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I've been taking Spanish classes the past few months, so I know that "reyes" means "kings." What I did not know was that "Bobby Reyes" means "King of Being Randomly Inserted Into a Show One Night Only To Be Kicked Off So the Promos Could Show Taylor Kicking Someone Off the Team." I've always thought Spanish was a beautiful language. Now I really admire its economy.
When Reyes 'roid rages all over one of Saracen's dorky Christian Speed Metal friends, and then lies that he did it because the kid called him a "wetback," the inner circle and the outer circle separate like oil and water -- or cool and dork -- until Saracen sacks up and confesses to Coach Taylor that Reyes was crying racist.
In Depressing Love Triangle Land, Street convinces Riggs to break him out of the rehab facility for a joy ride and they happen to run into Lyla on their way out. And just when you think it couldn't get more awkward than Lyla snuggling with her paralyzed boyfriend while her able-bodied pity fuck watches their two-wheeled dance of desire, it...doesn't. It actually all goes surprisingly well, the three of them really sharing and caring around a campfire. Pretty well, that is, until Street pauses while wheeling himself back to his room and catches a glimpse of Riggs and Lyla hugging goodbye down in the parking lot.
Speaking of suspicious goodbyes. After getting away with being the one who really started Reyes off in the beginning with a racist comment, Voodoo gets cleared by the Sports Judge in another back room deal presided over by Buddy. But when he's put on defense by a still-smarting Coach Taylor, Voodoo brats off about it, and we close the episode with the news -- delivered in a rather untrustworthy manner by Buddy -- that Voodoo's gone back to Louisiana and told a reporter all about the recruiting violations so the Arnett Mead win is in jeopardy. Just like it was at the end of the last episode. What's the Spanish word for "progress"? Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Previously: The Panther win against Arnett Mead is in jeopardy due to possible recruiting violations. The Taylor ranch house. Inside, the family watches the nightly news, which is running a story about how...the Panther win against Arnett Mead is in jeopardy due to possible recruiting violations. Julie asks her dad to change the channel. It seems they just keep playing that annoying trailer for Deja Vu over and over again.
Over at the Alamo Freeze, the Nerd Herd (Saracen, Landry, and a new guy named Kaster) discuss how Kaster's playing the bass too loudly in their Christian speed metal band. Speaking of bass lines, the African-American Sonic Forcefield is in full effect at the Alamo Freeze tonight. This is, of course, because Smash is in da house. Smash calls Saracen away from the Nerd Herd only to embarrass the poor boy by presenting him to a girl as "virgin territory" she should get on before it's too late. Gaius Charles has the greatest full-mouthed smile. Saracen protests weakly at Smash calling him a virgin. Over at the counter, the Mouth Breathers complain that Saracen is already starting to become "one of them." Kaster wonders aloud if the football players don't realize they'll all be menial laborers one day.
The African-American Sonic Forcefield is overcome by some Voodoo Magic as the soundtrack goes all eerie and gloomy as Voodoo walks in with what is clearly a hastily-put-together "posse." The Panther guys all stand up and stick their chests out like this is some sort of Discovery Channel special on feral pissing contests. Smash asks why Voodoo is there, and one really cannot fault Voodoo's reasoning: "burger and fries." Yet the boys continue to bob and weave while sticking their chests out at one another, until someone presses the fire-engine-red "Emergency Minority Storyline" button, and Reyes calls out from his booth to simply repeat what Smash already said. Voodoo tells Reyes to "take your wetback ass back across the river" which is really an asinine remark. Reyes gets out of his seat and there's some visual cacophony as it seems a fight's about to break out when Riggs gets in Voodoo's face and tells him that he really doesn't want to "mix it up with us tonight." Voodoo tells his Hastily-Put-Together Posse to "move" as he leaves. Smash is forced to continue his totally under-explained reconciliation with Tim Riggins, as he utters, "My man, Rigg. Making the peace."
Just as Voodoo and his Hastily-Put-Together Posse leave, the nightly news comes on the Alamo Freeze television, and all the kids crowd around to hear the Breaking News that the Sports Judge needs another few days to make a decision on the Voodoo Tatum scandal. Say it with me: déjà vu. All the kids groan in disappointment and return to their booths.
