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This episode had so many heartwarming moments, I spent the entire last half of it wondering who was going die or fall down a well.
Over at Our Gang's Club House, it's like herding cats trying to get Herc, Billy, and Tim on the same page as Jason. Jason's attempts to take charge in selling the now-rehabbed house are met with accusations that he's always playing the baby card; when he ups the selling price, there's a near revolt. But, a few girly slaps and welling-up tears later, they agree to follow his lead, and the house sells. Jason runs into a former Dillon Panther who's going pro, and his agent, and a big old light bulb goes on over his head when he hears the agent talk about the business. We end the episode on a sweet moment between Jason and Lyla; Lyla sadly realizing that he's going to leave Dillon, but giving him all of her confidence in his prospects.
Lyla spends the rest of the episode trying to prop her father up. You know the saying about behind every man... So the Bratty branch of the family tree -- the other two Garrity kids -- are in town, and it's all "Dad, you're sweaty" this, and "meat is murder, Texas is fascist" that. Yes, the kids have been living in Boulder. Buddy tries to brush off their brattiness, but when Tabitha shouts that she wishes he weren't her father and that real fathers don't cheat on their wives, he slightly loses his shit. Lyla calms him down, the brats accompany Lyla and Buddy to a football game, and -- surprise! -- it's the football that brings everyone together in the end. Tabitha the Vegan even goes so far as to request sundaes on the way home. Awwww.
Tami Taylor is dealing with a discipline issue concerning one of the football players. When his parents are called in to the principal's office, it turns out that he's been playing without their permission all year. They pull him off the team, and Coach nearly loses his shit. Tami and Coach go to the kid's home and convince the parents -- who have no love for the sport and think everyone in Dillon is crazy -- to at least come to one game to watch their son play and shine in his element. They do, and -- surprise! -- football brings them even closer together!
Football is, however, not bringing some folks together. Namely, the near-psychotic types. J.D.'s dad's involvement in every minute detail of his son's life and football-playing is becoming to look more and more abusive, especially given that he is now given to weird head-hanging apologies to Coach, like a man feeling guilty after a bender. He continues to interfere during practice and during the game, and Coach is clearly struggling to figure out how to deal with him. On game night, J.D. has a rough first half, and McCoy loses his shit (see a pattern here?). But Coach is able to redirect J.D.'s attention away from his father in the stands and onto leading his team. J.D. comes through, but we end with him coming out of the locker room to find that his father isn't there waiting for him.
Finally, best for last. Landry's new bandmate Devin is even awesomer than anyone at first suspected. Her lower lip is simply mesmerizing, and she tries to cheer Landry up by plinking out a hilariously cute version of the Flaming Lip's "She Uses Jelly" on the piano. Of course, Landry takes all these signals to mean: "kiss me," and so he does, because he is a teenaged boy. Devin tries to brush it off at first, but when Landry tries to hold her hand in school, she has to tell him: "Landry, I'm a lesbian." We end on Crucifictorious band practice, and seeing Landry and Devin play together is probably the quickest transformation of "mortifying life experience" into "best thing that ever happened to me." This is why we love TV.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!I step away from the show for a minute and Matt and Julie LIE DOWN TOGETHER? Just like in Bible times? Wow. Thanks to Jeff for holding it down while I was away!
We open this week with Buddy, Lyla, and Tim rushing through the airport like it's 1980 and you are allowed to walk right up to the gate. They're picking up the other Garrity kids. I mean, I guess since they're minors, Buddy would be allowed to go through to the gate. But Tim Riggins? Snaking through security without a boarding pass and NOT getting brought to a back room for a strip search? Hardly. Lyla hugs her brother Buddy and sister Tabitha. Buddy kind of sweetly dad-spazzes on his kids in exactly the way you are not allowed to do when the kids are 13 and BITCHES. Little Buddy tells Big Buddy that he's into soccer now, which is just blasphemy. But Big Buddy takes the announcement with good cheer and then turns to his daughter, whom he declares now "looks like a hippie." He gives her a bear hug and she screws up her face and smirks, "Dad, you're all sweaty!" Sweaty Buddy Garrity!
