Welcome back, Panther football fans!
Last week Kandis asked me, in light of Mindy’s bridal shower, if I think she and Billy are in it for the long haul. Let me tell you, those two crazy kids have what it TAKES. (What it takes = not a single thought in their pretty heads.) Also Joe McCoy showed his true colors, proving to be even more of a rage-addicted asshat than we already realized. Lyla continued to spiral in the wake of her dad pissing away her college money, and she was rewarded for her (lack of) efforts by the hottest Riggins pep talk of all time. The town redistricting continued to be a Jumbotron-sized foreshadowing sign, and the Panthers are GOING TO STATE!
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
On to the episode!
3.12 “Underdogs”
The episode opens with a pre-State pep rally, and this town is fired UP. But to be clear, nobody actually thinks they will win, with even the Panther-obsessed radio host calling their opponents, the South Texas Titans, the “best high school football team” he’s ever seen. Lots of David & Goliath references, setting the Panthers up to be the underdogs of the title.
Vice-Principal Clint is here to tell Tami she has to call CPS on Joe McCoy after the abuse everyone witnessed in the parking lot last episode. Tami is so conflicted – she’s been counseling and supporting JD and Katie over the past few days, and she feels like this would be a betrayal. When Tami fills Coach in on her conversation with Clint, he says he’ll make the call, but Tami says it should be her. So CPS shows up at the McCoys’ house and Joe handles it about as well as you’d think he would. This man doesn’t even know how to pretend not to be an abusive rage monster when it means saving his own ass. Later, JD confronts Coach and asks him if he’s the one who contacted CPS, and Coach lies and says he is. JD is furious, but Coach tells him to leave it off the field. Then Katie confronts Tami and tells her she wants nothing to do with her. Tami is crushed, but doesn’t try to argue.
Meanwhile, everyone’s working on college applications – namely, Tyra and Matt. Tami’s advising Matt about art school in Chicago, and I’m sorry but is this brand new? Did we know Matt draws, much less has a thick portfolio of sketches? Sorry if I missed that. I’m so proud of Julie for being supportive, and his mom is, too. Of course then Grandma Saracen is decidedly not supportive, telling him art school is a waste of money and Chicago’s too far away, and he looks crushed and easily gives up on this new dream. But later, at the game, Julie and Grandma Saracen talk, and Grandma says she doesn’t want to hold him back, and Julie agrees, although they’re both clearly heartbroken at the idea of losing him. All of the women in Matt’s life teaming up to support him!!!! I simply must stan it.
Meanwhile, Landry’s giving Tyra tips on her college essay, and he’s being so brutal about it, it cracks me up. “I really hate this paper.” He rakes her over the coals for one draft where she uses working at Applebee’s as a metaphor… for… life? And then calls another draft “a five-page needlepoint pillow” and pretends to fall asleep while reading it. “When did you get so mean?” Tyra asks, and I don’t know, but I LOVE IT. He sort of bullies her, sort of interrogates her, into writing something real, asking her what’s changed in her life to make her want to try so much harder than she used to. She admits it’s what happened to Jason Street in the pilot episode, and then that she befriended Julie, so Tami took an interest in her, and of course also getting to know Landry, who holds her to a higher standard than anyone else ever has. Later, we get to hear her essay as a voiceover during a stirring montage, and oh I cry, I cry. After she finishes reading it to Landry, they just stare at each other, Landry blown away by how good her essay is, and Tyra blown away by what great heights Landry inspires in her. They kiss! I cry some more! Team Tyra Collette!!!!!
Finally, we arrive in Austin, Texas, for the state championship. In the first half, JD is playing like ass, but blaming everyone but himself. He’s reminding me of someone, who is it… oh that’s right, it’s JOE. He’s throwing little temper tantrums and blaming the O-line for his crappy plays, and I have a lot of sympathy for what he’s going through, and I know Coach does, too, but I have to admit I was getting SO EXCITED when I realized what was going to happen. Coach does some yelling in the locker room at halftime, then puts in Matt Saracen as QB for the second half of the game! And Matt plays majestically, better than he ever has, along with Riggins just catching every pass like they’re Major Applewhite and Ricky Williams (sorry, the championship game taking place at Darrell K Royal stadium has the season-ticket-holding Longhorn fan in me feeling nostalgic). They tie it up with just a few seconds left on the clock, but the Titans kick a field goal with their last play… and it’s good. The Panthers lose, but they played a hell of a game. (Well, a hell of a second half, anyway.)
How many times do I have to take a drink?
20 plus a shot – Coach says “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose” in the locker room. I cheered!
Did the Panthers win?
They did not, but I have to say I think this is the most exciting football game they’ve ever had on this show. I was holding my breath and sitting on the edge of my seat. It was exhilarating.
