because god damn it, she should be more than tim riggins' girlfriend
So hey, flist, I would like to take a brief moment out of our days to talk about Lyla Garrity.
Because, oh, Lyla, somewhere along the road you became sort of painfully boring? I mean, I guess she started out that way, but remember the end of the first season when she was starting to learn self-reliance and she wrecked her Dad's dealership and told Jason off when he was being twunty and got drunk and snarky in Austin and went out shooting with Waverly? Remember how the first season ended with her throwing away her cheerleading uniform and offering Tyra a ride home? I MISS THAT LYLA DESPERATELY. There's something that is actually incredibly interesting about a girl who bases everything around the men in her life and then has the rug ripped out from under her. And sure, Minka Kelly is one of the weaker links on the show, but LOOK, it's hard to be a super fabulous actress when you have Connie Britton right there to be compared to you. And she's hot, SO LET'S NOT WHINE.
But all that is a moot point, because loving a character in a five-episode season ending arc is hardly the same thing as loving a character in general. So where did Lyla go wrong?
The answer is a) regression (when season two started, the writers were shipping Lyla/Jesus and not Lyla/herself)
and b) lack of diverse storylines:
COLOR CODING KEY:
*Because there are a crapload of football/practice scenes and that means a lot of screentime. Also because sometimes they have those lovely male bonding moments and are collectively "the guys", and... that should be noted.
Also! The dotted lines are supposed to indicate storylines that have sort of tapered off for whatever reason, except looking at it now I forgot to unsolidify Tim/Tyra and possibly other things. Oops.
IN ANY CASE: I feel pretty confident in my assessment that Lyla has less going on than ANY OTHER MAIN CHARACTER. Everyone else gets lots of scenes, Lyla gets to make kissy faces at Tim and occasionally have a moment with her Dad. WHAT ABOUT LYLA AND TAMI? LYLA AND JULIE? LYLA AND SMASH? LYLA AND LANDRY? Some of this show's greatest moments come from the characters you wouldn't think to pair together (I will forever love whichever writer one day thought, "hey, what would happen if we... had some scenes with Tim and Landry together?") (see also: the other two yellow lines).
Anyway that's all. I just wanted to write some kind of love letter to Lylas past in hopes we might get some nice Lylas in the future. YOU CAN ALL MOVE ON NOW.
Although BY THE WAY, I can kind of pretend it makes sense that Tim and Tyra are seniors if I don't think about it too hard (and pretend that Tim got held back?) but THERE IS NO WAY IN THE WORLD LYLA WAS NOT A SENIOR IN SEASON ONE. No 15-year-old would have GOTTEN ENGAGED TO JASON STREET. No one would've let her!
Because, oh, Lyla, somewhere along the road you became sort of painfully boring? I mean, I guess she started out that way, but remember the end of the first season when she was starting to learn self-reliance and she wrecked her Dad's dealership and told Jason off when he was being twunty and got drunk and snarky in Austin and went out shooting with Waverly? Remember how the first season ended with her throwing away her cheerleading uniform and offering Tyra a ride home? I MISS THAT LYLA DESPERATELY. There's something that is actually incredibly interesting about a girl who bases everything around the men in her life and then has the rug ripped out from under her. And sure, Minka Kelly is one of the weaker links on the show, but LOOK, it's hard to be a super fabulous actress when you have Connie Britton right there to be compared to you. And she's hot, SO LET'S NOT WHINE.
But all that is a moot point, because loving a character in a five-episode season ending arc is hardly the same thing as loving a character in general. So where did Lyla go wrong?
The answer is a) regression (when season two started, the writers were shipping Lyla/Jesus and not Lyla/herself)
and b) lack of diverse storylines:
COLOR CODING KEY:
*Because there are a crapload of football/practice scenes and that means a lot of screentime. Also because sometimes they have those lovely male bonding moments and are collectively "the guys", and... that should be noted.
Also! The dotted lines are supposed to indicate storylines that have sort of tapered off for whatever reason, except looking at it now I forgot to unsolidify Tim/Tyra and possibly other things. Oops.
IN ANY CASE: I feel pretty confident in my assessment that Lyla has less going on than ANY OTHER MAIN CHARACTER. Everyone else gets lots of scenes, Lyla gets to make kissy faces at Tim and occasionally have a moment with her Dad. WHAT ABOUT LYLA AND TAMI? LYLA AND JULIE? LYLA AND SMASH? LYLA AND LANDRY? Some of this show's greatest moments come from the characters you wouldn't think to pair together (I will forever love whichever writer one day thought, "hey, what would happen if we... had some scenes with Tim and Landry together?") (see also: the other two yellow lines).
Anyway that's all. I just wanted to write some kind of love letter to Lylas past in hopes we might get some nice Lylas in the future. YOU CAN ALL MOVE ON NOW.
Although BY THE WAY, I can kind of pretend it makes sense that Tim and Tyra are seniors if I don't think about it too hard (and pretend that Tim got held back?) but THERE IS NO WAY IN THE WORLD LYLA WAS NOT A SENIOR IN SEASON ONE. No 15-year-old would have GOTTEN ENGAGED TO JASON STREET. No one would've let her!