Friday Night Lights - season 2
Woot! I finally have high-speed Internet set up at home, so I have caught up on FNL and SPN. Don't have much to say about SPN that hasn't already been said, I suspect. But FNL?
HOTTEST SEXIEST HOTTEST SHOW EVER. (Also, still makes me cry every. damn. episode.) But for real -- they must be putting something in the catering because I have never seen these people look so beautiful. And I swear I have always only had a distant appreciation of how pretty Tim Riggins/Taylor Kitsch is, but this season and especially the last two episodes OOOOOMMMMMGGGGG. I want to, uh, wow. I mean, WOW, that boy had a good summer. I mean, GAH. He makes me make, like, really, really inarticulate noises whenever he's on screen. Hoo boy.
Less shallow commentary under the cut, although I have to get this out of the way first:
Lyla went to go "pray"? Pshyeah, right.
I have always thought Lyla was like her father in liking sex too much to square with her good girl image -- since, of course, good girls don't, and Lyla did, very much, with both Jason and Tim -- and I think the show has picked up that supposed contradiction in her and run with it this season. Her spirituality is quite sensual, or at least it has that edge of sensuality to it, not least because the show keeps filming her in these very lush and intimate kinds of ways and reminding us what a gorgeous and effortlessly sexy girl she is (right from the baptism scene) -- but also because she's been using her spirituality to start over, to say she's not that girl but this one. And yet really, all of her overbearing effort kind of just reinforces and reminds everyone of what she's trying to get away from.
I also love that even in the midst of her devotion and attempts to be a good Christian, she's still as smart-mouthed and prickly as she was at the end of last season. She really opened up with all of that angry violence, wrecking her dad's dealership, shooting the guns with Waverly, and it's nice that she hasn't let that edge go in favor of becoming the same simpering cheerleader from the beginning of the show.
But seriously, Lyla, I understand you have closed your legs to all but Jesus and this is network TV and you couldn't go the whole hog with the Y Tu Mama Tambien reenactment, but COME ON, DAMMIT. HOW COULD YOU JUST WALK AWAY FROM TIM RIGGINS AND JASON STREET YOU MUST HAVE A SPINE OF STEEL OMG IF I WERE IN YOUR SHOES.
(Man, I have missed getting all caps-locked about this show.)
So, basically, it has been Jason Street and Tim Riggins making me cry the past couple of eps, and I just.... I mean, that scene in the bar with the karaoke was sublime. Just, oh, just perfect. I think my mouth literally dropped open, it was so simultaneously right and true and wonderful and gorgeous and sensual and also, it hurt like holy hell, to see Tim realizing what he was going to have to do for Jason, kill his dream in order to be his friend, and fuck, so what if this show didn't get nominated for Emmys, and if it does get canceled, at least we can say we have had scenes like that. Because, MAN.
and then we got the I love you and I think I just about exploded. And then Jason went overboard, just like I knew he would, and he swam and it was so beautiful even if I wonder how medically accurate, but then there was the Y Tu Mama Tambien scene just like I NEVER THOUGHT THE SHOW WOULD GO THERE, EVER and OMG, I love this show. Love!
Okay.
Time to be calm and rational now.
Landry. And Tyra. And I phrase it like that because it really does seem like this whole plotline (which, yes, I hated from the start) has been much more about Landry than Tyra, much more about his reactions and guilt and pain. I suppose that makes sense, since he was the one who actually committed the act, but Tyra's inner thoughts right now remain a mystery even as I think I know exactly what's going on with her. I dunno, maybe it's the new haircut that's making me feel distant.
I hated the plotline even as I could appreciate the show's daring in going there, because a) I was worried that it was all too I Know What You Did Last Summer, and b) because I love Landry so much that seeing his entire life and future screwed up just because the writers thought it would bring The Drama makes me want to go into their scriptwriting sessions with a flamethrower or something. Why, WHY WHY. He was supposed to go to an awesome college, get out of Dillon, find a whole world of people who would appreciate him and love him and de-virginize him without any associated trauma. Oh, Landry. This show breaks my heart.
I am grateful however that the plotline has introduced Landry's father, who is just perfect and perfectly cast and oh dear god this is not going to end well. Somehow I seriously doubt that Landry will end up going to prison if his father ever finds out, because that is not the way network TV works (but hey, this show always does surprise me) but fuck, I am dreading the pain of his father finding out and then covering up for him. Because it's one thing for Landry's life to be screwed up by murder, a murder conviction, and imprisonment. It is quite another for that murder to infect his family and his father just when his father is starting to feel most proud of him. That is the kind of shit that kills people slowly, and twists the love and the relationship between them forever.