Coach complains to Tami about how long this is going to take as they pull up in front of McCoy McMansion. Quick cut inside to Coach, all fake smiles around the dining table. Katie McCoy drags Tami away to go show her something upstairs, sing-songing that Tami's "gonna want ooonnne!" Oh, ugh. J.D. comes home and comes into the dining room to say hi to Coach and his dad. Mr. McCoy and his son have a sweetly bantering conversation about playing golf that weekend, J.D. jokingly fake-punching his dad. J.D. heads off to bed, and Coach remarks on what a good kid he is. McCoy says that all thanks for that go to his wife. Awkward pause, and then Coach tells McCoy that when he made J.D. apologize to him in church the other day, it made him feel uncomfortable. McCoy quickly apologizes, seemingly realizing that he did cross a line there. He says it just drives him crazy when he sees his son screw up. He then tells Coach that he apologizes and "it will not happen again." Coach is like, uh, that's not what I'm asking for, but McCoy sort of shuts the conversation down. Totally not getting that Coach isn't trying to regulate what is and what is not said to him, but that he's trying to tell this guy to just BACK OFF his son a bit.
Billy helps Jason get out of his truck. He's apparently given Jason one of the recruiting letters he's gotten about Tim. Jason levels with Billy, telling him that schools send out hundreds of those kinds of letters, and they don't necessarily mean anything. He's kind of harsh, telling Billy that Tim isn't exactly college material. Billy tells Jason that he's knows "the kid's an idiot" but then vulnerably tells Jason that he doesn't know what he's doing, but that he really wants to do anything he can to get Tim into college. Billy asks Jason to tell him what to do; Jason suggests that Billy throw together a highlight reel for Tim and send it out.
Cut inside the Our Gang Club House, where Herc and Tim lounge around drinking beer. Jason scolds them for sitting around rather than working on the rehab, but they inform him that it's all done, paint dry, curtains up. Jason smiles and says, "Look what two idiots and a couple of cripples can do!" and Herc chimes in, "It's like the Special Olympics!" Billy asks if they now call a realtor to help them unload the property, but Jason declares that they are not going to hire a realtor and pay her commission, they're going to sell the house themselves. The other guys are nonplussed.
Credits. Tami stalks into her office, Mac trailing her talking about how "it was an accident" and "Jamarcus is a good kid" and that we're talking about their starting fullback here. Tami barely pays attention to Mac, and addresses the young man, "Jamarcus Hall. Hello, sir." He stammers about how it was an accident; she tells him to sit down. He immediately starts pleading to be allowed to play in the game on Friday, and Tami tells him that this is a conversation they'll have to have with his parents. Jamarcus starts to really stammer now, and Mac jumps in and asks if they shouldn't bring Coach Taylor in on this issue. Tami is like, "Do what?" No, we don't bring Coach Taylor in on this! She dismisses them both, and as Mac leaves, she gives him a total Bish Plz.
Devin finds Landry in the band room. He's sadly picking out sad songs on the guitar, and he tells her that he's just sitting there "not thinking about Tyra." Devin mewls sympathetically when Tyra comes on over the P.A. chattering about the blood drive. Landry mutters about how she's just everywhere. Devin purses her lips and turns to the piano and starts playing. "I know a girl who/Thinks of ghosts/She'll make you breakfast/ She'll make you toast." This is probably the most endearing thing that has ever been done in the history of the universe. As Devin keeps plinking and croaking out the Flaming Lips song, she gives Landry a bright smile, but he keeps on moping. She turns back around on the bench and tells him, "This whole emo thing you've got goin' on.....?" and he apologizes. She says it's okay and asks if he'll give her a ride home from practice. Even the director of photography can't resist this girl; most shots of her are close-ups, her insanely adorable and weirdly charismatic (weirdly, because she's actually really still in the face most of the time) face all centered and framed. She gets up, tells him to cheer up again, and as she walks out of the room, gives him a big, fat kiss on his temple. Landry, being the literal boy he is, brightens up as he watches her walk away. Oh, Landry. You are so clearly in the friend zone here. Wipe that puppy dog look right off your face.
