Friday Night Lights Season 1 Episode 13

Tyra tries to get her mother to get a job at Buddy Garitty's dealership. Smash's mother discovers that her son has been using illeagle substances in order to enhance his playing abilities.Jason gets uncomfortable when Buddy sets up Lyla on a date. After confronting Buddy about this he makes up his mind about his future with Lyla.





This was another great installment by the writers and was very well shot. the scene between Jason and Buddy was really powerful and the one where Matt's dad has to leave town was a tearjerker for me. i loved that the coach too Matt's advice during the game.

Someone in the NBC promo department needs to be taken out and flogged. It’s bad enough to give away elements from the last five minutes of the show, but to give away the entire end to a plotline as they did this week?!? It’s enough to make you want to tear your hair out.





Plus, it creates false expectations for the episode.





I mean, did we really need to know that Jason propsoes to Lyla in the promos? It’s not bad enough Ausiello ruined this twist for us weeks ago in his column. But to see it flashed across the screen all week when I was trying to watch the genius that is The Office.





Man, it just makes me mad.





But I can’t hate Friday Night Lights.





Instead, my love for this show only continues to grow. And this week’s episode was no exception.





As the Panthers prepare for a must win game to go the playoffs, things aren’t going so well off the field. Smash’s steroid use comes to light when his mother finds his stash in his room. She immediately confronts Eric Taylor, who is suddenly between a rock and a hard place. He should report Smash, but if he does so, the team may have to forfeit all their games, thus costing him not only his job here but the potential college job we heard about a few weeks ago. As I’ve said before, the great thing about this show is that as the story unfolds, you’re never certain where it’s going to go. As Smash wonders about his future, we do as well. In the end, Taylor gives Smash another chance if he’ll get off the juice and tells Smash he’s risking his neck. But you know without Smash, Taylor is up the creek.





As the news of Smash’s having to be benched for a game gets out, we get to see Buddy Garrity in rare form. His desire to be an insider and demands to know what’s going on are great. But the Buddy plots don’t end there this week. Buddy sets Lillah up a date with a guy from SMU. Buddy wants to show Lillah she has a whole life ahead of her and there are other fish in the sea beyond Jason Street. This leads to one of the top three best scenes in the episode when Street confronts Buddy, demanding the truth and gets just that. Buddy’s no holds barred, you’re bad for my daughter and I’m putting a stop to it is great and it leads to the proposal so blatantly given away by NBC and Ausiello.





Buddy also figures into the storyline of Tyra’s mom. He’s hiring and Tyra sends Tim Riggins to pull some strings to get her interview. Tyra’s mom needs a job having thrown out her boyfriend. The storyline of Trya not wanting to become her mother but loving her more than anything rings so true and authentic it hurts. And it’s interesting that Tyra’s mom gets the job after Buddy notices her at a celebration of the big win and without really asking if she’s qualified. I only expect this plotline to get juicier as the weeks go along.





Meanwhile, Tami is asked to be part of the mayor’s re-election campaign. We find out the mayor is a lesbian, a fact that makes Eric uncomfortable. This leads to another top three scene as Eric and Tami debate if she should or shouldn’t work on the campaign and what the real motive for her being asked to be part of it could be. Is it that Tami is a smart woman or is it that she’s the coach’s wife? What I love about this is that it makes Taylor very un-PC and even a bit unlikable for telling Tami she shouldn’t work on the campaign. And it makes him human.





In all of this, there’s still a football game. Scaracen thinks his dad will be there, but dad heads back to Iraq. He misses Matt’s coming up with the game winning play and executing it to perfection.





I love how the game looms over everything. The stress, the hope, the relief of winning–all play a factor here. And it’s the desire to win that leads to the best scene of the week. Back to the Smash story, the two scenes he has with his mother, a nurse, about his roiding up are fantastic. Smash’s realization he could have flushed his dreams away and his mother’s responses are superb. Again, everything just feels so authentic and never played for melodrama in this show.





Well, except the proposal that is. I’m not sure where this is going…but I’m willing to give the show some slack. It’s easy when everything else about it is so good.

Mayor Rodell is a lesbian. Tyra drinks with her mom!!! Buddy Garrity really doesn't want Lyla with Jason. Grandma Saracen is starting to become one of my favorite characters. Ok, so Mayor Rodell is a lesbian she wants the Coach's wife to be apart of her campaign for re-election and Coach Taylor is uncomfortable about that. Tyra is helping her mother get over Bob. Tyra is trying to find a job for her mom and she ends up getting a job at Buddy Garrity's dealership because she's a MILF. Buddy tells Jason the truth about why Lyla met a college kid to write a paper. Buddy really set Lyla up on a date because he doesn't want Lyla to be Jason's care-giver. Jason thinks about breaking up with her but then decides to ask her to marry him. Matt Saracen's father goes back to Iraq 'causing Matt some emotional stress and we should see the result of that on the next episode. I can't wait for that.

This was a great episode, even though it faced the challenge of giving air time to the many sub-plots. Smash faces the possibility that his football days are over when his mother finds his stash, and Jason is pressured to make a strong decesion in his relationship with Lyla when her father sends her on a lunch date with an old family friend. Matt's father is called back to Iraq, and the quaterback struggles to cope as the Panthers head into the game that will decide whether or not they go to the playoffs.





Tyra tries to find her mom a job, Ms.Taylor debates whether or not to join the mayor's campaign.

This episode had several well written storylines. The Matt Saracen story is my favorite. He really has come a long way since we first met him as shy and reluctant. He actually drew up some plays of his own and brought them to Coach Taylor. Taylor blew him off in true head coach style. Saracen also finds himself without his father yet again.





The Smash steroid issue came to head and caused a major fracture between him and his mom, which was upsetting to watch because they are so close. Taylor puts his job on the line for Smash and doles out some sobering advice.





Most of the kids in this show come from homes without the presence of a father figure. With each episode we get to see how Coach Taylor fills that void for many of them.

During Jason's proposal I kept thinking, I can't believe he's going to dump her just cause the future won't be easy. It really caught me by surprize when he asked her to marry him. I can't see it working out though. Buddy has made it clear that he won't let that happen, or at least is going to do everything in his power to make sure it doesn't. Ground work was laid for a possible thing between Buddy and Tyra's mom, I think it's a great idea. It'll get the adults more involved with the story line. Also it adds to the realistic quailty of the show. Affairs between parents of friends seems very common these days.