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Landry, the teen who believes in black and white, good and bad, confesses to the crime he committed and immediately is plunged into the murky grey realm of the law, where all the adults advising him try their hardest to convince him that he acted in self-defense.
Also flailing around in the murky waters of life is Coach Taylor, who finds himself in the middle of the battle between Tami and Julie. Tami is keyed up over Grace's upcoming baptism festivities, which gives Julie the perfect opportunity to play her Dad like an old-timey piano. She goes to her father and deftly manipulates him, telling him that she is worried about "disappointing" Tami. Tami sees right through her daughter's ploys, but can't at first see her way out of the infuriating cycle of nitpicking that keeps their feud going. But -- she's Tami Taylor, folks! -- she figures out a way to express her feelings about their crumbling family perfectly, and the two make up, Julie goo-gooing for the first time over her little sister/goddaughter at the christening.
While the ladies were shrieking and pointing fingers, the boys were having their own dramas. Matt has Carlotta in his bed and Smash telling him to set some boundaries with the live-in love. Santiago is disappointing Coach during practice and lashing out at Buddy at home, but ultimately is redeemed in dramatic slow motion on game night. Tim is tapped by Coach to help out with his neglected Athletic Director position, washing girls' soccer uniforms and keeping score for the gymnasts, and he seems to enjoy it. All of it except for how his meth-head roommate is lurking around school suspiciously and abusively. A habit that makes Tim more than a little jumpy when said roommate wakes him up by poking him with a shotgun and then offers him a hit of meth. Tim flees the apartment and makes his way to the Taylors', where Coach wordlessly hands him a sleeping bag. Jason goes on a date with a girl he met on the internet who, of course, is into sexual urination like everyone on the internet is. He flees his date with the help of a cute waitress who he then sleeps with, raising the question of whether it's the internet people or the food-service people who are the true freaks. When his parents freak out that he didn't come home, he apologizes and promptly moves in with Herc.
And, finally putting us out of our misery, the police decide not to press charges against Landry, who is clearly still conflicted over that skull crunch that echoes in his ears. Eh, teens, always with the drama. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Open on a close-up of Landry's tired face against an institutional brick wall. He recounts that he ran outside and "just started hittin' him." The detective interrupts and puts words in Landry's mouth, "Stepped in to help your friend, huh?" Landry states bluntly that he wanted to kill him. The detective continues trying to help, suggesting that the guy was hurting Tyra. Landry is confused and restates that he hit the guy as hard as he could, twice, that he wanted to kill him. The detective leaves the room, saying he's going to go get a tape recorder but really leaves the room to go talk to Landry's dad. The detective tells Mr. Clarke that Landry isn't helping himself out any. Landry can see them talking out in the hall and walks out there, wondering what they're talking about. His dad tells him that they're going home now and Landry just starts begging to continue digging his own grave. He says that he came here to confess and he hasn't finished yet. Mr. Clarke can't meet his son's eyes and finally just grabs him and says they're going home. Landry resists his father, who has to wrangle his son down the narrow hallway, all while Landry shouts and pleads about being allowed to confess. A bunch of police officers look on from the doorways of their office. Landry finally stops resisting and breaks into sobs as his father continues pushing him down the hallway, telling him that he loves him.
Credits. Matt and Carlotta are in bed, nekkid and making out. Just as Carlotta is about to mount the teen, Grandma busts in the door, drawling "Matth-youuuu? Did you eat my Snackwells?" Only Grandma Saracen could make pudding and Snackwells so sexually suggestive. So, Matt has the reflexes of a horny leopard because the second Grandma busted in his room he threw the comforter over Carlotta, so she's this big invisible-to-Grandma human-shaped lump in his bed right to him. Grandma tells Matt to ask Carlotta if SHE ate the Snackwells. Matt stutters some more, half-wondering if Grandma realizes Carlotta is actually in the room, in the bed. But then Grandma clarifies that he should ask her in the morning if she ate the Snackwells. Hey, Grams, I believe that no one has yet eaten the Snackwells, but that by morning, that box will be empty. YouknowI'msayin? Grandma leaves and Matt starts giving Carlotta a hard time for stealing his Grandma's Snackwells. He's teasing her in this weird, new tone. This, like, manly tone. Rawr, Matthew. Pass the sugar-free lemon cremes, babes.