But I suppose I can be shallow and admit that I also think Landry and Tyra make a surprisingly attractive couple, physically. I so didn't want them to get together because of this, but I have been grateful as well that there seems to be some sweetness and lightness to their relationship even in the midst of all this other wtfuckery. Well, that is until SHE KILLED IT because his daddy told her to! (And oh, god, such echoes of Tami not thinking Tyra was good enough for Julie, either.) Oh, Tyra, I really wish for the day when all of your instincts and hard-won experience about men will NOT bring either you or them pain. Possibly that will only happen some time after you get out of your own prison sentence for being an accessory to murder, though. ...sigh.
Speaking of plotlines, I don't know that I'm happy about Coach and college football being dropped so abruptly. Yes, yes, we have a whole season to go to see the fall-out from that, but this show does have a bit of a record of dropping plotlines abruptly (see, e.g., the racism plotline) and I don't think we're going to see much more of it. I think it would have been interesting to explore more of him settling into the college football system and really finding his niche as a mentor again, which is where I thought they were going with that episode where he gave both the star athlete and the discipline panel a dose of his patented Eric Taylor Awesomeness. But I suppose the longer they dragged out the Eric-away-from-home drama, the longer they'd have to drag out the Julie-being-a-complete-spoiled-brat drama, and really, I was getting damn tired of the latter.
But also, you know, it's just so fabulous to have Tami and Eric together again and being TAMI AND ERIC TAYLOR, together. Six week stories and "I don't sense a true commitment from that answer" and "A man takes care of his wife" and heeeee! Hottest and sexiest married couple ever, y'all.
I suppose I can sympathize with Julie. I know all about wanting to rebel and hurting people along the way. But the way she's been acting about the Swede vs. Matt, and the way she's been treating her mother with Grace are two very different ways to act like a brat. I am glad she and Tami made up because that made me cry the good tears and because their fight in the driveway was awful and ugly (and because it made Tami open up about her sexual history which I was always curious about since that episode -- you know, The One In Which Connie Britton Ruled The World). But seriously, Julie needs to get off this abandoned-older-child kick and start helping the fuck out, because that act is for five year olds and not teenagers who want everyone to think they're all mature and shit.
Julie did get a well-deserved calling out from Matt about her behavior, FINALLY, and I really hope they stay away from each other for a while. I miss the sweetness of their relationship, but hey, kids grow apart, and they don't know how to communicate, and they do stupid things like cheat on the best boyfriend ever, and then they deserve to spend some time in the doghouse for that.
Can I just say that Matt -- MATT! -- and his newfound smart-mouth and prickliness this season just have me loving the boy all over again?? He is just like Lyla, finally coming into his own and not letting himself be walked on by anybody. He's been pissed off and angry and he's not been afraid to tell people about it, and when he does he doesn't stutter or waffle at all, he just gets all up in their face and pierces right to the truth of the situation, telling it exactly like it is. I am so curious to know what's going to happen with him this season, to see how he continues to grow and become a man on his own terms instead of the man he's been forced to be by circumstance. And I really, really want to know how he handles the Landry situation. I felt that they reconnected a little in this past ep, with the "No, no, you know what I'm talking about" (hah, Landry's expression as Julie and Matt were doing their awkward thing was so perfect that I actually rewound it to watch again) and the football and the last scene in the diner.
I am unsure about Matt hooking up with the nurse, really REALLY unsure, but that was totally the vibe I got from the minute he walked into the house and found her there turning his life upside down. And the back massage scene just cemented it. I hope they become friends first, at least. This really doesn't need to be another Tim Riggins situation. I suppose she is due for more screen time soon, because all she's been doing lately is sitting next to his grandmother at football games. We shall see.
Finally, we are seriously due for a scene at the Williams' house, like, FOUR EPISODES AGO. Because first of all, why is Waverly not in the picture anymore? And second of all, why is Smash only onscreen to be cocky and fight with Matt? I mean, I know the show has finally remembered that Texas is right next to Mexico, but really, there is room to deal with the angst of more than one shade of brown person.