Over at the Club House, Billy holds a camcorder and interviews Tim about his interests, Herc off to the side, watching. Tim waxes on about how he likes football, playing on Friday nights, yadda yadda. Then Herc interjects that Tim likes Gwen Stefani, too, and both Riggins brothers start yelling at him for messing up Tim's best take. Jason wheels in and puts a stop to their incessant bickering. Jason has put together the listing for the house and lets them take a look. Herc notices that Jason has upped the price from $265,000 to $295,000. The bickering returns. Billy and Herc think they should stick with the original plan, that if they have to lower the price of the house, they're dead in the water. Jason tells them that now is the time to step up to the plate. He takes charge and says they set the price there and they will GET that price. The rest of the guys begrudgingly agree to the plan.
Tami has Jamarcus Hall's parents in the office with her and Jamarcus. His parents are all exasperated, his dad asking the kid what is wrong with him. Tami says that she just thinks they need to come up with a plan for Jamarcus, and Mrs. Hall tells her that she's got six kids, she knows how to handle Jamarcus. Tami then tells them that if something like this happens again, they'll be looking at a suspension, which would take away from the academics and cause him to miss some football games. The Halls' heads both whip towards Tami -- "Games? What are you talking about?" Tami's eyes get wide as she asks them, "Y'all don't know Jamarcus is a Panther?" and then cut to Jamarcus, dropping his head into his hands.
The Garritys in the car. Buddy tries to chat with the younger kids but they're in the back seat tuned out, playing video games and texting. Buddy suggests that they have a sing-a-long, which even made me roll my eyes. Tabitha says they can count her out, and then when Buddy remarks that she used to love to sing, takes it a few hundred miles past the line in declaring that "I used to love to sing? Well, I used to not have pubic hair, too." Buddy is like "Whoooah!" and Lyla tells her little sister that no one wants to hear about her pubic hair. Tabby drones something about how Kevin (remember Rice Dream? The guy their mom took up with after the affair?) says they shouldn't be ashamed of their bodies. Buddy tells her that it is just "TMI for dad, okay?" and she brats that if he really wants her to censor herself, she will, she forgot she was back in Fascist Texas. Meanwhile, they've pulled up to a gas station because Little Buddy needs to pee; he hops out of the car, all grabby-hands toward him asking for money. He's like "of course" and the two kids run into the store. Lyla puts her hand on her dad's arm and asks if he's okay. He sighs and snarks that it's just great having the kids back. It's a little weird how sort of mom/wife-like Lyla looks in that front seat to her father.
Commercials. Tami walks into Coach's office and gives him a recap about the Jamarcus Hall situation. She tells him about how the kid set some girl's hair on fire. Coach takes this in stride, he knows all about kids and silly things like attempted murder. But then Tami tells him that when his parents came in to talk about it, it was discovered that Jamarcus never told them he was playing for the Panthers, that he forged their signatures on the permission slip, and they are pulling him off the team. Coach nearly jumps out of his seat and asks Tami what she's done. The conversation gets heated, Coach telling her that he needs to be informed when she's dealing with one of his players, Tami telling him that is ridiculous and that whether or not he was a part of the conversation, the outcome would have been the same. Coach jumps up and storms off, shouting for Mac, who presumably won't give him as much lip as his wife does. But then again probably doesn't as smell as nice as she does.
Landry and Devin pulls up in front of Devin's house. Landry turns the car off and Devin asks, surprised, if he wants to come in or something. He says he thought they'd just sit and talk for a while. She cutely goes along with it, saying that they should talk about their band and how it's cool. Her lower lip is simply mesmerizing. Landry is clearly feeling the effects even more strongly than I am. He rambles about how she's doing great in the band and then just sort of leans over and kisses her full on the mouth. The kiss lasts long enough to seem like maybe it might have been welcomed, but then Devin just sort of smiles and gets out of the car, thanking Landry for the ride.