The Taylors are running around, passing Baby Grace off to one another like its third and ten. Tami pleads with her husband to call the party rental place. Julie walks in demanding to know whether the apple she's holding is organic. Tami does not have time for that nonsense and rattles off a bunch of things Julie and Shelly are supposed to be on top of: getting a christening dress, cleaning their rooms, et cetera. Julie tells her mom to chill out, which is actually the only guaranteed way to get moms all het up. Tami obliges, and tells Julie that Grace's christening is a big deal, that Julie's the godmother and family members are coming in from out of town.
Coach Taylor has Tim in his office. He tells the boy that he is not only the football coach, but he is also the Director of Athletics and because other sports teams at school are woefully understaffed he's looking for someone who owes him a favor, someone who's been selfish. He asks Tim if he can think of anyone like that and Tim offers Smash. Coach clenches his jaw and thanks Tim for volunteering and then tells him to start with the -- get this -- "Girls Soccer Ball Uniforms." Does he think the sport -- the most popular sport in the world? -- is called "Soccer Ball"? Tim is not pleased.
Herc! Herc is back! Jason is lying in bed while Herc is at his computer. Jason begs Herc not to show him that "Screech porn again, cuz a little piece of me dies every time..." Well, Jason, just thank God Mr. Belding isn't involved. Or is he? But Herc wants Jason to check out the dating site, Wheel-Lovers.com. "It's bona fide" he claims. Jason thinks it's gotta be all "heifers," but when Herc starts scrolling, Jason can see from where he is that it's cute girls. He launches himself out of bed and into his chair to wheel over and take a closer look. The boys natter on about camouflage panties when there's a quick knock at the door, and Jason slaps the top of the laptop closed. Mrs. Street comes in with her awful hair and haven't-had-sex-in-years facial expression and hands over a plate of carrots. Herc natters his thanks and goes on about beta carotene as she leaves. The second the door closes, just as Jason is muttering "party...time" regarding the carrots, Herc snaps, "You gotta get outta here."
Buddy brags about Santiago's stats to one of his car salesmen, while they watch the boy wipe down a car. Santiago is silent as the salesman asks if he's the second coming, if he's going to make it rain fumbles. Santiago stares blankly as Buddy declares that he's going to play a lot this Friday night.
Tyra comes home to find Mr. Clarke waiting for her. Cut inside, where he tells her that Landry confessed last night. He hands her a card for a criminal defense lawyer and tells her to have her mom call him if they need help with the fees. Tyra tearily asks what will happen with Landry, and Mr. Clarke just says that he doesn't know. Well that was a dud scene.
Tim walks toward practice only to find Ferret Guy hanging around delivering weird lines in Hillybilly Shakespeare, all measured pauses and deep breaths and twanging elocution. Ferret Guy tells Tim that his "return to the herd" (the football team) is the biggest mistake of his life. "So don't tell me I didn't tell you so." Tim is like, uh, I pretty much hope that I don't know you a month from now. We get a meaningful close-up of Ferret Guy's pasty complexion, so I guess he's been hitting the sauce. You know, the kind of sauce that makes you stay up for five days straight and pluck out your leg hairs one-by-one while vacuuming the shit out of your living room (thanks MTV!).
Landry is moving the grass out front of the Clarke house when Tyra runs up, her lips all plumped up with sorrow and anger. She spits out "You idiot! Yourdadtoldmewhatyoudidwhy?" Something about her delivery of that line strikes me as so affected. Like, it's the kind of delivery that makes me think of the actress, at home, in sweats, rehearsing with her cat. Landry tells her that he confessed because it was the right thing to do, that he can't keep lying. Nice long shot of the two of them in a sea of suburban green.
