Friday Night Lights 2.11

Jan 08, 2008 20:29

Hmm... ( that )

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Comments 13

mskatej January 8 2008, 11:53:14 UTC
Hmm. While I get your point that Tim is not Julie's type, I have to disagree that her sudden interest in him is OOC. The fact of the matter is Tim is extremely physically attractive and even if he's not "boyfriend material" there aren't that many women/girls who would be totally immune to his charms (and if Julie was I think I'd find that unusual). The guy is gorgeous and aloof and unattainable; Julie is a teenage girl with eyes and hormones, and she's certainly not above fancying boys who aren't intellectual. Before he moved in she never would have considered him an option because he is, as you say, not her type, and doesn't move in her circle. But he's in her face now. And not only is he a babe, he's quite a lovely person: great with the baby, sly sense of humour. Her attraction to him is probably only physical but I definitely don't find it implausible. (Also, I don't find Tim particularly "jocky". He's a talented sportsman, yes, but I'd say he's more of a slacker/rebel than a jock ( ... )

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bop_radar January 9 2008, 07:44:56 UTC
Good points re. Julie. So you do think she was played/written as being interested in Tim? I was pretty confused as to what we were supposed to think. It was pretty clear that while drunk she was responding to any attractive guy in close proximity. So I wasn't sure if we were meant to think she had an interest beyond that.

I think my sympathy is still largely with Tami simply because it seems clear that she only behaves this way because she's extremely pressured and stressed generally and then Shelley presses all her buttons. That said, I'd find her a real bitch as a sister! ;) But the show's done such a great job of portraying Tami with complexity--I think we've seen her own frustration at the fact that she's not free to do fun stuff like go see bands or hang out carefree with her sister. And I think that unspoken regret fuels her bitchiness to some extent. Tami could never say it because it would sound ungrateful to her family, but I think she envies Shelley her freedom.

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mskatej January 9 2008, 10:03:39 UTC
So you do think she was played/written as being interested in Tim

Well a lot of the acting is improvised, so it was possibly a choice by the actress, but I do believe her perving at him with the aunt in the early scenes was lovely, funny, realistic and in character. The joining him on his trip to the store felt incredibly familiar too. That's exactly the kind of thing I would have done in her position at her age (and Tim's not "my type" either). As for the drunken grope, I think that was one of the most true to life moments in the entire episode, unlike Coach walking in on them, which felt contrived (they needed a "reason" for Coach to kick Tim out because FNL loves to punish Tim).

So I wasn't sure if we were meant to think she had an interest beyond that.I didn't get the sense that she had much genuine romantic interest in Tim. Not beyond a schoolgirl crush at any rate. And it's clearly one sided at this point, which also rings true to me. She's even less his type than he is hers, and he pretty obviously sees her as a "little ( ... )

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bop_radar January 9 2008, 10:10:45 UTC
Yeah, I liked the perving--that felt real. The idea of Julie perving at Tim but kind of laughing at herself and not being serious hangs together for me. The going to the store with him I just really don't get...maybe because it was more premeditated? but hey, whatever. The drunken grope I totally do get--especially at that age. I'm sure I'd have gone for it too if I'd had the chance. ;)

I agree that Tim sees her as a 'little sister'--he seemed amused by her trying to set him up with Lois and he was definitely NOT making a move on her in any way. In fact, I found his alpha-ing with that guy at the party had an echo in the way Coach reacted when catching him with Julie later... both of them know how to do that tough my-word-is-law don't-mess-with-me thing really well. SO pissed off they've destroyed that relationship! It was one I was definitely enjoying.

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asta77 January 8 2008, 13:46:57 UTC
I'm so torn about Friday Night Lights these days. On the one hand there are characters I love and I can see the building blocks of the pitch-perfect show I fell for in Season One. But there's definitely a change in tone in Season 2--but inconsistently. The show still delivers some great scenes that feel completely true to life, but then it also pulls out... random tornado melodrama.Excellent summation. I'm rather 'meh' on this season. I still adore some of the characters, but the plotting seems rather slip-shot. (And what happened to the Matt/Landry friendship???) The highlights for me were the Eric/Tim ping-pong game at 5:00am. I would hazard to guess that Eric was enjoying a 'son' to hang out with. And his excitement over the coffeemaker. Hee! But then all the great Eric/Tim bonding was ruined at the end by the cliched misunderstanding ( ... )

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bop_radar January 9 2008, 07:46:44 UTC
Don't get me started on Matt/Landry. Sigh.

The ping-pong was very cute and I did get the impression Eric was enjoying a kind of father/son bonding there--it was lovely subtle work. But yes, ruined by the (forced, I felt) ending. :(

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ez_as_pi January 8 2008, 14:19:34 UTC
Just. YES!!! You read my mind.

I want Coach to take Evil!Coach out behind the gym and smack the crap out of him. Hard.

And I really hope the Tim/Coach misunderstanding gets worked out. I mean there's Tim, who's sober, going to school, (even if the cheer girls are doing his homework)... and now.. homeless again.

Oh well... stay tuned LOL

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bop_radar January 9 2008, 07:48:02 UTC
Evil!Coach was sooo obnoxious.

And yes, totally agree re. Tim. I was so excited to see PROGRESS for him, and now bam! back to square one. :( I hope the misunderstanding gets cleared up but it seems impossible that it will be...

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bop_radar January 9 2008, 07:54:02 UTC
Yes, that residue of love is helping me ride through this season. But it's so frustrating. And yeah, the season's not hanging together as a whole for me yet at all--where's their focus?

I always thought Billy was a real nasty piece of work so I'm not that surprised by his poor behaviour, but agree it's been quite simplistically portrayed. What, he's made NO effort to contact Tim?!

I am inclined to take Tami's side as well. Possibly because we've got to know her so well. I do think she's said some cruel things to Shelley, but in all other aspects I tend to agree with her in their arguments. Shelley seems to almost revel in casting Tami as a staid, boring mother, and she's never interested in Tami's pov. Tami's a great mum, but even if she wasn't, Shelley should make an effort to understand where she's coming from before she criticises her parenting--which she does implicitly in undermining her with Julie and so on.

Yes, poor Matt is much neglected of late! Although scoring some hot kissage. ;)

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canadiangirl_86 January 8 2008, 18:13:34 UTC
I don't really watch FNL (even though I know I should) but I did watch this episode! I really enjoyed it, but I admit I'm not able to compare it to the first season since I haven't seen it.

I loved the scene with Coach and Tim playing ping pong. And then he asks his wife to make him a sandwich at 5am. Ha!

That other coach was so effing annoying and totally baiting the entire episode, but I love how High School everything was, even with the old fogeys.

With Tyra and Landry, it did seem a bit abrupt at the end to have him walk away considering that he was just making a case for fighting for people you love when he was talking to Julie. But I guess he had been thinking about Julie's words as well in the interim and realized he was done being a yo-yo.

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bop_radar January 9 2008, 07:56:35 UTC
Oh, cool! A newbie to FNL! So glad you enjoyed it--this was a pretty average eppy. But the Coach/Tim ping pong was the sort of gem we got lots of in season one. :) Hee!

Yeah, they capture high school pretty well I reckon--definitely one of the most realistic high school shows I've ever seen.

I guess he had been thinking about Julie's words as well in the interim and realized he was done being a yo-yo.
Yeah... I do think that's what the writers intended us to think. I just found it a little clunky. I'm used to FNL finding unconventional and very realistic ways around these dramas, but that was a little 'tv predictable'.

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