Friday Night Lights, Season 2

It just wouldn't fit with Saracen's character. It took the kid months to just get the balls to ask out Julie, and now all of a sudden he's not only gonna have the good fortune of having a sultry older woman move into his house but he's also gonna be smooth enough to hit it?

And it would be too predictable. She was in this week's episodes for about 2 minutes and yet plenty of people have already wondered if that's where that storyline is going.

 

Anyone else wonder if The Swede -- the name, not the character -- is a tip of the cap to Philip Roth and American Pastoral? The whole pool scene in the the first episode had a definite Goodbye, Columbus feel to it. I know if I was a television writer with a MFA, I'd totally be pinching stuff (and calling it an homage) from my favorite books.

I think Aimee Teagarden (Julie) is a really good little little actress. I think she's really nailing the whole rebelious/confused teenager stuff, though the whole "I'm worried I might be turning into my mom" seems a tad deep for a 16-year-old, I'm buying it because this is a girl who was reading Moby Dick in the pilot, and one who got all weak in the knees when Matt name-checked Jackson Pollack after her dance recital.

I like Lyla's storyline too because religion is obviously a major cultural force in places like Dillon, Texas, and I've always liked the they've treated religion with respect but not over-the-top reverance on this show. Lyla is reaching out for something to grab onto amid all this despair, and her devotion to Jesus seems like the way she'd cope with the fact that she obviously still has some feelings for Riggins.

I'm just wondering how long they can keep Coach Taylor in Austin, and what they can do to bring him back that doesn't feel totally contrived, because Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler are so good together, it's hard to keep them apart as a narrative device for much longer. I loved the little moment where she put the phone next to Grace and made him talk to her; this show truly does depict their marriage perfectly. I'm not sure if years of television watching has simply forced us to think this way, but every time a new character pops up, it seems just like the writers are hinting at romance. That worries me with Saracen's latina home nurse, and it REALLY worries me with this science teacher. (Tami couldn't have called the former Mrs. Garrity or the lesbian mayor to pick her up from the hospital? Really?) If they made Tami Taylor have, or even contemplate, some kind of affair at any point, I'm done with this show. I pray that's not happening.

I'm just going to ignore the murder/cover-up plot line for now. It's sad that the writers completely betrayed Landry's character simply so they could get him laid, but that's obviously what it all comes down to. (And because it made for a better promo they could use to try and pull in people who won't watch the show anyway.)

Anyway, it's still a beautifully shot show. Love the music. Love the little moments. I think we have to be willing to see where it's going. If you go back and find the threads from Season 1, people were bitching and bitching about the show's lack of realism until about episode five. Sometimes, things look better in hindsight.

 

Ignoring the murder/body-dumping storyline, as least as much as possible, seems like a good idea. Though I suppose it's got to come back to bite Landry later on.
Yeah, I pretty much predicted the Saracen/home health aide relationship within 45 seconds of her appearing on screen. Hopefully I'm just cynical and the writers will find some better way to use her.
And Mrs. T better not start shtupping the science teacher. If that happens, this show will drift into One Tree Hill territory fast. And please don't send Street to some shady stem cell clinic in Mexico.
But generally, I liked this one. Good show by Buddy G., Coach Taylor and the stud from TMU (I loved the "you must have been a great high school coach" line), and Riggins. And nice to see the good secret service agent from 24, as Landry's dad. I'd like to see more of Smash, though (the good, conflicted, thoughtful Smash, not rapper Smash).

 

I think it's pretty clear that Coach will be returning home very shortly. It's pretty clear that wifey is having a tough time without him and his heart is really in Dillon. Add in that the coaching thing doesn't seem to be perfect at TMU and I'd expect it sooner rather than later. It'll be interesting to see how he comes back; I'm hoping he doesn't just ride in on a white horse and displace this new coach (who obviously has been made to look like a dick). I'd like to see it be a somewhat difficult return with some complications.