Landry and Kaster get up to tell Saracen that they're leaving. Saracen's sitting with the Golden Boys and he asks if he can have another minute before catching a ride with them. Kaster, in typical Dungeons and Dragons mumbly navel-gazing fashion, tells Saracen he needs to get over himself and that it's just a stupid football game. The Golden Boys are, like, slackjawed that anyone could say such a horrible thing. They half-rise out of their seats and ask Saracen who this guy is. Kaster hightails out of the Alamo Freeze while Saracen and Landry put out his fire, saying he was just joking.
Cut outside, where the Hot-Headed Latino (refreshing characterization, this is) has snuck out to follow Kaster. He catches up with the kid, who immediately drops the tough-guy act and apologizes multiple times. Reyes won't drop it, though, and he gets closer and closer to Kaster, who continues shrinking from the Hot-Headed Latino, until finally Reyes jumps the kid and 'roid rages all over his face. It's a pretty brutal beat-down; Reyes tosses him across the hood of a truck onto the ground and then starts kicking him in the ribs and punching him in the head, all while sweet little D&D dork begs him to stop. Landry and Saracen finally make their way out of the Alamo Freeze. When they see what's happening they rush over and pull Reyes off Kaster. The whole team somehow appears outside and there's lots of yelling and chaos as Saracen turns Kaster over and begs him to breathe. The kid is pretty effed up. This storyline keenly highlights a tension this show rarely dwells upon: I'm willing to get caught up in the drama and meaningfulness of the whole football saga and suspend my disbelief and root these lunkheaded Kings of the Hallway...but not so much when they're spending their time beating up on hapless pudgy dorks.
Uninspiring Credits. Commercials. The day at practice, Voodoo complains to Taylor about not getting any snaps. Taylor ignores him and walks away. We cut to a police car slowly pulling up to the field, and then to Saracen pulling Reyes aside and asking him what happened last night between Reyes and Kaster. Reyes says, "He dissed us," and Saracen responds in disbelief, "You mean that stupid thing he said?" Reyes brushes Saracen off, "It's done, man. Get over it." By now the police officers have made their way on the field. They tell Coach Taylor they have a warrant for Bobby Reyes. "Assault." Taylor's still and impassive reaction is great. Assistant Mack tells Taylor to get Reyes. The kid is called over and the officers put cuffs on him, despite Coach's protestations that they don't need to use cuffs. The whole field, all the football players, cheerleaders have stopped to watch Reyes be carted off.
Tami has Tyra in her guidance office for another round of Count the Ways Women Get Fucked in Small Towns. There's something really resonant in the way Connie Britton's and Adrianne Palicki's highlighted hair and overtanned skin echo one another in this scene. Tami scolds Tyra for flunking algebra. Why are these eighteen-year-old kids STILL taking algebra? That's like eighth-grade curriculum. Tyra tells Tami that she's not coming to school semester; she's moving to California. Oh, honey. You're probably already too old for all the decent-paying porn gigs. Tami asks Tyra what she's going to do in California with a high-school education. Or, I might add, a junior-high equivalent education. Tyra says she's taking her GED. Tami is getting frustrated and so tries to relate to the rebellious teen. "Tyra, I was just like you. I was the pretty girl in school. I was terrible at math. I got through it." Tyra faces Tami by telling her she has no ambition to be like her; she doesn't want to get stuck here, in a small town, being a coach's wife. Oooh, burn. Tami takes the bait, and just cuts Tyra loose: "If you wanna go off and take the GED then fine." Tyra leaves and Tami takes a moment to lean back and groan in her seat.
Her groaning is interrupted by a woman in her doorway, who introduces herself as "Curt Kaster's mother." Tami puts on her empathetic voice and invites the woman to sit down. Which she doesn't. Mrs. Kaster simply asks her about getting Curt's homework sent to the hospital. Tami assures her that everything is all arranged academically. I love how these two mothers are contrasted, Curt's mom is all uptight bearing and salon-set hair, and Tami is all golden and flowy-haired. Curt's mom curtly (heh) remarks that she raised her boy right, that he doesn't get into fights, but that a few days from now "that Reyes boy will be back on the football team like nothing ever happened. But I don't need to tell you that. You're the coach's wife. You know how all this works." Tami stutters "Well, no...no...I don't" but Mrs. Kaster turns on a dime and marches out of her office.
