Recap: Friday Night Lights: Say No To Drugs, Say Yes To Fabulous Neckwear

fnl_012407i.JPGDear NBC,
Please move Friday Night Lights to another time slot. If it stays where it is right now it's going to die a slow painful death due to American Idolitis. Granted, I enjoy this horrific disease as much as the next glutton for punishment, but I'm just not ready for it to take the life of my innocent young sapling. I would like to be able to enjoy both programs, and for that to happen you need to do something about this little pickle we've found ourselves in. For Pete's sake, swap it with Deal or No Deal over on Mondays before Heroes. Everyone wins, except for Howie Mandel, which means that we win even more.

We begin this week with a delightful Taylor family scene. Is there any other kind? They're in the car and not listening to the expositional sports radio show for once. Instead, they've got some sort of call-in Dr. Phil crap going, much to the chagrin of a helpless Coach. He tries to change it, but the Taylor women doth protest too much, insisting that his sports shows are just "stress in a bottle." Coach, realizing that he's been estrogenically licked once again, gives up and lets the advice wash over him like so many bottles of hair gel. Cut to the field, where Coach recycles that very same advice to his plucky team of playoff hopefuls.

Over at Casa Williams, shit is about to go down. Mama Smash is cleaning up her filthy son's room, when she discovers Smash's very own My First Steroid Kit. Next thing you know, she's barreling through the locker room, grabbing Smash on the way. She drags him into Coach's office, where she demands to know what kind of team he's running. Poor Coach has no idea why this screaming woman has invaded his Awesome Zone, so she whips out the bag of drugs and throws it at him. She continues to rant about how she thought he was a Christian man and how could you do this to these kids and boy this woman can act. Her chin is quivering like a terrorist on Bauer Torture Day. Coach insists he had no idea, and when Mama finally realizes that her dumbass son was the only one behind all of this, her heart almost visibly breaks right there on the screen. Off to another cheerful start!

I love the Allstate Commercial where Dennis Haysbert describes the different kinds of neglectful drivers. There's just something about President Palmer saying "the guy who changes his pants while driving" that makes my heart smile.

Buddy Garrity regales his family with a tale of some nitwit who came all the way back into town to buy a car from him. Incidentally, said nitwit's son is a psych major at SMU who happens to be writing a paper on cheerleaders (seriously?) and sure could use an interview with Lyla for his "studies". In fact, much to Lyla's confusion, Daddy already set one up, Thursday at 1:00 at that new Oriental place! "I've heard it's real good," says Mom. Someone in this family is eventually going to snap in a bloody bloodbath of bathic proportions.

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"I ate an entire species once."

Coach and Tami are getting all dolled up for a dinner with the Mayor, which Coach is not looking forward to. Plus he's all stressed out over the whole Smash debacle. If he reports him, the kid's career is over, but if he doesn't, it'll go against everything he stands for. Why must Coach encounter a ridiculously difficult moral quandary each and every week? I had no idea high school football coaches' lives were so compelling. But it can't be all bad, since Tami has laid out an impressive spread of ties for him to choose from.

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A veritable buffet of fashion!

Over at the Arctic Freeze, Tyra is happily chatting away with...two trashy blonde friends? Oh how silly of me, it's just her mother and...I don't know, a wacky aunt. They're teasing her about Tim Riggins (who happens to be sitting two tables away), insisting that he is VERY CUTE. How very Notes on a Scandel of them. Tyra reads her mother an ad in the paper detailing a receptionist position at Buddy Garrity's car dealership. But oh ho, MamaTyra can't fake a typing speed of 50 wpm! Her white whale, if you will.

Recap: Friday Night Lights: Say No To Drugs, Say Yes To Fabulous Neckwear Sections:  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5 

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Comments (16)

dainsey Author Profile Page:

I know I had some comments but all I can think about are the previews for next week where little Matty appears to be getting his topless bump and grind on with various football-lovin-groupies!! Ahhhhhh!

sweetleaf Author Profile Page:

I agree, not the best FNL epi ever but the show still has my vote. Thanks for the great recap, loved the screencaps!

TinkerbellAPixie Author Profile Page:

"Imagine if Mama Williams and Dr. Bailey got together for a Happy Hour or something. I'd pay to listen in on that."

Now that would be MUST SEE Tv.

I love Mama Williams - I can't imagine how Smash has turned out to have such a colossal ego with a Mom like that. I love when she threw him out - yeah Mama!

Was anyone else disappointed when Coach and the Mrs. were in bed smooching and that blasted doorbell rang? I love when they get kissyface. She was so cute in his office - she is the one person who can totally stand up to him and he is helpless to it. It's great!

angieb Author Profile Page:

I just love love love your recaps of this show!

I had all kinds of witty things to say as I was reading this, but they have all left my brain.

Thanks, anyway!

