Friday Night Lights – Episode 11 – “Nevermind”
Can’t believe we’re at Episode 11 already! On the one hand it feels like I’ve known these people my whole life, on the other hand it feels like we’re just getting acquainted!
So… What do you get if you combine a wheelchair, a need to have sex, “dirrrty… dirrrty… quad porn”, a grandma with Alzheimer’s, a dad who returns from Iraq, a son who both loves and hates his dad, a dad that is oblivious, a girlfriend that’s trying to be supportive – but can’t quite understand the turmoil her friend is experiencing, a young man that has to actually study for the first time in his life, a reluctant tutor, a Christian speed metal band and a Coach and Mrs. Coach that’s just trying to deal with everything? One of the best episodes of any show this season!
Let’s start with both the funniest and most uncomfortable part of the episode first.
Jason and Lyla
Jason has a freakout because he can’t find his Nirvana CD, and wheels himself to the record shop to buy a new one. There he meets up with Lyla, they chat about his love for Clay Aiken (heh!) and Lyla asks Jason for forgiveness once more, but this time all is forgiven. Jason and Lyla’s hormones get the better of them, and they – very uncomfortably – try to have sex. After sliding out of his wheelchair onto the floor, Lyla starts to help Jason to remove his pants, whilst Jason helps her to remove her blouse – and the guys go wild :)
Unfortunately, even though his heart and mind is very willing, certain other parts of his anatomy are still quite paralyzed, and will have absolutely none of it. The dreaded “It’s okay… It’s okay” is uttered.
Uncomfortable (yes this word will be used quite frequently in this recap…) apologies are exchanged, and Jason sends Lyla off.
Jason meets up with Herc at a bar (if I remember correctly) and asks him about his little anatomical problem. When Herc finds out just who the other party in the little soiree was, he quips – “Nooo! Booo! Of course your ding-dong went soft! It was tryin' to protect ya!” – Brilliant!
Unfortunately Herc only has bad news for the guy, apparently he is “like a new born baby” and will have to learn how to do everything from scratch again. Poor guy!
Lyla goes to Jason (I’m guessing it’s the next day), and pops a video (or dvd – who knows) into the player. When asked what it is, she only replies, dirty, dirty, dirrrty quad porn.
Well, I’m not so sure about the three dirty’s, but that librarian looking woman, telling wheelchair bound boys about masturbation and the visual example of wheelchair sex, definitely “freaky!”
Thankfully Jason pleads with Lyla to switch it off, and he basically sends her packing – again – With the final hurtful words of “if you want to get laid so bad… call Riggins” Ouch! I see a very long and stretched out “on again… off again” relationship building here.
Jason’s lying in bed when Lyla climbs through the window – quite loudly. He quips that she’s very stealthy and could make a glamorous jewel thief. These two are just too cute (when a certain lady is not cheating on a certain good sir…)
She tells him that she can’t stop him if he wants to end things, but she doesn’t want it to end of a bad note. She tells him that she loves him, and he says he knows. Now whether that was just compliance for the sake of compliance, or if he actually, truly, knows that she still loves him – after having cheated on him, I’m not sure, but man, these two are just too cute not to like!
Now on to a funnier part of the episode
Tami realizes that Tim has been asking Rally girls to do his homework for him, and confronts him on it. Of course he at first denies it, but when she asks him what “The Scarlet Letter” is about, he quite adorably answers that it’s obviously about a woman… called Scarlet… Heh! Now I do not claim to be an expert in literature, but seriously, who does NOT know that it refers to the Scarlet letter “A” emblazoned on a woman’s breasts – a sign of the adultery she has committed. (Okay, okay, so I checked wikipedia :) )
She tells him that it is her job to make sure that he doesn’t grow up dumb – it’s bad for the world. Brilliant! And thus she ropes in Landry to be Tim’s tutor.
Tim doesn’t want the tutoring, Landry doesn’t want a tutor, but man these two guys are electric together! One of the funnier scenes in the ep is when Landry is reading Scalet Letter to Tim whilst Tim’s doing bench presses. One of the assistant Coaches sees this and asks Coach T. what’s going on, his reply – “They’re studying”. His sardonic voice was just so effective.
Landry finishes reading the book to Tim (I’m really wondering if the reason why Tim didn’t read it on his own was that he can’t read, there has been many recorded cases of kids going throughout grade school without actually being able to read the work they’re doing, won’t be surprised if that is what’s going on here). There is a contemplative silence, and finally Tim says something to the effect of “damn… dude killed his best friend.” - Thanks for that small spoiler show! I’ve been wanting to read the damn book!
Landry tells Tim that he’ll have to practice for the oral examination, and asks him how he can relate to the book. Tim replies that he have no clue – or to that effect. This pisses Landry off royally (don’t blame the guy), and he yells at Tim that he’s read the entire book to him, and he still can’t come up with how it relates to his own life.
It’s about two guys, betrayal, a woman, lives being shattered by something unexpected, and there’s nothing Tim can relate to! I hear you Landry.
I was watching with my sister, and when Landry spelled it out in so many words, and Tim still didn’t understand, she shook her head, turned to me and said, turned to me, and said, “Tami was too late, it’s already bad for the world”. Heh! True!
This story-line ends with Tim going to Landry’s Speed Metal Band’s Gig (Crusifictorius) and telling him he got a B Minus for his Oral Exam. Not bad dude, not bad at all. I love the way that the show can juggle so many story lines at the same time, and give each character their fair share, this could easily have been the Matt Saracen episode, but yet, Landry and Tim got a lot of airtime, and some great lines as well. Loved the way this was a tension breaker between all the intense scenes of Matt and dad, and Lyla and Jason.
Matt and Dad
Matt’s dad returns from Iraq, and Matt is like a little boy that has received an early Christmas present. When his dad shows up at practice he takes him to meet Coach, and looks absolutely stunned with joy when Coach tells his dad that Matt’s been doing a great job and that he should be proud of his son. Unfortunately it seems his dad is a very big arse, and he tries to fish for negative information on his son. Poor Matt!
Things get worse when Henry (Matt’s dad) realizes how bad his mom’s been doing, and takes out his frustrations on Matt. He tells Matt that they can send his Mom (Matt’s Gran) to a home and Matt could go stay with his Aunt in Oklahoma. This is not the kind of idea Matt wants to hear, he only wants his dad home… When Matt does badly in the football game (because, seriously, he has a lot on his mind) it’s the last straw, and when his dad tries to give him *bleep!*, Matt has had enough. He yells at his dad to go to Hell, that he doesn’t want to see him anymore, and that he should just let Matt know when his back in Iraq.
Matt goes with Julie and her Parents to their home, and there he tells Coach a bit of what’s been going on. Coach tells him that they are there for him, but when Matt says he hates his dad (with conviction), Coach tells him to think well and hard on what he said, and to never go down that path. Great scene, Kyle Chandler and Zach Gilford are just magic together.
Matt goes back home, tells his dad that he wants to stay, that he’ll keep on looking after his grandma, but it’s still not clear if this is the way his dad wants it.
Great, beautiful episode, and everybody gave it their all, absolutely stellar work from everybody involved!