Football practice. Santiago is fucking up. Coach Taylor yells at him in front of everyone, rattling off what I presume are defensive plays that he should have memorized and that he clearly hasn't. Santiago takes the verbal beating silently until Coach shouts, "Can I have verbal confirmation?!" and he meekly says "Yes, coach." On the sidelines, Buddy tries to brush it all off to Coach as a bad day for Santiago. Coach says that he has great instincts but he doesn't know if "he's it." Buddy looks forlorn.
The Clarke men are in their lawyer's office, who is telling them that the case has a number of outcomes, that Landry could be tried for murder as an adult, or let out on probation, "it all depends on how we frame it." Landry wants to know what all this "framing" talk is about and the lawyer explains that if Landry reasonably believed it was necessary to hit the man to protect his friend, then there is no crime. Landry is like, hello? I killed him! He doesn't understand why they have to use "magic words" to frame the event so as to make him look better. Mr. Clarke looks down, wishing his son were finding out about all the "grey areas" in life by, you know, having to tell a white lie to a girlfriend or something. Landry wants to shout from the rooftops of Dillon that he is the worstest murderer ever but none of the adults (rightly) will let him. End scene on Landry's face as the lawyer's voice drones on in the background.
Jason is in his driveway, playing around murderball-style. Lyla drives up, and he teases her that it's a nice surprise to see her, his "favorite Christian in the neighborhood." Lyla "ha-ha"s him when his cell phone rings and he answers. Pull back to see Lyla wearing complete sex jeans. Praise the Lord when Lyla Garrity is on screen! So it's Isabella from Wheel-Lovers.com calling Jason. He flirtily tells her that it's nice to hear her voice, and they make plans for the weekend. Lyla looks on with a grin. Jason lies that Isabella is a friend of Herc's, that it's a set-up thing. As Lyla jokily intones, "Oh, reeeallly?" Jason starts spritzing himself with a water bottle, and replies "Ooooohhh, yeaaahhhh," and then Lyla laughs and asks if he's smitten. God, get these two in more scenes together! I could watch them watch paint dry. Or, as it happens, watch them discuss online dating websites. They look at one another full in the face -- they're so open to one another all the time -- and Lyla tells Jason that his date sounds "very cool."
Julie comes into her father's office at school. He's surprised to see her as apparently she has declared that they are not allowed to see one another at school. She says she needs to talk to him and then launches into the first phase of her latest Mom Offensive. She tells her dad that Tami is going off the rails with the christening thing. Coach is, like, immediately left in the dust. He's way back there on "don't accuse your mom of going off the rails" when Julie's already at "it's so much pressure! I don't want to disappoint Mom!" So he's understandably off-balance and so totally open to her manipulation. He asks her how she thinks she could disappoint anyone which helps her launches the final attack: the litany of things that are just totally like stressing her out: "I have to keep up with my schoolwork, I have to work on my SATs, I have dance class, and I'm writing for the school paper...." Coach interrupts and promises that he'll talk to Tami for her. She thanks him, and Eric puts on a pleased and self-satisfied look, like he thinks he really parented it up there.
Gymnastics meet. Girls flip and flop through the air like insanely awesome athletes. Tim is on the sidelines, working the scoreboard. Coach sidles up to him and asks how he's doing. The boy sighs, like you're expecting him to say he's bored or something, but then explains that Stacy just got an 8.6 when she should be hitting those double backs. "She's been her own worst enemy all day." But Coach only has a moment to be surprised by Tim's absorption in girl's gymnastics because of the disturbance a portly man wearing a camouflage wifebeater is making, strolling around the floor, all up in the middle of the meet, whooping it up for Dillon. Coach wonders who this guy is and Tim tells him it's his roommate and that he'll take care of it. Tim goes over and tries to get Ferret Guy to leave quietly, but instead gets a lot of loud declarations about "that blonde over there" and then a suggestion that they get out of there to go hit the early bird special at The Landing Strip to "check out Mindy." Coach watches it all go down with a knowing look. Coach is so much better figuring out what's going on with his boys than he is with his girl.