Football practice. Jason is on the field filming Tim. Mr. McCoy is on the sidelines watching J.D. Coach goes over to Jason to chat for a minute; Jason explains about the highlight reel. But off to the side, McCoy has called J.D. over to him. When Mac tries to keep J.D. on the field, McCoy demands that J.D. come over to him, which is totally not kosher to do. (I feel I just mixed metaphors there, talking about kosher and football in the same sentence.) Coach notices what's going on, and goes over to McCoy and grabs J.D back, telling McCoy to get his ass back to the stands. Of course, when Coach says things like "Get your ass over there" it comes off all friendly and good-natured because he is MAGIC.
Doomed Garrity Family Camping Trip. The brats brat around about hating camping. Big Buddy suggests that he and his son toss the football around a bit. Little Buddy bitches about how he hates football and how "Kevin says...." Buddy tries to head it off at the pass, saying that he just doesn't care what Kevin says. He suggests that they eat dinner and happily pulls out some prime Nebraska Angus steaks. Tabitha asks how many times she has to tell him that she's a vegan now. Lyla tells her to give it a rest. Buddy clarifies that the steaks are organic and grass fed, and they'll say a little prayer for the cow before they eat it. Lyla smiles, getting the joke, but the Hippie Garritys apparently lost their senses of humor when they got "enlightened." Tabitha crosses the line once again when she snaps that "Kevin says meat is murder" and Buddy finally loses it. He says that he doesn't care what kind of left-wing propaganda Kevin tells them; Tabitha gets all ill-informedly self-righteous as 14 years olds are wont to do, throatily declaring that it isn't propaganda, "it's a fact." Buddy takes a deep breath and tells her that, young lady, Kevin isn't her father, he is. Tabitha yells that "Well a REAL father wouldn't have cheated on Mom!" Buddy takes the steaks and throws them into the woods shouting that they'll just let the coyotes ("ki-yotes") have them, Tabitha shouts that she wishes Buddy weren't her father, and Buddy tells her that he pretty much feels the same way right now. He shouts that all he's gotten from them since they arrived has been hate, and he's tired of it. Dude, these kids really just broke their dad. He goes stomping off into the woods and Lyla snaps at her siblings, "What's wrong with you guys?' They're all fake-innocently "What?" and Lyla is like "WHAT?" and then does a very convincingly mom-like talk-through-her-teeth telling them what brats they've been being.
Applebee's. Tyra's working, Landry comes in to tell her thanks and that she was right about everything, and how they really aren't meant to be with each other and how he's met someone else now and it's all great. Oh, Landry. Come on. Tyra interrupts the stream of delusion to ask, "You have a girlfriend?" and Landry is like "Yes!" In my mind! Tyra tells him that she's happy for him, and Landry says that maybe now they can try and be friends. They part.
Night time. Buddy is walking down a country road. Lyla drives up and tells him to get in the car. He asks her to leave him alone, but she insists that he get in the car and talk about it. He gets into the passenger seat and looks out the window. Buddy says that he acted terrible, but Lyla tells him that the kids deserved it. Buddy muses that they hate him, that all a man has is his children, and now they hate him. Lyla tells him that they don't hate him, they're just being brats and they don't know what they're saying. Buddy thinks they do know what they're saying, and that he deserves it. "I've lost them." He looks over at Lyla, who sweetly tells him that he's still got her. He closes his eyes against the tears and reaches out to take Lyla's hand.
