The Taylors have moved their card game to the bedroom. And I don't mean that in a dirty way, they're actually still playing. Coach just thinks it's wrong for Matt to just show up without warning, and Tami agrees. After some frantic pacing around, he finally snaps and bursts out into the living room to check up on the kids. They're on the couch watching some product placement (The Office), and for the love of all things holy they're sitting under a BLANKET! Resisting the urge to perhaps call the police, Coach sternly tells Julie it's a school night, which ruffles Matt up enough for him to get up and leave, limply shaking Julie's hand as he goes. Julie angrily storms off to her room. Tami stares at her dumbass husband, who holds up the offending object of seduction to insist, "They had a blanket." Her response? "You're an idiot." Damn. These two just recap themselves.
"No I am NOT overreacting, for all we know it could be infected with SMALLPOX!!"
Lyla is online looking at "The Official Lyla Garrity Slam Page". Wow, it's official and everything. Buddy comes in to check on her, and clearly wants to ask about the whole thing but somehow can't. How do you talk to your daughter about her internet hate site? Perhaps this will be addressed in a future "The More You Know" spot. He leaves and Lyla cries a single tear, as opposed to the usual ocean.
Pep Rally! Coach grabs the mike and yells that while the football team is hunting for "a big W" this weekend, the cheerleaders are pursuing one as well at their own competition. And to symbolize the boys' support, a select few members of the football team enter the gym in full-out cheerleader drag, with wigs and makeup and short skirts and the whole works. And dammit, my personal favorite has to be Tim Riggins in pigtails. Why does this show make it so impossible to unconditionally hate someone? Not surprisingly, the entire school goes apeshit as the boys do a little pom-pom routine and Smash lifts up his skirt. And we even get a brief Landry sighting, who appears to be quite turned on by all of this.
My high school never would have allowed this. And by this I mean fun.
Lyla, who sadly missed the entire circus, is reading yet another hate note at her locker. I hope she's saving them for a future scrapbook. Tami collects her and they head over to the guidance office. Lyla confesses that she's quitting the cheerleading team, that ever since she was five she's been preparing to become a Panthers cheerleader but now she just doesn't want it anymore. She can't keep pretending that she truly cares about any of it. And this is good writing and all but Minka Kelly is just not a very good actress and she's veering dangerously close to soap opera land here so we'll just move on and never speak of this scene again.
Matt drops by Coach's office to talk about the whole Julie debacle. He finally grows some balls and says that he's not going to stop seeing her just because Coach doesn't approve. Coach, somewhat taken aback, makes it clear that what he says goes, and repeatedly tells him to leave. He should have just yelled "BLANKET", since the very word seems to effectively rid any room of horny teenage boys.
Back at the Garrity Shack, Lyla's mother (also very young) tries to cheer her up by quoting Scripture. Thanks mom!
Casa Williams is in chaos because Waverly and her father are coming over for dinner. Sassy Mama proves that she can cook and hurl zingers all at the same time: "I've been making this gumbo since Michael Jackson had a nose like yours." Hey-o! The guests arrive and over dinner reveal that they have been doing missionary work in Africa for all these years. Hopefully they didn't run into Kimberob over there, or they might have gotten an earful on how to better achieve a protein-rich diet. The conversation turns to education, and Smash lies about how the SAT classes he's taking are going very well. Meaning of course that the steroids are working just fine, thank you.
"Dear Lord, please bless us with a better plotline next week."
« Daily Digest: December 15, 2006 | Main | Recap: The Duel: Fat Guy In A Little Duel! »
Comments (14)
Loved your recap, especially your picture captions (I'm still giggling about the possibly-infected-with-smallpox blanket and the deer heads). The part about the kid with the teeth was pretty great, too. I feel bad for laughing, but Mr. Ed and a box of teeth is spot-on.
I'm really enjoying Friday Night Lights. I love the Taylors and, unlike most people here, I have a soft spot for greasy-haired loner Tim Riggins. How can you not like the small flickers of actual emotional depth whenever he's talking to Lyla?
I don't get why everyone is treating Lyla like a leper yet no one seems to care about Tyra gettin' it on with half the men in town. Maybe if Lyla stopped acting like a chipper goody-goody they'd leave her alone.
I care too much about this show, clearly.
1 of 14 | Posted by gatsby
|
Posted on December 15, 2006 7:19 PM
"He looks like the love child of Mr. Ed and...I don't know, a box of giant teeth."
Ha! I almost peed.
2 of 14 | Posted by JDub
|
Posted on December 15, 2006 7:43 PM
Your recaps are filling a much-needed FNL void in my life. My kids and I watch it (with my husband only viewing key scenes that I've recorded), but no one else I know seems to be. As you said, it is amazing how this show manages to make unconditional hatred of any character impossible. I even bonded with Lyla at the end, when she said "That's right, the whore with the website." But Minka Kelly remains the weak link among the females.
