Welcome back to our Friday Night Lights rewatch!
Last week, Mandy C. asked what I would have done with Landry if I was in Tyra’s shoes, I’m going to have to agree with Sarah’s comment in the negative. Landry is adorable, but in a friendly puppy dog kind of way and not in a sexy hook up kind of way.
For a refresher on last week’s episode, Tyra and Landry fully hooked up, Tim heads to Mexico with Jason and Jason’s hopes and dreams to walk again, the Taylors are still having a rough go of it, and Matt and Smash had it out on the football field. Let’s revisit the drinking game before we get into this week’s episode.
The Official FYA Friday Night Lights Season 2 Drinking Game
Drink once every time:
You want to give Matt Saracen a hug
Tami Taylor drinks a glass of 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
Lyla Garrity is a little (or a LOT) much about the Jesus
You think, “It’s JUST football, people.”
You are not a fan of the romantic relationship you’re seeing on screen
Glen is just SO Glen
Baby Gracie appears in a scene
You are reminded why no one likes Season 2
Drink twice every time:
The Panthers score a touchdown
Tim Riggins makes poor choices
There’s a classic Coach Taylor pep talk
Landry and/or Tyra stress you out
Tami and Julie clash
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”
Landry straight up kills a guy
On to the episode!
2.04 “Backfire”
We start with Riggins and Street in Mexico for the supposedly miracle surgery, but they’re met with the immediate roadblock of an mis-scheduled appointment. Riggins has spent most of the trip questioning exactly how the surgery will work and why exactly is it not legal in the US, and both Street and the doctor give unsatisfactory answers. The doctor is confident the surgery will work, and during celebratory pre-surgery drinks at a karaoke bar, Jason announces to everyone the surgery will totally work and he can’t wait to leave Dillon. After the bar, Riggins calls Lyla from a pay phone to have he come down and help talk Street out of this surgery because he’s incredibly concerned about it.
Back in Dillon, the Panthers played terribly, and Buddy and presumably someone else from the district fire Coach McGregor after two games, but with full salary plus severance. Buddy tells Eric, and Eric resigns from TMU for “personal reasons.” When Eric returns home to Dillon, Buddy tells him there’s a minor wrinkle in that McGregor is fighting the termination with a lawyer, but that’ll be settled with an emergency board meeting the next day. At the board meeting, the lawyer argues but Buddy’s laundry list for reasons of firing him wins out. Presumably the next morning, Eric learns he’s officially the new Dillon High coach (again) from the newspaper headline. Julie and Tami spend most of the episode continuing to argue about everything, including the Swede (we learn his name is Anton, by the way). Julie goes over to the Swede’s house to hang out, and it’s clear he forgot they had plans. He invites her in but she leaves pretty quickly due to being upset, though she claims she feels sick. Upon arriving home, Tami sees her crying and they share a long hug.
While Tyra is having dinner with Landry’s family, his father gets a call about a body being found in the river, and they are obviously nervous. Landry later says he’s going to turn himself in but will leave Tyra out of it, but she talks him out of it because they’re in it together. When Tyra and her mom are summoned to the police station later on, Tyra is asked to identify whether the body is her attacker. She says yes, they thank her for the help and tell her he was wanted for rape in two other states, and she and her mom are free to leave.
Lyla arrives at the State School for Boys where she testifies about Jesus to a group of juvenile offenders, and one of them, Santiago, tells her that everyone like her would avoid them if they ran into each other in the real world. She sees Santiago, who made probation, as she’s leaving and offers him a ride home. Upon her questioning, he tells her how he needs a job to stay on probation. Lyla’s mom refuses to give him a job and complains to Buddy about it, who says he knows nothing about it but will take care of it. To Lyla’s delight, “taking care of it” means giving Santiago a job at the dealership.
How many times do I have to take a drink?
18, largely because Tyra and Landry stressed me out a lot.
Did the Panthers win?
The Panthers played terribly and I thought they lost, but Coach McGregor’s lawyer said they won? Regardless, they lost in spirit.
MVP of the Week
Riggins would have been this week’s winner had he not tried to bribe a police officer, but he did, and we do not condone that behavior. So, I’m awarding this to Eric for resigning his TMU job and rejoining his wife, infant daughter, and teenage daughter in Dillon where they very much need him.
Most Random Play of the Week
I definitely was not expecting a “no cell phones while driving” PSA from Aimee Teegarden (AKA Julie Taylor) at the end of the episode, and it needed to be mentioned.
Best Taylor Couple Moment
They only have a few short moments together this episode, but overall it’s good to see them back and living in the same house together.
Tim Riggins’ Finest Moment
Skipping school for a WEEK is not a great move, Riggins. However, going with your best friend to try and stop him from doing something incredibly stupid and recruiting help when your efforts aren’t working is an admirable effort.
The Taylor Advice of the Week
Tami telling Julie about the older boy she crushed on as a teen and how it turned out poorly was something Julie definitely did not listen to, and I suspect she’ll have regrets about not listening down the road (not that she would admit that).
Post-Game Breakdown
- I know this is not the point, but that is absolutely not how school board meetings are run.
- Aw, calling someone from a pay phone, remember those? How quaint.
- Of course the church sermon is about guilt and redemption when Landry is struggling with having killed a dude, albeit a terrible one.
- Buddy giving Santiago a job is an obvious ploy to get in Lyla’s good graces, but he could do far worse for that, so I support it.
Kandis will be recapping “Let’s Get It On” next week! My question to both her and you, lovely readers, is based on the episode title alone, who do you think will be getting it on?
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I’m rootin’ for the Taylors to light that spark in the boudoir. They’ve had a rough go of it!
Same! They deserve that spark and happiness.
Tim Riggins in Mexico is yet another of my favorite Tim Riggins. Him whining to Jason about why they can’t just find some ladies and have a good time, CLASSIC. Him talking about how the cop just wants to make memories, AMAZING. Him singing karaoke, PERFECTION.
The entire time he was talking about the cop to Street, I knew it was going to end badly but it was so perfectly Riggins.
I was also so thrown by the driving PSA 😂 especially since there’s nothing about underage drinking, sketchy shark infusions, covering the murder that you committed etc etc. My best guess is that Aimee Teegarden’s team was like, she’ll do the reckless driving subplot BUT we have to make it very clear she’s not like that IRL!!!
Well, obviously murders and shark infusions are totally fine and normal and don’t require anything additional 😉