Friday Night Lights – Everything falls apart

Is it just me, but when Friday Night Lights goes on even a short hiatus for the holidays, it seems like it has been gone forever? The show only two took weeks off, but it seems like forever ago that we were talking about how parts of Coach Taylor’s life were crumbling around him? Coming back from the break it seems that some of those challenges might be coming to a resolution, but others are really just beginning to get bad.

It is easy to see how Ornette is completely oblivious to the rules and regulations that the NCAA has in place to govern recruiting of high school players. It is because in these circumstances, the player is never at fault, and thus never faces any of the consequences. Why not make “unofficial” visits with “unofficial” tour guides and witness “unofficial” conversations with coaches about “unofficial” offers? (In case it wasn’t clear, the implied air quotes accompanying each of those were very much “Official” CliqueClack Air Quotes).

The worst part of Vince’s trip was how his absence from practice symbolized how the Lions have become secondary to his goal of playing big time college athletics. And via the voice of Luke Cafferty, they let their frustrations be known. The Vince of this episode is solidly removed from the teammate who participated in the branding “ceremony” just a few short weeks ago. This undefeated team is in for some serious trouble if they don’t circle the wagons soon.

Vince Howard isn’t the only source of contention on the East Dillon sidelines. Something is building with Coach Crowley, from the frustrations with how the team has been playing to the stupidity that is Billy Riggins as a football coach. Crowley (the character, and the actor Timothy F. Crowley) has been around for years, but has never given anything approaching a storyline (Looking at his IMDb credits, I’m assuming he is primarily a/the football adviser on the show). As much fun as it is to watch Billy Riggins stumble through life, I’m not sure why Eric hasn’t fixed it. Coach may not be able to wrangle in his QB, but he should be able to do so with his staff.

Despite my continued promises to keep mum on Julie’s storyline, I’d be remiss not to mention how it (hopefully) ended tonight. I’ve never been Matt Saracen’s biggest fan (the character, not necessarily Zach Gilford, who has killed it several times) but there is something just right about seeing those two together.

Notes & Quotes

• I loved Eric with his quiet  “I think you need to go a little bit faster” to Julie’s “teacher” … he had himself under such amazing control, at least until he knocked out his taillight.
• Where was Vince’s “college” visit that people would still be at outdoor pools?
• “I mean was he mad? I mean I know, ‘cuz he’s usually mad. [pauses] Yeah, he was mad.” – Vince
• I’m not going to share how I know, but you don’t really decide the day before a pageant to compete … yeah, like I said, not saying how I know that one at all.

Clacked by Ivey West
on Jan 09, 2011 @ 09:52 EST5EDT