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Assistant Coach Mac "Random Guy in a Blue Shirt" MacGill backs himself into a racist corner by making claims to the media about the "natural" abilities of "guys like" Smash. The show is smart enough not to make the claims totally outrageous (just your everyday, store-brand ignorance -- sigh) and so the reaction against him builds slowly. But build it does, until it culminates in a Smash-led walkout on the practice field.
Tami catches Julie skipping gym class (under the influence of Tyra, of course) and sentences them both to play in the yearly powderpuff football game. This punishment gives Julie some much-needed eye-rolling opportunities, as well as some truly sweet father-daughter interaction as Coach proudly coaches his own daughter into the QB1 position. The powderpuff game also gives Tyra the opportunity to tackle the shit out of Lyla, in order to give outlet to her rage over her slutty mom and sleazy Buddy Garrity moving quickly toward the inevitable nasty secretary/boss conclusion.
And Jason goes back to school, only to find everyone treats him like the cripple he says he is, so he decides to go to Austin to try out for the national quad rugby team. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
We open in the middle of a game, Matt runs over to Coach to ask what he wants. Coach responds, "Slot right 28 gun sling." Matt looks suspicious and asks if he's serious. Coach is, as usual, taking no shit. He assures him it is what he wants. As Matt runs back on the field, the camera swings by and catches Assistant Coach Mac rolling his eyes at Coach. In the huddle, Matt tells the boys "this is serious" and calls the play. Smash's eyes narrow in pleasure. The break and Riggins does some endearing boyfootballtalk and then it's the snap. The announcers try to produce some excitement by exclaiming "What in tarnation?!" as Matt tosses the ball to Riggins who then tosses the ball to Smash who then acts as quarterback and throws to Matt who's scurried into the endzone. Touchdown! As we cut away to the celebrating, we see that the Panthers were already up by 13 before they scored that last touchdown, so it seems like Coach was either just screwing around or privy to the need for a racism-in-sports storyline when he called that play.
Just for cuteness sake, we catch Lyla and another cheerleader doing a modified chest bump in imitation of some of the boys on the field.
In the locker room, Kyle Chandler's hair is much too self-satisfied. It's sitting on top of his head all "lean back, lean back" while Coach congratulates his players: "They said we couldn't do it. They said we didn't have what it takes." He tells them to be proud of themselves and that he is proud of them, and the boys, led by Smash's call and response -- "Whose house is this?" "Our house!" -- whoop it up.
Cut across the locker room to see Matt getting interviewed and then over to Mac, confronted with two close-talking, exceedingly overdressed reporters trying to sniff out an ace story. The blonde female reporter asks Mac if they're nervous about an upcoming game to be played against Dunston Valley, an all-white team who just had some trouble with a "blackface" scandal. Mac says they "don't give a dang about all that" and the slick male reporter pounces, "Are you saying race isn't an issue for the Dillon Panthers?' Mac says that it is not. Ida Tarbell lunges, pointing out that Dillon was one of the last high schools in the area to be integrated, and that they've only had one black quarterback in forty years, and that black quarterback was simply a plot manipulation named Voodoo.
Mac proposes that this lady should show him a red, black, or green player who'd be better than Matt Saracen. Mac apparently learned everything he knows about racism from "The Sneetches." Assistant Coach Black Man walks by and seems to get the gist of what's happening. Lady Reporter asks, "What about Smash Williams?" reminding Mac that Smash played quarterback in JV and has quite an arm. Interesting tidbit there. Mac says that Smash is best suited to the position he is in, and now that she smells the story, all Lady Reporter even needs to do is ask "What do you mean?" And this is when it really takes a turn for the worse as Mac clarifies the racist aspects of his thoughts about the players he coaches, aspects that, up until this point, remained somewhat hazy and ill-defined, just common sense, you know? "Guys like Smash, Baxter, even Voodoo, have a natural gift for running the ball." Lady Reporter editorializes for us: "All three are black. Are you saying their ability has something to do with their skin color?" Mac is getting hot under the collar and he retorts, "What I'm saying, Karen is that guys like Smash are fearless, they're dangerous, they're like junkyard dogs. You want 'em carrying the ball, you want 'em tearing up turf out there." In other words, on the field, we exploit the very thing -- a proposed and supposed aggressive "nature" -- that will allow us to write these young men off as aggressive and dangerous once we are done squeezing their talent out of them. Congratulations, Whitey, you've got an airtight system of oppression there.
