909 Watches TV: Peaky Blinders

[Brocklock]

I haven't seen her in anything else, so I don't know if she's gotten better, but Minka Kelly is pretty much the weak link of the cast acting wise. Lyla's stuff usually fell flat with me.

 

[909]

I haven't seen her in anything else, so I don't know if she's gotten better, but Minka Kelly is pretty much the weak link of the cast acting wise. Lyla's stuff usually fell flat with me.

She isn't in anything on my list until Titans...which is gonna be a while. But yeah, that's my impression too.

NEVERMIND

The episode title is a reference to Street having a very difficult time adjusting to being at home. He goes rifling through his CD's and can't find the Nirvana CD he wants, then he heads to the record store and runs into Lyla. They get into it again and are trying to start their relationship over. I'm SURE that's gonna last. Saracen's dad also comes home from Iraq and things don't go the way anyone thought they would. His grandma is messed up enough that his dad will probably have to stay home, but given what show this is, he'll be in Iraq again before the end of the season. There's also a throwaway line here about Coach Taylor doing so well that Texas is interested in hiring him as a quarterbacks coach, but this isn't brought up again in the following episode so I don't know if this means anything. Saracen gets benched during the game but they win anyway, and that's your episode.

WHAT TO DO WHILE YOU'RE WAITING

The Panthers have to wait and see if they'll make the playoffs, it is completely out of their hands at this point. Of course they're going to make them, so this is kind of an uneventful episode. A lot of the rest of the episode revolves around Smash, trying to get a girlfriend who doesn't really care about football. He fails at this. There's also a big development in that Street's family sues Coach Taylor, and Street kind of agrees with this, so he and Lyla are going to be ostracized and shunned for doing something that is in my opinion wrong. Look, when I played football, I would never have blamed the coach for me getting hurt by doing something stupid. He put his head down and led with his head and that's what happened. Everyone who goes through tackling drills does that anyway. Ryan Shazier did it. Coach is pretty devastated by this and doesn't know what to do or say. We also meet Tyra's mom, who was stuck with some dude until Tyra grabbed a baseball bat and chased him around the house. The problem with the full season network format is there are a lot of episodes that feel like filler. This isn't one of them but the first one is. And Saracen's dad is going back to Iraq.

 

[909]

LITTLE GIRL I WANNA MARRY YOU

Great episode we have here. Smash's mom finding the steroids and storming into Coach Taylor's office was not on my bingo card here. This leads to Coach having to suspend Smash without telling anyone why. You would think that at some point someone would find out? Well, we'll see what happens. The title is in reference to something Jason says to Lyla. It's also a Springsteen reference if you're into that. Buddy gives it straight to Jason and isn't gonna let him just easily turn his daughter into a caregiver. In a lot of respects I feel the same way. Jason then asks Lyla to marry him and this leads to a situation that is obviously going to go far fucking south. That isn't the only time we see Buddy either. Tyra wants to get her mom a job at the dealership, and obviously this dude is gonna fuck her mom, but hey. It's also weird to see a well functioning marriage on television, the Taylors are almost unique in that regard. Very soapy hour of television this one.

UPPING THE ANTE

This is an episode that just moves things along. Coach comes to not forgive Smash, but lays up on him and lets him play in the big upcoming game. He is being too hard on Smash, but Smash cheated. Riggins also goes looking for his father because he needs his dad to sign something to keep him out of trouble. While we've heard his dad is a deadbeat, and we do see some of that, the initial presentation of his father is not all that bad. Eventually he wants to see his kid play, and they win the game after a Smash pass to Saracen. It is then revealed they are way ahead. I laughed. Lyla and Jason's thing is just bad, and Buddy Garrity knows it, and he ain't gonna put up with this guy. Towards the end of the episode Saracen also gets busted taking pictures in a calendar with the rally girls, and it seems like him and Julie are done. Her new friend Tyra is very influential in this. You know, with Tyra decidedly wanting to be a non-football person, I was wondering what this show would have for her. Her character is like a swiss army knife. No disappointments yet.

BLINDERS

Here's one that still feels very timely and not dated at all. It's a racism episode. The fat boy offensive coordinator really stirred up some shit. In his mind, black guys should run the ball and not play quarterback. Obviously he's wrong but everyone would rather ignore the comments and not cause a distraction during the playoffs. Some of the black players have a big problem, as they should, but Smash doesn't. At least until he finally realizes how stupid this shit is, when his mom is discriminated against at the bank. The episode ends with the black players walking off the fuckin practice field when ol boy tries to tell everyone to run. All of a sudden this is more than a distraction. Smash's mom is an awesome character too it must be said. Second story here is about the powderpuff game. Julie is made to do it as punishment. Through this you can see how much more attention Coach Taylor would pay to her if she was his son. Saracen also tries to make up for everything by drafting her and Tyra. Lyla winds up on Riggins team, and maybe they filmed scenes that were cut because nothing happens other than Tyra hating her like always. However, in this or the previous episode, Jason Street said some shit about forget about school. See what I mean about this going south? It's going way south. Lyla Garrity ain't gonna accept that.

 

[909]

BLACK EYES AND BROKEN HEARTS

Of course, this is a continuation of the racism episode. What will happen? You have to wait a long time to find out, but black players come back to the team and are ready to play. They head to the other town and we learn that the players on the other team are racist, and that this away game is being played in a really shitty town. During the game, we have a fight over a racist comment, and Dillon is awarded a win via forfeit after leading through three quarters. Afterwards, the police pull over the bus looking for Smash, and the racist coach sticks his neck out there to get the bus moving back on towards Dillon. I was very surprised and disappointed that Coach Taylor didn't fire him, but this was a great storyline. Of course Buddy also did bang Tyra's mom. No way this goes badly I'm sure. Julie's parents don't want her hanging out with Tyra either. Great episode. Also, again, Smash's mom is a great character.

I THINK WE SHOULD HAVE SEX

Yooooooooooo. That escalated quickly. The title is obviously about Saracen and Julie, but we have an interesting twist on it. She is pushing him to lose their virginity. Tami finds out about this when she sees Saracen buying condoms, she doesn't like this shit at all, and she tries to tell Julie not to go through with this. Meanwhile Buddy fires Tyra's mom from the dealership, and Riggins' dad steals a camera from the locker room. Of course this shit is going to backfire on them and it does. Riggins wants nothing to do with his father anymore and I see that the actor did not reappear. So that's gonna be that for this guy. Fantastic episode again. All the talk between Saracen and the other players is hilarious. Everything about this is perfectly written. And no, they do not have sex. For now.

EXTENDED FAMILIES

Buddy is made to LEAVE HIS HOUSE after Tyra's mom decided to drop truth nukes on his head. He decides he should go to Coach Taylor's house for a few nights, and Coach Taylor lets him. There's other stuff going on though. Coach has gotten an offer from the fictional TEXAS METHODIST UNIVERSITY and is considering moving to Austin to coach them. Lyla's relationship with Street is starting to go down the toilet. I haven't talked about this yet, but Smash's girlfriend Waverly has had this little mystery about "Africa" for a few episodes. Instead we find out that she has mental problems and Smash is tasked with being on the lookout for them, unbeknownst to him. Tyra's mom also falls through a glass coffee table and Tami busts Julie hanging out with Tyra. But it's all good and Tyra is gonna buckle down on studies. Very soapy episode here, capped off with Riggins and this next door neighbor single mom who he will certainly be fuckin in a few episodes. She's in her 30s though. Eventually Buddy finds out about the TMU thing and decides to leave his friend's house. Lol.