Jojobear Author Profile Page:

Your recaps continue to impress! I thought this was a good episode, it was nice to see Smash cool the ego a little! Props to Momma Smash for being a good mother.
Buddy Garrity is such a sleaze! Tyra's mom probably can type like 2 words a minute. And I love how mom of the year suggests getting drunk to her teen-age train-wreck-in-training daughter! That was pushing it a little for me. Not that I'm a prude or anything...!
Jason proposing to Lyla shocked me too. I'm sure Buddy will be impressed.
Screampillar, I thought the same thing about FNL's time slot...American Idol is gonna kill it. I HOPE they give this show a chance!
As for the previews of next week's show, looks like Matt will have some explaining to do!!

aloveaffairwithtivo Author Profile Page:

I may be completely wrong...but I don't think that Coach Taylor told Smash that the kid flipping burgers was caught with drugs. I think he was trying to tell Smash that that kid flipping burgers was on that Scout's top 100 list and never amounted to anything...sort of as if to say...Smash, you don't need that list in order to be successful becuase it obviously doesn't mean anything. The reason Smash started doing drugs in the first place was because he didn't make it on the scouts list and felt pressure... I could be way off base, but I think that's what he meant.

TinkerbellAPixie Author Profile Page:

aloveaffairwithtivo - I took it the same way you did. I took it to mean not to let someone else determine your worth. He was doing just fine on his before he took the steroids -and it was only because that guy told him he was small that he risked losing everything.

sluggerbun Author Profile Page:

Great recap! I love this show and hope it stays around for a while.

dent Author Profile Page:

This show cannot go down with My so called Life, Freaks and Geeks, etc as one of those shows that everyone who watches loves, but really no one watches. NBC keeps talking about how much they love the show but puttingit on against AI is destined to kill it.

And please no my dear Matty, do not go the way of the groupies next week. You and Julie are the cutest things ever!!!

helloooeverybody Author Profile Page:

I'm hoping that this time slot is OK for FNL. It seems like AI is going to be on at 9pm instead of 8pm, so we may be alright.

That said, this wasn't one of my favorite episodes, but the Taylors rocked it! And Smash's mama too.

OK, I love this show, but one thing has been bugging me since I watched it.

When Jason and Terc were driving by the restaurant with Lyla and that guy, they were in Terc's pickup truck, with their wheelchairs in the bed of the pickup. Now, how in the world do the two paraplegics get the wheelchiars out of the back and get into them? Really - does anyone know this?

JasonR Author Profile Page:

Sorry I'm a little late to the party here, but just watched the show on the DVR last night.

Not the best episode, but FNL is like sex or pizza, even when it's not the best, it's still pretty damn good. Another great recap Screampillar.

lawyergal (#11), the only thing I can think of is that Herc's pickup could have a hydraulic liftgate or ramp for the loading and unloading of the chairs. They were careful enough to show Herc driving with the aide of a special steering wheel so I can't believe the writers/director would have been so lazy as to just throw 2 heavy wheelchairs in the back of a pickup without giving it any thought.

By the way did anyone else get the distinct feeling that Dillon's "alternative lifestyle" mayor wants to get in Tami Taylor's pants? (not that I can blame her).

JasonR Author Profile Page:

BTW I am liking the plotline for this week's episode. It is completely reasonable that Matt would be a little corrupted in his meteoric rise from mild-mannered nobody riding the bench behind the superstar QB Street to mild-mannered town hero. That's the great thing about this show. The characters are all flawed but all seem to be doing the best they can. Well, Tami may be a complete saint. Just when you think a character is completely destestable they show some good qualities: Riggins, Lila, Buddy, and even Smash.

Such good writing. I'll be so bitter if this show doesn't last. I'm hoping NBC sticks with it and that it will pick up some viewers over the summer in reruns and there will be some Emmy nominations in August that will bring more attention.

jack Author Profile Page:

thanks for recapping this show. i only tuned in because the actress who plays tami taylor (connie britton) went to my church and my high school (i can still remember going with my family at age six to see her play the lead in the high school's production of 'hello, dolly!'). turns out it's a great show. the dynamic between connie and kyle chandler is so genuine and believable, the saracen kid is a grandmother's wish -fulfillment fantasy, and thus far the show really hasn't over-sentimentalized or exploited the very real issues of drug abuse and crippling injury in high school sports.

--loved the confrontation between buddy and jason. the actor who plays buddy does a fine job of toeing the line between being the meddling blowhard and the loving dad who just wants the best for his little girl. tough to watch, but honest and direct.

--smash's mom rules. 'nuff said.

--the sapphic-mayor twist was a welcome surprise, showing that FNL's writers can take this seemingly predictable concept in interesting directions.

--is it just me, or does that riggins boy always look like he just finished bathing in oil? somebody get that kid a haircut!

ellebella Author Profile Page:

I just started watching and I am in love. This show is amazing.
I must also express my love for Screampillar! Your recaps capture everything I'm thinking and morning, and the screencaps? Priceless!!
Thanks for making a great show even better.

ellebella Author Profile Page:

and by morning i meant more!

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