In Coach Taylor's office, Taylor interrogates Saracen, Riggs, and Smash about what happened. We don't hear what they say, but we assume they've told Coach Taylor that they don't know nuthin'. Taylor scolds them, telling them that whatever happened, it's as much their fault as anyone's, and then he tells them that as leaders of the team, it's their job to stop things like that before they start. He dismisses them from his office.
Inspiration Alert! Back over at the Depressingly Realistic Rehab Facility, Lyla tacks some cheery crap on Jason's bulletin board and asks the nurse if she's gotten word on their request to get Jason more time in the weight room. She turns around and approaches Jason's bed and let me change that Inspiration Alert to an Inspir-Breast-ion Alert, because Minka Kelly's chestal region is just acting the shit out of this scene. The nurse leaves, clearly because it's just too difficult to maintain one's professional dignity while staring at a young girl's boobies. Jason is in a high-spirited mood, as he tells Lyla that they call her "Advocado" around the facility. She doesn't get it. He explains, "Like 'advocate' and 'avocado'." I don't quite get it either, unless he means to refer to the fact that she is an advocate who happens to also have a pair of particularly luscious and delicious parts. Lyla says she isn't amused, but Jason finds it hilarious. He wings out one of his gnarled arms to pull her in toward her, and Minka Kelly goes into clenched jaw delivery, telling him that they are "in a public place" without parting her teeth.
Jason continues laughing like a hyena and says "I knew it! I knew it!" and when Lyla asks what, he directs her glance downward and says, "We have a visitor!" God. How tired. I mean, how many times to we have to see representations of paraplegic teen sexuality before television writers will realize how done it all is? Jason tells Lyla that he's totally horny, and she at first hits him in protestation, telling him she's never heard him talk like that before. But then she lowers her voice a register and purrs, "It's naughty." Lyla is absolutely saved from insufferability by having this relatively believable sexuality. Jason claws at his girlfriend's back with his gnarled fingers and she rolls on top of him to make out. He tells her she's one-of-a-kind.
Short-Haired Nurse of Cold Showers walks in and says hello to Lyla, who hops off Jason quick as a bunny with big boobs. Jason jokily asks the nurse for forty minutes of privacy, and Lyla has her Public Face back on, assuring the nurse that they don't need that. The nurse asks Lyla to leave so she can talk to Jason, and Lyla walks out of the room with a really blank face, and I can't tell if they just kept the camera on Minka Kelly without her realizing it was on her, or if she is supposed to be showing guilt over her two-booby -- oops, I mean -- two-timing ways.
Speaking of two-timing boobies, Tim is working on his truck with his brother, who tells him not to get dirt in his carburetor. Is that a metaphor? I think so, because just as he says it, he looks past Tim and tells him that they've got company. And this time the visitor is not an erect penis. Lyla walks up, and we cut to Tim reaching into a cooler for a beer and the two of them sitting in the shade on the front step of the house. Minka Kelly slants her eyebrows down at the edges in her annoying pout and tells Tim that they "have to stop this." Tim leans back and doesn't say anything. She begs him to look at her and then launches in to one of the worst-delivered monologues I've ever witnessed, and, folks, I just watched the movie Switch last night, where Ellen Barkin plays a woman who is actually a reincarnated chauvinist pig of a man, and she basically does it by delivering all her lines with her lips shoved out and walking around like she has a load in her pants.
So Minka Kelly basically cannot act opposite Taylor Kitsch, is my conclusion, especially because her scene with Scott Porter was rather charming. Well, you can't really blame her. If you set me down in front of Taylor Kitsch, I'd probably have to spend all my energy pretending I was talking to Bob Newhart to keep myself from jumping him. Minka Kelly goes on, in her middle-school-production-of-Our Town delivery, telling Tim that Jason is getting back to normal, and that she takes responsibility for what happened, that it was all her fault. Tim tells her she makes it sound like it was the biggest mistake of her life. Minka continues to shake her ponytail this way and that in a naive attempt to mimic Kyle Chandler's hair's masterful emoting. When she does the, "I just..." -- look down, take a deep breath, look up, "...can't live with myself anymore" move, Tim finally gets up and puts an end to the scene, "Bye, Lyla."