Meanwhile, in the background, Assistant Coach Black Man is whispering something in Coach's ear, which, Lord did it take this guy a long time to get over to Coach. Karen continues by "repeating" what Mac said back to him, "Let me get this straight. Whites like Saracen make better quarterbacks because they are smarter." Mac: "You want to put it that way, you could." Ooof. Then, because he isn't satisfied with an "ooof," Mac goes for the "groooannn" when he says "Now, I'm not saying all black guys are dumb..." and just then Coach finally comes up and says he needs to talk to Mac. The reporters beg for another question, but Coach leads Mac off, and as they go we overhear Mr. Cub Reporter mutter to Karen: "Think you got your story." She's not the only one around here.
Uninspiring credits. Drive-by camera. It sure has been grey in Dillon lately. Panther Football radio VO discussion of what the hell Mac MacGill was talking about. The host says that he didn't use the word "monkey," he said "junkyard dog." Um, hooray? Another guy calls in to say that what he said -- no matter what his words were -- was that blacks are not human, that they don't think before they act, that they are animals. Cut to the Taylors in the car, everyone looking rather green. Here's some green folks, for you, Mac! A lady caller proposes that if Mac is saying that kind of nonsense in public, just imagine what he's saying behind closed doors.
Cut to the Williams family driving along -- Smash in the front seat, girls in the back. Smash shakes his head and wonders why everyone's is so mad at Mac. "He says dumb stuff sometimes." Sheila snarfs from the back seat, but their mom cuts their argument off before it starts, saying "we got bigger things to worry about" as they drive along a neat suburban street lined with little single-family homes. They pull up to a lady leaning against a car and then we cut inside a house where the kids run around excited about all the closet space. Corinna tells them to calm down, that they don't own any of it, and the real estate agent says that could change if she submits the bid they discussed. Corinna is conflicted, worried about what would happen if she got sick or one of the kids got injured. The kids seem disappointed and Corinna says, wryly, that she shouldn't have brought them along. Then she smiles, "It is nice, isn't it?"
Cut to Tami in her office putting the screws to Julie and Tyra who apparently have been skipping class. Julie says she only skipped once, but Tami says she knows she's skipped three classes. Julie squirms a bit more saying it was only P.E. Tyra fake-apologizes and promises not to do it anymore, but Tami isn't buying it. She tells the girls that they can't miss even one more class the rest of the semester and that, to make up the classes they missed, they'll both be playing in the Powderpuff game. This finally gets the two morose blondes' attention as they both start stuttering and shaking their heads. Tami says practice starts that afternoon.
The gym, full of girls. Tyra and Julie recline crankily on the bleachers when Landry and Matt walk in. Julie squirms in her seat and asks "Why is he here? This is gonna be so awkward." Landry blows a whistle and declares, "Ladies!" I happened to pause just as the camera cuts back to Julie and Tyra, and Adrianne Palicki is working one seriously practiced teenaged sneer towards Landry. Love it. Landry tells them he's the official Powderpuff referee and tells the girls to "play this beautiful game in the spirit it was meant." The spirit of bitchiness, I hope that is. The gym teacher introduces Matt and Tim as this year's coaches, and the girls squeak and woooo! And then the best thing of all happens: Matt and Tim get to pick teams. There is nothing I love more, in a Darwin Was a Bitch sense, then this peculiarly cruel gym class ritual.
Matt gets first choice and so....he picks Tyra. An obvious choice given that Tyra is a huge woman full of wrath, but also funny because Matt had to fully turn around to even see her sitting behind everyone on the bleachers. Tim, looking serious with a finger to his chin asks, "Does anyone here know how to chop block?" Cut to Tyra mouthing "Oh. My. God," before a girl with a wittle white wibbon in her haiwr raises her hand and says "I do!" Tim: "Nice. Let's go." That delivery was hott. Matt then...picks some girl named Laurel. Julie looks pissed. Back to Tim: "Let's go, Garrity." Is it bad that every time I hear this kid say "let's go" my hand involuntarily goes to the buttons on my jeans? Everyone is all "oooo!" at Tim's choice, and Lyla just bounces over to him, her ponytail thumbing its nose at the boy all the way along. Matt's choice again, and this time he picks..."Julie Taylor, please? Please?" Julie stomps off the bleachers and over to his side, her hair flowing like a beautiful lioness's.
Empty school hallway. At the very end, Jason sits in front of the door and starts wheeling down the hall. A bell rings, and kids pour into the hall. Tons of kids stop to shake hands and say hi. He makes some small talk, dorkily dorking, "Crazy for me to be here, huh, had a free pass outta here, huh?" He really is a dork, isn't he? He continues wheeling down the hallway, smiling and shaking his head.