CH-CH-CH-CH-CHANGES

Julie straight up does not want to leave Dillon for Austin. She is irate over all this and wants no part of it. The story here is great. We're talking about the importance a kid should have on the decisions their parents make. I have no idea what will happen but usually a show would have the coach stay anyway. This isn't a typical show though. The news also has to be kept from the team which for now anyway Julie is doing. Street also fails to make the paralympic and is devastated to the point he's starting to cheat on Lyla. What a guy this guy is. I feel like this character could not possibly be more accurately written. He's bringing a lot of angst to the table. Riggins was that guy earlier on, but now he's banging single moms. I liked his scenes where he was showing the kid how to not get bullied. In the end, Coach Taylor says he'll take Julie's opinion into account, but we're gonna see about that.

 

[909]

MUD BOWL

This is an A+ episode right here. We had two of these mud bowls and it fucking sucked. It wasn't as bad as the one in this episode though! Before that, I should mention that the Panthers lost their home field because of a spill at a chemical plant. So, instead they decide to have this damn game out on some cow pasture painted to look right. Now one of the mud bowls I need to mention, we did something similar and played on a field at our school that had no drainage, it was the field we used when it was time to run because it wasn't easy to run on that field. So yeah. Riggins also keeps banging his neighbor, Lyla gets close to Smash's girlfriend, and Tyra finds a new dude. Or she doesn't. In a big shock, the showrunners decide to cut the football game into a scene where Tyra is supposed to meet Landry to study. Landry likes his chances and I dunno, maybe it's actually gonna happen for him. All of a sudden it doesn't, cause some creep fuck at the restaurant tries to rape Tyra before Landry shows up. So the Panthers win the game but Tyra's fate is once again the opposite of the town football team.

BEST LAID PLANS

I thought Landry really fucked this up, but I guess not. He decided to report what happened to Tyra all on his lonesome. This is a part of the show that kinda seems dated to me. This raper guy really beat her up even though he couldn't rape her, so yeah, all in all this is not good. Where the shows seems dated is that there's other storylines in this episode that take away the thunder from this one. Coach Taylor takes the job at TMU, but Tami absolutely does not want to go to Austin until Julie is out of school. Not only does she not want to, she isn't going. And that's that. Coach does decide to hire Street as a QB coach though, for however long that lasts. The lawsuit with Street and Coach gets settled and it's over with. Lyla's parents are also getting divorced, she storms out and catches Street cheating on her with Tattoo Girl. That's very funny. The next episode is the season finale which I better hurry up and get to.

 

[909]

STATE

This was a very typical ending in that the Panthers won the title even though they shouldn't have, with a miraculous comeback out of nowhere. That being said, Coach Taylor is gonna be gone. I thought he got a head coaching job, but instead he's just going to be the QB coach. Not sure it's worth ruining your family just to be the QB coach. There's a lot of funny moments here too. Landry thinks he's going on a romantic trip to Dallas with Tyra, instead he's bringing Tyra's whole family and anyone else they come across on the way. I also loved that the Panthers were playing against Voodoo Tatum. Great episode but there's not much more to it than anything I just said.

SEASON 2

LAST DAYS OF SUMMER

I watched enough episodes to just say right now that the network definitely told the showrunners to sex this show up and add more melodrama. Tami is very pregnant and in this episode she pops. Our first scene takes place at the pool. Julie is looking at other dudes and Saracen feels awfully insecure. Meanwhile Landry is perving over Tyra again. Tami's water breaks and Coach Taylor has to rush back from Austin to see his child's birth. The new coach of the Panthers is an asshole rivaling my high school coach. That's way more like reality if you ask me. He hates everything and everyone, and he doesn't want anyone getting in his way. Not sure how Street is going to be on staff with a guy like this. Lyla is also born again and Riggins is trying to get with her again. See what I'm saying about sexing it up? But what really takes the cake here as far as added melodrama, is when Tyra's assaulter starts following her around again. And then Landry accidentally kills this motherfucker. I kid you not. Then they hide the body! This is a big mistake in terms of dictating where the show is going. FNL was pretty grounded in realism but the last two episodes shattered that in certain respects. There are still really good scenes here but I don't get the murdering.

BAD IDEAS

Yeah, Landry killing this motherfucker was probably a bad creative idea. When he and Tyra get together now it feels more hollow than it should be. It would have been much better for it to just happen. Anyway, there's more to this episode than just that. I love Connie Britton's scenes. They're realistic, they're also sad without going so overboard as to feel like her problems are being oversold. Also, obviously Coach Taylor is going to leave TMU. This isn't what he thought it would be and he has a hard time dealing with the more brusque aspects of coaching at a higher level. He doesn't like the older version of Voodoo Tatum he has to hang out with for a day either. I couldn't wait to see his reaction to Julie breaking up with Saracen, but it wasn't what I thought it would be. Street also has it in his head that he can go to Mexico and get a surgery that will have him walk again. Sure thing.

ARE YOU READY FOR FRIDAY NIGHT?

We finally get a taste of game clips here and it's fantastic. The coach sucks. Smash and Saracen hate each other out of nowhere. Smash has gotten arrogant, Saracen doesn't like it, the coach has indulged Smash, and as a result Saracen gets in a fight with him after a game the Panthers win. Street is also told by the coach that he is the team mascot, he quits afterwards. The real story here is that Buddy is going to use Coach Taylor's family problems to get him to return. The other coach hasn't been fired yet, but Taylor agrees to it and it's clear what will happen. These are great scenes. Riggins also straight up leaves the state and goes with Street to Mexico. He's angry that his brother is banging the neighbor, he wants Lyla, he doesn't know what to do with himself. He's gone. I don't really like this shit with Saracen and the housekeeper, but Julie and Tami's scenes together were fantastic. Also loved the scene where Landry's dad saw Tyra climbing out the window and the scene when he questions her at Applebees. Those are some enlightening moments to learn about Landry's character. Anyway, too much melodrama here but good show.

 

[909]

BACKFIRE

In unsurprising news, Coach Taylor really does quit his job, but the old coach just doesn't want to go. Of course he does, but he doesn't make it easy on the way there. That coach says we'll be seeing him again but I'm pretty sure we won't. A lot of the rest of this episode takes place in Mexico with us following Street and Riggins. Street wants this crazy surgery to fix himself and walk again, but we all know that's not going to work. Eventually Riggins calls Lyla down there to talk Street out of it, but we wait for the conclusion until the next episode. Lyla also makes a new friend while doing some missionary work at a juvenile hall. Guy is named Santiago and Buddy learns about this, and decides maybe he can win his daughter back by giving this dude a job. Julie also breaks things off with the Swede after having a talk with her mom about 'guys like him', Saracen tells Coach Taylor what happened with them, and the dead body is finally discovered by the police. Fuckin WELP.

LET'S GET IT ON

Not sure where to start here. There's a lot going on. I guess I'll start by saying that Lyla's arrival does cause Street to decide against this experimental surgery, but I feel like this plot is a microcosm for the season so far. They've introduced a lot of plot points that will ultimately amount to nothing, but even if they don't a lot of them don't carry emotional weight because of how ridiculous they are. Like, for example, the murder. Tyra is made by Landry's father to break it off with Landry. Landry's dad knows something is going on, but he doesn't know what it is until the next episode. Coach Taylor also gets an idea to have Smash and Saracen to dinner at his house so they can bury their problems, but they can't, and Saracen is still angry about Julie too. In fact, Tami gives Saracen such good advice to deal with her daughter, that he decides to spurn Julie's offer of a date. I also noticed around this point that they dropped Smash's girlfriend. She straight up disappeared never to be seen or mentioned again! I almost forgot to mention that Smash and Saracen eventually do bury the hatchet, capping off what was a pretty eventful episode. But again, emotional weight is not really here.