Back in the Depressingly Realistic Rehab Facility, Francine the Depressingly Realistic Deep-Voiced Nurse has apparently just told Jason that he can't have sex. He's not happy. She clarifies, "It's not medically safe to ejaculate," and explains that the risk is that semen could backflow into his bladder and cause a urinary tract infection. So, it takes a spinal injury to even the UTI playing field between men and women? Jason tells the nurse that he likes her but she "sure knows how to break a guy's heart." Aw. I didn't realize that's where the heart resided on the male anatomy.
After school, Coach and Tami walk out to their car. Tami is wearing an adorable sundress and cowboy boots. She asks her husband what's going to happen with Reyes. Taylor jerks, "He just gets a little hot under the collar." Tami is like, wha? "He put him in a hospital bed, bad!" Coach turns to her -- the late afternoon light in this scene is perfect -- and asks if he's talking to his wife or the guidance counselor. Ouch. They launch into their cute talk-over-one-another fighting style, but when Julie walks up they knock it off and all three get into the car. Coach tells his daughter he got her something, "An apple" and Julie responds, "Gee, whiz." Heh. Coach continues, "Apple of your daddy's eye" and the Taylors are one day going to send me straight into diabetic shock.
Tyra walks up to Tim's house to the tune of music that is neither metal nor rap-rock, which is what I would peg Tim as normally listening to. She knocks, Tim opens the door and walks away, leaving it open. Tyra: "Thanks." She busts in and announces that Bart Oliver asked her out. "He's a defensive end." Tim responds, "Yeah, I know who he is." Tyra tells him she just doesn't want anyone else ending up in the hospital like that Kaster kid. Tim tells her not to flatter herself. Tyra responds, "You know, I'm trying to be the mature one here." Pause. "Douche bag." Heh. Awesome. Tim: "That's classy" and then Tyra rolls her eyes dramatically and walks out the door. Now, see, these two? Chemistry together. Taylor Kitsch and Minka Kelly? Stabby eyeballs.
The phone rings, and Tim picks it up. It's Jason calling, "I need you to come down here, Timmy." Tim looks a bit panicked but agrees. Jason holds the phone between his palms, his fingers still all knotted up, and then tosses it to the ground once Tim agrees.
Commercials. Huge SUV drives down the highway. Inside, Buddy drives and tells Coach he's glad he called him in to help. They're going to get Reyes released from jail. How long has he been there? What day is this? It has to be at least the day after he got picked up from practice. Buddy continues, telling Coach that they might have to talk to the Sports Judge again. Taylor is surprised and upset. Apparently, Buddy tells him, when interviewing Voodoo's family, someone mentioned "the academic council" they had with him, a.k.a. the back room motel deal they cut with Voodoo. Coach can't believe that Buddy refers to that slimy exchange as an "academic council." Buddy continues, telling Coach that the rules state that a player must be in residence for thirty days before putting on a uniform, so "the council took place in July." Coach exclaims, "it took place two weeks ago!" and then asks Buddy not to ask him to lie. Buddy tells him to calm down; every school in the region did the same thing they did, and then he switches the focus back to Reyes, "one crisis at a time."
Reyes sits in a cell while Taylor asks him to explain himself. At first, Reyes pretty much explains what happened that night. Voodoo came in, got them riled up, then the news came on and made everybody even more upset, then Kaster came over and talked bad about the team. Taylor doesn't much care about any of this, telling Reyes that no matter what anyone says, it doesn't give Reyes the right to cause physical harm to that person. Reyes realizes that Taylor might not be the sort to look the other way. He pauses, and you can see the gears working, the instinct of self-preservation and, while I think this is sort of a bum, throw-'im- a-bone story line, Walter Perez adds some nice psychological complexity in the way he plays the hesitation that quickly turns to real outrage at the fake story he comes up with.
He pauses to take a deep breath before he launches into it: "Kaster kid called me a wetback." Buddy pounces on this accusation as quick as Limbaugh on a Kerry gaffe: "Well, that's not right. That's racist is what that is." With this encouragement, Reyes continues embellishing until his version is that he walked outside to get Kaster to apologize, which he wouldn't. Reyes has added some sniffling and snuffling to his faux-racism story, looking plaintively at Coach Taylor to tell him he knows he needs to work on controlling his temper, but that Kaster started it. Buddy is, like, panting in delight in the corner, so easy does it look to get Reyes back on the team. Coach Taylor is, as usual, more conflicted: "You're telling me the truth? You look me in the eyes and tell me you are telling me the truth." Reyes does what is asked of him.