Another hallway, Coach shuffles up to a door and sticks his head inside where Mac is teaching a class. Teaching? As Coach asks to speak to him a second, we overhear Mac telling the class to read the book and learn the finer points if they want to get their driver's licenses. Ahh. Not teaching, but "teaching." Out in the hallway, Coach tells Mac that he was just talking with the superintendent who says that newspapers and people are calling from all over the state. Mac scoffs that they must not have anything better to do, but Coach quickly and seriously tells Mac he needs to issue a public apology. Mac: "Apology for what? For being truthful?" Coach, obviously being tactful, but still a bit too neutral on this for my taste, tells Mac that "that's not the way people heard it." Mac thinks he's getting chased by "a bunch of PC sons a bitches who are after my job." Yes, all those "PC" folks out there gunning for those assistant coach jobs at their local high school. Get your stereotypes straight, Mac. The "PC folks" around there are probably too busy trying to get the high school poetry magazine off the ground.
Coach comes through a little bit and reminds Mac that it's not just "sons a bitches" that are complaining. Mac will. Not. Let. It. Drop. and angrily asks Coach "So you're telling me you think Matt Saracen has as much natural ability..." but Coach cuts him off, "What I am saying" -- here Mac might take some pointers in the art of allowing or not allowing people to put words in his mouth -- "is that it's not smart to make generalizations about people based on their color. Think about that." Geez, when you put it that way, Coach, it sounds like the kind of thing you should have learned WHEN YOU WERE SEVEN. Mac, looking down, says "Alright, alright" but then says that what's done is done and no apology is going to change that. Coach screws up his face and leans in a bit, "I'm not making' a request," turns on a dime and leaves. Wow, that one was almost as hott as Tim's "let's go" with the added bonus of being an ethical statement. You know you're in your thirties when you can get hot and bothered about a man doing the right thing.
We cut over to a diner, and I realized this episode that I've been calling every place that isn't Applebee's the Alamo Freeze. But I don't think this is the Alamo Freeze, but it also isn't Applebee's, ISN'T THIS FASCINATING? I think I just realized why I haven't before bothered with figuring out the distinctions. Also, I guess the vague "diner"ness of some of the places they hang out in is due to their shooting on location; they can't be guaranteed to be able to shoot in the same diner over and over, I suppose. WOW. It just keeps getting more exciting in these recaps.
So. Food place. A bunch of kids are in one. Waverly is savoring a big piece of chocolate cake. Smash teases her about sharing and she says she thought he was on a special diet. Yes. A diet of lies. Smash says that his diet calls for "No sweets. 'Cept sweet chocolate." Waverly pushes the cake towards him because she loves setting up an easy insinuation, which Smash delivers, telling her "I wadn't talking about the cake" and then leans in and starts kissing her neck. Excuse me, I need to go to the hospital for the whiplash I just received watching their relationship go from nothing to necking so quickly.
The camera swings around as Waverly giggles in pleasure and focuses on Matt, who is sitting with Landry bemoaning his stupid decision to pick Julie third for his Powderpuff team. Landry starts talking about pheromones, but Matt says there isn't a smell in the world that will make Julie not hate him. Landry continues, suggesting that since Julie likes her dad, maybe Matt should find out what kind of soap Coach uses and go out and buy some. Matt tells his friend that he's retarded, and we cut away from Goofus and Gallant (or should that be Goofus and Dopey?) when The Galoot calls attention to Mac on the television in the corner of the diner.
Tim walks over to turn the volume up, and all the kids go quiet, gazing up at the set. Mac is issuing an apology that is basically an "apology" of the most expected sort. He says all the Panther players contribute to the team regardless of color (did he ever insinuate that they didn't? No, this is the red herring portion of the apology), that his comments were not intended to hurt anybody (this is the four-year-old "But, Mom! I didn't mean to!" portion of the apology), and that he apologizes if those comments did hurt anybody (aaand, I guess this is the date rape defense portion of the apology.), and then that's it. The camera cuts around and shows a few African-American kids shaking their heads in disbelief, while some of the white kids just sort of look uncomprehending. One of the black kids says, "You call that an apology?" and Tim asks if that wasn't an apology than what was? Coming from the kid with the abusive parents, I'm pretty sure Tim only recognizes an apology if it hits him in the face.
One of the white kids declares that it wasn't like Mac was yelling out racist slurs or anything, and now Waverly weighs in. I think Waverly's responses are really nicely written, because though we know that she is obviously a smart girl, she can't quite articulate a convincing argument, mainly because she is smart and feels the frustration of this sort of subtle injustice pretty deeply. She claims that if they were "up at UT, he'd be fired." The white kid mutters that they're lucky Mac hasn't been fired, and Waverly lashes out in anger and teenaged inarticulateness: "Yeah, that's because you're white and obviously selfish." Smash tries to intervene to cool things down, saying that "it' ain't that deep," and another African-American kid jokes about Mac having to "pay out reparations to all the negroes in Dillon," and white and black boys together chuckle. Waverly is pissed that they aren't taking the situation seriously and gets up to leave. Smash calls after her that they're just playing and she fires back, "Yeah, well enjoy your sandbox, boys." A feminist, too? This girl is not long for Dillon.