Commercials. Tami and Coach walk up to the front of a house, bickering about who's going to take the lead in the conversation. Coach asks that Tami let him do the talking. Cut inside, where Jamarcus Hall's parents are explaining to the Taylors about why they don't want Jamarcus on the football team. The father is an engineer at the power plant and gets moved around for work a lot; they're just passing through, they don't understand this weird football cult in Dillon. Coach tries to explain what he does with these young men, but Mr. Hall interrupts, getting a bit more forceful, saying that football doesn't mean anything to their family, and Jamarcus doesn't need to be wasting his time on it. Coach stutters some more about how football is about community spirit and young men and yadda yadda, and Mr. Hall, quickly sensing this is perhaps becoming a pissing contest, insults the dumb game that the whole "wacked-out town is obsessed with." Heh. Coach isn't going to let another guy piss farther than him and gets a little prickly about how he wouldn't devote his life to just some dumb game. And then Tami jumps in, working her lady magic. Telling the Halls that she didn't understand the fuss about football at first either. Then she waxes poetic about how her husband has this rare talent of getting a kid on a field, inspiring and empowering them in ways that translate to other aspects of their life. She suggests that they come to a game on Friday, just to see Jamarcus "in his element, shining." The Halls come around quickly, and they say they'll think about it. Cut outside to Coach opening the passenger-side door for Tami, Tami cooing about how sweet he is, obviously realizing how much he owes her one for that.
Devin chats with a girlfriend outside school when Landry comes up. Smiling, he asks if she wants to hang out after school; she quickly dismisses her friend, sensing what is brewing, and as Landry continues, he does this absolutely mortifying thing where he sort of "nonchalantly" raises a hand and sort of lets gravity guide it down toward Devin's. Devin's hand sort of gently pulls away, and Landry's hand grabs hold of the fingers on her OTHER hand. Meanwhile, Landry has kept up a steady stream of babbling about what they might do while they hang out after school. Devin quickly puts a stop to it: "Landry? I'm a lesbian." Landry sort of croaks, "Nooo, you're not...?" and Devin continues, spelling it out as clearly as possible: "I like girls, not boys." She says she just wanted to tell him because he seems to have the wrong idea. Please let us also note that during this entire conversation, they are both wearing these big black nylon guitar cases on their backs, bobbing there like little nerd thought bubbles rising up above their heads. Landry is certain that Devin kissed him back the other day, and Devin sweetly tells him that she didn't want to be rude, and she needed to give it a try. "I know now that I really am. So, I really should thank you, I guess." With that, Landry flees.
Open house at the Our Gang Club House. Billy tries to sell the house to a young couple by pointing out -- wokka wokka -- that the bath tub upstairs is big enough for two, maybe even for three. They walk straight out of that scene. Jason cheerfully hands out fliers until he overhears Herc in the kitchen talking to some prospective buyers about there being a little wiggle room on the price. Cut outside to Jason asking Herc what the hell his problem is. Herc thinks they have to lower the price; Billy comes out in his suit and white dress shoes (!) and worries that they haven't even had a nibble yet. Jason points out the house has been on the market for six hours; he says he already has a baby, "grow some balls, guys." The argument escalates, Billy asking who put Jason in charge, Jason spitting that he's in charge because nobody else stepped up. Herc says that they can't afford to be on the hook for the mortgage, that it isn't just about Jason and his kid. Jason gets all self-righteous: "don't you dare bring Noah into this" but Herc comes right back telling him that he's the one always dragging Noah into it, "You wave that baby around like a gun." That's the straw that broke the jokers' backs, and Herc and Jason start ramming their wheelchairs into one another. Inside, Tim smooth talks some folks while quickly closing the drapes onto this scene of entrepreneurial implosion. Back outside, Jason, all red-faced, shouts, "All right FINE!" He admits he needs the money for his family, but that they all need the money. He goes on some about how Erin's parents are paying for day care for Noah in New England and he can't compete with that. He says that they'll be lucky to get $60,000 to split between the four of them; they need to keep the price where it is. "Just, please, just trust me." Herc is a bit "Whoah" in reaction to Jason's reaction, and he quietly says that it's okay, they'll do it his way.
Commercials. Tami finds Landry in the library and whispers to him that the lab isn't available for the physics club anymore because of the fire. Heh. Landry tells her there is no physics club anymore, and then asks if he could talk to her for a second. She sits down, and Landry tells her that he's starting to feel like he's got some sort of repellent that repels females, sends them away, sends them running. Oh, my sweet Landry. He tells Tami about how he chased Tyra away, and then how there's another girl that he chased away, "Only a lot quicker." Tami tells Landry that it's probably hard for him to see this, but he is at the beginning of his life. She says that a lot of the football heroes aren't going to go much further than this, but Landry is going to go to college, and have a career that he loves, and women will flock to him. Luckily, Landry hasn't been following the New York Times coverage of the recession, or he would realize this is all lies. He breaks into a smile, and Tami tells him that it will work this way: "I'm right a hundred percent of the time, you can ask my husband." In addition to hiring Coach, I'm now also thinking of hiring a principal of my apartment.