Tim walks slowly down the hallway of the Depressingly Realistic Rehab Facility and into Jason's room. He pauses at the door; Jason is in bed with his eyes closed. Tim gulps and says, "Six." Is that a nickname? Was that Jason's number? I can't remember. Jason tells him it took him long enough to get there. Tim hoarsely tells him that his truck isn't running and that they're putting in a new "four-barrel carb. Hitched a ride, man. Sorry." Jason is pissed. He tells Riggs that he should know what this is about. Tim almost comically gulps, "I do?" But it turns out that Jason is just pissed that he hasn't been there to see him. "Six weeks, man. Six weeks." He then gives Tim a peek into the messy world of rehabilitation. He tells him he lies there every day while people poke and prod him like he's a piece of meat; stick a catheter in places Tim doesn't want to know about. He tells Tim that his big event each day is "going to the commode. I gotta go the same time every day 'cause I gotta teach my body to crap on command." He tells Tim how Lyla is driving him crazy with her positive motivation schtick (Tim looks particularly pained when he mentions Lyla). He tells Tim that he is dealing with all this by himself. He tells Tim that he has got to sack up and right effing now: "I need you here, Tim. You are my best friend. I expect you here. I expect you here." I think this might be the most eloquent explanation about the requirements of friendship that I have ever seen.
Bobby Reyes stands outside with his family by his side and talks to the local news station. He declares now that not only did Kaster call him a wetback, but that he also called his mother a wetback, too. He says that he's released on bail, but that the Kaster family is pressing charges and he just wanted the town to hear the truth from him. This story arc is sort of killing me. Good on Walter Perez for bringing some complexity to the characterization, but the overall story is so freaking gringo, I can barely stand it.
Cut to the Taylor bedroom where Tami and Eric watch the newscast from bed. Tami says she doesn't believe Reyes's story. Eric, unbelievably especially because Reyes clearly just further embellished the story on the news, assures her that he does. Tami provides evidence that Kaster is a good kid -- he gets straight As, he's involved in student mentoring, his mother is a good woman -- but Taylor says that they're all stupid teenagers that say stupid things. He tells her he looked Reyes in the eye and he believes him. Tami begs her husband to look at this situation from all the angles.
In the hallway, Saracen follows Smash through the hallways in a pack of random football dudes. Smash teases Saracen about who he's going to take to homecoming, and its just a regular dudefest until they pass Landry at his locker, who reaches out and grabs Saracen, asking him to talk for a second. Saracen plays dumb, "What do you want?" and Landry is just like, "Reyes lied." Saracen says they don't know what went down outside. Wishful thinking. Landry reminds him how they know that Kaster has never said a racist thing in his life. Saracen weasels that he can't do anything about it, that it's done. Landry insists that he can do something, he can say something, call a press conference, whatever. Saracen tells him "I'm not Peyton Manning. I can't call a press conference."
Jason works on a weight machine, a physical therapist holding his shoulders back. He's not wearing his neck brace anymore. Tim walks in, and Jason asks the therapist if they can have a few minutes. She shows Tim how to spot Jason so he doesn't fall forward and exposits that he just got his brace off today. Tim takes the nurse's place and congratulates Jason as the camera floats around, showing us the half-full catheter bag poking out of the ankle of Jason's sweatpants. Tim suggests to Jason that they get out of there later. Jason at first is disbelieving, but obviously intrigued by the idea. Tim tells Jason it smells like a hospital in there, and he hates hospitals. Jason asks when they leave; Tim says "tonight," and a profile shot of Jason saying "let's do it" shows us a new Jason, willing to break some rules, be a teenager, not a goody-two-shoes, with his best friend.
Commercials. Taylor and Buddy walk into the Sport Judge's place. Before walking in, Taylor has a minor freak out, begging Buddy to not make him lie. Buddy tells Taylor to get it together, that if he wants to coach big time high school football he has got to get used to bending the rules, that everybody does it. Buddy "But Everybody's Doing It" Garrity, Fellow of the God Damned Year. They walk in and it turns out that the Sports Judge is an old friend of Buddy's from his old football days at UT. They good ol' boy a bit about wives and families keeping them in line and then sit down where Sports Judge is just like, let's cut the bull and put this issue to bed. "I feel read good about this." Close-up of Buddy's snarled lip of fat-man complacency. Meanwhile, Taylor just glances wide-eyed from one good ol' boy to the other.
