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Last week, Mandy C. asked me “we want to see Vince and Luke become more than just teammates,” and I confess, that reminded me of several romance plots before connecting that oh, she meant friends. And to that, I say that I think if they can work out their issues and get rid of the chips on their respective shoulders, they could be friends AND powerhouse teammates on the field. I can’t chime in on the Step Brothers reference, though, since I haven’t watched that one.
Last week, Julie struggled with her faith, Eric struggled with the team, and Tami struggled with everyone taking football so, so seriously. Tough week for the Taylors. Before we see how they fare this week, let’s revisit the drinking game!
The Official FYA Friday Night Lights S4 Drinking Game
Drink once every time:
You want to give Matt Saracen or Julie Taylor a hug
Tami Taylor has a glass of wine
Tami Taylor says “y’all”
Landry Clarke rambles or goes off on a tangent
Tim Riggins is exasperated / perplexed by Becky
You want to give Vince a Coach-style talk
Luke is just so earnest!
Gracie appears in a scene
You want to punch Joe or J.D. McCoy in the face
There’s a scene with BBQ
Stan is a LOT
You ship Jess and Vince (sorry Landry!)
You tear up
Drink twice every time:
The Lions score a touchdown
You think, “F**k the Tami haters.”
You’re (surprise!) Team Buddy Garrity
Tim and/or Billy Riggins makes poor choices
There’s a classic Coach Taylor pep talk
Take a shot when:
You hear, “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose!”
You hear, “Texas Forever.”
Smash is mentioned
Glen shows up
Skeeter arrives
Finish your drink when:
The Lions get their new uniforms
There are two major goodbyes at the end of Episode 6
The Lions win their first game
Steven Hannibal Riggins arrives
On to the episode!
4.04 “A Sort of Homecoming”
Eric suggests a pep rally for the football team and starts planning it after getting a green light on it. During practice, he notices an old sign on the fence about the Lions being 1983 state champions and decides to work that into the pep rally/homecoming-ish event. He and Stan later start calling Lions alumni, but it’s not going very well. Eric also approaches Virgil at Ray’s BBQ (which was a real BBQ joint btw) about the event as well, but Virgil rejects him outright. Jess overhears this conversation and later asks her dad to please host the pep rally at the restaurant, which he initially rejects but does end up agreeing to. Anyway, a few Lions do accept Eric’s offer for dinner with him and Tami, but it starts poorly. Eric starts to tell them he has problems at East Dillon but is (rightfully) stopped by his guests pointing out East Dillon’s problems started when West Dillon was developed and got all of the money, and East Dillon was forgotten. Tami does her best to smooth this over when Buddy, who had been invited over by Eric, arrives for dinner. The former Lions there love him, he knows all of them and goes into football mode with them, and the mood is immediately lifted. At the pep rally, which is more of a party vibe with the band and dance team and BBQ, a significant number of Lions football alums join Eric on stage in celebration of the team, and it’s a great time. Meanwhile, in West Dillon, everyone is still furious with Tami for making the correct choice of making Luke go to the correct school, to the point where she’s told there won’t be money in the budget to improve the library and her car gets tagged over it. (The “drink when people take football too seriously” rule is no longer, otherwise there would be a much higher drink count.)
Jess invites Landry and Devin to a party in Kilroy because Landry has a car and can drive her and her friends, and Landry says yes. At the party, Vince hits on Jess, and she tells him she has a boyfriend and walks off to dance with Landry. Vince asks Landry at school the next day-ish if he’s Jess’s boyfriend, and Landry insists he was just her ride. When Landry tells Jess about this, she denies saying that, only that she “has a boyfriend.” Post-pep rally, Landry is helping Jess clean up inside the restaurant and goes in for a kiss. She is stunned, seemingly in a “oh, that was a good kiss?” kind of way, and he leaves after the kiss.
Throughout the episode, Luke and Vince almost get in a physical fight a few times, one of which is when Luke accuses Vince of stealing his wallet in the locker room. This becomes a reality when Luke is essentially egged on by JD and some other Panthers (maybe get better friends, Luke) while they’re driving around and then see Vince. When a cop car drives by, JD and friends disappear and the two fighters are arrested. Eric receives a call about this post-Lions dinner and goes to the police station. The police officer says the “white kid” can go home since he has no record, but the “black kid” will be arrested since he has a record. Eric corrects him that his name is Vince and asks to see both kids. Eric tells both kids how they’re going to behave and cooperate so they can all go home, and it works. He drops them off at a seemingly random spot after giving them a pep talk. The two start walking home, and Vince thanks Luke and returns his wallet. Will this be the start of a beautiful friendship? I guess we’ll find out!
Becky gets into the pageant! She and her mom make plans to go dress shopping the next day, but her mom leaves money and a note about having to work. Becky then goes to ask Tim for his truck, which he denies, but he ends up driving her to dress shopping after seeing how upset she is. He tries to help her find a dress and to cheer her up with dress and football metaphors, though the latter works better than the former.