Julie with the Swede: again isn't anyone else creeped out by the fact that she's 16 and he's gotta be around 20?

Really hoping the show doesn't play out some storylines as predictably as they look right now, i.e. Saracen and the nurse.

I forgot about Street and the stem cell thing. I'm not optimistic about how that will turn out A) for him and B) as a storyline.

I know it seems like I'm killing this show, but it's only because I have such high expectations from it and am afraid that the network will try to turn it into every other teen soap. I'm still watching because when they just let the show go and the actors get to have their scenes together it's still fantastic.

 

1. Coach will come back to Dillon.
2. Julie plays her character so well because during filming she was that old. The actress who plays Julie just turned 18.
3. The nurse will have some kind of thing going but not sexual.

That is what I know or believe will happen and the most important is the firing of coach dick because the Panthers lose a few games and Buddy and the board do what they can to get Taylor back from TMU.

 

Yeah, the fact that they've given the new coach so little to do so far(besides making our misunderstood Tim Riggins run stadiums) doesn't bode well for his long-term future on the show.

 

Coach Taylor is going to get burned on his "speech" that kept Stud Muffin in the program at TMU. Stud Muffin will screw up in the next couple weeks and the coaching staff will blame Taylor for stepping over the line to keep him.

At the same time, Coach Tenn. Hillbilly (no offense, SportsJournalists.com Tennesee) will push someone-- probably not Riggins--too far. They'll either die or come close to it from running stairs or something.

Taylor will come back, and set the ship right.

I'm with whomever thought the Smash-recruiting angle would be interesting to explore. They had a little of it last year, but revisiting that this season wouldn't be like repeating something like the steroids angle.

 

Can't wait to see Smash make his visit to a school, plus the inevitable Coach T return. Although his speech and run-in with the privileged player was vintage Coach T.

Sadly, the show isn't getting traction ratings-wise. If it doesn't have a significant uptick after baseball ends, I'll be surprised by a full-season run.

 

I wonder if the ratings account for those that DVR it and watch it later. I'd guess if you have a box that monitors what you watch, those aren't advanced enough to figure it out. If you have a diary, you can say you watched it, I guess.

I'd also guess this show will eventually be viewed as the classic case of the new TV viewer. The person that DVRs certain shows because 1) there's more than one show on that I want to watch at a time; 2) It's so easy to record shows now that I'll record my Friday night show and watch it Sunday.

 

Anyone think it weird that the head college coach pulled Taylor in and said "you must have been a hell of a high school coach."

Ummm..... isn't that why you hired the guy?

 

The comment by the TMU Mack Brown-esq head coach was both a compliment and a dig. It was a reminder that he's doing a good job, but that he's the low man on the totem poll and that he doesn't quite get how corrupt and soulless college football is. Remember, this it the same head coach who said Antoine was "stupid enough to get caught" in the beginning of the episode, not that he was stupid enough to take the tickets to the Timberlake concert. The TMU coach is bemused by Taylor's idealism, but impressed by his ability to convince the ethics board Antoine (and thus, college football) could be reformed.

That's what the comment was intended to imply. And it's ultimately the reason, other than his family, that Taylor will leave. Remember, this is a coach who had a playoff game in a cow pasture because he found out someone gave his quarterback $200 in a envelope.

 

I could actually see that situation playing out differently. Like the kid will go back to screwing around and Taylor will expect the hammer to be dropped on him and the coach will look the other way and tell him to let the kid get away with whatever it is because he's a great player. Something like that could lead Taylor closer to the door because his principles wouldn't be in line with the college coach's. I think that divide was displayed in the way the college coach said "You must have been a hell of a high school coach" as if to say that's not how things work here.

Obviously everyone knows Taylor is going to return home, and I'm not that worried with how they accomplish that right now. The show just works better when he's there and really there isn't any good reason -- with him being the family man that he is -- to be away from his wife and newborn.