In the school hallway, an announcement comes over the loudspeaker system telling everyone that Dillon has been cleared of any suspicious of recruiting violations. The crowded hallway erupts in whoops and hollers. Saracen, who was still trying to talk to Landry, gets swept up by his celebrating teammates. Landry just shuts his locker and walks away from the Mob of Go-Nowhere Dummies in disgust.
Outside the Depressingly Realistic Rehab Facility, Street instructs Tim to just squeeze behind him and lift. This makes me think a bit too much about his spine snapping. There are a few things I don't like thinking about. I don't like thinking about what is behind outer space, I don't like thinking about chaos theory, and I don't like thinking about the fragility of the human spine. This scene makes me cringe. Jason has a scar on the back of his neck poking above his t-shirt. Tim teases his friend about being heavy as he hoists him into the front seat. Just then, two breasts, oops, I mean "Lyla," walks up, wondering what is going on. Jason tells her: "Field trip." She is not amused. She asks to talk to Tim. Jason tells her to "go easy on him, boss." As Tim puts the wheelchair into the truck bed, all he can tell her is that they're "going on a little ride." She goes back up to the passenger seat window and crosses her arms in consternation. Street invites her along. She tells him she'll just follow with the police brigade. He asks her to come closer and then pleads with her to just drop the rules for once, that she knows he needs this. Scott Porter bares his little chipmunk teeth and charms her, "Come on...." until she breaks a smile and says they're crazy.
Cut to the truck driving down some country roads, with Beulah playing in the background. Aw. Beulah! How late '90s! They pass the "Welcome to Dillon" sign on their way out of town. Jason, oblivious as well as paralyzed, waxes poetic: "You know how great this is? Me, you, Riggs. Open road, fresh air." Lyla and Tim are like, "Um, you know how awkward this is? You, us, dark sexual secrets?" The camera pulls back to an exterior shot of the truck, letting the truck pass ahead and panning across the back of the truck bed, Jason's wheelchair following them, his own particular albatross.
They stop at a roadside shack and Tim goes in for some drinks. Jason calls after him, "Don't forget the straw!" Alone together, Jason tells Lyla how glad he she came. He pulls her closer and they start smooching. Tim appears outside the window and tells them that he's running low on cash. Lyla snarks, "What a surprise" and then hops out to go in with him. Inside, Lyla tells Tim she doesn't want this to be awkward. He responds by suggesting she stop shoving her tongue down Jason's throat. They go back and forth for a bit before Tim tells her that "It's J's night. Let's just get through this for him." Fair enough.
In beautiful late-afternoon light, to a lake, Tim decides to remind me of the fragility of spines by hoisting Jason out of his wheelchair rather frighteningly. He groans some more about Jason not being in game shape. Jason teases his friend about how he could carry the team if he can't even carry him, and then suggests that he get rid of the wheelchair and have Tim carry him around all the time. Dude, call up Jeff Zucker, because I think that's just the risk-taking sitcom that could revive NBC's Must-See Thursdays!
At the Alamo Freeze, Julie walks in to pick up a to-go order. Saracen is sitting at the counter. Julie notices that Landry is sitting alone at a table behind him and asks what happened. Saracen tells her it's the whole "Reyes thing." She wonders if that's the thing where the one kid almost killed the other but will get away with it because he plays football. Smart girl. Momma's girl. Saracen guesses that probably puts her on Landry's side. She says it isn't about sides but that he needs to just "man up and talk to him. You two look pretty pathetic without each other." She leaves and Saracen obeys. Good boy!
Saracen sits down and lamely tries to make amends by telling Landry that he's under a lot of pressure and that Landry doesn't appreciate the position he's in. Landry's like, you're QB1, you can say or do what you like. Saracen continues to mumble, recognizing that Reyes is "one crazy son of a bitch, but he's key to our defense." Landry shakes his head in disgust. Meanwhile, Reyes and the Football Thugs have been watching from one of their KingPin Fast Food Booths. They saunter over and wonder if Landry and Saracen are having a lover's spat. Landry gets up to leave. Reyes calls after him, and it proves too much for Landry to take. Landry comes back and gets in Reyes's face and tells him that if he wasn't on the Panthers he'd be in jail. Reyes starts puffing out his chest, all "You talkin' to me?" Landry stands his ground and tells Reyes he's not afraid of him. Reyes's steroidal rage is clearly kicking in, and he's itching to fight, but somehow he gets control, smiles, and tells Landry that he's not worth it just before brushing past him to leave.