Game night. Everyone's there in the stands. Like a community, see? The bratty Garrity kids only recognize "community" in the form of drum circles, apparently, though and they sit glumly to their father. Jason buys some snacks from the stand, and then turns around and runs into a former Panther -- Wendell -- who is apparently going pro. They small talk -- of course, because this is Jason Street, small talk also includes references to "what happened" to him. Jason gets Wendell up to speed on his life -- he coached, sells cars, flips houses, has a son. A guy in a suit walks up and Wendell introduces Jason to his soon-to-be agent. Wendell tells the agent that Jason was his quarterback, and to this day, had the best arm of anyone he's played with. Wendell excuses himself, and the agent tells Jason that he used to be quarterback down the road at Westerby back in his day. He played Division II in college. DING! A light bulb goes off for Jason: "you graduated and became an agent?" The guy explains he knew he didn't have the arm to go pro, so did the best thing. Wendell comes back and tells Jason he has to head out; the agent looks down at Jason and remarks, "Price of glory, eh?" and then hands him his card and tells him to ring him up if he's ever in NYC.
Out on the field, the game starts, and on his first long toss, J.D. goes too long. His dad shouts at him from the stands, "WHAT! ARE! YOU! DOING?" loudly enough for Coach to turn around and give him the stink eye from below, and Tami to give him the stink eye from a few rows above. The game continues, and we're cued to watch Jamarcus Hall's good performance in addition to J.D.'s bad performance. The Halls are in the stands feeling the electricity, McCoy is in the stands fretting and critiquing so much even Buddy tells him to cool down, and the Garrity kids continue to sit glumly. I sort of like the integrated stands-field perspective during this game. J.D. throws an interception, and then it's half-time. McCoy is waiting for J.D. by the locker room door. The kid tries to snake past, not making eye contact, but his father does the dreaded finger-pump-toward-the-ground "GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW" thing and J.D. obeys. The players give McCoy the stink eye as they walk by, but he keeps scolding and pressuring until Coach finally comes up and saves J.D., telling Joe that he needs his quarterback. J.D. heads off and Coach takes a minute to ask the crazed father what he's doing. McCoy bitches that he's talking to his son, "Is that a problem?" Coach tells him to back off and give J.D. some breathing room so he can work with him, and then taps Joe on the shoulder with one disapproving finger. Ouch!
Inside the locker room, Coach pulls J.D. aside and tries to tell him a parable about how his own old man used to have expectations of him, and that that was not easy on him. J.D. is not comprehending, so Coach tells J.D. that his dad just wants him to do his best and succeed. Coach looks at him blankly for a minute, at a loss for how to deal with a kid who doesn't know he needs some help.
Back on the field, Coach gives them a pep talk, and sends them back to the game. He grabs J.D. on his way out and looks directly at him, telling him that he's going to call the plays, he's not to look into the sidelines at his "daddy" or look to the sidelines at Coach. He tells J.D. that he will pull him off the field if he does and then declares intently: "I've got all the confidence in the world in you. Now, let's go." Inspire! Empower! Yes!
That did the trick, because back out on the field, J.D. is totally inspired and empowered. And Coach's magic works even beyond the field because in the stands the Bratty Garritys are inspired to stop being such dicks! Both kids are now standing up and kind of begrudgingly getting into the game, much to their father's delight. And then the Halls get to get inspired watching their son be empowered by catching a beautiful McCoy pass for a game-winning touchdown! The only one who isn't inspired OR empowered is Assface Dad McCoy, who's all cranky that his little precious isn't looking to him in the stands. As the team celebrates their win on the field, Coach grabs J.D.'s face mask and tells him "well done", and the kid just beams, and then tries to share his joy with his dad in the stands, but the little bitch refuses to meet his son's glance.