Tyra and Julie saunter down the hall bitching about having to participate in Powderpuff. Tyra is pissed that Tim "has the gall to pick that bony, little..." and Julie, seeing that the "bony, little" one in question is immediately in front of them, interjects loudly, "Lyla!" to prevent Tyra from finishing her own sentence with the same word. As they walk by, Lyla offers to Tyra that Buddy says that Tyra's mom is doing really well on the job. Tyra swings around in mid-stride and snarks back about maybe her mom getting her own dealership someday. Julie looks totally scared that the gloves are about to come off. I look totally psyched that maybe the gloves are about to come off. Tyra swings back around to keep walking, and Lyla clenches her mouth and calls after her: "I was surprised to see you on the field today. I thought you hated football..." The thing is, is that Lyla's got her mouth all tough-chicked out, but she isn't saying anything remotely tough. This whole scene, I really wanted Lyla to come back with something really biting and awesome; not because she could ever even remotely approximate Tyra's awesomeness, but simply because Lyla needs to embrace the inner bitch, and quick. Tyra, though, is BFF with the inner bitch, and she swings back around with Julie by her side and smarms that she's changed her mind and is "goin' to get reaal into Powderpuff this year."
Tyra and Julie walk past Smash and Waverly and the camera stays with the latter pair. Smash is offering to "jack up Grier for disrespecting" her. Waverly tells Smash that that isn't the issue, that she's pissed that Smash doesn't seem to care about what Mac said. Smash tells her he's no Jesse Jackson, and that his "cause is football." He tells her that Matt and Riggs don't get up on a soapbox "every time a brother says something messed up." She tries to introduce him to the concept of structural racism by reminding him that "that's a completely different situation," and he tries to introduce her to the concept of dumbassery by telling her that her recognition of differing effects is "racist right there."
He says she is expecting him to act differently because he's black, and she responds quite eloquently that "that's the burden you were born with" and then adds, putting a hand to his face, "the burden and the blessing." Now that's just a little too corny in the vein of what happened to Common post-Erykah Badu. Smash reminds Waverly that he just got through with some major drama -- wait, so does she know about the 'roids? There are just a few too many plot holes when it comes to these two -- and he's "just getting [his] swagger back." He says he just doesn't have the wherewithal to get all worked up over things that are out of his control. A reasonable stance, I would say. Which doesn't make hers any less reasonable on its own terms. Geez, ethics. Why don't you get easier? Waverly says she knows he's going through a lot but that "sooner or later, you're going to have to peek out from behind those blinders."
Jason is strapping a knife to his hand. Good ole' biology class. His dissecting partner looks on in silent dismay. He tries to banter with her a bit, but it doesn't distract her from his obviously horrifying inhumanity. He starts jabbing the knife at the frog, and she immediately offers to do it. He says he just needs a minute. The teacher comes over to point and laugh at the cripple. He tells Jason that he can just observe as that is "all anyone expects" anyhow. Jason pauses, clears his throat, and tells the assface that he's going to finish the incision. I'm sure that whatever Jason does to this frog will be nothing but elegant compared to me and my classmates' wing-nutty serial killer approach to the same assignment.
Cut to Tim Riggins hamming it up as Powderpuff coach, calling out orders to his "ladies," who do push-ups, sprinting drills, and the like all with Tim shouting things like "Nice execution!" and "Let's go! Let's go!" Tyra and Julie, on the other side of the field with their team, look on as Tim's team kicks ass -- Tim shouting "We are a team of one!" -- and then back to their own team, where their quarterback Laurel (Matt's fateful number two pick) giggles and stutters when she calls the play and then promptly fumbles the snap. Tyra marches over to Matt, dwarfing him in size of course, and yells at him that he needs to figure out what he wants them to do. She points out how much better the other team looks, and then we cut back to a practice montage, this time set to a cutesy Beth Thornley song.