Santiago pores over his playbook while Buddy cooks up dinner. Buddy is all smiles and seemingly doesn't notice that Santiago is tied up in knots. Santiago wants to know how much of the book he needs to know and Buddy tells him "all of it" and then chuckles about the dinner invention he's got on the stove: "steak and ramen-cini."
Tami gets into bed to Coach. He tells her that Julie came to talk to him about feeling "overextended" with all the things that Tami's giving her to do. Tami rises up on one elbow and asks "What things?" Coach can't answer that question specifically, and you can see it slowly dawn on him that he's just gotten himself in the middle of a mess. Tami can't believe that Julie went into his office to talk about how SHE'S giving her too much to do and then wonders that "if our girl Julie? Who goes to school and then comes home? Has too much to do...well, I don't think that's the kind of girl we want to be raising." Coach tries backpedaling, and it is at least honorable that he's got Julie's back, even if she did trick him into supporting her side in this particular battle. Tami tells Coach that there is no reason Julie can't help out with this big family event and then declares, "I hope that you were clear with her about that." Coach lies that, yes, he said pretty much everything she just said to their daughter. Tami is like, I'm sure.
Landry's dad walks into his son's room where Landry is in bed, depressed that he is not being allowed to dramatically throw himself under the train, Anna Karenina-style (spoiler!). Landry says he knows his dad doesn't think Landry can handle the consequences of his own confession. Mr. Clarke interrupts him and says that no, it's he that can't handle the consequences. Dude, where is Mrs. Clarke in all this? It's really odd that she isn't written into this storyline at all. Mr. Clarke tells his son that it would break his heart if Landry goes to prison. Landry tells his dad that he's not going to lie, but his dad demands to know what the lie would be. He reminds his son that he didn't know the guy was there until he heard Tyra screaming, and that when he came out, the guy was attacking Tyra. Landry counters, "What about the fact that he was walking away?" They go back and forth a little more, with Mr. Clarke ending the conversation by reminding Landry that this guy raped five other young women. "This was self-defense." Landry leans back onto his pillow and looks confused.
Coach comes into the locker room early morning and finds Tim already there. Tim claims he wanted to get an early start on the laundry and Coach asks if his sudden work ethic has anything to do with his living situation. Tim says no, Coach does that thing where he looks meaningfully, clearly comprehending the entire situation in one glance but refraining from saying anything more because his boys have to learn to sink or swim on their own. Oh, Coach!
Matt and Smash are at work when Carlotta comes in. Smash rushes over and immediately starts trying to work her. But she asks for Matt, who then apparently speaks some sort of code to Smash, telling his friend to go "make me a rocket launcher with jimmies, please?" Smash smiles and claps his hands and hightails it away from the counter. Tapioca pudding? Snackwells? Rocket launchers with jimmies? That last treat sounds a little more appropriate for Nate and Chuck on Gossip Girl than Matt and Smash, but I guess teens are always up for whatever. Carlotta tells Matt that Grandma was in a "burger mood," but he tells her he doesn't believe her, she wanted to come see him. Smash returns with the sundae and hands it to Carlotta who declares that she won't be able to eat it. Won't be able to put that whole rocket launcher in her mouth. Then Matt says he'll go "work on Grandma's burger," and...hold on a minute. What in tarnation are these Hollywood perverts trying to pull over on us?
Smash follows Matt to the back and can barely keep his rocket launcher in his pants: "That's the girl that's been living in your house? It's your graduation day, fool!" But then Smash's rocket launcher comes back down to earth a little and he tells Matt that this situation is so good it can't last, because there are no rules to it. He declares that women like boundaries, so Matt needs to set some. Matt says that Carlotta is different (read: brown), but Smash insists on the boundaries.
