Grid Effect

Though we usually do these on Friday, we figured since it is probably the last episode of the series, and it would free up the time for us to do our weekly Wire recap during the week (though those take twice as long to write as anything else we’ve done or will ever do), we’d just bump it up to a ho-hum day like Monday, wherein everything we watched the night before was a rerun.

It was a good episode to finish on, even with the limited finality to it. I mean, you could make a bunch of assumptions about the trajectory everything will take: Street will be a 19 year-old father, Riggins will hook up with Lyla, Landry does the same with Tyra, Saracen becomes a serial killer, Smash becomes a doctor, Eric and Tami live happily ever after. But assuming any of this would be absolutely presumptuous.

And that’s what’s so disappointing about them ending on a high note, if the dismal season has just continued its dismalness, then we wouldn’t be in a position where its actually regretful that they’re being pulled off the air mid-season. There is talk of ESPN, Bravo or USA picking up the series, should NBC neglect to renew it, but something like that isn’t in the foreseeable future. First the writer’s strike has to officially end, then NBC has to officially cancel the series, then the creators have to shop the series around, then cut a deal, then write, film, edit and produce all the episodes before a single one can air.

So as you can see, even if the series is going to finish its second season, it’ll be potentially a solid year before we see any results. Therefore, on this website were going to just assume the series is over and done with, so as not to be disappointed when it doesn’t come back (and elated if it does).

There was nothing particularly unique about Friday’s episode, essentially several male characters competing over women or rehashing old rivalries. Well, let me restate that, Tami Taylor’s old high school suitor coming back into the fray much to coach Taylor’s chagrin was unique in that we haven’t seen him yet, and that he was played by Peter Berg. The same Peter Berg who is a producer on this series, was the director on the Friday Night Lights movie, and played “Irish” Terry Conklin in The Great White Hype. While he’ll definitely be better remembered in the mainstream for the former two contributions, he’ll always be the dimwitted amateur boxer with a mean overhand right to me.

See, he’s not instigating anything. Just catching up on old times.

Anyhow, seeing Taylor’s perturbed response to his spry, overly-enthusiastic and transparently affable demeanor was something a bit uncharacteristic for him. Typically he’s the Cedric Daniels of Dillon, Texas. Never shook, always noble and willing to offer a helping hand, but his wife’s last boyfriend whose relationship he may or may not have sabotaged resurfacing in Dillon is too much to handle, especially when he refuses to leave. This all culminates in a fight in some restaurant called Carmello’s which is actually a restaurant in Austin, apparently.

Maybe the issue wasn’t the returning ex-boyfriend, but everything else Taylor is dealing with. Namely, Smash demanding his ascendence into a top-tier division I football program. While in reality, he’d still be going to a big 12 or SEC school without any repercussions or fallout, he is relegated to limiting his options to mid-majors in TV land, and settles on Whitmore, an under-performing but close-knit football team.

No word on how quickly Noelle dumps him, but we assume it was abrupt and unpleasant. She reminded us of Bill Paxton’s wife in this really great but obscure 1998 film, A Simple Plan. In the film, Paxton, his borderline retarded brother (naturally played by Billy Bob Thornton) and his alcoholic friend find a bag of cash while hunting, plan to keep it stashed away until any concern for it blows over, and things sort of devolve from there. Throughout the course of the film, Paxton’s wife continually offers up plans as to evade suspicion and every single plan she has ends catastrophically. Paxton even has a line at some point in the film, “Every time we do what you suggest, someone ends up dead!” As you would imagine, its fucking hysterical.

Anyhow, we actually see Smash make the transition from Taylor as his high school father figure to the college coach taking up the responsibility. If this scene reminded us of anything, it reminded us of how Taylor convinced Voodoo to come to Dillon. Hopefully this has better results. Not like we’ll ever know or anything.

College daddy is much more flexible than high school daddy.

Oh, and Taylor is also preoccupied offering child-rearing advice to former players, namely a one Jason Street, whose one night stand from a month or so ago has turned into an experiment in paraplegic fertility. And wouldn’t you know it, he’s producing sperm! Seeing this as quite possibly his only chance to have a child, Street spends the entire episode trying to convince said woman whose name has escaped me to have his child. The episode ends with him pleading with her to “just give it a chance”, which is a little meta, but comical. We tend to think the Street character is a little too tightly wound, but we can see his urgency here. For someone who was always so respectable and committed, we don’t expect him to lose those character traits with the function of his legs.

Also, we’ve been impressed how little this storyline has inflamed conversations about abortion rights because it is so easy for these commenter websites to spiral out of control about something more or less off topic. We suppose this speaks to the caliber of fan of this series.

Switching gears rather abruptly, Riggins is still chasing Lyla, whose greatest advantage will turn out to be his willingness to screw her like an animal, something the chaste Chris seems unwilling or incapable of doing. This, as has been made explicitly clear, is something Lyla is sorely lacking in her life, and while Chris seems remarkably confident for someone so seemingly inexperienced, his chances aren’t looking all that great. He can take heed that he’ll probably be immensely more successful post high school. Something tells me that such a sentiment wouldn’t be very comforting at the moment. Also, we suspect that the radio thing wasn’t only for comedic, plot developing effect, but also something Riggins might end up doing after his high school career.

Other notes:
-Virtually no Julie, but being impressed/embarrassed by her father’s chivalry.

-Landry seems content with Tyra, though her attention span will never stay attached to someone like Landry. He isn’t enough of a drunken lout. Though he is scoring touchdowns in blowout football games.

-Matt seems to have recovered from his existential crisis from last week, but is still wallowing in despair and scorning all women. We didn’t hear much from him all episode.

-Still no Buddy and very little Santiago, which we can’t say was missed.

Definitely a high note and one of their three better episodes this season. We’ve never needed anything groundbreaking, just growth with the already perfectly developed characters, and that is what we got. At this point we almost need those last six episodes for a sense of closure, and so it gives the second season an opportunity to be deemed a success. Because four out of fifteen episodes being strong, does not a successful season make.

Anyhow, we feel like Helen Hunt in Cast Away, we’re not sure whether to move on or mourn this loss. Will it return? Is it gone forever? If it is, what, exactly, would we fill its void with? We imagine nothing.

Back with links tomorrow.