/oversensitivity
So I think I used the words perfect, wonderful, sensual, awesome, hurt, but, and why quite a lot in this post. Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.
HOTTEST SEXIEST HOTTEST SHOW EVER. (Also, still makes me cry every. damn. episode.) But for real -- they must be putting something in the catering because I have never seen these people look so beautiful. And I swear I have always only had a distant appreciation of how pretty Tim Riggins/Taylor Kitsch is, but this season and especially the last two episodes OOOOOMMMMMGGGGG. I want to, uh, wow. I mean, WOW, that boy had a good summer. I mean, GAH. He makes me make, like, really, really inarticulate noises whenever he's on screen. Hoo boy.
Less shallow commentary under the cut, although I have to get this out of the way first:
Lyla went to go "pray"? Pshyeah, right.
I have always thought Lyla was like her father in liking sex too much to square with her good girl image -- since, of course, good girls don't, and Lyla did, very much, with both Jason and Tim -- and I think the show has picked up that supposed contradiction in her and run with it this season. Her spirituality is quite sensual, or at least it has that edge of sensuality to it, not least because the show keeps filming her in these very lush and intimate kinds of ways and reminding us what a gorgeous and effortlessly sexy girl she is (right from the baptism scene) -- but also because she's been using her spirituality to start over, to say she's not that girl but this one. And yet really, all of her overbearing effort kind of just reinforces and reminds everyone of what she's trying to get away from.
I also love that even in the midst of her devotion and attempts to be a good Christian, she's still as smart-mouthed and prickly as she was at the end of last season. She really opened up with all of that angry violence, wrecking her dad's dealership, shooting the guns with Waverly, and it's nice that she hasn't let that edge go in favor of becoming the same simpering cheerleader from the beginning of the show.
But seriously, Lyla, I understand you have closed your legs to all but Jesus and this is network TV and you couldn't go the whole hog with the Y Tu Mama Tambien reenactment, but COME ON, DAMMIT. HOW COULD YOU JUST WALK AWAY FROM TIM RIGGINS AND JASON STREET YOU MUST HAVE A SPINE OF STEEL OMG IF I WERE IN YOUR SHOES.
(Man, I have missed getting all caps-locked about this show.)
So, basically, it has been Jason Street and Tim Riggins making me cry the past couple of eps, and I just.... I mean, that scene in the bar with the karaoke was sublime. Just, oh, just perfect. I think my mouth literally dropped open, it was so simultaneously right and true and wonderful and gorgeous and sensual and also, it hurt like holy hell, to see Tim realizing what he was going to have to do for Jason, kill his dream in order to be his friend, and fuck, so what if this show didn't get nominated for Emmys, and if it does get canceled, at least we can say we have had scenes like that. Because, MAN.
and then we got the I love you and I think I just about exploded. And then Jason went overboard, just like I knew he would, and he swam and it was so beautiful even if I wonder how medically accurate, but then there was the Y Tu Mama Tambien scene just like I NEVER THOUGHT THE SHOW WOULD GO THERE, EVER and OMG, I love this show. Love!
Okay.
Time to be calm and rational now.
Landry. And Tyra. And I phrase it like that because it really does seem like this whole plotline (which, yes, I hated from the start) has been much more about Landry than Tyra, much more about his reactions and guilt and pain. I suppose that makes sense, since he was the one who actually committed the act, but Tyra's inner thoughts right now remain a mystery even as I think I know exactly what's going on with her. I dunno, maybe it's the new haircut that's making me feel distant.
I hated the plotline even as I could appreciate the show's daring in going there, because a) I was worried that it was all too I Know What You Did Last Summer, and b) because I love Landry so much that seeing his entire life and future screwed up just because the writers thought it would bring The Drama makes me want to go into their scriptwriting sessions with a flamethrower or something. Why, WHY WHY. He was supposed to go to an awesome college, get out of Dillon, find a whole world of people who would appreciate him and love him and de-virginize him without any associated trauma. Oh, Landry. This show breaks my heart.
I am grateful however that the plotline has introduced Landry's father, who is just perfect and perfectly cast and oh dear god this is not going to end well. Somehow I seriously doubt that Landry will end up going to prison if his father ever finds out, because that is not the way network TV works (but hey, this show always does surprise me) but fuck, I am dreading the pain of his father finding out and then covering up for him. Because it's one thing for Landry's life to be screwed up by murder, a murder conviction, and imprisonment. It is quite another for that murder to infect his family and his father just when his father is starting to feel most proud of him. That is the kind of shit that kills people slowly, and twists the love and the relationship between them forever.
