About:
Last week coach Mac told on his own racist ass and Smash led the other Black football players in a walk out. This episode explores the fallout of that situation, so don’t expect too many light moments cuz we have a LOT to cover. You may really want that drink in hand today, so let’s refresh on the rules:
The Official FYA Friday Night Lights Season 1 Drinking Game
Drink once every time:
You want to give Matt Saracen a hug
Tami Taylor drinks a glass of white wine
Tami Taylor says “y’all”
Landry Clarke goes off on a tangent
You’re Team Tyra Collette
Buddy Garrity makes you roll your eyes
You think, “It’s JUST football, people.”
The quick camera cuts make you reach for the Dramamine
Drink twice every time:
The Panthers score a touchdown
Tim Riggins makes poor choices
There’s a classic Coach Taylor pep talk
Grandma Saracen says something sassy
Take a shot every time you hear:
“Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose!”
“Texas Forever.”
Finish your drink when:
Hands slap the Panther “P”
Jason’s incident happens
Book club admits they don’t read the book
On to the episode!
1.16 “Black Eyes and Broken Hearts”
This was a packed episode, so let’s discuss the small potatoes stuff first: Tyra gives Matt advice on how to win her new friend, Julie, back, and it ain’t a five-cent mixed tape. (This brings Landry into Tyra’s orbit for the first time, and the boy is instantly down bad.) Matt’s apology tour eventually culminates in all four getting picked up by the cops for being underage at the strip club (where Tyra just needed to pick up some cash from Mindy) and to their parents picking them up at the police station. Already concerned about Tyra’s bad-girl influence on Julie, Tami is suuuuuper pissed and forbids them from being friends. (Shockingly, Julie does not take this well.) Matt splurges on an amethyst necklace for Julie and she agrees to officially become his girlfriend, so the hot-tub rally girls are forgotten!
And now plot A: Smash, as spokesperson, announces on live TV that the only way the Black football players will play on Friday is if Coach Mac McGill gets fired. Coach Taylor promotes some of the JV squad and makes an uncomfortable Riggins teach them the ropes. Buddy’s board of football busy-bodies demands Taylor fire Macgill—be sure it’s not because of his racist comments but because he’s making them all look bad, and they’re worried about Friday’s game—but Taylor chafes at the idea and ultimately rejects it. Being an adult Black woman living in the South and a practical queen, Smash’s mom rightly worries about the long-reaching effects of Smash’s stand against racism in a small Texas town could have on his college scholarships and future if he doesn’t play. She persuades him to screw over the racists instead by playing, being successful, and ultimately living his dream.
The Dunston Valley Cardinals—alongside their entire freaking town, apparently—are also fired-up about the racial discrimination discussions, and proceed to act like utter asshats about it. The “fans” jeer and throw popcorn at a bunch of high-school students. The refs ignore increasingly dangerous and unsportsmanlike behavior until Smash scores a touchdown and a Cardinals player calls him a racist slur. Riggins overhears and tackles the racist, inciting a bench-clearing brawl. Then on the silent ride home, two cops stop the bus and demand to arrest Smash for “throwing the first punch.”
Coach Mac blocks their way by demanding a warrant, and since we ALL know this is a bullshit modern-day lynching in the making, the cops leave. When Smash asks Mac what happened, he says, “They made a mistake, son…just like I did.” And while this seems to satisfy Smash and they seem to come to a grudging truce, as a viewer I’m still salty with Mac.
How many times do I have to take a drink?
12
Did the Panthers win?
By default! They were leading on the Dunston Valley Cardinals before the fight broke out, so the, ah, Official Athletic People agreed to hand them the win.
MVP of the Week
I gotta hand it to Mama Williams. It was an incredibly shitty situation Smash found himself in, especially so soon after his steroid dalliance, and while it takes guts to stand up for what was right, she also knew that changing the hearts and minds of a small Southern town was more than one teenager should have to deal with. It was the right call for Smash to give more importance to his future and his fellow players’ futures than hold out for justice that, unfortunately, we knew wasn’t coming.
