Grid Effect

Lots of mixed reactions for this sophomore debut, and most of them revolving around the last ten minutes or so. Which is a shame, because fifty minutes leading up to it were what we’ve come to know and love about the series. But when you have a murder take place on a series that lays its foundation in realism, it’s a gamble that’s probably not worth taking. Especially in some sleepy small football town in Texas.

Of course, that’s easy for me to say, I don’t have to worry about Nielsen’s and new leadership and renewals and other networks and whatever else this series needs to stay on the air. There have been rumors that Ben Silverman, the new NBC president forced Jason Katims and Peter Berg to open up the season with something monumental that will alter the course of the series and potentially be a ratings grab for new viewers (If its new viewers you want, putting it on Friday night probably isn’t the best solution. While I wouldn’t be surprised if it were true, Katims said in an interview that this isn’t the case, and I’ll take what he says at face value. But still, if the rumor has even a modicum of truth to it, then they probably got more than they bargained for.

First off, if they were going to have one of their characters murder someone, it probably shouldn’t have been the physically weakest and nicest male character on the show (remember in the finale when he was telling Tyra he was picking up Lyla because its “the Christian thing to do”?). Someone like Riggins would have been a better option. I understand it was the heat of the moment, so to speak, and he was defending someone he supposedly loves, but good Lord was that out of character. They might as well just had him rape Tyra himself, that would have been in stride with Landry beating the guy over the head with a pipe, then him and Tyra throwing his lifeless body into a running river (which they never show, but we presume they did) at least in terms of incredulousness. It marks a considerable tonal shift in the series.

If she’s going to be an accomplice to a murder, then they might as well put her in a two piece as well.

It just so drastically changes the course of the show. It’s no longer a slice of life, coming of age, for the most part lighthearted yet introspective exposition of small town America. It’s now going to attempt being all that, and this distracting murder mystery looming over everything. And really, do they need to rely on these cheap plot devices? When did that happen? I was sort of hoping this would go the way of many Sopranos subplots, and would eventually fade with time, with a periodic callback to it. Never did I suspect that Tyra’s attacker would resurface to ruin two of the series’ better characters.

And this is particularly true with Landry. Until the end of the first season, he was little more than comic relief and Jesse Plemons handled his dramatic scenes as well as anyone on the series, and in my opinion, better than anyone short of Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton. But this is too much for the character. I guess you could now look at him as a tragic, Ziggy Sobotka like figure, but is there any other similarities between Landry and James Ransone’s depiction of the son of a labor union? If there are, then you can count them on one hand.

But anyways, I’m really trying to not let the one, egregious, ill-advised, burdensome storyline detract from the entire episode or the series. But cheap and easy writing has always had an adverse effect on me, and the last place I’d expect it to come from is Friday Night Lights. Never the less, we’re going to be patient with it, see if the writers can nurture this storyline and turn it into something (just) remotely plausible.

Onto the good/great/extraordinary.

Everything about the Taylor’s was pitch perfect. It’s really as good as storytelling can get on a broadcast network. From Tami’s post-partum, to Eric’s ineffectiveness and self-anger to Julie’s resentment and hostility, this was the same mold we’ve come to expect and appreciate. It doesn’t feel rehashed or predetermined or tired, but rather poignant, influx and sincere. My only complaint, and this relates more to personal issues I’d have with the character, should she be non-fictional, is Julie could probably stand to relax a little. I haven’t seen a character that high-strung since Bud West.

The Riggins-Lyla scene was fantastic. Probably my favorite moment of the episode. Just them passively-aggressively jarring back and forth. When did Riggins become such the wordsmith? Or, for that matter, when did Lyla? It appears heavy alcohol consumption and newfound religion have the same effect on one’s wit.

Unfortunately, the screen time for these two was so limited. An ensemble cast will do that to you. We saw Lyla in one other scene (other than the one she was baptized in), and that was her saying grace at the table with her siblings, mother and her mother’s new boyfriend. Let’s put it this way, the grace was probably the most judgmental, catty appreciation to God I’ve ever heard in all my years of table prayers. So essentially, she’s Angela from The Office. Speaking of the Garritys…

…Buddy is in a state of deep depression over losing his family, and the new coach forcing him off center stage of the football boosters. Considering he was having his picture taken at the end of the episode with all the members of last season’s state champion team, its probably not the worst idea. Anyhow, watching him attack his estranged wife’s new boyfriend (in Buddy’s car) was probably the most cathartic thing for him. At this point, the viewer feels little more than empathy for our former sleazy high-school football enthusiast, Buddy Garrity. My how the tide has changed. Pam (his ex-wife) was being a nasty bitch about the entire thing, too.

Other notes:

-Anyhow, the new coach is a dick. And Jason Street is the only one to confront him about his overt-dickishness. What’s new coach’s response? Well, to act like an even bigger dick that he already is. This is all we see from Jason is on the field, no news on hippy Austin girl or his family or anything else.

-While the series all but destroyed Landry, it was great to have him in rare form with Saracen for awhile. Barbing about nonsense and the like is how I prefer this character. Not murdering people and trying out for football.

-Saracen is sort of at a crossroads with Julie. It was kind of boring, but it what about 85% of this shows viewers tune in for. So who am I to judge? He’s still all jittery and whatnot around her, seemed like that would have subsided over the past eight months.

-In case you were wondering, none of the players graduated. And that includes Smash, who’s apparently a bit of a pompous asshole after carrying his team to the state title. On steroids. Or at least for a little while.

Great episode, for the most part, and I’ll probably actually watch it “live” tonight instead of a DVR’ing, I’m that intrigued. If they can keep the rest of this murder mystery without suspending too much disbelief, then I’ll be thrilled. But lets just say cynicism often translates to reality.

Might have to wait until later tonight or Monday for an Office recap, the day sort of caught up with me.