Lots of squealing on Matt's team as Laurel finally takes a snap only to promptly throw the ball into the ground. Tyra stalks toward her, demanding, "What was that? You throw like a damn girl!" Another snap, another fumble on Laurel's part, and this time Tyra marches toward the girl threateningly until Matt gets between them, stuttering about being teammates. In the background, Tim shouts after his ladies, "I see a 'W' in my eyes!" and then Laurel pretty much just falls over, giggling and squealing like a dumb, girly pig. Tyra spreads her arms out and says "Matt, this isn't working for me." Matt finally acknowledges that he's got a waste of space as quarterback, and then we cut to Julie Taylor, sitting on the ground in the cutest "disaffected" outfit ever created. And which, obviously, involves a pair of Chucks. Matt walks over to her and sits on his knees. He begs her to play quarterback, but she just screws up her pissed-off little nose and asks "Hmmm, let's see, I was third pick? Am I even qualified to talk to QB1?" Matt begs some more, "C'mon, you're the only who knows how to play." Julie: "I do know how to play but..." Nope. Tyra, beyond the bickering twosome, has got nothing but fire in her belly for a win and calls towards them: "Um, 'scuse me? Lovebirds? Let's go!" I. Love. Tyra. Julie spits a "You're pathetic" at Matt and then gets up and walks toward Tyra. Team! Yes! I love it when a plan comes together!
In the background, please note that we hear Tim Riggins screaming to the point of scary hoarseness "THIS IS NOW ABOUT STAMINA," and if there were some way I could make that my cell phone ringtone, my alarm clock setting, and/or what my husband has to say every time I poke him in the belly, well...I'd do it in a second.
Cut to boys' football practice. Coach provides the rationale for a strange drill the boys are running involving carrying one another on their backs. Some blahblahblah about how you have to carry one another's weight on the field. The Selfish White Guy from the diner is hoisted on the back of one of the Incensed Black Guys from the diner. White Guy ribs Black Guy who ribs White Guy back. Mac, of course, has to get in the middle of it, blowing his whistle and shouting at the kids to get going. Black Guy says, under his breath, "Yessuh, massuh" and Mac freaks out, screaming "What did you say? What did you say?" The kid scrambles and pretends he only said he loved the drill, and Mac follows him down the field, screaming and yelling. Coach stands off to the side, occupied with being useless.
Tami walks into her husband's office, and yowza does she look hot. I can take the cleavage, or I can take the pencil skirts, but the cleavage and the pencil skirts? I'm in a Victorian Lady Companion swoon over here. Tami tells Coach that she just broke up a fight in the hallway and that the fight was a lot of kids, "it was black against white, it was racial." Coach tries to apologize for Mac; Tami isn't upset with her husband, but she thinks something needs to happen to address Mac's comments. She says she wants to hold a forum where the kids can just air some of this out. Coach looks at her blankly, "A forum?" She plows ahead, asking him to tell his football players about it, and he responds curtly, "Sure." She leaves and tells him she appreciates his support. Heh.
Coach peers out his office door into the locker room where the players are filing past Mac silently, and a number of pointed looks are being exchanged. Coach is going to need to do more than peer at this issue if he wants it to get resolved.
Jason and Herc are in Herc's pick-up truck in the middle of a parking lot. Herc is teaching Jason how to drive the truck using his hands. He crawls along, negotiating a garbage can obstacle course. As he drives, Herc asks how being back at school is. Jason says it's just okay and then asks if people "were just weird to you" when he got out of the hospital. Herc laughs and confirms Jason's suspicions, saying that when he got out "I felt like I was a hundred years old, like I had some secret knowledge about the world." Jason says he just wants things to be normal again, and Herc reminds him that high school is NOT normal. The scene wraps up with a little set piece of Jason putting the truck in reverse and running into one of the garbage cans as Herc yells at him to brake.
Alamo Freeze. Smash and Matt are working. Matt gets ready to leave and then stutters his way toward a conversation, telling Smash that he doesn't think what Mac said was right. Smash deadpans, "So you think I should quarterback?" and Matt, bless his heart, stutters and haws, basically saying "Sure! That's what I think!" before Smash breaks into a smile and tells him that's not what he wants. Smash tells Matt that he "ain't sweating it, and neither should you." This is sweet. Because one of the things Mac did was possibly plant seeds of resentment of Matt on Smash's part, but Smash is smart enough to know that Matt is not the one to go after here.
Taylor house. Tami is in the kitchen, Coach is standing up with the clicker in his hand. I love that he's doing that. The time I spend standing in front of the TV, all "I'm not actually watching unless I'm sitting" would rival the amount of time Tim spends putting blush on in the mornings all "I'm not putting blush on, I'm just hiding the pallor of my alcohol abuse." Julie comes in morosely. Coach gives her a falsely bright greeting and then fake whines back at his whiney daughter. He tells her to sit down, and she sighs and does a dramatic full-body eye roll. Coach tells her "Don't, don't roll your eyes," and then tells her that she is going to get punished more once he and Tami figure out what that punishment is going to be.