Landry has had enough and takes off after Reyes, which causes Saracen and all the other boys to take off after both of them. Landry jumps on Reyes from behind and gets him in a dorky headlock, but before any punches get thrown, Saracen manages to separate them. Lots of yelling and male plumage flaunting and Matt screaming at Reyes to just go home. Landry turns to Matt and says that Kaster was right, that Matt has "become one of them. Congratulations." Holy Linda Cardellini, I love a cool crowd/dork crowd story line.
Commercials. It's dusk out on the lake, Lyla reclining on the recently-snapped spine of her boyfriend while Tim, her lover, looks on. Explosions in the Sky attempts to make us cry.
In the Taylor backyard, two tired parents clink two wine glasses filled with what looks like rosé. Awesome and unafraid of a little Franzia? It just keeps getting better and better with these two. They're having a little Come To Jesus moment, Coach Taylor admitting to his wife how dicey the scene was in that motel room when they convinced Voodoo to come to Dillon. He talks about the seedy motel room, and Buddy making promises, and grimaces in regret. His wife enables him, "But you didn't make promises did you, sugar?" He continues, wondering out loud whether it's possible to do what he does for a living and not sell your soul down the river a little bit. But since we might begin wondering why he does what he does when it's clearly just one headache after another he assures us, "But do you know what I love?" Pause. "Football. I love football. I love those kids." He could also have convinced us by simply mentioning that he got a degree in kinesiology and so this is pretty much all he's qualified to do, but I guess we wouldn't feel quite so inspired then.
The doorbell rings and we cut to Julie opening it to find Matt Saracen. She's clearly kind of excited and nervous. He asks her about dance lessons and she answers too brightly, "Dance! Yeah! It's going really good!" and then rambles on for a bit about it before Saracen asks if her dad is there. Her face falls a bit when she realizes he's there as a football player and not as a cute boy, and she calls her dad to the door. Matt just launches into it and tells Coach Taylor what happened. He apologizes for not saying something sooner and says he "might have been confused between what was right for the team and what was right." Aw, way to sum up a theme for us there, sonny! Matt turns to leave when Coach, who's been silent this whole time, asks him to tell his grandmother that he said hello. Nice, subtle way to let Matt know he's done the right thing.
Cut to Coach Taylor, who's gone over to the Kaster household to make amends. Kaster sits on the couch, still bruised and cut up as Taylor apologizes. Kaster says when he gets back to school, every football player will have a piece of him on a daily basis. Taylor guarantees that won't happen and simply says there is no excuse for what Reyes did to them. Mrs. Kaster looks on in surprise and hesitant expectation.
Street, Lyla, and Tim sit around a campfire contemplating life. Tim talks about when they used to sneak down to the lake in junior high school, dreaming about playing varsity. Way to bring up dead dreams there, Tim. Jason reminds him that things have changed, and Tim says they can still get their hunting ranch. Street wonders how, without his expected NFL paychecks. Tim deadpans, "That's just it. I think I'm gonna go pro." Pause. They all three bust out laughing at the ridiculous notion. Tim, usually so closed off, is totally putting himself out there here, and it's rather heartbreaking. He naively declares that "that's just the money part anyways. We can figure that out. Best friends, right? Wasn't that always more important than football?" Street laughs, "No!" but then gets serious, "It is now." Tim shows remarkable ability in sustaining his own ironic position as he, in all sincerity, says, "The three of us. We'll rise up. Together. Get through anything. Anything at all." And with this last, he looks so meaningfully at Lyla that anyone with eyes can realize that no matter how hard Minka Kelly tries to get out of her scenes with Taylor Kitsch, this little tête-à -tête isn't over quite yet. The camera pulls back and we see a shot of the three of them, Jason high up in his wheelchair, clutching a can of soda with a straw sticking out of it, between his two gnarled fists. Brutal.