MVP of the Week
That would be Tyra Collette, with a Landry Clarke assist. I loved watching him refuse to take less than the best from her, because he knew she had it in her – and boy, did she. A snippet of her essay: “Two years ago, I was afraid of wanting anything. I figured wanting would lead to trying, and trying would lead to failure. But now I find I can’t stop wanting. I want to fly somewhere in first class. I want to travel to Europe on a business trip. I want to get invited to the White House. I want to learn about the world[…] I want an interesting and surprising life. It’s not that I think I’m going to get all these things. I just want the possibility of getting them. College represents possibility. The possibility that things are going to change. I can’t wait.”
Smartest Move of the Week
We see a truly horrifying scene of Lyla waking up in the trashed Riggins house. She goes to use a disgusting toilet – after putting down a layer of coffee filters as a toilet seat cover – when Billy storms in and sees her on the toilet, and then he pees in the sink because he can’t wait for her to finish. So later, when Buddy tries apologizing again for losing her college money and asks her to come back, she forgives him with a quickness because she can’t stand being in that house anymore. She also tells him she forgives him because she’s no longer dedicated to attending Vanderbilt – she’s going to attend San Antonio State and get a place with Tim next year. Uh, really? You think Billy’s the only reason that apartment is trashed?
Best Taylor Couple Moment
They’re so great in this whole episode, dealing with a nearly impossible situation when it comes to the McCoys, and supporting each other in every imaginable way. They wake up (well, as usual, Tami wakes Coach up) in the middle of the night in their Austin hotel, and walk outside so as not to wake Julie. Gazing at the Frost Bank Tower, Coach tells her he has no idea what’s going to happen the next day. “Well, you’re gonna win. Or you’re gonna lose. Either way, the sun’s gonna come up the next morning.” (This pic’s from another scene, because that one was too dark to screenshot. But both scenes were good!)
Tim Riggins’ Finest Moment
First, just because I wasn’t sure where else to put this random tidbit, Billy’s bought a warehouse that he’s going to turn into a body shop called Riggins’ Rigs, and Tim is very proud and supportive.
But also our man plays some GREAT football, and then as the rest of the team loads up on the bus, Coach gives him a minute, and he walks out onto the field by himself, and places his cleats on the ground, as he says goodbye to his high school football career. It’s a beautiful moment in an episode filled with beautiful moments.
The Taylor Advice of the Week
Ohhh, I loved Coach’s speech after the Panthers lost, but gave their all. “I have never been more proud of a team than I am right now. I am in awe of each and every one of you gentlemen. You played great football tonight. This is the game that people are going to talk about for years to come. This is the game you’re gonna talk about. There’s not a single person in this room that’s ever going to be the same. You be proud of yourselves, ’cause gentlemen, you are champions.”
Post-Game Breakdown
Jeezy chreezy, this is a terrific episode. Other tremendous scenes I didn’t have time to recap at length, because this is already super long: Hungover Landry! Matt’s mom telling him she’s got some money saved to send him to Chicago. Landry putting up an incredible block for his bestie Matt on the field. And Riggins and Saracen playing Frisbee on the Capitol lawn the night before the big game:
“Last game, 7.”
“No regrets!”
That’s it for this week! Were you as enthralled as I was by this episode? Also, a question for readers and for Sarah, who joins us next week to cover the Season 3 finale, “Tomorrow Blues”: do you understand how conflicted Tami felt about calling CPS, or do you feel like that was a no-brainer scenario?
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GAAAAAAH this episode just about KILLED me. What an incredible, emotional, powerful feat of television! And you recapped it so perfectly!!
– Tyra’s essay, good LORD that was a lot of drinks (aka tears). I’m so glad you wrote part of it down because WOW, if I had read that back when I was an admissions counselor, I would’ve been like SHE’S IN, no need for test scores, no further questions.
– Landry being mean = the best (because obvs it was for a good reason, but also, it was hilarious).
– Coach’s speech!! Full hearts!!
– That GAME!! Holy shit, even though I knew what was going to happen (having watched this back in the day), I was still on the edge of my seat.
– Tim leaving his shoes on the field! All the feels!!
– ““Last game, 7.” “No regrets!” Ahhh!!
Thank youuuu, especially for reminding me that “you tear up” is a drink, because I’d forgotten to count those! So I just upped the drinks from 16 to 20, haha sob.
– Lyla being disgusted as Casa Riggins is kind of funny, since she’s been there for a while. Or maybe she lucked out and arrived right after a rare cleaning lol
– It makes sense in a sad tragic way that the usually mild mannered JD inherited Joe’s temper when things aren’t going well. That whole family needs so much therapy.
– I can sort of understand why Tami’s conflicted about calling CPS. We viewers have seen a lot more than she has (e.g., Joe screaming at JD on the phone in the car, all their moments at home); outwardly, she sees a helicopter stage dad with a violent outburst (even though one is more than enough). Not to mention taking action would jeopardize her only adult friendship lol. I feel like more should have been made of THE WHOLE TOWN SAW, like it wasn’t JUST the Taylors! Unless they want to go down a weird football cover-up route, which I’m glad they didn’t (although might be more accurate).
– Tyra’s speech/college essay was indeed great. But lol I don’t know if I really saw a Come To Jesus moment with her after Jason’s incident, like that sounds good narratively, but it might be a little bit of revisionist history.