Julie pretty much blows enough air out of her lungs to fill the Astrodome and then peels herself off the couch while telling her father that she'll be in her bedroom once they figure it out. She tries to walk by her father, but he insists, "Don't be flippant with me. Don't be flippant with me," and then demands that his little delayed teenager look him in the eyes. Though it takes a Herculean effort, she does so, and Coach pleads with her: "Please don't do this. Don't break our trust, don't take our trust from us." Pause. "Please." Father of the year! He has broken her spirit like she's a rebellious Appaloosa. She sort of mucklemouths, "Sorrytodaybeenjustareallycrappyday," and you can see Tami softening from Angry Mama to Poor Baby!Mama. As she disappears down the hallway to her room, Julie mutters about Matt yelling at her all day "about stupid quarterback stuff." Kyle Chandler literally does a "zoinks!" doubletake. Blink! Blink! "Matt Saracen's got you at quarterback?" then tosses the clicker down and runs down the hallway saying "Wait, hunny!" Tami just smiles to herself, and I'm looking about my lonely house wondering where my own family is. This show is going to engender it's own miniature baby boom come a year from now.
Tim walks into the Alamo Freeze where the African-American sonic forcefield is in full effect. Smash says "What up, Dutch Boy?" which is an utterance of considerable beautiful hilariousness and then asks "You get a new hat?" Tim responds with considerably less verbal acumen, "That a new hat?" You need to go to trash talkin' school, Whitey. Tim says he's been thinking and that all the friction is not helping the team with State coming up. Smash agrees, but when Tim suggests that "you talk to your boys and settle 'em down so we can focus on the game," Smash calls bullshit. Smash tells Tim he's got a lot of nerve, since he's the same guy who shows up drunk to workouts, walks off practice, and tosses beer bottles at other people's heads. Smash says that "they ain't even my boys," and then suggests that Tim talk to hisboys, and clarifies in case you didn't get it: "This football done brought us together but on the real? We ain't even cool like that." Nice contrast between how easy it is to be "cool" with another individual (Matt) but so difficult to make it cool between groups.
Tyra walks into the darkened Garrity car dealership looking for her mom. She walks around, calling out for her mom, and every step she takes I'm cringing over what kind of hitched-up-leg Fat Buddy Garrity nastiness we might have to witness. Thankfully, Tyra finds her mom in her office, fully clothed. Well, I guess "fully-clothed" if you count the shirt that just barely keeps the twins in its warm embrace. Tyra's mom apologizes and says she has to stay late to get through some papers. Tyra is at first pleased to see her mom working until Buddy comes humming into the office -- get it? "humming?" -- with take-out for dinner. Tyra's smile fades as she realizes that she does, indeed have her mom's number, which appears to be of the "Dial Down the Middle" sort. Buddy tells Tyra how great her mom is, and her mom says she'll just get a ride from Ole Sis later. Tyra leaves and we see her mom looking after her, knowing that her daughter knows exactly how very much her mom knows. In the biblical sense.
Coach has Julie out on the street teaching her some plays. They are in the greatest father-daughter zone, where one is sharing some knowledge and the other is sincerely listening. As he mimes a play for her, Julie's little arm reflects his own arm's fake-toss of the ball as she tries to start creating a body memory for the play. A beautiful long shot of them out on their shabby suburban street. Tami comes out the front door just as they start to run a play. Coach calls to his wife, "Watch this, honey!" and runs toward the house. Julie throws the ball to him perfectly, and Tami whoops it up. Coach tells her that was pretty good, and Julie beams, "Pretty good?!" And they start all over. There simply are not words for how beautiful this scene is. Really.
Powderpuff Game! A moderate but rowdy crowd is gathered. Grandma Saracen is totally holding up a "Julie Quarterback" sign. Matt has his girls in a huddle and tells them that no matter what happens, they'll still be winners. Tyra rolls her eyes and snaps, "Puh-lease." In Tim's huddle, he tells his girls that "We will not accept a loss! We will not accept it!" Man, Tim and Tyra together would make one maneating Powderpuff combination. The game starts, and there's some squealing but also a fair amount of awesome trash talking and serious play running. Lyla makes a few decent plays, and we see that Buddy is there on the sidelines for her just as grossly as he is for the regular Panther games. Tyra makes a ferocious "tag" -- I mean as ferocious as you can get without tackling -- causing Tim to scream to his girls to get back in a huddle. Meanwhile, in the stands, Buddy goes up to whisper in Tyra's mom's ear. Tyra catches sight of them, and pretty soon we're really going to see ferocious, I bet. Tyra narrows her eyes. We cut to Lyla calling a play, and then we cut between Lyla in slow motion and Tyra busting towards her in Awesome Motion. Tyra tackles the shit out of Lyla, the music cuts out, and as she gets off Dillon's Favorite Brown-Eyed Girl, Tyra rips the flag off Lyla's belt.
