booze dries up, and Billy Riggins picks up his fiancée and carries her away, Tyra cries to Mom, because why can’t she want that? Why can’t Tyra just be Mindy, instead of having dreams of college and a world outside of Dillon? Tyra and her mother share a nice, genuine, true-to-life mother/daughter moment. For once, her mother isn’t telling her to find a man to solve her problems, and promises Tyra that everything she ever wanted will come true. For the first time, I like Tyra’s mom.

Now to Team Beautiful (Population: 2), and the troubles of Tim Riggins and Lyla Garrity. Lyla deals with her father’s betrayal with beer, video games, and ditching school. I, personally, don’t see the problem, but now that Tim’s going to college, he’s all responsible, I guess. He tries to coerce Lyla into making amends with her father, since it’s obviously eating at her. He starts to make some headway, and then Lyla finds out that she was accepted by Vanderbilt, but how can she afford it? Following Friday night’s game, Tim talks Lyla out of her self-pitying ways, because enough people on this show pout. They share a nice tender moment, and all the girls in the audience sigh as one.

But now on to Team Dillon, made up of Panthers! First, Coach and Principal T are at odds because of re-zoning issues: if the district splits into East and West Dillon, funding will go up and the classroom size will go down. Which sounds like a great deal for the students and teachers. However, half the football team will disappear over to East Dillon. Buddy and the Boosters work to manipulate the zoning lines to most benefit “West” Dillon, and though morally, Coach disagrees, he decides to turn the other cheek. If he doesn’t know, he can’t lie about anything to Mama T, right? That should blow up in his face nicely in the coming weeks.

But none of this compares to television’s newest villain, Papa Joe McCoy. Less and less happy – or more appropriately, more and more angry – over JD’s new girlfriend, he smiles less and frowns more the closer the Panthers come to making State. He goes so far as to call Red’s parents and call her a bad influence on his boy, but nothing deters Red. In terms of chemistry, she and JD have none, but what does chemistry have to do with sex? Although I’m sure JD’s still a virgin; after all, we need a storyline for Season 4.  JD doesn’t hide their relationship, while Papa McCoy does what he can to rein in his temper. Before Friday’s game, played in the rain, Papa McCoy tells JD to run the ball, play smart, do as I say, etc., etc. Coach, however, continues to have JD pass the ball despite several interceptions. Papa McCoy loses it in the stands, embarrassed by JD’s mistakes and furious that he’s stopped listening to the Word of McCoy. Despite the offensive mistakes, the Panthers win (thank you, Riggins!) and everyone heads off to Ruby Tuesday’s to celebrate.

Except for Joe McCoy. His anger reaches its boiling point in the Ruby’s parking lot – he yells at JD for not listening to him, and for hanging out with that tramp, Red. This sparks JD’s anger, and one “Screw you, Dad!” later, Papa McCoy shoves and starts punching JD against the family car.

It’s as crazy as it sounds. Mama McCoy is screaming for Joe to stop, and the only thing that saves JD is the arrival of Coach, who pulls Joe off of his son. He storms off, and the Taylors tend to the remaining McCoys.

We close this storyline with Tami and Coach comforting JD and his mother, and inviting them to spend the night. With someone as vengeful and manipulative as Papa McCoy out there, the Taylors’ taking sides is really going to cause some problems.

Next week: More fallout? And More Tyra and Landry? I hope Devin returns to talk some sense into our boy.

P.S.  A super-fan I like to call “Lady President Hayes” (nickname up for discussion) contributed that “Tyra’s mom stole the show” in her great scene with Tyra. Great job to the writers, and great job to Dana Wheeler-Nicholson.

Season 3, Episode 11: A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall (originally aired December 17, 2008 on DIRECTV)

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Photographs courtesy of Bill Records and NBC Universal