HOW DID I GET HERE?

I don't know how to react to Landry's dad taking Landry's car into a empty reservoir and lighting it on fire. Obviously that means he knows what happened, but still. This is such a stupid ass storyline. One that isn't so stupid is what the writers have done with Street. Now he needs to learn what to make of his life now that he accepts he won't be able to walk. Coach Taylor wants him back as a coach, but he kicked Riggins off the team for an undetermined period of time. Street does come back as a coach for one day, then he quits again because he has to go his own way. I don't know what this guy is going to do, but given the show that this is, he feels like a suicide case waiting to happen. Tami has a sister introduced here and she's pretty annoying, so we'll see where that leads. Saracen is on the rebound now too. Good for him lmao. This Santiago guy also wants to join the Panthers, but he doesn't know how to play football. This season is just not as good as the first one, it's fair to say. But it's a short season and I'm nearly at the halfway point.

 

[Hawk 34]

Hang in there, once you get past the awkward second season, it really goes back to the greater quality you experienced in season one.

 

[909]

Problem is that I'm starting to run into a time crunch in terms of writing these. Watching them isn't a problem though.

PANTHERAMA!

I don't hate this episode but I'll be glad to see some of these storylines get wrapped up. Santiago needs a place to live and Buddy Garrity is going to provide it. Smash doesn't want to go to an HBCU and his mom isn't a fan of his attitude. Julie has a crush on a journalism teacher. I about covered everything already. It is interesting though that Buddy's intentions are not entirely selfish. You find that out later, but knowing that information brings the scenes here into another light. Saracen wanting to bang the maid is a really stupid ass storyline too.

SEEING OTHER PEOPLE

This episode sucks major ass. That's about all I want to say but I'll continue anyway. The Taylors having these kinds of marital problems, especially this specific one, is just stupid. Landry and Lyla's scene sucks. The Panthers suck. The maid/nurse storyline fucking sucks. Smash's scene at the college is awful and totally unlike anything else in this show. When did this become Entourage? Riggins rooming with a guy who has a meth lab is pretty funny though. Tami giving that teacher the business is a scene I liked too and I can't even tell you exactly why. Street has been gone for a little bit and I don't think that was a bad thing for the show. I also liked the way Riggins was brought back into the team. That's the kind of thing Friday Night Lights does right.

THE CONFESSION

This is a prime example of bad network television. Landry admits to murdering the guy. He explains why he did it and is summarily given a lot of chances to explain why he had to do it, why his own story was wrong, and as a result not get into any trouble. The scene where he gets dragged out of the station is great, otherwise I didn't like any of this. I do like the scene with Santiago and Buddy in the car. The bit with Street and that waitress doesn't make any sense to me as well. I feel like some of this shit is gonna disappear as soon as the second season is over. These experimental plots are disjointed and they just don't work. Tim winding up at Coach Taylor's house is good, but where is a story like that actually going to go?

 

[909]

Announcement that may make some people happy, I am now following a new list when deciding which shows to watch.

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls085058131/?pf_rd_m=A2FGELUUNOQJNL&pf_rd_p=4dc7ad1a-76a6-49eb-9acb-5d6959572df8&pf_rd_r=T13FYNFQQJA35T2FF68D&pf_rd_s=right-4&pf_rd_t=48201&pf_rd_i=watchlist&ref_=wt_otl_1&st_dt=&mode=detail&page=1&sort=num_votes,desc

New ground rules: Current MCU shows go to the front, I watch them in between other shows after I finish those shows. I must catch up on complete seasons of incomplete shows when those seasons finish. Show order is now decided by how many people on IMDB rate said shows on my list. Obviously if something rockets up the list on IMDB that means I watch it more quickly. Seems like the best way to do this considering that I'm currently watching one of those shows everyone told me to watch for years, and now I'll get to those more quickly. Obviously the root problem is that I hate choosing and can't decide for myself, but that doesn't change here either.

 

[909]

THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD

This is trash TV at its finest. When you don't have an idea for what to do with the rest of the season, draw up a natural disaster to fill a bunch of episode time with. This episode is so fucking stupid. Riggins is in Coach Taylor's house as we know. This doesn't last very long. More crucially there's a tornado that comes through Texas and this leads to another team being housed with the Panthers. They have to share a practice field and all that even though they're playing each other later on. The other team won't stop playing pranks on the Panthers and eventually this leads to Riggins confronting the other team. The other team's coach attacks Riggins, Coach Taylor gets in there and says he'll kick the guy's ass, that seems to settle everything down for a while. Problem is that Julie goes to a party, Riggins goes to put her in bed, and Coach thinks he's gonna mess with her so he kicks Riggins out of the house. This is not by any means the last bad thing that happens to Tim Riggins. This second season is entirely about shitting on him and making him feel bad. It's like when WWE decides to push a new top heel and has them go over on every TV show for nine months straight. In other news Tyra isn't interested in Landry anymore and he's not going to wait for her to sort her feelings out.

I have a big problem with this episode because there was way more mileage in having Riggins live at Coach Taylor's house. There are other big issues with this season, but I'll get into that below.

JUMPING THE GUN

So you make a bad story decision with Riggins and immediately jump the gun (pun intended) by resolving it in the next episode. Riggins finally has something go right for him, his brother broke up with the single mother and he can move back in. Sure, they need to steal money for their mortgage, but they go to the meth dealer's house and do that. FNL also pulls the plug on Tami's sister by booting her out of the house. I snuck a peek at the cast list and she never returns either. So, that's gonna be that. They just don't have a place in this show for new characters. Based on what's happened so far this season they didn't have a place for some of the returning characters either. Street is an obvious one, and so is Saracen, but again I'll talk about that below. The other story here is about Smash getting recruited and deciding to go to TMU. It feels like he's going to TMU so that he can be in the show next season. I did not sneak a peek at the cast list when it comes to Smash, so I don't know. The other coach going way past Mike Tomlin's ass was another thing I liked. I've always wondered, what if like, Mike Tomlin actually tackled Jacoby Jones? Well we'll never know. Remember when they tried to make that seem like an accident even though the whole Steelers sideline was watching it and laughing?

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

Because of the new characters, Lyla, Saracen, and Street have been sidelined quite a bit in the last few episodes compared to last season. The first two were sidelined all season. This is an episode where those two return to the forefront while we focus on one of the new characters too. This is another really shitty episode. We'll talk about the worst part first, and the worst part is very clearly Santiago's storyline. His friends are cholos and they make everyone nervous. Santiago is nervous that they'll fuck his life up, and Buddy is afraid that they'll steal his shit. Both these things happen, but I don't think Santiago will be affected in the long run. Lyla on the other hand starts a gig at a Christian radio station. It goes well and this doesn't sound like a very Christian station, especially given she makes out with the co-host. I don't understand this show this season. Also, yet again Riggins gets dumped on like a dog that got left outside in the rain. I almost forgot that Smash beat up some white guy at the movie theater after comments were made about his interracial relationship. Both sets of parents told them they didn't like it, and bet your ass Smash is gonna get in trouble over this. The writers this season are fucking hellbent on putting these characters in a ditch. On that front, Saracen's adult girlfriend goes back to Guatemala. This was another shitty storyline to the extent I didn't mention it very much. That's how I deal with this kind of shit, I shut it down. The writers have made no room for Lyla and Saracen this season, they gave Saracen an awful storyline, I'm glad this isn't how the whole show is going to go. They really lost their way here. When you introduce characters like Carlotta and Shelley, and their sole purpose for existing is to show how existing characters lose their relationships with them...lol man. Come on.