Oh God. Tyra and Landry sit on her back steps, holding hands. These two are such DOWNERS. Just GET OVER YOUR MURDER and get back to slutting around like teenagers. GOD! Landry needs Tyra to tell him honestly if she was in fear for her life. She says she was, looking him directly in the eyes. Lots of overdramatic "if you hadn't been there" nonsense which, frankly, I've recapped ten million times already so let's focus on something I haven't remarked on yet: Adrienne Palicki has the greatest moles on her face. So cute with her complexion.
Buddy and Santiago drive; Buddy asks Santiago if he's ready for the game tonight. Santiago starts to burst, wondering under his breath what the point of all of this is. Why, Santiago, the point is to learn how to channel your rage at society's injustices into completely non-effective sporting violence! I thought you knew! He explodes on Buddy, shouting that Buddy doesn't know anything about him -- he's not his pops. "You're just some foul white guy who wants to make himself feel better." Wow, the Dr. Freud Diagnostic Award goes to Santiago this episode. He continues, yelling that he doesn't need anything from Buddy anymore, not the job, not the place to live, not football. Buddy pulls over, and Santiago goes to get out but Buddy stops him with some tremendous fatherly authority. Buddy Garrity is back, folks! He tells Santiago that if he wants to go back to that cafeteria eating off of plastic with two hundred guys going nowhere, he can go right away. He tells him that tonight Santiago has the opportunity to accept a challenge, to become part of a team and that if he doesn't do it tonight he'll never do it his whole life. Well, Buddy, I think that might be overstating the case a bit. He tells Santiago that he's on his way to the field and that Santiago can get out if he wants. He doesn't. But he does spit, "I hate you," which really makes one feel like home, you know?
Tami is in her room on the bed, sweeting with someone on the phone about coming to the baptism. She hangs up, and Julie comes in to show her the dress she's wearing to the baptism, which is a little boob-y. Tami does a masterfully mom-like, "Oh." Julie gets it -- like gets it -- immediately, using the infallible mother-daughter insult radar which is truly 100% effective and then brats, "Okay, then, just tell me what you want me to wear. Tell me and I will go put it on." Grace starts crying, and Tami asks her daughter not to do what she's doing. Tami decides that now -- right after a mom "oh" response to a sartorial choice -- is a good time to address Julie's brattiness. To which I say, "Oh." She tells her daughter that she realizes that Grace's birth has been hard for everyone but that Julie needs to rise up and grow up. Julie goes immediately into a higher octave, telling her mom that this has nothing to do with Gracie, that she would love to grow up but Tami won't let her, that Tami thinks Julie can't even dress herself properly, and then she accuses her mom of only wanting to get everyone and everything just so so that someone can take a picture of their "perfect" family. My God, whoever is writing Julie is NAILING IT. Her completely flat-footed attempts to point out adult hypocrisy are so, so perfect and they make me both cringe and want to hug her because she's sort of right but so inelegantly so.
So this last accusation sets Tami off, and when she goes, she explodes. Sort of like a rocket launcher, I suppose. She shouts that she is not trying to make anyone into something she isn't, that she is trying to get Julie to grow up and be the beautiful girl that Tami knows she is. Except for Tami is, like, shouting this at her daughter so the whole "you're beautiful" aspect is not so much convincing anyone. Julie screams that she's acting a lot more grown up than Tami, and Tami tells her not to scream, and Julie says she's the one who started it, and then the camera pulls back and shows the two evenly-matched women shouting at one another through clenched teeth and making these awful tense movements with their arms pointing at one another. This is familial rage, this is it right here, and I don't know if I've ever seen it represented so perfectly. Julie cries, "Do you know how many things I've done for you? Do you know how many things I've done for you?" and Tami replies with exactly the same question, to which Julie answers, "A thank you would be nice. That's all I'm asking for," and then storms out. Tami picks Grace up from her crib and says sadly, "Well, I think a thank you would be nice, too." Oh, but Tami, you're the mom. You don't get thank yous, you get to fold socks.
Landry is at the police station, taping his confession. He tells the detective that he killed Mike Caldwell (I don't think I ever knew Murder Guy's name!) because he was attacking his friend. He takes a deep breath and says, "I was in fear for my life."
