Friday night lights – Episode 14 – Upping the Ante
I’m so sorry, for the gaps in recaps this past month. Things have been hectic. I’ll do a summary at the end of the season, of the entire season in retrospect, and hopefully will be able to cover the episodes I didn’t recap, in a bit of detail in that.
Okay, so in this episode…
Coach has to deal with Smash’s steroid’s issues. He needs to decide whether or not he’ll have him play in the weekend’s important game, and how to go about keeping all of this from the press/school board, for if word comes out that he didn’t report Smash, he’ll be in years of trouble (much worse that what he’s facing with the current law suit).
There’s a great scene, where Coach goes to Smash’s house to talk to him about why he’s having such difficulty in deciding what to do with the entire situation, where he tells him that sometimes you forget that it’s still just a game. You forget, why you had at first started to play football, the joy it can gives you. The speech, intercut with the little kiddies playing in the backyard, and then Coach and Smash playing with them, just having fun, remembering what the game really is about, was beautiful!
Coach finally tells Smash that he can play, but that he’ll still keep an eye on him. Good decision, just really hope that him keeping quiet about Smash’s steroid-use won’t come back to bite them all in the butt. Don’t think it will, I think this story-line ought to be buried now, but you never know…
Tim gets a traffic violation, and receives a form that he needs a parent to sign. Thus he goes to his dad’s (not sure where that is, may be Austin), and they have some good times together. However, when Tim asks his dad to come home, and watch him in a game, his dad goes all nasty on us, and says he doesn’t want to go back to Dillon, ever.
Tim realizes why Billy didn’t want him to go to his dad’s in the first place, and returns that same night, daddy-issues in tow. Billy is awefully supportive, and just generally a great older brother – I love Billy!
This story-line, ends on a happyish note, in this episode, with daddy arriving for the game. Will see where they go with it from here, I’m still not really feeling Daddy Riggins at present.
Jason grows balls, and stands up to Buddy Garrity (in a matter of speaking), when the slime is being derogative towards Jason’s new passion (wheel-chair passion). He let’s slip that he and Lyla are engaged, and the Garrity’s doesn’t take to well to the news. Now, I won’t say that I’m thrilled with the engagement either, but it’s just good to see Jason standing for what he believes in.
Jason and Lyla fight about their future, and the engagement, Lyla saying she still needs time, she wants to go to college, she doesn’t even know what Jason wants to do with his life, all very valid points, that needs to be addressed, and the way Jason dismiss her worries, and turns things on her, lets me think this relationship isn’t going to be plain-sailing towards the wedding (if there’s going to be a wedding, which currently doesn’t really seem likely).
Julie and Matt face some relationship problems in this episode. (Okay… “some” is an understatement). Matt is pulled into the whole “football-culture” by his buddies, and is thus neglecting his relationship with Julie.
Julie finds company with Tyra, whom shows her the intricate art of shop-lifting. I can see a very interesting friendship developing here. Oh, and Tyra, Julie and Grandma together, with booze in tow… Pretty darn hilarious set-up!
Matt is forced to join the football team and rally girls at a pool-party, where photo’s are being taken for a charity calendar. Unfortunately, the printing press in Dillon, is pretty darn quick, and the next morning Julie gets a hand on one of the photo’s. When she asks Matt where he had been the previous evening, he lies to her, and that puts the nail in the coffin.
Poor Julie leaves, with a stream of tears in tow, and Matt has a world of groveling to look forward to in the next episode.
When you type it out like this, it doesn’t seem like much happened in the episode, but man, the way everything flows from one scene to the next, the camera-work that works as part of the cast, and the fine writing and acting, everything just adds to make this such a beautiful show to watch.