 

[909]

HUMBLE PIE

Like I said, the writers of this show love to shit on Tim Riggins. In this episode he is made to give fat meth boy back all the money he took. He doesn't know how, and his brother Billy nearly ruins it, but Lyla hands him an envelope and this may not be spoken of again. That makes no fucking sense though. Obviously we also get to see Smash get arrested. You thought that was just going to slide by? I don't think so. This is a bad sounding plot that has potential to be good though, to learn something about the character and see what's really inside the character. And as of the episode following this one, I thought it was good. Another thing that sounded bad to me was Tami becoming the volleyball coach and recruiting Tyra to be on her team. It is clear that this will make Julie feel like she isn't important to her mom, and we have to see if that's really how things go. Street's car salesman thing is amusing but feels like more sidelining of the character. This guy would not have quit being a football coach, I'm sure of it.

Also, there's almost literally no football in this show anymore

LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND

Now we have a good episode. There's still not that much focus on football, but a lot of the storylines intertwine with football here and that's where the show finds its realism. Smash winds up getting suspended from the team after an outburst where he explains himself, he won't be allowed to play until the playoffs. That's if they even get to the playoffs. We've seen such little football this season that it feels like it doesn't matter. Saracen and Coach Taylor have a hell of a scene here though. That's about as much detail as I'd like to go into about that one. Landry and Tyra also finally end their spat and are with each other again, but lol this is not gonna last. You'd be stupid to think that it would. Now one thing I'm noticing here is that certain characters who were introduced are beginning to fade out of the show. Santiago is the obvious one, he actually might be the only new important character left now that I'm thinking on it. They wrote that shitty episode for him and faded him out in the next two. We also got some payoff on the Julie and Tami front. All things considered though? This is the Tim Riggins showcase season and everyone else was along for the ride.

 

[909]

MAY THE BEST MAN WIN

Alright, so I guess this was the last episode they finished before the writer's strike led to a reset on the show's storylines, and this was probably the best episode of the season. The episode mostly revolves around Smash being unable to replace his football scholarship. He is completely fucked, end of story. Jason wants to become a dad and this is left unresolved, this was also thought to be the last episode of the show even though that's not how things worked out. Tami's ex-boyfriend is also an annoying, pointless character I'm sure we'll never see again. He's also played by Peter Berg. Lyla's boyfriend is also a really annoying character, I didn't see this dude again in the next episodes, and I know he's gone because of a storyline that followed this season. Good riddance Gilmore Girls guy. This is a bad season of TV, straight up.

SEASON 3

I KNEW YOU WHEN

I'm not sure 'reset' was the proper word to use when talking about where this show was going. They went back to basics, alright? There's football in the goddamn show again. The show is about goddamn football and the storylines are involved with fucking football again. While we were away, the last season of football concluded and Smash tore his ACL, leading to Dillon missing the playoffs. Now Coach Taylor sees it as his responsibility to rehab Smash and get him a tryout at another school. I really love this storyline too. Coach Taylor also seems to have a more tenuous hold on his job than he did before. Tami is now the principal, which you would think helps matters, but a donation was given for the Panthers to have a jumbotron and she repurposed the money. You know this is going to be a big deal, it's a storyline that could potentially put a wedge between she and her husband. There's also a new QB in town who is hot on Saracen's heels trying to win the starting job. His dad is a pushy one too. We're also back to some first season dynamics. Saracen and Landry are around each other all the time, Riggins and his brother are around each other a lot, Landry and Tyra may have broken up, Santiago is gone, Buddy is back to hanging around Coach Taylor a lot. Oh yeah, Lyla and Riggins are a thing now. I also think it's funny how almost everyone in the show was a sophomore when the series started. Cause that's totally realistic and shit.

TAMI KNOWS BEST

Friday Night Lights had retained some of its trash elements from Season 2, but the show is still really good. Smash is trying to rehab but clearly he's holding back, and it's going to be hard for the guy to get a chance on a tryout if he's not doing everything he's supposed to do. So, one random night, Coach Taylor brings the team in for a full contact practice where Smash gets hit. He gets hit a lot. He's fine. His knee is good to go and he can run and cut. Saracen also has to resort to desperate measures. Like I said, some dynamics were reset, and the one with his grandma was set back to the point where she can't take care of herself. So, he has to find his mom, get emanicpated, and become guardian of his grandma. I don't think this is gonna end very well. Tim is also made to become domesticated for a night and it is clear that Buddy doesn't like his daughter dating Tim. Some juicy setups in this shit right here. Tyra also decides to become class president by using her assets, which disappoints Tami very much and annoys her. I wonder if the volleyball storyline is dead too. Anyway, it's football time. The other QB played pretty well given the chance, so how long before he gets real snaps?

 

[geniusMoment]

I haven't seen her in anything else, so I don't know if she's gotten better, but Minka Kelly is pretty much the weak link of the cast acting wise. Lyla's stuff usually fell flat with me.

I haven't seen the show in a decade. But, I remember her constant baby voice annoying the fuck out of me. I have no clue if that is her actual voice, or if it's put on to try and sound sexy. But, I got sick of it quick.

 

[909]

HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES

So I watched this almost a week ago now and I don't remember very much of it. I left for San Francisco sometime after this. All I remember is that Smash got a tryout at Texas A&M and that Tami is getting a lot of shit over the jumbotron mess.

HELLO, GOODBYE

This here is an episode about changing your quarterback. How can you do it after what Saracen just said in the shower when drunk that night? Well, it has to be done. This kid JD McCoy is just better than him. Saracen's mom also shows up while this is going on and wants to get more involved. He feels the same way that I would, fuck that. You left, you choose to be gone, stay gone. Meanwhile Tyra is seeing a rodeo cowboy and this is going to make Landry massively upset. But all that doesn't matter. This seems like it's going to be Smash's last episode. He passed the tryout at aTm. He's gonna walk on. He fuckin made it. So I guess he's the first main cast member to drop from this show. These are some great scenes but they're also unrealistic in that he would not have had to do a tryout. At least not these days.

EVERY ROSE HAS ITS THORN

So this episode is one where I believe we start off in the middle of the game. Saracen is put in for the play that wins their game, but nobody gives a fuck because everything that happened leading to that was done by JD. It's clear this is a situation that isn't going to end well for at least one person if not more. The idea to split QB time was a disaster too, but yeah, Coach has to tell Saracen that he's been benched. Good luck with all this. This kid JD is a freshman. In other stories it turns out that Jason Street is a dad. They didn't tell us this all the way until now. He needs money so he decides to flip Buddy Garrity's house. Well, it isn't sold come the end of the episode, but the mother of his kid is bailing to go back east. The Tyra and Landry shit hits melodrama mode here too. There's something I just noticed though. We went three episodes without any Riggins-Lyla stuff. Kinda weird, you know.

