Jason seeks advice from his friend Herc on how to have sex. I know Herc is supposed to be the quirky, cynical disabled guy who loves to dish out the smackdowns of reality in an obnoxious yet somewhat charming way, but I really can't stand him. Jason needs better crippled friends. Anyway, Herc says that whatever worked before might not work now, and that while he will eventually be able to "shoot fireworks" it just might not work every time. But don't feel too bad, he sagely preaches, because there's more to life than sex. But Jason is a horny teenager, so no, there isn't.
Tami approaches Landry in the library with Tim in tow, and I get very excited because I can see where this is going. Tami more or less demands that Landry tutor Tim in English then quickly runs away, and I celebrate because we now have the setup for the Comical Subplot of the Week. Landry + Riggins = Hilarity.
Smash Williams, uh...well no Smash just yet. Surely he'll be in this episode at some point.
Coaching and football and whatnot. Papa Saracen shows up at Matt's practice, and is thusly introduced to Coach. Coach has nothing but praise for the strapping young quarterback, but his father still seems unconvinced and sneers that he hopes he'll be able to stay that way under pressure. Which of course means that in about 40 minutes, he won't. Poor Matt's face falls. Damn you foreshadowing!
"Hey there, son! Don't screw up!"
Dr. Landry diagnoses Mr. Saracen as being "war crazy". He and Julie try to make Matt feel better, but Matt's okay as long as he knows that his father is going to be able to straighten everything out with his grandmother and get her some in-home care. Oh, Matt. This is going to be a horrible episode for you. But Landry's got a sure-fire cure for the blues - his new band Crucifictorious is playing Friday night after the game! Seriously, someone take this kid and turn him into a talking doll for next year's holiday season. He'd be hotter than Tickle Me Elmo.
Lyla materializes at Jason's bedroom door to announce that she has come to possess a video tape full of "dirty, dirty, dirty quad porn". They begin to watch it, and I'm pretty sure it's the same instructional video they show in Murderball. Which is what Jason had appeared to be watching before Lyla walked in so he should have just kept watching it. Whatever. Anyway, Jason gets too weirded out, while Lyla annoyingly insists that they keep trying. But of course it all ends with another patented Jason Snark To Destroy a Thousand Hearts: "If you want to get laid that bad, call Tim Riggins." This elicits an audible "oooooh" from me, the kind that you shot at every kid in elementary school who got called to the principal's office.
Landry is having a glorious dripping-with-sarcasm conversation with Tim about their journey together into the bowels of American literature. Tim needs to read and write a book report about Of Mice and Men - no problem, short book, about a hundred pages, could read it in a weekend. When Tim blows him off, Landry puts on a puppy dog face and gushes "Oh my God, you can't read, can you? Is that it, you're one of the kids who slipped through the cracks?" Landry should get a gig co-hosting Survivor with Jeff Probst. Imagine the insults those two could hurl with their powers combined. It would be fantastic.
Over in the Saracen House of Awkwardness, Matt is making dinner for his family. Grandma is compulsively tapping her fork against her plate, causing Dad to ask why she's so nervous. Maybe she just wants more food, DAD. Matt insists that she's like this all the time, which is why she needs a nurse. The conversation then veers over to Iraq. Dad is of the camp that believes that they should stay until the job is done, whereas Matt says that "some people" think that they should get out of there. Friday Night Lights, tackling the issues.
We then cut to Smash's...non-existent scene. Is he still on this show?
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Comments (12)
Thanks for the recap. I love this show. Matt Saracen is the cutest character on TV right now.
1 of 12 | Posted by sluggerbun
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Posted on January 7, 2007 12:49 PM
Great recap! I really think this is just about the best show on television right now. I'm with you on Matt's jerky Dad... just go away!
2 of 12 | Posted by midwestliberal
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Posted on January 7, 2007 4:23 PM
I am in love with Matt after this episode!! I am so worried, though! About this show, I mean! Crap -- I'm gonna get into it like Conviction and then NBC is gonna break my heart again. : (
Thanks for the recap!
3 of 12 | Posted by dainsey
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Posted on January 7, 2007 8:35 PM
awesome recap for an awesome show...
If we all agree this is the best show on TV right now, we just have to convince every one we know to watch. The plot is not that difficult to pick up on... And who would not get addicted to this writing and these kids???
And while MAtt's dad was a jerk, did anyone else think he looked alot like Matt will look in 15 years?
4 of 12 | Posted by dent
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Posted on January 8, 2007 5:31 AM
Hello!
