Friday Night Lights Review S2E8

During the offseason, we are continuing our 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 Netflix (and Peacock), and you can follow along each week (on a Friday, of course) as a different episode from season two will be discussed, from the opening episodes with a new coach at the helm to the sudden cliffhanger caused by the writer’s strike.

Random thoughts in live-tweet form.

• Julie is watching the game with Noah the English teacher. Why is he sitting with students?
• Matt and Lauren are making out in Matt’s car. She invites him in to spend the night because her parents are gone for the weekend. But Matt gives an excuse to get out of it because he wants to see Carlotta. However, Carlotta is giving him the cold shoulder and trying to reset some boundaries.
• Tim is waiting for Tami and asks her to talk to Eric about getting him back on the team.
• Tyra gets pulled out of class by the police. Her attacker’s brother is trying to meet all of the victims to apologize in an attempt to make amends.
• Tami and Glen are hanging out in the office laughing. Eric isn’t happy with it.
• Eric and Tami talk and Tami says she needs a night out with some adults outside of the family.
• Tim confides in his new roommate about missing football and his teammates. Also, his roommate is very unique. Tim bonds with the ferret and his roommate invites him to go hunting.
• Julie is reading Noah’s books and she is giving him CDs to listen to. Tami gets very worried about their growing relationship. She speaks with him in private about her being inappropriate and condescending. He dismisses her and she makes some very serious threats, which the students overhear.
• Tyra talks to Landry as she tries to figure out if she should talk to the guy’s brother or not. She overthinks all the potential scenarios. Landry offers his support to her.
• Julie hears about the interaction with her mom and Noah and Julie confronts Tami in her office about the incident and then storms out.
• Landry goes to meet the brother (Jeff) at a diner. He lets her know Tyra didn’t feel right about coming but invites Jeff to say what he wants to say. Landry is short with him but Jeff seems genuine and tells him his brother took care of him when they were growing up.
• Tim’s roommate asks him to pick up beer and cold medicine.
• Matt is still hovering around Carlotta. They kiss again and she doesn't hold back. It’s clear they feel the same way, even though she is trying her best to deny it. Right in the middle of their moment, Laura comes and brings him cookies. In an extremely awkward moment for Matt, Laura and Carlotta meet and she wants to stay to be with him.
• Eric waits up for Tami while she is out. It turns out Glen was out with them and Eric is a bit jealous. He admits he doesn't like her and Glen spending time together. Eric says Tami needs to focus more on her family and they get into a fight.
• Matt tells Carlotta that Laura went home and he tries to talk to Carlotta, but she won’t come out of her room.
• Shelley is comforting Julie about being humiliated at school and Tami is shut out. Julie continues to not speak to Tami. Shelley tells Tami that her outburst was uncalled for and asks her how Tami would feel if their mom did that.
• Lyla is at a bible study at the diner but sees Landry by himself looking miserable and goes over to sit by him as a friend. They discuss their imperfections and struggles. Lyla encourages him to tell the truth.
• Matt breaks up with Laura. She doesn’t take it well and gets very upset. Smash is celebrating it but Matt doesn’t feel good about what happened.
• Tim finds his roommate's meth lab in the trailer in the backyard and gets caught. The roommate says it’s a good thing he’s cool otherwise he would have to kill him.
• Eric comes home and talks to Tami. Tami says she is going to have friends at school and needs to spend time with them. Eric says it isn’t about Glen and he wants to be the one to support and lift her up and he misses her. Tami also misses Eric. They reconnect.
• Matt gets home and tells Carlotta he broke up with Laura and he likes her and can’t stop thinking about her and wants to spend time with her. Carlotta dwells on his words and then comes to Matt’s room to be with him. They kiss and as the episode ends, it indicates that they go further.
• Landry goes to the police station to turn himself in and confess to the murder.

Coach Taylor’s speeches.

• “It’s embarrassing. You take it, own it, and next week we will start back all over again.”

Football observations.

• The episode opens with a Panthers game and the defense is getting carved up and losing 37-0.
• Smash appears to not be affected by the blowout loss because he is going on an official visit. Matt and his other teammates are getting extremely annoyed by his attitude.
• Smash tries to rush out the door, but his mom insists on taking him to the visit and gives him a speech about representing the family with honor.
• Smash is getting the five-star treatment on his visit, bonding with players and visualizing himself playing there.
• Smash dives into the party scene and is introduced to many girls in a VIP section of a club. Smash calls Matt to let the girls talk to him.
• Smash tells the college players his search is over and this is where he wants to be.
• Then he gets into bed with a girl at a party. It ends up being the girlfriend of the huge nose tackle who has a mean streak. Smash outruns him and Catrell tells him to never come back.
• Matt ends up picking Smash up under a viaduct with Smash in his boxers. Matt rubs it in with Smash to make sure he is humbled. Smash gives Matt advice on how to break up with someone.
• During practice, Riggins shows up in his uniform and jogs out to practice. He goes up to Coach Taylor and tells him he isn’t getting off the field and he will do whatever it takes to stay on the field and on the team (it’s clear how much he needs to be on the team). Coach Taylor tells him he let not only him down but the entire team down.
• In one of the best moments of the entire series, Riggins begins to go up to every player and apologize for letting them down. Some are hearfelt, “We’ve been playing together since pee-wee and I let you down. It won’t happen again.” While others are funny “4-6. I don’t ever recall seeing you playing in any of the games and I don’t think you ever will. But I can tell the effort you put forth on practice days is undeniable.”
• Coach Taylor recognizes the sincerity of Riggin’s effort and lets him back on the team.

Unanswered questions.

Plot holes.

Quote of the episode.

“I apologize to everyone here. If you could find it within yourselves to let me make it up to you in the showers, I’d appreciate it.” - Tim Riggins

Clear eyes. Full heart. Can’t Lose. official counter: 19

Texas Forever official counter: 7

Riggins quitting the team official counter: 3

Coach Taylor calling Landry ‘Lance’ official counter: 6

Jason’s job aspirations: quad-rugby player, football coach,