 

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IT AIN'T EASY BEING JD MCCOY

This is an episode where Riggins has to take the new freshman QB around and put him under his wing. You can just imagine how that shit goes given the overbearing parents this kid has. Saracen is also getting back with Julie while he's been benched, and Tyra finds out her new boyfriend has kids he doesn't take care of and shit. That's your episode in a nutshell. My personal feeling is that at this point, FNL was almost an awesome show that just couldn't get all the way there for a variety of reasons. I enjoy that this kid wants to be like Tim Riggins, but I just don't care about this kid yet if I ever will. His dad is a piece of shit who I find very annoying, a Marv Marinovich wannabe fucking guy. But that's it. Landry thinking he's going to get a new girlfriend is hilarious FWIW.

KEEPING UP APPEARANCES

This isn't an episode where a lot of shit goes on, we are facilitating Jason Street leaving the show here and that's what it's all coming down to. He needs to flip the house he's bought and set the price what seems to be much too high. Everyone is worried that they're going to get fucked over. He is not. Storyline with Buddy's kids is goofy though. What isn't goofy is Tim Riggins recruitment video. That one is oddly heartfelt and seems like it would get some of the right attention. We're also introduced to JaMarcus, a kid whose family is just passing on through Dillon because that's how his dad's job goes. His dad doesn't really want him playing football at all, but when he does well in a game at the end of this episode, it seems football will stick for him. The only other storyline here that has meat is Landry finding out the girl he likes is a lesbian. Fucking duh, right? Anyway, big problem here is that this is a short 13 episode season and it feels like a filler episode.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

As I said, the storyline with Jason is to facilitate him leaving the show entirely, which he does when he heads to NYC, gets a job at a sports agency, and moves in with Erin and his kid. He gone. I just summed up 10-15 minutes of story into one sentence. This is all pretty cheesy though I must admit. Meanwhile Tyra goes off the deep end and decides to follow this loser around on his rodeo tour. Basically the worst thing someone could do. Coach Taylor's offensive coordinator has a heart attack and is replaced by JD's personal QB coach. There is NO WAY this could go badly. I dig the storyline with Saracen trying to become a WR too. I mean shit he might as well and they've never shown a wide receiver on this show before anyway. The ones they have can't be very good.

GAME OF THE WEEK

Alright, we're nearing the end of the line for this season and some things have changed. Others have stayed the same. In this episode, Cash freaks out on Tyra which leads to her leaving and going back to Dillon, where she belonged. Guy was a weird fucker. Will we see him again? Who knows. I would have said no, but the meth dealer guy came back when the Riggins brothers were trying to sell copper wire. So again, who knows. Also, Billy has to win Tyra's sister back as she has decided not to marry him. It seems that changes at the end of the episode though. Obviously Saracen comes in at WR and wins said Game of the Week. None of this is shocking, but there's a whole lot of unrealistic things going on during the last few episodes. The way Riggins slides back onto the team and gets an offer from 'San Antonio State' is just too goofy for words. Every time we end a storyline with one of these speeches between Lyla and Riggins, it fucking sucks. There are no exceptions to this rule. Little bit of steam has come off this show as they are starting to tread on already trodden ground.

 

[909]

THE GIVING TREE

It's fair to say this one starts off quite good. We begin with Buddy Garrity in a strip club, hearing things he does not like. He assaults someone and winds up in court the next day. It turns out he's invested all his money into some bullshit and now he can't send Lyla to college. Obviously this makes Lyla leave his house, possibly never to return. Maybe she's on the transition out of the show too. Meanwhile Julie gets caught in bed with Saracen. Caught by her dad at that. This leads to uncomfortable conversations, ones I wasn't sure we'd be having at this stage of the show, but there they are. Coach Taylor's conversation with Saracen is less bad than I thought it would be, but he takes his frustration out on the refs during their game instead. Funny scene there.

A HARD RAIN'S GONNA FALL

This is a playoff rain game here that precipitates (lol) the downfall of JD's relationship with his overbearing scumbag father. JD's dad doesn't like the girl JD is seeing, he doesn't like how JD plays, he doesn't like that there are other people with great influence over JD, and he doesn't seem to like his wife telling him shit about JD either. This leads to a fist fight broken up by the Taylors. So, yeah. Not good! There's also an issue which is so prominent in this episode it seems like it'll be a big deal going forward. There's talk of splitting up Dillon's high school and bringing back a second one. The boosters for the Panthers want the lines redrawn so that nobody on the current team has to go to the other school. It's obvious that someone in the show has to, but the prominent players in the show are soon to be graduating and so are Tyra and Lyla. That leaves Julie (who currently only has attachments to students who will be graduating), JD McCoy, Landry, and the Taylors. It seems pretty obvious what's going to happen, but that's a good thing. While still solid, I feel like this show really needs a shakeup in order to make the last two seasons worthwhile.

 

[909]

UNDERDOGS

Shakeup is clearly what we're gonna get. The Taylors have to report the McCoys to CPS, and JD's dad is giving a lot of money to the Dillon Panthers. Maybe this guy will get a coach more amenable to his tactics? Anyway, that's in the following episode. We also have a storyline about Lyla going to Vanderbilt or 'San Antonio State', but I don't care because Lyla is a shitty character who I'll be glad to see the end of. Saracen wants to go to art school in Chicago it turns out. What that means for him, I don't know but I guess he'll be gone too. So what kind of show will remain after these departures? Well, there's still the Taylors and Julie and Riggins, the latter of whom keeps talking about not wanting to go to school. Anyway, this is the episode of the state championship game and they lose. JD gets benched but Saracen can't overturn the deficit and keep it overturned. Great episode.

TOMORROW BLUES

Nice little twist here for the finale. The show has skipped ahead to graduation time. Said graduation isn't shown, but we're given enough insight into the characters to know what's ahead. It feels like maybe everyone thought this would be the end of the series. Riggins does go to San Antonio State after his brother gives him a speech at his wedding. Mindy, it turns out, is pregnant. Also, Billy Riggins bought a body shop even though he doesn't know how to do anything. Tyra does get into Texas after all, Saracen decides not to leave for Chicago, and Lyla is going to go to Vanderbilt. But I buried the lede here. Coach Taylor is GONE and heading to East Dillon High. Didn't I say this show needed a shakeup? JD's dad wanted a coach he could control and that's what he got. East Dillon doesn't even have a field that looks like a field, and Tami is still the principal at Dillon. Should be interesting stuff going forward here.

 

[909]

SEASON 4

EAST OF DILLON

So, Coach Taylor has to build a varsity football team out of absolutely nothing. You know how hard that is? It's bad enough when you show up to freshman practice and your coaches have to do that shit. To do it from nothing at a varsity level is just not possible and these episodes bear that out. We meet a lot of new people here. Vince Howard (Michael B. Jordan) is East Dillon's best player, but he also has problems with the law and that's why he's on the team in the first place. He has to be there. Luke Cafferty (Matt Lauria) is Dillon's new star running back. His inclusion here made me think he wouldn't be at Dillon for long. I was right. Riggins also quits college here and we get more focus on Matt and Julie's doomed relationship. All in all this is a very good episode. It's a big shakeup and it's what we needed. Riggins also hooks up with Alicia Witt, who has a high school aged daughter here. My inclination was that this is not a good sign, but we'll see. There's also a new coach I'll talk about later.

