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Howdy, y’all, and welcome back to our Friday Night Lights rewatch!
Last week, Mandy W. posed this question: Which character’s storyline are you most excited about this season? For me, it’s Smash, which is a surprise. I am rooting for him so hard.
The previous episode opened the third season with a bunch of new: Tami’s new job as Dillon High School principal; Smash’s new attempt at making it into a college football program; Dillon’s new QB, JD McCoy; Tim’s new position as tailback; and Lyla and Tim’s new relationship. So much to look forward to this season! But before we get into that, let’s remind ourselves of this season’s drinking game:
The Official FYA Friday Night Lights Season 3 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
You think, “It’s JUST football, people.”
Gracie appears in a scene
You want to punch Joe McCoy in the face
Grandma Saracen gets riled up
Billy and Mindy are too much but you love ‘em anyway
You tear up
Drink twice every time:
The Panthers score a touchdown
Tim and/or Billy Riggins makes poor choices
There’s a classic Coach Taylor pep talk
You think, “Cash is bad news.”
Devin is the shit
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”
Smash gets into college
And now, on to the episode!
3.02 “Tami Knows Best”
Tim and Lyla continue to work on their relationship, but things are strained when Tim gets a letter of interest from Oklahoma and doesn’t seem all that jazzed about it. Lyla doesn’t understand, and that’s made even more clear when the two of them attend a fancy dinner with Buddy and Joe McCoy and family. While entering the restaurant, Tim gives a factoid about the Oklahoma program—where Joe played—and Lyla’s visibly shocked by Tim’s initiative. (The R word makes an uncomfortable appearance, made even more so when Lyla says she sometimes forgets Tim’s not. EXCUSE ME. That’s messed up in so many ways.) The dinner goes horribly, including poor Tim ordering raw squab, and the end seems to be nigh for Gariggins (Tila? Rigarrity?), but then Lyla shows up at Tim’s door with an apology cheeseburger.
Elsewhere in Dillon, Tami’s fighting the good fight about her decision to use money the boosters raised for a new Jumbotron for academics instead. Buddy’s on her case about it, even going so far as to take it up with the superintendent, and Eric puts his foot in his mouth more than a few times arguing with her about it, too.
Grandma Saracen’s dementia is getting worse, but Matt has his hands tied because he’s a minor. Her doctor suggests he become an emancipated minor; he doesn’t love the idea, but realizes there’s no other way. He makes a trek to his mom’s house to get her to sign, and eases his discomfort by making nice with Julie, who’s now working at Applebee’s to make money to buy a car.
Eric continues working with Smash and making calls to various colleges. Smash admits to feeling nervous and not like himself, but he pushes through the discomfort and finds himself by the end of the episode; the practice game with the Panthers had a cathartic effect. Eric even gets a call that he has a walk-on tryout with Texas A&M in two weeks!
And last but not least, Tyra runs for and wins class president, embarrassing herself (Tami’s words) in the process. Tami’s HIGHLY DISAPPOINTED and lets her know in no uncertain terms.
How many times do I have to take a drink?
17.5. Gracie didn’t make a physical appearance, but we did hear her cries.
Did the Panthers win?
Indeed they did. By a very large margin.
MVP of the Week
It was hard deciding who to pick this week, as a lost of folks had both high points and low. But I’ll have to go with Eric, because even while being a dick to his wife, he pushed really hard to help Smash, and that’s just one of the many examples of why we have a Coach Taylor Award as a Book Report bonus factor,
Cringe-Causing Play of the Week
RARE SQUAB, Tim. And then he ate it! 🤢
“Best” Taylor Couple Moment
I seem to get a lot of episodes in which Eric and Tami aren’t being their typical quality pair. This episode saw a lot of Eric being a bit of a dude about the Jumbotron money. To quote our drinking game, “It’s JUST football, people.”
Tim Riggins’ Finest Moment
The fact that Tim would go so far as to buy a sport coat for dinner with the Garritys and McCoys is pretty adorable, regardless of how the whole thing ended up.
The Taylor Advice of the Week
“Suck it up. That’s what being a man is.” – Eric to Smash
I thought my eyes might get stuck in the back of my head, I rolled them so hard. But it seemed to work for Smash?
Post-Game Breakdown:
- My brain keeps wanting to call the McCoys the McCools. But they’re not, so bad form, brain.
- It can’t be a coincidence that the new QB is a McCoy, can it? I think the timelines coincide?
- As someone who was more into academics and the arts in high school and watched with disdain as money was funneled into our terrible sports programs, I feel the Jumbotron storyline pretty hard.
- Not one mention of Jason. Unlike last week when he was mentioned too much, this week it was like he didn’t even exist anymore. I’m sure he’ll be back soon, though.
- I had to look up what a Toyota Celica looked like, and according to the Internet, it was a sports car. I didn’t peg Julie as a gearhead! (I joke.) You think Matt would be more impressed with her want of the rumored 2026 version?
Come back next week for Meredith C.’s recap of “How the Other Half Lives.” My question for her—and you, gentle readers—is: If you were in Tami’s shoes, what would your next steps be to thwart Buddy and the rest of the boosters? Or do you think she should just give in?
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– It’s so gross how no one who wants this money to go to the jumbotron gives one shit about the academics and lack of good educational materials for not just ALL the students, but their OWN students who go to this school. Like, if you guys can fundraise this well, how about they help with a fund for the academics stuff too and then everyone will be happy and you can still get your jumbotron (even though it’s still dumb)? This all feels especially yucky to watch considering the dismantling we’re seeing of educational support US-wide.
– A better waiter would’ve helped Tim out and been like, “The chef recommends all poultry to be cooked well-done for the most enjoyable tasting experience. Would you like to stay with raw or follow their recommendation?” or some crap like that to make it clear no one should be eating RAW BIRD and also give him an out to not look like a dumbass. Or anyone at that table could’ve also spoken up. Sheesh.
Agreed with Stephanie – that waiter REALLY could’ve helped Tim out. Still, all the raw squab stuff made me giggle.
Meanwhile, the Smash scene ending the episode made me cry! There’s the Coach I know and love.
As for Tami, if I were her I’d be poring over budgets and bylaws, which it sounds like she’s already doing, and prepping a blockbuster of a presentation showing the stats of money funneled into athletics vs sports at Dillon High, all while understanding none of it would probably make a difference.