TVSquad

(S01E14) Now that we have had a look at Saracen's father, Tyra's mother, and Smash's mother, the Riggins family gets an episode. I have to say, I do like how they are pacing all of this. The stories are taking their time and have a very good feel to how they are revealed.

There are some drawbacks to that of course. Friday Night Lights is going to have trouble adding new viewers because each episode is so dependent on previous installments. The main story, Riggins reuniting with his father, got enough exposition to work for a new viewer. But so much of the rest of it, (the court case, Street & Lyla, the Smash saga), only really works for people that are following along week after week. That's also something that will hinder its chances in syndication. But then, bringing up FNL syndication at this point is just crazy talk. So, on with the review for people that have been watching.

It was interesting to see how the Riggins story played out. From what we've seen before, it was pretty clear what Billy's reaction to Tim's trip was going to be. While he does have a lot of issues with their father, I think more of his objections came from wanting to protect Tim. From his perspective, nothing good could come of the meeting. It seems to me that Tim was willing to give history a pass just on the hopes that things will be different this time. His getting his hopes up made it all the more sad when it all came crashing down. I really liked that final bit of the golf game where it all came clear to Tim. His father was fighting so hard, and so happy about winning, to not have to go to his game. The surprise appearance at the game caught me off guard. I didn't think we'd get more of Mr. Riggins so soon, but I'm curious to see how it plays out. Especially with Billy.

Street's story has really taken a turn since he came home. This is a much angrier, and at times not very likable, Street than the one we had come to know. Not that it's a bad thing. The fact that all of these characters have flaws is part of what makes the show so engaging. I'm no fan of Buddy Garrity, and he was clearly in the wrong in the way he was picking at Street, but Street's reaction to it wasn't much better. The good that came of it was a little more of the strong Lyla. She changed a lot after the whole 'whore' incident, and it's good to see that some of that new found spunk stuck. It looks like we'll be getting more into the court case now too. I really like the weird dynamic of Street and Eric where they have this whole relationship that is above what is going on with the court case. Of course, we aren't really into the case yet, and I could see that going south depending on how things turn out. Right now though, I'm betting on Street doing something that gets Eric off the hook.

And speaking of flawed characters, I think how the Smash story has played out has been more interesting where Eric is concerned than where Smash is. When we first met Eric, I thought he would be much more straight-arrow, all-american, good guy. There were hints of this with Voodoo, but questionable recruiting isn't even in the same ballpark as performance enhancing drugs. This whole incident has cast him in a whole different light, and it's a pretty realistic one. There is many a coach that would sweep this under the rug, if they thought they could get away with it.

The one part of the story that just doesn't sit right with me is Tami's reaction to all of it. It feels like she gave in way too easily to the decision to cover for Smash. So much so that she even ends up being the one that gets the two of them back together. That reunion was a great scene though. Eric admitting that he had lost site of why he does this was touching, and the little kid that was already making plans for 2014 was very funny.

And then there was Matt and Julie. All kinds of good stuff on that front this week. You could almost see the camel that Matt kept forking heaps of straw onto. Ditching her at dinner, canceling the concert, it had to be headed for trouble. Before it got there though, we had the interesting development of the Julie and Tyra friendship. Kind of an odd pairing, but it was fun to watch them together. I wasn't surprised when Tyra said that Buddy is one of her sister's best customers at the strip club, but it does add a little something to that creepy 'job interview' scene with their mother from earlier. And how about girls night at the Saracen house? Drinking wine, painting grandma Saracen's nails, that was just bizarre. The end, with Matt trying, and failing miserably, to lie about his night with the rally girls was well done. It was so obvious but you can't help but root for the kid. Don't lie...don't lie...don't lie....oh damn...you lied. Matt's not so sharp, but that makes him a believable high school kid. They tend to do lots of dumb things before they figure it all out.

Overall, it wasn't my favorite episode, but it was solid. The story keeps cranking along and at the end of each week I am left looking forward to the next episode. Finally, some obscure TV trivia for you, The band that Julie wanted to see, The Old 97s, did the theme song for Showtime's Going To California.