AFTER THE FALL

Well, East Dillon got whooped so bad they had to forfeit. The players really do not like that Coach forfeited the game. They don't like it to the point they aren't going to show up anymore. Imagine trying to figure out how to get kids to show back up when they all quit at the same time. It's a tough one but Coach manages. Then, to win them over, he burns all the old uniforms. Alright then how is a poor school like this going to get new ones? Our coach was so far into that medieval shit that a lot of us were scared to quit because of what we thought he might do, but that's not Coach Taylor. Riggins winds up renting a trailer from Alicia Witt and helps out with the East Dillon football team because of course he does. I also loved the Mike Leach cameo here. Perhaps the most pivotal bit of news is that Buddy is so pissed off with JD McCoy's dad that he reveals Luke Cafferty shouldn't be allowed to play at Dillon. This sends Luke over to East Dillon, and makes the entire town mad at Tami in the process of that. It seems untenable for Tami to keep her job. Landry also runs over a girl played by Jurnee Smollett. He is interested in her because who wouldn't be?

IN THE SKIN OF A LION

Most of this episode revolves around Coach trying to find the money to replace the 20 year old practice uniforms they burned. He does it, but he has to spend a lot of money his family just doesn't have. In a lot of ways this feels like a nothing hour of television. Saracen continues to be mentored in art by an old douchebag guy, he and Julie start drifting away from each other, you can tell where all this is going. Buddy quits on Dillion which I found highly amusing. Again, this is a nothing hour. East Dillon gets their uniforms but they get smoked again. Coach and Vince have a big argument on the sideline, but Vince scores a touchdown from nothing on a botched field goal. So they finally scored!

A SORT OF HOMECOMING

Everything at East is super hard up for funds. So why not try to get a booster club together? Is there money in the community? Well, I guess we're going to figure all that out. Maybe there are more Luke Cafferty's out there. Tami is still getting treated like shit over that situation, and again, I can't see how she can possibly keep her job in the long term. Meanwhile the new coach at East Dillon got spotted by Julie at a gay bar. Julie was there with her friend, and yeah. She says she'll never say anything about this and I'm sure she's telling the truth. Riggins also takes Saracen hunting, and the pep rally at the BBQ joint all goes pretty well. Vince is also trying to get with Jurnee Smollett's character (Jess), but Jess says no. Then she goes over and grinds on Landry. Lol. In some really bad news at the end of this episode, Saracen's dad died over in Iraq. This will probably get him to go to school and leave Dillon.

 

[909]

THE SON

Due to some personal problems I am having a really hard time motivating myself to write these. This is the episode where we see Saracen's problems after his dad dies. There are a lot of them and the actor gives a hell of a performance here running through the emotions of parental loss. Our side story here features Becky and Luke Cafferty on the way to hooking up. Well, lol. I didn't get as emotional as some people who watched the show apparently did, but like I said above, I'm going through some shit and have my own problems.

STAY

I think despite the meaning of this word, the title is a reference to what Matt Saracen will not be doing. He takes Julie to a festival in Austin but he knows that he needs to leave Dillon for Chicago, and that's exactly what he does. Meanwhile Lyla hangs around after Saracen's dad has his funeral, but she's gone too at the end of this episode and apparently never to return. Maybe this means our forthcoming Buddy storylines will be good. Landry also goofs up and tells Tess that he's still into Tyra. First of all I don't think anyone would actually say something like that out loud. Second of all I'm sure a lot of people have and I don't get it. I just don't feel like deleting the previous sentence. These are two good episodes.

IN THE BAG

Dealing with a breakup is hard, and I don't know what the writers of this show are going to do, but having Julie join the quiz bowl team is probably not a long term storyline. But that's not what this episode is about. Vince supposedly has been taking a gun to school. Nobody knows for sure, and you can't believe one thing or the other anyway, but Coach Taylor seems to think it's true. It is true. Even though Vince's locker gets searched, nobody finds it and Coach eventually has to give Vince a speech about what he wants to do with his life. Just because other people got shot doesn't mean that you will. Vince then gives the gun to his coach at the end of the episode. Becky's dad shows up here too and the storyline is pointless. There you go.

 

[909]

TOILET BOWL

Alright so this episode is about a game where East Dillon is playing another horrible team, and at the end of the episode they actually win one thanks to Luke Cafferty. Good for East Dillon. Not as good for Tim Riggins, who learns that Billy is running a chop shop and doesn't know how he wants to react to this. I know what they're trying to do for Riggins' character, and I know this isn't going to end well because he's supposed to represent the character of a football player who never moved on. Landry also gets Jess to date him which is just a stupid storyline. At the end, Riggins decides to join his brother doing illegal shit, and there's his future downfall. I like this season a lot, but the Landry story is a huge miss for me.

THE LIGHTS IN CARROLL PARK

Here we have an hour about Coach Taylor wanting to clean up East Dillon. Not the school, but the neighborhood. What does he get out of it? It seems clear to me he thinks he can get some better players and that he actually cares about these kids besides that. He could be right but we'll have to wait to see any payoff when it comes to that. Meanwhile Vince is starting to want to get with Jess, but Landry in the way and seemingly she likes him more anyway because he's goofy. There you have it. Vince also gets a job from Jess' dad, who leaves the show after the next episode. Why? It seems like a situation where the actor might have gotten another job and just bailed. In addition, DeAngelo Barksdale is in this episode as an OG. Riggins is still choppin. Becky is also pregnant by Luke and tells Riggins and Luke about it. Hoo boy.

I CAN'T

Riggins gets the bright idea to take Becky over to Tami's house to explain what her options are with this pregnancy, and at that moment I immediately knew that Tami was going to lose her job as principal at Dillon High. Guess what? They stopped showing anything from Dillon anyways. She hasn't lost that job yet but I know it's coming. Meanwhile Luke tells his parents what happened and they try to pressure Becky, who goes through the procedure as most people would. It is the right thing to do. Vince's mom also OD's and Riggins tries to get his brother to stop chop shopping. We'll see if that lasts. Michael B. Jordan is great in these last two episodes too. You can tell exactly how strong an actor that he'd become.

 

[909]

INJURY LIST

Saracen finally returns in this episode only for Julie to not want to talk to him, which is funny given how much I was waiting for him to magically return by the end of this season. Well, it seems like he's not. Luke is also doped up on pain pills until he gets busted playing hurt during the middle of a game East Dillon loses, but this makes Coach really mad that he didn't know to begin with. Meanwhile Riggins is finally back in position to get shit on all the time. Was waiting for that. He gets kicked out of his trailer because Becky's mom is a dumbass. Landry's parents are stupid people and Jess has to suffer through dinner with them. All this being said, the real deal here is that Tami is on the road to losing her job and there's a lot of pressure that nobody could handle. She's questioned, probed, all kinds of things but at the end of the day she didn't do anything wrong. Also at the end of the day this is Texas. You can't even tell someone what their birth options are without someone getting very upset.

LABORING

Interesting premise here. Dillon wants the game with East Dillon moved because East Dillon's field sucks. Queue up a scene where all East Dillon's players put toothpicks on Dillon's field to keep them from practicing. Subsequently Dillon fans/players make sure East Dillon's field is destroyed, so the game is moved. That's some scum ass shit, but not as scum as people are treating Tami Taylor. She might as well have personally aborted this potential fetus. If you don't like how I phrase myself on this subject, fuck off. This is a really good episode too. Vince is struggling with the idea of avenging his friend who got killed. Does he care about his life more or about killing this guy? It's the former. Great acting performance again by Michael B. Jordan. Look how many times I've said that. Everyone else had their moments before, but this was Jordan's show at this point in time.