Jason is on a date with Isabella from the Internet. She has sort of rockabilly Betty Page bangs. They seem to be having a good time. Jason asks if it's awkward to ask her why she has a profile on the dating site, and she replies by asking him if it would be awkward for her to ask him why he was browsing it. Jason laughs and realizes his question was a little vulgar, but she gives him an answer, saying that she thought she'd find more "open minded" guys there. She pauses and asks if she can be honest with him and then pulls a dirty rabbit right out of her hat: "Can I tell you what gets me going? ...Pee." Then she excuses herself from the table. Jason is stunned and collars the waitress, begging her to tell his "friend" that he had an urgent family member to attend to. The waitress sasses that if the date isn't going well to just say so, that she isn't going to help him ditch her. Jason is getting desperate and leans in, despite the waitresses repeated scoldings, to blab that he met the girl on the internet, and now she's talking about peeing and he's not comfortable with where it's going. The waitress's mouth drops and she just laughs "What?!"
Cut to Sexual Urination coming back to the table and being informed by the waitress that her friend left. Sexual Urination doesn't believe her at first because she drove Jason and she wonders, crassly, if he just left and started wheeling down the road. The waitress says, "Honey, I don't...." which sets Sexual Urination off. She gets up, tosses a glass of water in the waitress' face and storms off. Meanwhile, Jason has been watching all this go down from the kitchen. The waitress looks toward him and he mouths "I'm sorry" at her.
Game night. As Smash pumps everyone up, Santiago is alone in the bathroom, puking. Cut to the game, where the Panther defense can't get a handle on the opposing team's quarterback. Santiago looks on from the sidelines and the Panthers are way down going into the second half. After halftime, Buddy collars Coach and asks him to put Santiago in the game. Coach says he's not ready, but Buddy thinks that the kid is a street fighter, that he'll get it done if he gets put in. A Trail of Dead song cues up in the background, so we know this scene is going to end in some sort of major crescendo. Coach calls Santiago off the bench and sends him in and things start going in slow motion. The first play and Santiago gets crushed, the play and Santiago gets crushed. Then comes the song's key change and the camera switches to Santiago's slow motion perspective, his breath echoing over the music, which starts building and on the play, Santiago busts through the line with crazy eyes and sacks the QB. Everything snaps into real time, the Panther fans cheering, Coach screaming "Atta boy!" Santiago runs to the sidelines, crosses himself, and looks...worried still? I don't think this kid is going to be transformed by just this one slow motion sporting victory. It's going to take at least two to soften him up a bit.
Buddy waits for Santiago in the hallway after the game. He pulls the boy aside and tells him that he won the game, Santiago demurs, but Buddy tells him that it's true, that he changed the momentum of the game: "You brought the magic." Buddy apologizes for earlier in the car, but Santiago just says, simply, "No. Thank you. Thank you."
Jason is getting a ride home from the waitress, who is telling dating horror stories, one about opening the door to find a man covered in leather head-to-toe. Shoes, pants, vest, jacket, biker hat. Jason laughs and agrees that that's a bad date but wonders, "Did he have to go number one?" He thinks he wins when it comes to bad dates. He thanks her for saving his ass and then they lean in and kiss.
Matt stands around awkwardly and asks Carlotta if they should set some ground rules. Carlotta doesn't know what he's talking about. And apparently Matt doesn't either as he clarifies by suggesting they "put the fish on the table." Matt stutters around until Carlotta shuts him up with a kiss and then tells him that she's going to teach him how to make molé.