Commercials. Taylor has Reyes in his office. He yells at him for lying and for putting him in the position he did. Reyes begs and pleads, but Coach tells him to pack up his stuff, that he's off the team. Taylor tells him that he believes in him, but that he can't do anything further for him. He suggests that he go to the guidance counselor (Wifey Shout Out!) and work on his anger problems. Reyes gets up and leaves, Taylor leans back, and his mussed hair is like "It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it."
Out on the field, Matt wears the red shirt, while Voodoo is wearing the yellow shirt that marks defense. On one play, Voodoo effortlessly knocks Matt's pass to the side, then runs over to Taylor to complain about Taylor making him play defense: "With all due respect, sir, I got a state ring sitting in my drawer and it isn't for playing defense." Taylor basically tells him to shut up and play. The camera pans in on Voodoo's frustrated face.
In the Taylor Bed of Healthy Marital Relations, Tami snuggles up real close to her husband to tell him that Bobby Reyes came in for counseling. She's real pleased. And just when Coach Taylor is looking to make her even more pleased, there's a knock at the door. Cut outside. Oh, god, talk about a cold shower. It's Jack of All Fats, Buddy Garrity. Eric comes to the door in his boxers with skinny little stick legs. Buddy apologizes for the hour, asks him what the deal with Reyes is, but then launches right in to the big ticket item: "I came because Voodoo is gone. He's gone back to Looziana." He continues, telling Taylor that before he left, Voodoo told a reporter that he only lived in Dillon for two weeks before suiting up and that with this documentation, Buddy's Sports Judge buddy can't help them out anymore. "Arnett Mead? It's a forfeit. It's a loss. Season's over." And then a really suspicious and somewhat sheepish look from Buddy: "Or it could be over!" Couple his odd bearing with the fact that he wouldn't tell Taylor where he was getting this information, and I smell a rat. Whereas usually, where Buddy is concerned, I simply smell a jerk.
Depressingly Realistic Rehab Facility is seemingly not quite so depressing after the joy ride. Lyla wheels Jason toward the door where Jason's friendly Gay Physical Therapist awaits them with a fabulous sigh. "I sincerely hope you guys had a good time." Jason says they did. Lyla hands over Jason's belt and G.P.T. pulls Jason's wheelchair up the ramp backwards. As he does, Jason kisses one gimpy hand toward Lyla, and she returns the gesture, "Love you, baby." Jason and G.P.T. disappear into the Depressingly Realistic hallway as G.P.T. tells him that "time you want to fly over the cuckoo's nest, just tell me." Lyla immediately turns to Tim once the doors close and says "He can never know what happened between us." Everybody's All-Purpose Bad News Boyfriend Ryan Adams is crooning in the background to underline the bad-boy nature of their fling. Tim replies with the most economical charisma (seriously, this boy's grunts are like the equivalent of Kirsten Dunst's dimples), "I know. I get it. I'll miss you Lyla." And when he says the latter, his eyebrows raise up just a little bit and THE HEAVENS THEY OPEN AND ANGELS FLY OUT OF THE BUTTS OF CHERUBS. Tim tells Lyla he'll give her a ride to her car.
Upstairs, Jason wheels himself down a corridor toward his room. He pauses at the window at the end of the hallway which just happens to overlook the side road that Lyla has parked her car on. He sees Tim and Lyla get out of Tim's truck, and walk over toward her. Jason has a sweet smile on his face thinking about all the love he has in his life, for his best friend and his girlfriend. Love, love, love, isn't love grand? Isn't it grand to have a girlfriend and a best friend with so much overflowing love? But then Lyla and Tim hug. For a little too long. Jason furrows. Wait a minute. Where exactly is this overflowing love flowing anyhow? Tim and Lyla sort of take a moment and lean foreheads together. Wait, a goddamned minute here! Leaning foreheads? They've taken this "love" thing a little too far! Jason's face is tight and really tortured. He spins around and wheels himself back down the hallway. Which makes me realize that he wasn't really heading toward his room. That perhaps he knew Lyla parked her car there, and maybe this was something he liked to do, wheel down and watch her get in her car when she left. And now I'm bawling because that is such a sweet little secret pleasure one might take in a place (like depressingly realistic rehab facilities) where pleasures are few and far between, and I almost got out of this episode without crying, and I must raise my fists and shake them at the heavens for Peter Berg! You've gotten me again! (Call me. Let's discuss).