But I suppose I can be shallow and admit that I also think Landry and Tyra make a surprisingly attractive couple, physically. I so didn't want them to get together because of this, but I have been grateful as well that there seems to be some sweetness and lightness to their relationship even in the midst of all this other wtfuckery. Well, that is until SHE KILLED IT because his daddy told her to! (And oh, god, such echoes of Tami not thinking Tyra was good enough for Julie, either.) Oh, Tyra, I really wish for the day when all of your instincts and hard-won experience about men will NOT bring either you or them pain. Possibly that will only happen some time after you get out of your own prison sentence for being an accessory to murder, though. ...sigh.
Speaking of plotlines, I don't know that I'm happy about Coach and college football being dropped so abruptly. Yes, yes, we have a whole season to go to see the fall-out from that, but this show does have a bit of a record of dropping plotlines abruptly (see, e.g., the racism plotline) and I don't think we're going to see much more of it. I think it would have been interesting to explore more of him settling into the college football system and really finding his niche as a mentor again, which is where I thought they were going with that episode where he gave both the star athlete and the discipline panel a dose of his patented Eric Taylor Awesomeness. But I suppose the longer they dragged out the Eric-away-from-home drama, the longer they'd have to drag out the Julie-being-a-complete-spoiled-brat drama, and really, I was getting damn tired of the latter.
But also, you know, it's just so fabulous to have Tami and Eric together again and being TAMI AND ERIC TAYLOR, together. Six week stories and "I don't sense a true commitment from that answer" and "A man takes care of his wife" and heeeee! Hottest and sexiest married couple ever, y'all.
I suppose I can sympathize with Julie. I know all about wanting to rebel and hurting people along the way. But the way she's been acting about the Swede vs. Matt, and the way she's been treating her mother with Grace are two very different ways to act like a brat. I am glad she and Tami made up because that made me cry the good tears and because their fight in the driveway was awful and ugly (and because it made Tami open up about her sexual history which I was always curious about since that episode -- you know, The One In Which Connie Britton Ruled The World). But seriously, Julie needs to get off this abandoned-older-child kick and start helping the fuck out, because that act is for five year olds and not teenagers who want everyone to think they're all mature and shit.
Julie did get a well-deserved calling out from Matt about her behavior, FINALLY, and I really hope they stay away from each other for a while. I miss the sweetness of their relationship, but hey, kids grow apart, and they don't know how to communicate, and they do stupid things like cheat on the best boyfriend ever, and then they deserve to spend some time in the doghouse for that.
Can I just say that Matt -- MATT! -- and his newfound smart-mouth and prickliness this season just have me loving the boy all over again?? He is just like Lyla, finally coming into his own and not letting himself be walked on by anybody. He's been pissed off and angry and he's not been afraid to tell people about it, and when he does he doesn't stutter or waffle at all, he just gets all up in their face and pierces right to the truth of the situation, telling it exactly like it is. I am so curious to know what's going to happen with him this season, to see how he continues to grow and become a man on his own terms instead of the man he's been forced to be by circumstance. And I really, really want to know how he handles the Landry situation. I felt that they reconnected a little in this past ep, with the "No, no, you know what I'm talking about" (hah, Landry's expression as Julie and Matt were doing their awkward thing was so perfect that I actually rewound it to watch again) and the football and the last scene in the diner.
I am unsure about Matt hooking up with the nurse, really REALLY unsure, but that was totally the vibe I got from the minute he walked into the house and found her there turning his life upside down. And the back massage scene just cemented it. I hope they become friends first, at least. This really doesn't need to be another Tim Riggins situation. I suppose she is due for more screen time soon, because all she's been doing lately is sitting next to his grandmother at football games. We shall see.
Finally, we are seriously due for a scene at the Williams' house, like, FOUR EPISODES AGO. Because first of all, why is Waverly not in the picture anymore? And second of all, why is Smash only onscreen to be cocky and fight with Matt? I mean, I know the show has finally remembered that Texas is right next to Mexico, but really, there is room to deal with the angst of more than one shade of brown person.
/oversensitivity
So I think I used the words perfect, wonderful, sensual, awesome, hurt, but, and why quite a lot in this post. Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.