Lyla hops up and whines that the game is supposed to be fun. Lyla asks if this is about Riggins, and Tyra guffaws before turning on her in a rage and telling her that she doesn't appreciate Lyla's dad, "Buddy Garrity with his dirty hands all over my mom, his employee." Lyla is innocent of all this, as usual. Tyra tells Lyla that she's just a spoiled little snob, and then with a big Amazonian finger in Lyla's face declares, "You're not going to win this game!" Yes! I love a girl with a real beef, taking it out in a petty way.
Cut back to the game where Lyla motors toward Julie after a snap and grabs her flag just as Julie tossed the ball. Landry, the ref, calls it for Lyla, and Coach, from the sidelines yells out, "Son, you're blind!" Tami, in the stands just behind her husband, tells him to calm down, but Landry is approaching Coach and requesting him to "stay off my line." Coach can't believe that this Lance kid is talking to him like that so he asks "What'd you say to me?" Landry gets in his face and holds up a yellow flag in his face. Tami rolls her eyes.
Matt has his girls in a huddle, telling them that this is their chance, they can either go home with a tie or go home with a win. Julie hesitantly suggests they go with the "25 right spring option" and then sort of smiles to herself. Matt looks at her like she is the piece of his heart he's been missing all these years, and we cut to the play. Julie calls the play, the ball gets snapped, and she runs with it. She takes it down the sidelines, really hustling, everyone is screaming, Matt is hopping down the sidelines to her, cheering her on. She's got all the girls on the field packed up just behind her, but she motors it right into the endzone, where Matt is waiting for her to leap on him in celebration. Cutest scene ever. Coach looks on in wry approval; Tami laughs in joyful disbelief. Shot of Tim walking off, pissed, and Landry running up to him, getting in his face and blowing his whistle and doing the touchdown arms. Then cut to Lyla wandering off by herself as the winning team celebrates behind. Suck it, snobby!
At the Hole in the Wall bar, the Xtreme Wheelchair guys are hanging out, playing pool, and drinking beer when Herc and Jason roll up. Lots of jostling and joking, and then Herc announces that "as a designated member of the National Quad Rugby Squad" he's informing Jason that he's invited to participate in quad rugby training camp in Austin. Jason doesn't believe it, but they're all nodding yes, it's true. So can you tell me whether it is also true that there are apparently at least four members of the national quad rugby team living in the vicinity of Dillon, Texas? I mean, I know they do lots of stupid stuff down there, and drinking and driving and getting paralyzed is maybe one of those things....but....really? Anyhow, Herc tells Jason how intense and hard training camp is, but that at the end of it the coaches will evaluate him and he might get on the national team and then be "Beijing-bound. That's China." I'm really working up against the deadline here or else I'd spend some more time bitching about this storyline. I think you'll be fine to fill all that in for yourselves.
Cut to an office where Corinna Williams is being told that her pre-approved loan has not been approved. Corinna wonders aloud if her rejection has anything to do with her being a single parent or with the little box she had to check indicating her race. The loan officer assures her that box is to ensure prevention of racial discrimination but Corinna isn't buying it. Smash asks to talk with the lady's supervisor and she tells them it won't make a difference. She says she'll leave the supervisor a message, and Smash starts getting worked up, saying they are there and they want to speak to a supervisor right now. He raises his voice and Corinna gets up and moves in real close to her son and says some chilling words of advice: "It's not gonna do anybody good to get crazy. Look around you. Look at all these eyes on you, waiting, expecting you to do something violent. Become that 'junkyard dog' of MacGill's, nuh uh." I wonder where this lady is to give advice to the Guaranteed Black Violence kids cast on The Real World? Or to the Guaranteed White Jager Sluts, for that matter. They leave the office.
Jason is in his room looking at Quad Rugby Porn. Lyla comes in still dressed in her football jersey. She asks if she can ask a question, and Jason cuts her off "Yes. You do look super hot in that football jersey." From Quad Rugby Porn to Powderpuff Porn. This kid likes it athletic style. But Lyla is serious: she wants to know if he thinks she is a spoiled snob. Jason is taken aback and pauses before chuckling and answering, "A little." He wants to know who said something to her, but he clearly isn't taking her hurt feelings seriously. He excitedly tells her about getting invited to training camp, and about the possibility of making the team and going to Beijing. Lyla is like "wha, wha?" and asks what about school. Jason tells her that he's not into school, that he's not fitting in, that he's going to get his GED in a couple of months. He basically doesn't let her get a word in edgewise, and I look forward to the day where we see this girl really start kicking some ass and taking some names. She's just been a punching bag this whole episode.
