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Howdy, y’all, and welcome back to our Friday Night Lights rewatch!
Last week, Mandy W. posed this question: Is the much-maligned Julie Taylor as terrible as advertised or better than you thought she’d be (or remember her being) so far? I don’t mind Julie. She’s very much a teenager who’s testing boundaries, and I get that urge. She’s not making the best decisions, but what teenager ever does?
The previous episode saw Julie wanting to take things to the next level with Matt, Walt Riggins remaining a terrible father and person in general, Jason trying out for the national quad rugby team, and Buddy’s affair with Tyra’s mom being revealed to all. Before we dive into this week’s, let’s revisit the drinking game—
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!
1.18 “Extended Families”
We return to the football plotline at a pivotal moment at the very end of what seems to have been a pretty tough game. The opposing team botches a pass at the very last second, missing a touchdown that would have won them the game. Because of that, however, the Panthers are going to the state semi-finals!
Life at the Garrity household is pretty tense after the big reveal of the last episode. Pam kicks Buddy out after a blowout fight, and he heads to the Taylor house to crash on their couch. Julie’s completely horrified by the idea, especially when her parents decide to have a date night with a guy from Texas Methodist University. Buddy’s pissy when he realizes that Eric’s going out with another team, and so leaves. (Solving that problem for the Taylors without much effort on their part.) The end of the episode sees Eric getting a job offer from TMU.
The fight drives Lyla out of the house, too; she heads to Austin to visit Jason, who’s still working through tryouts for the rugby team. She’s not happy that he seems to be happy, and she hates his new tattoo. A party in their dorm (?) leads to Lyla getting super drunk and verbally accosting Jason about his “relationship” with Suzy. He reassures her that she’s it for him, and they make up … if you know what I mean.
The Panthers have a celebratory party at the Riggins house, complete with wall-shakingly loud music. Their new neighbor, Jackie, shows up and asks them to turn it down, or else. Tim complies but apparently continues to drink, as he’s got a massive hangover the following day when Jackie’s son Bo shows up to fangirl over #33. They have a cute football practice session before Jackie shows up and Bo invites Tim over for dinner. It wasn’t as awkward as either of the older people (I can’t call both of them adults) think it might be, paving a way for that whole business *waves in the general vicinity of both Tim and Jackie* to happen later in the season.
While her parents are out, Julie heads over to Tyra’s house to hang out (and drink with strippers?). Tyra’s mom isn’t doing so well, however, and stumbles out of her bedroom and into a glass coffee table, leading to a trip to the emergency room. Julie calls Tami for help, and being the amazing mother she is, she heads straight over. She even helps Tyra and Angela back to their house and cleans up the mess, after a confrontation with Tyra.
And finally, elsewhere in Dillon, Smash and Waverly have a sweet midnight swimming moment that’s immediately overshadowed by Waverly’s dad asking Smash to keep an eye out for anything “different” with his daughter. After a strange meal during which Waverly passionately recites a poem, she tells Smash that she stopped taking her meds. She reassures him that she’s fine, but she’s really, really not.
How many times do I have to take a drink?
I only took 8 drinks this episode, and the majority of those were thanks to the shaky cam. I honestly have to watch much of the show without looking directly at the TV, my motion sickness gets so bad.
Did the Panthers win?
Yes! State semi-finals, here we come!
MVP of the Week
Tami Taylor can be a bit overbearing and overprotective, but she isn’t afraid to admit when she’s wrong (although according to Eric in this episode, she’s always right). This is why she has her own official Bonus Factor tag for our Book Reports.
Mom Play of the Week
After Tyra rips into Tami about forbidding Julie to hang out with her, Tami apologizes and gives a great mom speech, making it clear that Tyra wasn’t really the problem. Tyra deserves this kind of loving mother figure in her life, for sure.
Best Taylor Couple Moment
I laughed out loud when the Taylors returned home to find Buddy on their doorstep.
“What is that thing on our porch? It’s moving …” – Tami Taylor
Tim Riggins’ Finest Moment
After sharing dinner with Jackie and Bo, Tim fixes their rain gutters out of the goodness of his heart. It’s a quiet, sweet moment that proves Riggins is (slightly) more than just a pretty face with football skills.
The Taylor Advice of the Week
“You know what I think? I think you hide your head in football a little too much, Buddy. ‘Cause I don’t think you should care about the semis. I don’t think you should care about who I’m having dinner with or who the hell’s even coaching the team. I think you need to worry about your family. I think you need to worry about your family, man.”
— Eric to Buddy, who completely misses the point.
Best Non-Taylor Couple Moment
As much as Jason and Lyla’s relationship gives me the yawns, I loved when she was giving him crap about his tattoo.”You are permanently messed up,” she said. And he replied, “I was kind of permanently messed up before.”
Thanks for keeping it real, Street.
Post-Game Breakdown:
- Does Buddy have no other friends? Or friends, in general? ‘Cause it sure seems like the Taylors don’t really want him at their house.
- It’s funny to hear that Lyla drove 200 miles to get to Austin when the show has filmed in multiple locations in or very near actual Austin. Them’s the breaks of living in a place a TV show is set, I suppose. It loses some of the magic.
- Another instance of the r-word. C’mon, Matt. Do better.
Come back next week for Meredith C.’s recap of “Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes.” My question for her—and you, gentle readers—is: When you first watched this show, who did you most connect with? Has that changed during this rewatch?
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Oh great question! I’ve always loved and connected with Tami the most, and especially this week, that hasn’t changed a bit. She’s just the best.
Love that! I was curious to see if anyone used to connect with a teen and now connects with a mom, or the like. I didn’t watch this show as a teen/young adult, but I could see myself definitely changing views as I get older.
I ditto the best non-Taylor couple moment, Jason made me laugh there.
I know this is a show from an earlier age (🙃) and Lyla’s a certain kind of stereotype, but her view on tattoos—and, inherently, the view on tattoos in general in the show—definitely had me rolling my eyes.
-In Lyla’s defense, it’s a pretty lame tattoo. 😂
– I straight up cackled over the Buddy houseguest situation. I mean, I felt for the Taylors but y’all, SO AWKWARD AND HILARIOUS. Esp. for poor Julie.
– I too love your last question, MC. I think my answer is Tami, but I also felt connected (and still do) with Matt, even though our teen lives were pretty different.
– “Women are dramatic” – jail for Eric!
– Buddy doesn’t have a couch at the dealership? And then he ends up being fine with going to a hotel anyway, so why didn’t he do that right away? I suppose he was craving companionship, even though in his twisted way it just became about football. And for whatever reason, he feels comfortable being vulnerable with Eric, even though Eric wants none of it lol.
– I felt for sad drunk Lyla, another Garrity seeking support, when Jason was initially like, you’re just overreacting. Can any of these dudes learn to read a single room lol