 

[909]

THANKSGIVING

Big Dillon showdown here. Big East Dillon win out of nowhere here. This resolves a lot of the season long storylines. The arrest at the end of the previous episode turns into Tim Riggins going straight over to prison. For at least a year. That's one way to write someone out so they only have to do a partial last season. Saracen comes back from Chicago but Julie is not going to join him. Vince gets with Jess. Cafferty plays the last game. Landry kicks the winning field goal. Tami resigns from Dillon as long as she gets to head up a counseling department at East Dillon, which badly needs it. I think that about covers everything. Great episode unless you're a dipshit.

SEASON 5

EXPECTATIONS

After East Dillon's win last year, that's what they got. They have some damn expectations of actually having a good season. What's more is that Coach Taylor also thinks this might be a good football team after a year of his coaching. We get to see Riggins in prison, telling his brother Billy that he wants Becky to move in their house. So she does. Billy becomes a coach at East Dillon, and this is also an episode where everyone heads off to their colleges. Landry and Julie are gone. We have a few new characters too. Hastings Ruckle (lol) is a new WR for the Lions. He doesn't know shit about football but he's tall and he can jump. Coach Taylor is going to use him. The Lions have to play last year's state champs, it's a big game and they're in it because the champs are supposed to whoop them. They do not whoop East Dillon. This is the start of what at least so far has been a hell of a season. I got some way to go with these reviews though.

ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

Alright, so even though East Dillon won, they aren't ranked within the state and the players aren't happy about that shit at all. It's a distraction, but it's a distraction that can be flipped and used to the team's advantage. And that's what Coach Taylor is going to do. One big problem here though is that Luke Cafferty is suspended for hitting too hard in the previous game. It is also clear that East Dillon is going to be in the role of underdog all season. That's a role they're ready for though. One key addition to this season is that we're going to be looking at the downsides of football culture and this is just the start of that. It's rally girl auctioning time. Vince draws a girl who wants to bang him and subsequently Jess drinks her under the table. Unfortunately for everyone this will come up later, but I think it's a subject the show needed to address.

THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER

I haven't yet mentioned that Tami is having a hard time being a counselor again, and the events of the previous episode will make that job even more difficult. The video gets out from the other girl losing a beer chugging contest to Jess and it is ugly. Tami is tasked with warning everyone about underage drinking and they just do not want to listen. Coach Taylor has to get his team back on track after they fucked around like that, but it's hard. It's hard because Vince's dad just got paroled and Vince doesn't want him around. Now I have something to say. The show is better in this season with most of its main cast having departed. I don't know if this is the commonly held viewpoint but it's mine. It's a better show. The actors are better, the storylines are things that actually happen, and very few bad actors remain. Just Julie Taylor, who might sleep with her married college TA. Lol. I love that they had East Dillon start off 3-0, but they're barely winning these games and not just in unrealistic ways like at the beginning of the series. I feel like the show is really hitting its stride, but it's also time for the remaining cast in this series to be graduating. It was the right time to end it and they were lucky to get that far.

 

[909]

KEEP LOOKING

Interesting episode once again, filled with some great acting moments. It came to my attention that a lot of the viewers did not like Buddy Garrity. I don't know why but even though this character is way over the top, I find him endearing. His son has come back to Dillon and his son is a nutcase. Buddy has to get him in line during this hour of TV. We also have Luke Cafferty taking a visit to TMU and Vince getting hustled into the head coach's office while there. I'm not sure if that's a recruiting violation but maybe we'll get to that. Vince also goes through the ringer here. His dad is back and Vince doesn't want him to be back, but Vince's mom wants him to be back and that's gonna win out more often than not. Vince also has issues with Jess being the equipment manager, and Becky doesn't want to go back to live at home. So when's Tim Riggins coming back?

 

[909]

KINGDOM

I loved this episode. This was East Dillon playing thugball because Coach Taylor told them to, facing the team they forfeited against last season. They win because of it, and it fuckin rules. The officiating was lopsided and they were calling penalties anyway, so why not go all the way with it? This episode is just a good time all the way around. They had to travel for this game and everyone's bonding. In some cases Coach Taylor is listening to what his players are doing and finding it highly amusing. The only thing that happens besides all this is Julie taking her relationship with the married TA to a stupid level that she'll definitely face consequences for. This was all great. The scene with Coach Taylor listening to everyone is exactly why coaches do this stuff.

SWERVE

So, Julie comes home from college feeling humiliated after the TA's wife slapped her lmao. Julie's response to being told to go back is to drive her car into a mailbox and destroy said car. This whole situation makes Coach Taylor so angry that he blows off practice and barely makes it to the stadium in time for the game. Obviously he and Tami know everything and they can't believe their daughter would do that, but this really rocks Eric's world. Vince also makes the mistake of telling Luke about the TMU trip, the one where they were illegally recruiting Vince. And I love that we came back to that and made it a thing. Vince's dad also gets more involved with his son and beats up the guy harassing him for money, so now we know that he and Vince are going to repair their relationship. His dad is annoying too. Meanwhile we also are getting closer to Becky and Luke becoming a couple. You know why these two seasons are the best? Cause there isn't as much of that.

PERFECT RECORD

It seems like this episode is the beginning of Coach Taylor losing control of his team. This time they play thugball without him telling them to. There's good provocation though. This is their game against Dillon, and prior to the game Dillon boosters create a website with any East Dillon players having their criminal record posted on there. Beyond the pale given that these are kids. There's plenty of things getting Taylor's ire up too. His daughter is still at home and not going back to school. His team isn't playing the way he wants them to. Vince is taking bad advice from his dad and calling his own plays. Billy's mentoring of Luke is a really funny side story here. He wants his brother there but his brother isn't there and he needs someone to be his protege. So, enter Luke.

 

[909]

FRACTURE

Alright, so I'm reaching the end and I'm now at the point where I don't want the show to end. The two East Dillon seasons have been so good and such a big highlight for the series. It's hard to believe anyone made a network drama that worked this well. A big highlight here was Coach Taylor wrecking the TA's car after guy was dumb enough to pull up to his house. I've been waiting a while to see him lose his cool and there was a real payoff here. The rest of the episode isn't fantastic but we're moving things along. Vince and his dad take a trip up to Oklahoma and he misses practice. Big fucking mistake there. The team is starting to have a problem with Vince too. Julie also decides not to go back to college and Tami finds out the student she wants to mentor is a major liar. Well, it's better than having no storyline for Tami at all, I guess.

GUT CHECK

Great episode. Vince gets benched because they lost the last game, and it was his fault, and Coach knows what's going on and how easily this kid's life could get sidetracked. Vince doesn't believe that he'll really be benched, but when he doesn't show up to help Luke learn how to play QB, then he's REALLY benched. They win the game, and it's Senior Night, and Luke goes out on top even though his parents don't care for Becky. Coach is seemingly satisfied but his job hasn't gotten any easier. That being said, if anything will get through to Vince, it's taking him off the field. Maybe Jess breaking up with him will do it too. Meanwhile Julie went to Chicago to hang out with Saracen, Tami gets slapped by Epyck, and yeah, I don't know what else to say. If you haven't seen this show before you probably should.