Parking lot. Jamarcus catches sight of his parents waiting for him, and goes over to them. His dad meaningfully tells his son that he looked good out there. Then the Garritys walk out together, Buddy telling them they have to get home and go to bed because the Brats have an early flight in the morning. Tabitha does her best with a truly schlocky line, "Uh, hey, dad? Do you think we could stop and get some sundaes on the way home?" and I don't care how "Good night John Boy" this scene is, I LOVE IT. Buddy quips that sundaes are dairy, and Lyla laughs. Cut over to J.D. getting a big spazzy hug from his big spazzy mom, but all the blinding bling that lady wears can't distract him from the fact that his dad isn't there to congratulate him as well. "Is Dad mad at me?" he asks. His mom smoothes it over, telling her son that his dad should be mad at himself, and then putting her arm around him and walking off. They pass Billy, Tim, and Jason; Jason's on the phone, nodding his head and "yes sir"-ing. He hangs up and Riggins ask who it was: oh, just this guy....this guy that got them the first offer on the house. Wooo! God, what a piquantly cheesy scene, and how I seriously don't even really care.
Landry and Other Kid in Landry's garage for band practice. Other Kid (shall we call him Mouth Breather? It does seem he is afflicted) goes inside for a second, and Devin arrives. She says that she doesn't want things to be weird between them. Landry assures her that it won't be, all of it was his fault, and he appreciates that she was honest with him. But Devin isn't really asking, you know, about his feelings. I mean, the girl just came out to him! In Dillon, Texas! She asks him if, you know, he's okay with "the secret." Landry tells her that he's totally fine and that it's great, and now they should just play some music. Mouth Breather comes back and says that he can't play that other song they've been playing -- part of Landry's "Tyra period" -- because he'll slit his wrists if they do. Landry happily starts an upbeat riff on his guitar, and everyone is smiling and happy to be playing The Flaming Lips rather than the Simpering Sadness they had been playing. Landry takes vocals, but Devin can't resist and comes in on the harmony -- "She uses ma-a-a-ga-ziiiines" -- her harmonizing kind of throwing Landry off which just results in diabetic shock cuteness.
At the Playgirl Ranch, the boys are celebrating with wings and beers. Lyla comes running in apologizing for being late. God, I'm glad Lyla got released from that weird front-passenger-seat premature mom-hood. She hops onto the easy chair with Tim, and Billy puts Tim's highlight reel in. We start with game footage, Tim Riggins busting through four, five, six guys on the field at a time. Please notice that the television they're watching the tape on is duct taped together. Then the reel switches from game footage to interviews, Jason interviewing Coach about what makes Tim a great football player. With great laconic gravity, Coach waxes on about Tim's toughness and fortitude. The camera cuts to Tim clearly feeling emotional about the idea of anyone putting this kind of effort into him. Then cut to Billy on the tape, also emotional, recounting his favorite memory of his brother playing football, talking about how when Tim won State, that was the happiest day of Billy's life. The tape concludes, and everyone tells Jason how nice it was. Billy stands up and toasts Jason, thanking him for the house and for everything.
Cut outside to the back yard. Jason is sitting out there gazing up when Lyla comes out to check on him. He tells her that he's just looking at the Dillon sky and then asks her if she thinks he could make it somewhere else, if she thinks he might make a good sports agent. She tears up, and goes quiet, and then says, "You're leaving?" She takes a deep breath and tells him that he would make a great sports agent. Jason, tears in his eyes now, tells her that he thinks he does need to leave and start a new life. Lyla quietly tells him that she thinks it's great, and then we cut back to the pair shot from a distance, Lyla leaning in and kissing his forehead, holding his head in her hands. When I think of the first scene between these two -- where Minka Kelly was obviously a totally green actress -- and the characters of Jason and Lyla so sort of callow and unformed, and then compare them to this. This show actually goes places, takes its characters places, which is just remarkable. Sigh. Okay, I'll stop now. "Good night John Boy."