In the seventeenth episode of the first season of Friday Night Lights, Julie decides she wants to have sex with Matt, while Tim’s father does something awful. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Friday Night Lights.
No. No.
Jason
We don’t get much of him in this episode, but lord, his future is going to be interesting. It’s nice to see Jason in his element with Herc and the others, and it’s nice to see him able to open up to someone about what he’s going through. That being said, JASON. PLEASE DO NOT HURT LYLA IN THE PROCESS. I know you’re far from home. Being in a big metropolitan city is appealing and fun, but I swear to the potato tot gods that you better not think of being unfaithful during this. And I don’t care if that sounds ridiculous because why would there be potato tot gods? And if they did exist, wouldn’t we be eating their offspring/worshipers? Or would that count as our offering to them? Why have I devoted four sentences to this? Look, the point I’m trying to make is that Jason is in no place to cheat on Lyla, and I’m hoping this show just gives him a friend in Suzie. Actually, most of my concern comes from the fact that I cannot take another second of heartbreak from this show. Perhaps I signed up for the wrong experience, then. OH GOD.
Tim
NO. NO. NO, YOU STOP THIS. I understand if folks are turned off by Tim’s characterization. He isn’t likable all the time, and he’s a fairly abrasive person most of the time. I empathize with the Riggins family because being poor is hard; adding alcoholism on top of that only exacerbates the problem. Throw in the fact that I wish I had a close relationship with my own father, and I think you might begin to understand why I’m drawn to his story. As foolish as it probably seems for Tim to pursue a relationship with his largely-absent father, I get why he’d want to do that. Yes, his dad messes up, colossally so! But Tim’s willing to give him a chance to experience any sort of positivity in that context. He just wants a father in his life. So when Coach accuses his dad of stealing a $3,000 camera, it makes sense to Tim to defend him. Why shouldn’t he? Why would the coach single out Tim’s dad over everyone else?
But Tim’s downfall happens the second he realizes he defended his father for nothing. What we witness is a violent, self-deprecating disillusionment on Tim’s part. He hates himself for trusting his father yet again, and he purposely seeks out violence. This time, though, he wants to be on the receiving end of it. My god, y’all, it’s just so hard to watch. It’s hard to watch someone enter this downward spiral with no hope of ever getting out of it. If it weren’t for Tyra and Billy, I don’t even know that Tim would have made it out of that confrontation while conscious.
No, this is making me sad. 🙁
Tyra/Angela
GODDAMN IT, I WAS ACTUALLY PREPARED FOR THIS PLOT, AND IT DIDN’T HELP. So Buddy did cheat on his wife with Angela, and so he FIRES her, gives her $700, and expects an “easy” break. Angela is not absolved of having a relationship with a married man. But I’m going to be firmly on the side of Buddy Garrity being the biggest asshole ever. He wants out of this without getting hurt or embarrassed??? Dude, you initiated the relationship, you hired Angela, and I’m sure you used your power and influence to keep it going. And you want out of this the easy way? Ha, fuck you, dude.
THAT BEING SAID, I DID NOT EXPECT ANGELA TO CONFRONT BUDDY AT CHURCH. I love her, and I’m hurting for her at the same time. This has to be a horrible thing to go through, so I’m not sitting here celebrating the confrontation. She’s in terrible pain, and she wanted to make sure Buddy wasn’t getting off scot free.
THIS SHOW.
“I Think We Should Have Sex”
SO MANY FEELINGS. SO MANY EMOTIONS FOR THIS EPISODE AND HOW IT WAS WRITTEN. I would expect any other show to go straight for the drama and do what would be perceived as the most salacious plot twist. But Friday Night Lights explores how well-meaning people deal with the crises that life throws at them. Julie’s sudden desire to have sex with Matt is exposed fairly early on in this story, which is one of a few ways the writers twisted my expectations. By having Tami find out, we’re able to witness that PHENOMENAL scene between Julie and Tami. God, just watch Connie Britton’s face again. You can see her go from shock, then to heartbreak, and then to desperation when she realizes that she doesn’t want to frighten Julie so much that her own daughter doesn’t feel safe talking to her. That is such a vital part of this, y’all! Tami is so concerned about communication, and it’s why she’s such a good counselor. Her biggest fear as a parent and as a person is that people can’t trust her enough to be honest with her.
On top of that, her conversation with her husband illuminates why she chose to keep Julie’s desire to have sex with Matt a secret from Coach Taylor. Aside from possibly feeling like a hypocrite, Tami knows that her mother’s fire-and-brimstone, abstinence-only technique didn’t work at all, so why would she try that on her own daughter? Coach Taylor is, understandably so, quite mad at first, but like every disaster this couple has dealt with, he has learned to be quiet and really listen to what his wife has to say. BECAUSE SHE’S ALWAYS RIGHT. I love Tami Taylor so much, I swear.
And I know that it should go without saying that men need to listen to women and be able to tell when they don’t want sex, but most men are fools, I swear. So I’m happy that Matt was able to read the signs Julie was sending, and he didn’t pressure her into sex. He knew that she wasn’t in the mood, that she wasn’t comfortable, and then he refused to shame her for not having sex. Y’all, this is too much. IT’S TOO MUCH.
Basically, this episode was executed brilliantly, and it’s destroying me at the same time. I think I’m okay with this, but we’ll wait and see what these last few episodes in season one do to me. Wait, who am I kidding? They’re going to ruin me.
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Mark Links Stuff
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