 

[909]

DON'T GO

Finally we have the return of Tim Riggins to this show, and at the end of the episode he's paroled. These four episodes are fantastic and I don't really have the words to describe them but they're a great ending for the show. Vince needs to get back on the field and he's gonna do whatever it takes to get back there. Luke Cafferty on the other hand is probably not going to keep playing football after this is all over and it's a reality that's going to have to become clear to him. He's not getting offers, but he doesn't know what that means and he can't figure it out himself. Coach on the other hand is weighing an offer from a college in Florida. Nobody wants him to go. This is one of the best episodes of the whole series.

THE MARCH

East Dillon continues their route to State here, and obviously they're going to make it, but the clips are still a highlight of the episode. Riggins is still freaking out and is not well adjusted after having gone to prison. He might do something to wind up back there. Meanwhile Vince's dad is going back to acting like he used to act now that his son put him in his place. Tami is also feeling rightfully unfulfilled in her job and is going to start looking for another one. Queue an offer from a fictional university in Philadelphia. With this being the end of the show and all, clearly this will be a thing. Clearly she is gonna take a job and move there. To introduce this story now doesn't make sense otherwise, but it's a wedge in her marriage and that's where things will go for the last two episodes.

TEXAS WHATEVER

The school board has to eliminate East Dillon or Dillon's football program due to budget cuts. Everyone knows which one is getting the axe but nobody wants to admit it to themselves. Meanwhile Tyra comes back to town to persuade Tim not to leave Texas and it works. Buddy also gets approached by Dillon to try to bring Coach back, but Coach makes pretty clear that he doesn't want to go back to Dillon. It isn't in his plans and never has been. He built a program that's going to be taken away from him and he's mad, but they could still win State the next week. There's too much stuff in these episodes for me to cover now, but they're so good and I feel like maybe the entirety of the show should have been based on a rebuilding program and not one like Dillon. That's the one weakness here. The early seasons were too full of melodrama and focused on the wrong football stuff. This season and the last one are way more reflective of my high school football experience.

ALWAYS

I love how they teased the fracturing of the Taylor's marriage. You would almost believe it could happen, except it can't. Saracen proposes to Julie and she accepts, and they aren't ready to be married at all, but how can anyone lecture someone about marriage when they don't support each other? So, it's time for the Taylors to move to Philadelphia. First East Dillon has to win State. Then when Coach does, he goes to coach in Philadelphia and that's just how it's gonna be. What about everyone else? Luke joins the Army. Tim starts building his house. The existing players join the Dillon superteam, to be coached by whoever. I feel like this is a great show that almost reaches the heights of some pantheon shows, but there's one season here that is just so bad it can't be included with them.

 

[909]

This show doesn't have a lot of things that I would put in a rankings post, so here goes:

BEST CHARACTER: Yeah, I'm just doing one this time. It's Tim Riggins. That's who most everyone would say.
WORST CHARACTER: It's definitely Lyla but JD McCoy comes in second place.

BEST EPISODE: Always
WORST EPISODE: I don't remember which episode this happened in, but when Landry killed that dude. Lmao

BEST MOMENTS: Pretty much every part of Saracen learning how to play QB. Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose. Vince Howard winning the QB job back and telling Coach what he meant to his life. Vince scoring their first TD and Coach's reaction. The Riggins brothers robbing the meth guy.
WORST MOMENTS: Landry killing that dude. Lyla doing a lot of shit. Santiago storyline. Sending Coach off to college. Julie getting with the Swede.

As I said above, this is a show that almost makes it all the way into the pantheon and falls short because of the second season. Most of those worst moments were in that second season. I wasn't going to stop watching the show, but it was hard to get through. That's part of why this took so long, but there are other reasons why too.

SEASON RANKING

5
4
1
3
2

8/10

 

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CURB SEASON 11

THE FIVE FOOT FENCE

This season starts with something I have previously complained about, another Curb shark jumping moment...but it leads to something good and isn't all that bad after all. The episodes are too long, but this one has a lot of good gags and Jon Hamm comes back. I almost fell out when Larry walked into the glass door.

ANGEL MUFFIN

I was on the verge of thinking this was stupid, but we got a great payoff at the end and for once Larry gets his way. That's not all of course. The bit with the fucked up toilet is extremely funny, and I really felt the ear plugs thing because I've done that shit before. Unfortunately the end result of what he missed out on hearing is not in the next episode at all and I'm sure it isn't going to be in any of the others. It's very difficult to make a show that is this consistently funny though, and that's what I care about most.

THE MINI BAR

I thought this Maria Sofia extortion shit was going to be a stupid storyline, but as things turn out, it isn't. It's very funny, she attacks Cheryl and Ted Danson, and none of this should be as funny as it is. Only thing is I can't figure out if the actress is amazing or if she's really just a bad actress who can easily play a bad actress. The Hulu and Netflix gags with the executives are also not lost on me, but the Hulu guy really took the cake. This episode doesn't really stick the landing but they do a great job of moving the season's story along. Vince Vaughn is also far better in this role than he should be.

THE WATERMELON

Three stories here. First one with Leon and watermelon. Second with Woody Harrelson and a KKK member/affiliate/guy. Third features Kaley Cuoco, who hates LD and slams the eye examining machine into his face. I'm worried about how much I laughed here. I feel like a lot of the negative responses I've read about this season are the cause of people wishing for their favorite shows to add some element of poignancy that doesn't really belong in them. Curb has never been a show to tackle current events nor should it be, that isn't the job of the show. The other episodes are good but they aren't great like this one. Not sure where all this came from but I was laughing constantly. We have to remember that LD treats everyone like shit unless they're nice to him and the Klansman was inflicted harm by LD. LD is also a shithead and judges everyone else, but these interactions usually don't start with him doing spilling coffee on another person. Then we get in a web of people doing favors for each other and it all goes pretty badly for everyone except Suzie and LD. I also found interesting the way LD has always avoided religious obligations in this show, how he treated the dry cleaner, how he refused to donate money to a Jewish organization, and of course how he always treats other Jews. I also remember in the early seasons when he was whistling Wagner even though the extremely annoying Jewish guy told LD to stop and accused LD of hating himself.

So the question here is, does LD think that Jewish people deserve to be treated like shit? That's a provocative question of course. But look at how he treats other people and how he responds to this guy. Just saying. Think about it.

 

[909]

IRASSHAIMASE!

This is a return to the more petty antics of LD's past. Larry decides that when someone's dad is having a heart attack in front of him, he should eat anyway before his food gets cold. I'm not as sociopathic as this but I can see the merits of such ideals. Anyway, this leads to him going out on a date with Julie Bowen, the guy whose father died tells a secret to the sushi chefs, and they embarrass LD because they had an encounter with him earlier in the episode. This is all pretty good. I feel like this season doesn't really have one thing keeping it on track, that it's more scattered and all over the place, but I like it anyway. Also, cold French onion soup is fucking disgusting, so like I said, I get this.

MAN FIGHTS TINY WOMAN

The title of this episode sounded like something I wouldn't enjoy at all, but I enjoyed this and the Josh Gad subplot far more than the shit with Seth Rogen. I don't like Josh Gad either, but this storyline is something totally humiliating and puts him in position to be lectured by Larry. That's what I liked. The Jews for Jesus thing doesn't work that well for me, but the actor in Larry's Hulu show is really good at seeming like the kind of person who would do that shit. As for the fight with the tiny woman, it's over her being a driver and wanting to carry Larry's bags, which he isn't cool with even though he fucks up his back. When he does let her carry them, everyone looks at him like he's a freak. This reminded me of the episode where he was at a dinner party and the lady told him not to let her eat any sweets, then he does what she says and all the other guests get angry.