Julie and Matt are having struggles about Julie applying to colleges almost exclusively on either coast and nowhere near Dillon. Julie goes with Devin as a wingwoman to a gay bar outside of Dillon while Matt goes hunting with Riggins. That night, over a fire, Matt tells Tim that while it was fully his decision to stay in Dillon with Julie, he’s starting to struggle with that choice, especially since Julie is looking at distant colleges. While Tim and Matt are driving back from hunting, uniformed men arrive at the Saracen house to deliver the news that Matt’s dad was killed in action. Tim drops Matt off at the Taylors, and Julie is the one who delivers the tragic news to Matt.
How many times do I have to take a drink?
13 plus two shots. Texas Forever!
Did the Lions win?
There was no game this week, but that pep rally was definitely a win.
MVP of the Week
Hear me out, y’all, because I didn’t quite see this coming while I was watching this episode. But Buddy showing up at the Taylors’ dinner for the Lions alumni completely changed the tone of the dinner and helped get the former Lions on their side, which was an important factor in the other Lions pieces falling into place. Way to use your football connections for good, Buddy.
Most Shocking Play of the Week
I’m sorry, but a pound of brisket was $8.50 in 2009, at least according to this episode?! That feels like a sort of sorcery with today’s brisket prices. (Do not tell me how long ago 2009 was, I do not want to know that math.)
Best Taylor Couple Moment
I loved the little moment they had on the couch after the Lions dinner, talking about how it went (thanks to Buddy Garrity!) and Eric reaffirming to his wife that she is great at wearing all of the hats she wears.
Tim Riggins’ Finest Moment
“Doesn’t the dress find you?” Bless you, Tim Riggins, for trying so hard to relate on Becky’s level while she looks for a pageant dress. That moment and his pep talk afterward that ended in a football metaphor were adorable.
The Taylor Advice of the Week
Two related moments: Eric explaining to Vince and Luke in the holding cell exactly how they are going to salvage this situation and then later telling them that they only get one chance at life and will regret it if they waste that chance.
Post-Game Breakdown
- I know there were reasons for not holding the Lions pep rally in a gym, but the block party vibe was so much more fun than a gym version would’ve been.
- Shout out to Tim for being a responsible gun owner and hunter and taking away Matt’s gun very quickly for him not being responsible about it. There are rules for a reason, Matty.
- Speaking of Vince, if you haven’t seen Sinners yet, go do that immediately. I cannot recommend Michael B. Jordan enough in it. (While this is not strictly FNL-related, it needed to be said.)
Kandis is back next week to chat about “The Son“! My question for her, and you lovely readers you, is a throwback this week: did you attend high school pep rallies? If so, were they in traditional gyms or elsewhere?
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– The closest I’ve ever been to attending a pep rally was going to the opening ceremonies of my high school’s volleyball and basketball tournaments. But it was for all the teams participating, so it wasn’t just like RAH RAH US.
– I’m finding that I really miss when Billy and Mindy aren’t around! This was the perfect dose.
– Eric’s grading papers? For what class?
– Lol Stan shipping the Taylors. And also aww, Stan in general.
– Given what’s about to go down next episode, maybe this is too mean lol but Matt was so annoying about Julie’s college choices.
– Tim being Becky’s…. father figure? pageant coach? is endearing. Complaining about waking up at 7am lol less so.
– Omg Jess’ dad is NOT named Ray lol
– UGH, JD sucks. (Maybe there’s an unwritten rule that everyone named JD sucks.)
Most of the coaches in my high school also taught a class, but since I don’t think the show has established that for Eric, that is a great question!
In Tim’s defense, I also generally object to waking up at 7 am if it’s not required.
I fully looked up Ray’s BBQ because the name did not match Virgil or anyone else lolol. The real Ray’s BBQ closed down about 10 years ago, fun fact.
I wasn’t much of a pep rally girl but I would’ve been if they were at a BBQ joint!
Still giggling at Devon’s delivery of “it’s a gay place,” btw.
I would also attend a lot more things if they were at a BBQ joint!
Her line delivery there was so good.
– Meredith, you mentioned no longer having the “taking football too seriously” drinking rule but I hope you made sure to utilize the rule of “You think, “F**k the Tami haters”!
– Dress Shopping Tim is definitely one of my favorite Tims.
– I loved Devin and Julie at the bar!! Sorry, the “gay place.” And poor Stan! Having to be closeted in this damn small TX town.
-Oh yes, that was my second most used drinking game rule. Although I probably should’ve counted a few drinks double since both rules applied at once a few times.
I should not have replied before having coffee *facepalm* that was the MOST used drinking game rule, some drinks would have just counted twice if the football rule was still there.