And like you, I find that after each episode - or most of them, anyway - my heart feels like it's been torn out and stomped on by a high-school-football-team's worth of cleats. I cried a river over you, Matt/Jason.
Landry rocks.
3 of 14 | Posted by HarshBench
|
Posted on December 15, 2006 8:45 PM
doesnt landry look like matt damon with downs syndrome? i think so.
4 of 14 | Posted by Niecy
|
Posted on December 16, 2006 12:52 AM
Hey Niecy- good call on Landry. That is exactly what he looks like!!
I also agree that all these parents are too young. Lyla's mom should be her sister.
And I now also heart Tim.I dont know how this happened, but he is suddenly hot and sweet. These writers are doing a fabulous job with character development. Jason Katims is the producer. He also produced Roswell and My- so-called-life so he seems to know how to flesh out monosyllabic high schoolers.
5 of 14 | Posted by dent
|
Posted on December 16, 2006 12:33 PM
I love this show, but I find that people are going a little over the top with their persecution of Lyla! Like gatsby said, no one says anything about Trampy Tyra's slutty ways. I guess maybe because Jason was so worshipped they feel like they have to stick up for him. I don't know....
Julie and Matt are adorable! I don't get why the Coach doesn't want her to see him. He is sweet, she could do alot worse. Jeez, it's not like she's hooking up with Tim or playboy Smash.
Lyla's stalking of Jason IS kinda creepy. I feel for the girl, though, I think she is truly sorry.
Great recap!
6 of 14 | Posted by Jojobear
|
Posted on December 16, 2006 12:37 PM
and just to add, i dont usually like talkin bout kids' unfortunate characteristics...but damn. that seriously is the most hurt child i have seen in a long time. when he asked street can he walk, he shoulda asked that boy "can you close your mouth? damn, you shole is ugly!"
7 of 14 | Posted by Niecy
|
Posted on December 17, 2006 10:46 AM
Great show and recap.
But some of the storylines are getting a little boring and others they are just pushing over the top.
The guy taking steroids is boring and I don't think the writers are going to do anything different with it than what everyone expects.
The protective parents and shunned lover thing is just too much.
Where's the football?
8 of 14 | Posted by soflat
|
Posted on December 18, 2006 8:45 AM
Screampillar, another fantastic recap. It can't be easy to take a show that is mostly so damn serious and make it so funny in recap. Keep up the good work. I only hope enough people are watching this show to keep it alive. I think it's the best drama on the big networks (my faves are still the FX shows "The Shield" and "Rescue Me").
While some of the parents are young looking, this is supposed to be rural Texas, where I imagine by their early 20s many people are already married and having kids. Several kids I knew in high school had parents in their 30s who were young enough looking to pass for older siblings.
9 of 14 | Posted by JasonR
|
Posted on December 18, 2006 9:33 AM
Screampillar, another fantastic recap. It can't be easy to take a show that is mostly so damn serious and make it so funny in recap. Keep up the good work. I only hope enough people are watching this show to keep it alive. I think it's the best drama on the big networks (my faves are still the FX shows "The Shield" and "Rescue Me").
While some of the parents are young looking, this is supposed to be rural Texas, where I imagine by their early 20s many people are already married and having kids. Several kids I knew in high school had parents in their 30s who were young enough looking to pass for older siblings.
10 of 14 | Posted by JasonR
|
Posted on December 18, 2006 9:34 AM
The pep rally brought back memories of Powderpuff football at my high school. One week of the year was set up to raise money for medical help to someone who really needed it. Each day was something different like pajama day. It all ended with a Powderpuff football game. The cheerleaders dressed in jerseys and played a football game. The football team dressed as cheerleaders and did a cheer.
I too really like this show, but besides the commentors here, I don't know anyone else who watches.
11 of 14 | Posted by dahrache
|
Posted on December 19, 2006 4:44 PM
Screampillar, this is the first time that I have read one of your recaps- you are hysterical! I could not agree more with your first paragraph. I also watched seasons 1-4 of 24 on DVD- and for three days, the real world ceased to exist. Friday Night Lights is the first show since 24 that has caused me to lose touch with reality- I love it!
12 of 14 | Posted by GA_girl
|
Posted on December 20, 2006 9:00 AM
Love this Show. Love your screen captions. Hopefully this show will pick up steam in the ratings, tell your friends!
Coach Taylor is Hot.
13 of 14 | Posted by noodle
|
Posted on December 21, 2006 10:14 AM
" I assume he's not talking about a scorching case of herpes, which she decidedly does not need right now. They hug and he walks away into the dripping rain as she stares. EMO."
made me laugh for 10 minutes straight.
Screampillar, I don't know where you came from, but please PLEASE recap the other 9 episodes.
I have no life.
14 of 14 | Posted by eightyschica
|
Posted on January 5, 2007 6:49 PM