Friday Night Lights Review S1E6

Due to the MWC postponing their season, we’ve been forced to think outside the box a bit in terms of our content. One of those things we will be bringing out is a weekly series discussing thoughts on arguably the best football TV show ever in Friday Night Lights. If you haven’t seen it, there is no better time to start. If you have seen it, there’s no better time to rewatch it. And if you’re like me, and watch an episode or season every year in preparation for college football, you’re right on track. Regardless of which category you fit into, it’s on Hulu, and you can follow along each week (on a Friday, of course) as a different episode from season one will be discussed, from the heartbreaking cliffhanger of the pilot to the final nail-biting game.

Random thoughts in live-tweet form.

• Only in Texas would the media be covering a district eligibility hearing live.
• Voodoo comes to the diner and utters some racial slurs to stir up trouble.
• Some significantly displaced anger is going on between Bobby, who was called a racial slur by Voodoo. He then takes it out physically assaulting Matt and Landry’s random friend, who is seen neither before nor after this episode after the random friend is taking jabs at the football team.
• According to the episode summary, the police show up and arrest Bobby Reyes, who is the best defensive player on the team. For what it’s worth, the actor is credited for being in the prior five episodes.
• Mrs. Kastor comes to Tami to pick up her son’s homework and mentions that he will be back in school and on the team before too long because she knows how all of this works.
• Lyla again goes to Tim, telling him they need to stop messing around. Again, Tim displays how sensitive he is by how he reacts to the news. Lyla does tell him that she cares about him.
• Eric and Buddy drive over to speak on behalf of Bobby. On the way, Buddy tries to identify a plan to get out of the Voodoo situation by lying about the meeting’s timing and when he established residency in Dillon.
• Bobby spins a few stories together and mixes in some lies to Coach Taylor, saying Kastor (the kid he assaulted) called him a racial slur and tried to fight him, rather than telling the truth.
• Jason calls Tim out for not being a supportive friend when he needs him the most.
• Bobby goes to the media with his lie, which, of course, will rally the town around him. Tami doesn’t believe him. Eric says he can tell he’s telling the truth.
• Landry tries to get Matt to come around and stick up for what’s right and defend Castor. Matt doesn’t want to get involved.
• Tim shows up to bust Jason out of the rehab center, which is the classic Tim way of supporting his friend.
• Buddy tells Eric that part of coaching big-time high school football is lying about situations like student eligibility. Buddy, of course, is old friends and college teammates with the district rep.
• The ruling then comes out that Voodoo was eligible, and the victory over Arnett Mead still stands.
• Jason, Tim, and Lyla all go on a road trip. Talk about an awkward love triangle.
• Julie and Matt’s one convo per episode max is still going strong. She convinces him to talk to Landry to try to work through their problems. Reyes crashes the convo, and Landry goes off on him. Reyes keeps his cool and walks away, but Landry goes after him to fight. Thankfully it’s broken up before it can get too bad, but Matt gets involved, and the schism between him and Landry grows.
• Matt and Julie embark on new territory with their second convo of the episode. He asks her about dance, so she is still participating in that.
• Matt comes clean about what he witnessed the night of the assault. Matt admits he choose what was right for the team over what was right.
• Coach Taylor goes to Kastor’s house late at night to apologize and offer his support so Kastor won’t be bullied by the team when he returns to school.
• Coach Taylor calls Bobby into his office to confront him about his lies. Coach Taylor kicks him off the team, saying he can no longer help him and encourages him to work on his anger problems.
• Buddy comes to Eric’s house late at night, telling him Voodoo has gone back to Louisiana. But before he left, he went to the media telling the truth about how long he lived in Dillon. This means last week’s win will have to be forfeited after all.
• Outside the window, Jason spots Tim and Lyla take a bit too long to say goodbye, and Jason realizes that something is going on between the two of them.

Coach Taylor’s speeches.

Football observations.

• Voodoo is still on the team and is dressed for practice, but Coach Taylor doesn’t give him any snaps. The message is clear. It’s worth noting now Voodoo wants to have conversations with Coach Taylor.
• The Panthers have now lost their best offensive and defensive players.
• Voodoo is practicing as a defender and doesn’t like it one bit.

Unanswered questions.

• Eric says he has coached Bobby Reyes for a long time. When and where? We really need to see the release of his coaching resume.

Plot holes.

• Dillon’s victory last episode was over Arnett Mead, even though it won’t officially count. Keep that in mind for season three.

Quote of the episode.

• “What happened to Texas forever? Huh? What happened to living large? What happened to that eternal bond that you used to love to throw around when I was still healthy and headed towards the NFL? Huh? I need you here, Tim! I need you here. I expect... I expect you here. You are my best friend. Grace period’s over.” - Jason Street

Clear eyes. Full heart. Can’t Lose. official counter: 9

Texas Forever official counter: 3

Riggins quitting the team official counter: 1