Most Racist Play of the Week
Once again, FNL does such an interesting, complex job with its storylines and characters. While I don’t agree/like how it played out, it felt realistic to the setting and time period, this dismissiveness and downplaying, and I think we’ve all seen Coach Taylor’s take of, “what he said was stupid but he’s not racist!” IRL. Oof. They tried to get me to feel bad for Mac, but I couldn’t really muster up the empathy – if you don’t want to be potentially fired from a job you’ve worked at for twenty-plus years, maybe…just don’t say racist shit????? (I was bemused every time they panned to the one Black assistant coach for a reaction shot, though it would’ve been nice to actually HEAR what he thought of the situation.)
I was annoyed with Coach Taylor for not treating Mac’s comments as serious as they were; you could clearly see where he learned his own viewpoints as a barely progressive white dude from the South. He may be better than some, but he clearly has his own blind spots (see: lesbian mayor drama a few episodes back). As we knew he wasn’t going to fire Mac, I kept wanting him to address the players about the situation, or maybe force Mac into some kind of educational program if he was allowed to stay. What would he have done if Mama Williams hadn’t interceded and got Smash and the others to play? How far would they have taken this??
Best Taylor Couple Moment
My favorite was watching Tami’s face as Eric tries to step in to support her concerns about Tyra with his clunky “person one hangs out with person two” analogy. Connie Britton is so good at her subtle reactions in the background.
Tim Riggins’ Finest Moment
As we move away from the Tim/Lyla/Jason love triangle, I enjoy Riggins as a character more, and he was in top form in this episode. There were some hilarious moments quizzing (and terrorizing) the JV players, particularly this gem:
“You waited too long to make a decision; now we lost the game because of you. We’re not going to State, and the whole town of Dillon hates you. You’re never gonna get laid your entire life. Fact.”
There’s no lost love between him and Smash, but he asks Smash to reconsider because they need their leader back. And while Smash was trying to be the bigger man and play a Zen game of football even in the face of racial epithets, Riggins has no chill, and I’ll admit I wasn’t mad at all that he defended his teammate.
The Taylor Advice of the Week
When Coach Taylor barges into Tami’s office to ask for advice about whether or not to fire Mac McGill, Tami the guidance counselor, wife, and friend, were all perfectly spot-on: These weren’t things a government employee and kids’ assistant coach should be saying, so yes, he should be fired. It’s just a shame Eric didn’t take any of their advice.
Post-Game Breakdown:
WELL. That was a doozy of an episode. We didn’t even really touch on Jason going to the quad rugby tryouts (not much movement on that) or much on Coach and Tami’s reactions to Julie’s friendship with Tyra. As an adult I can’t TOTALLY blame them for being concerned about Tyra’s potential delinquent influence, but, on the other hand, we know Tyra is ultimately a good egg who had to grow up too fast thanks to a shakier home support system, so…boo on you, Taylors! Let the girls be buds!
Meet back here next Wednesday as Mandy W. recaps another intense episode, “I Think We Should Have Sex”. I wonder what that one will be about? Mandy, especially in light of next week’s episode, what did you think of Eric and Tami’s parental reactions to Julie’s choice of friends and local haunts?
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ROUGH ep, but you covered it with the perfect amount of nuance, Stephanie. I will say that scene with the Taylors in Tami’s office was so good, and I love (and agree with) Landry’s crush on Tyra.
Thanks, Meredith! Yes, that scene in Tami’s office is probably my favorite from the episode.
This one is so dramatic! Mama Williams forever, and also, I love when Riggins does standup guy stuff.
Keep trending this way, Riggins!
– My Riggins finest moment was definitely when he started beating up the racist player. And it’s extra rewarding because we know that Tim and Smash are not each other’s biggest fans, but some things are bigger than football (even in Texas).
– 100% agreed that I was rolling my eyes at all the “Mac’s not racist!” defenses. Even though this storyline wrapped up a bit like an afterschool special, I do like that Mac had to take actual action instead of more lip service. (Of course, that should just be the start of continuous anti-racist behaviour, but better than nothing lolcry.)
– I also didn’t care for Eric defending Mac so much, like the same Mac who was undermining you by recruiting players with Buddy and holding meetings without you? That Mac? I guess if the show had put in more prior work on Mac being a great offensive coordinator instead of just being told it now, it’d be easier to buy. But all I remember is Mac being a pain in the ass.
– I’ll save my full thoughts on Team Taylor for my post, but they are not!!!! complimentary!!!!!!