I had to stop reading before I finished the first page to sign in and comment on how funny this recap is! Love it! I wasn't sure that I wanted to read a recap on this show. I love FNL and watched all of my recorded epi's for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I watched all of them in 2 days! Hee hee I love this show. But, I was aprehensive about the depressingness possibility of this recap. Not so! Funny funny funny, thank you!!!
5 of 12 | Posted by sweetleaf
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Posted on January 8, 2007 7:16 AM
Matt's jerk dad has to go! Hopefully back to Iraq and they'll never mention him again! Lyla and Jason getting back together didn't surprise me... I think she was sorry for cheating on Jason, and she really loves the guy. This show rocks, I hope it doesn't get the ax!! Great recap as usual!
6 of 12 | Posted by Jojobear
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Posted on January 8, 2007 8:41 AM
I got hooked on this show a couple of weeks ago (I watched all the episodes online while at work). It it is an okay show. If you think Tim is hot, check the actor out in The Covenant. Damn.
The fact that this show is about football but does not actually show that much football is nice. It shows the story that a lot of football shows miss.
7 of 12 | Posted by carol
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Posted on January 8, 2007 10:10 AM
Thanks for the great recap! I continue to thoroughly enjoy your screenshot captions.
I hope they're going to make Matt's dad more three-dimensional. I can see why a character like him would be distant from his son and not able to deal with the stress of his mother's Alzheimer's, so hopefully the writers will bring that out instead of making him out to be Pure Evil.
I don't like Jason and Lyla together. Her chirpy can-do attitude about his paralysis gets more annoying every time she spouts her "we can do this together!" platitudes. I'd much rather watch something develop with Lyla and Tim---and Jason find someone new who can actually handle being with a disabled person.
Landry is the best. Every time he comes on the screen I know something quotable is about to happen.
I'm really loving this show and these characters. NBC, please don't cancel it!
8 of 12 | Posted by gatsby
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Posted on January 8, 2007 8:29 PM
Thanks for another stellar recap Screampillar. I just got to watch the ep last night, and there has yet to be a really subpar episode yet. I'm heartened to see a little more activity in the comments. Maybe we can break into the double digits . . . woo hoo! It would be a shame if this show doesn't survive. Hopefully NBC will have the faith to stick with it for another season and maybe it will pick up some viewers in summer reruns. I don't get why this show isn't a hit. Great writing, appeal for adults and teens, and MILF/wondermom Connie Britton to boot!
I'm a little more sympathetic to Matt's father's character. The guy has two weeks home and probably just wants some quiet and he's bombarded with hassles, which he probably has trouble dealing with due to a combo of PTSD and guilt about leaving his son to deal with more than he can, or should have to, handle.
Additionally, most soldiers who serve in combat or dangerous deployments think of their fellow soldiers in their unit as family, and with his belief in what's he's doing in Iraq, and his sense of duty and loyalty to them I'm sure it is unthinkable to Matt's father to "pussy out" of his deployment and leave his comrades to fend for themselves.
The last scene where Matt's dad is shown displaying some tenderness toward grandma makes it look like they will be developing his character further.
It wouldn't surprise me if we end up seeing Matt moving in with the Taylors when dad goes back to Iraq and grandma goes into the home, which would make for some great drama having the feared boyfriend living under Coach's own roof.
9 of 12 | Posted by JasonR
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Posted on January 9, 2007 8:11 AM
I think Matt's dad would be a more three-dimensional character if only they got an actor who could emote more than the same semi-blank, semi-indifferent face than the guy they chose. The writing of his character isn't terrible -- I think it does speak to what JasonR refers to above. The damn guy just can act to save his life, and it's killing the character.
In any case, I dig FNL, but I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that it'll be wiped off the schedule either at the end of this season or the beginning of the next one. I mean, look at the number of people who comment -- it's like a fractional percentage of the Real World Denver's postings, and come on, that show sucks (although, yes, I watch it religiously as well, so who am I to judge).
10 of 12 | Posted by dubbledubs
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Posted on January 9, 2007 10:12 AM
Dubbledubs, I'll give you that. It's either bad acting or bad direction. The actor was obviously chosen more on his physical resemblance to the actor who plays Matt than for his acting chops, or he's playing the Saracen deadpan thing a little too hard. I'll give him another episode before I pass judgment.
11 of 12 | Posted by JasonR
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Posted on January 9, 2007 12:59 PM
I love this show, but I don't think it will survive. Especially since it will soon be up against American Idol. They should move it to a different time following a better show to keep it alive.
12 of 12 | Posted by trixie12
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Posted on January 9, 2007 1:14 PM