Tim is asleep in the Ferret Room of Ferret Guy's apartment. Ferret Guy walks in and wakes him up with the butt of a shotgun, accusing Tim of not feeding the ferrets. Tim shits his pants and apologizes, and Ferret Guy starts laughing. What a hilarious meth romp! Tim tells him to put the gun down, and he keeps laughing, telling him to come downstairs where he and his buddies are having an "impromptu soiree." They laugh at Tim as he walks sleepily down the stairs, and Ferret Guy introduces Tim to "Shotgun, Connor, Spence, and Petey," and these dudes look rough. Ferret Guy hands Tim the meth pipe -- is that what it's called? I always feel like my mom trying to talk about drug paraphernalia -- and Tim jets out of there like, well, like someone just woke him up at gunpoint and offered him meth. He grabs his boots and says he's going out to get vodka. They all approve of this plan, and Tim doesn't even pause to put his boots on, we see, as he walks outside, hops in his truck and gets out of there. At least he has the truck; this is one awfully claustrophobic storyline Tim's got going here. He's just so stuck. It's terrible.
Jason gets dropped off at home by his waitress friend. He wheels inside where he is greeted by two frantic parents. His dad stands there, arms crossed, and asks if he's all right. Jason says he is, and his mom comes winging in the room in her bathrobe and first three-names him -- Jason Mitchell Street! -- and then tells him that his father was trying to call him all night, they had no idea where he was. Jason's dad then jumps back in and tells Jason that this isn't fair to his mother. Jason's dad is such a tool, dumping the franticness onto the mom. Jason, the whole time, is just apologizing and saying that he knows what he did was wrong. One person who is not a tool? Jason. He promises that it won't happen again and then informs them that he's moving in with Herc.
Tami walks into Julie's room, where Shelly is attending to the teen queen. Tami tells her sister to beat it, and then tells her to beat it once again. One of those time's the charm, and Shelly finally gets her meddlesome ass out of there. Tami helps Julie with her necklace and says that Julie was right about something: Tami does want a great family picture today. She continues, telling Julie that the christening is important to her because "you know...I want our family back. I want you back." She tells Julie that when Grace was born, she thought that she was the luckiest baby in the world, to have an older sister like Julie. Tami tells Julie that she's the most special person in the world and that today is so special for Tami because today "I'm going to be able to celebrate my two amazing daughters." Tami Taylor, you've got to stop doing this to me. Let's take a moment to note, also, that Tami Taylor's got her eyes lined on the top and the bottom, which is such a perfect small town Texas touch. Julie looks down and tries to continue being a sullen teen, but when Tami hugs her close, she reciprocates and says "I'm sorry about earlier."
Nice, soothing guitar fades in -- yea for redemptive and poignant montages! -- and we cut to the Taylors rushing to get out the door to the baptism, Tami charmingly calling out, "Who has the baby?" Julie is helping in the kitchen like she was never a thankless bitch, and Tami runs to call out to Coach in the backyard that she thinks Tim Riggins is parked in front of the house, asleep. Tami continues fluttering while Coach goes outside to find the homeless boy indeed asleep in his truck. Coach wordlessly takes him into the garage and hands him a sleeping bag and it's all quite sweet, and Coach was just, like, born to shepherd Tim Riggins toward a better life.
The Streets and Lyla are moving Jason in over at Herc's and everyone is happy.
Carlotta is teaching Matt that it is, indeed, like water for chocolate.
At the church, the minister says some beautiful things about unconditional love. Julie holds Grace close, almost as if she is human rather than teen. Tami and Eric look at their daughters proudly, and it looks like Julie is actually listening to the minister. When she holds her little sister out to be baptized, she breaks into a true smile, looks over at her mom and catches her eye and my heart is warmed.
Landry and his dad are sitting on their couch, waiting around when a detective pulls up outside. Beautifully art directed shots of school pictures on the wall and Landry's worn old boots standing in a corner expressively, just like Van Gogh's "A Pair of Boots," a whole life summed up. The music fades out as we cut to the back of Tyra's head opening a door and then a shot of of Landry telling her: "They're not pressing charges." Tyra breaks into relieved laughter and hugs him, and the camera pulls way back out to the road, and then pulls back in quickly on Landry's face on the other side of the embrace, and we see that Landry's eyes are, well, sort of dead. I think someone other than Mike Caldwell got murdered by this storyline.