Cut to the school gym where about forty kids, max, are sparsely arrayed on the bleachers. Tami tells them that they're there to just talk about race relations at the school. She asks for comments. The reparations joke kid raises his hand first and stands up to say that "when it comes to white and blacks...we just...we just different." A disaffected white kid off to the side says "that's a gross generalization," and Tami steps in to say that this isn't a debate, and I am just cringing in knowledge of where this "forum" is going to go. Tami should remember her own advice about kids being stupid. Anton continues, saying that blacks just "naturally go it our own." Not helpful, Anton. But Tami is all about confirming these kids, and so that's what she does. Landry raises his hand and she calls on him. Landry thinks it all has to do with how they are socialized, and cites "science" which says that his DNA can be closer to a black person's in Kenya than a white person's sitting to him. Tami declares this "interesting."
Waverly raises her hand and reminds everyone that people say stuff like Mac said all the time, but the problem is that no one is willing to acknowledge racism....and just then Troublesome White Guy calls out from the top row that Waverly shouldn't get her "panties in a twist" which, rightly, causes one of the African-American kids to tell Troublesome White Guy that he doesn't have the right to interrupt people, and then it just devolves into cacophony with various mean-spirited things being tossed around the bleachers, everyone's voices raised, Tami having to walk up into the bleachers to try to command the kids to sit down and calm down. During this, Smash starts walking into the gym, pausing to witness the utter chaos.
Mac is watching game tape alone. Smash walks in, says hi, and then says that they never got a chance to talk about how Mac "may or may not perceive black players..." but there Mac cuts him off, telling him that what he perceives -- other than football -- is none of his business. Smash says he just wants to have a dialogue. Mac tells Smash to save his dialogue for his mommy. I do like the contrast between the guidance counselor way and the football coach way. Conclusion: neither one works. Mac really roars out at Smash -- hey, kinda like a junkyard dog! -- and tells the kid that he's not about to be interrogated by some "too-big-for-his-britches teenager." Smash keeps trying to interject to get Mac to explain himself, but Mac continues, insisting that if he hears Smash or anyone else "whining," Smash will be warming the bench on Friday. Smash says Mac can't do that, and for once, Smash is right, but Mac continues in his own deluded way, snaps off the projector, and storms out of the room.
Tami comes home to her husband. She immediately sinks into the couch, and he kneels behind it, reaching his hand to her head. She exhales and says, her voice cracking "Well, it didn't go very well, honey." She is so upset. She tells him that he should have seen the kids yelling at each other and calling each other names. Her chin is quivering, and I'm getting very emotional. She mourns that "it's real hard to make a change around here." Eric looks at her with total love and admiration and tells her that she has to know she is an example to aspire to. He tells her that she gives them the opportunity to express themselves because she is "always there to listen to them...they know they can trust you. That's a rarity." She reaches up and strokes his face, and then he clinches the bawling when he says, "You're my wife. And I'm damn proud of you." Sobbing. What a team. I love their team. They've got the best team in Dillon.
DMX shakes me briefly out of my sobbing as we see Smash sitting in his room with DMX doing some very humorous rap-praying before launching into a series of "Unh! Unh! Unh!" Quite pious. Close up of Smash looking introspective, and then cut to the exterior of a church where Smash and Waverly welcoming all the black football players (presumably, it's not like we know any of them) and then Waverly leaving Smash with the keys to the church. As she leaves, she smiles back at him. He looks after her with some trepidation. He's clearly a bit conflicted about what he's doing. He feels good to be bringing part of his community together, but he knows that it will come at a cost. Tough choices.
Cut to the day. Smash suited up for practice. Matt runs after him and tries to bring up the disastrous forum. Matt starts to suggest that they get the team together, but Smash has made his tough choice and can't go back now. He brushes Matt off saying, "I'm really not in the mood for chatting right now." Coach calls the boys over and then passes it over to Mac. Mac instructs the boys to get on the line and then blows the whistle. Half the team launches into a sprint, but half stays on the line. We see the half that doesn't move is the black half. Coach looks on, but with his sunglasses on and his hat muting his hair, we don't know what he's thinking. Mac asks if they're deaf and calls the spring again. This time, all the black players take their helmets off and stare back silently. Mac whistles again, and this time Smash turns and walks off the field. His "boys" follow him, and Coach just raises his hands helplessly to his head and we cut to black.