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Coach continues to struggle getting the Lions football program off the ground. He decides he should put together a pep rally to get the students and community involved and reaches out to former Lions football players -- from the 1983 State Championship team -- for support. The few he gets to come to his house for dinner take his implication that the eastside -- i.e., the black side of town -- has problems. Luckily, Buddy Garrity rings the doorbell to the delight of the eastside fellows. Buddy Garrity: Yes He Can. And, resistant at first, Jess Merriweather's former-star-football-player dad finally comes around and hosts the pep rally at his barbeque joint. We must wait to find out what tragic events led to his renouncing football so dramatically. Odds are there's some sort of connection to the dead wife. She take a football to the head or something?
Vince and Luke are at each other's throats. Luke thinks Vince stole his wallet as a prank and -- with the help of King Douche J.D. McCoy -- confronts him about it. They get into a brawl which attracts the attention of the cops, who lock both up and call Coach down to sort it out. The police declare that the "white kid" can go free since he doesn't have a record, while the "black kid" has to go to juvie. Coach is like "His name is Vince" and gets some time alone with the boys, tells them to get their shit together, tells Luke to take the fall, springs them both, and then leaves them both on the side of the road. Where the boys seems like they finally start getting their shit together.
The whole town continues to be against Tami, and her reaction to all the pressure is slightly Cathyish: CHOCOHOLIC!
In a series of fantastic little B storylines: Devon asks Julie to go to a gay bar with her on the outskirts of town. Devon spots a cute lesbian to talk to, leaving Julie there to lock eyes with....Coach Traub (who I've been mistakenly referring to as Staub, oops). Billy renegs on his promise to go hunting with Tim. Tim stops by the pizza shop to see Matt and, you guys, THE TEAM IS BACK TOGETHER! Matt sweetly asks if he can tag along with Tim on his hunting trip, and they sit around a depressing fire and talk depressing grown-up talk. Matt is realizing that Julie is going to go away for college, and he doesn't know what's going to happen with them, or with him languishing in Dillon.
His plight gets worse when he returns from his trip to find that while he was gone, two soldiers knocked on his door to deliver the news that his father has been killed. Oh, I have no jokes for any of this, and barely even any words to describe what it was like to see that split second, off-kilter shot of Grandma Saracen's desperate sorrow.
Want more? The full recap starts right below! Open, camera driving through town, fields and shacks and Slammin' Sammy on the radio. He's talking about Luke Cafferty being removed from West Dillon, Tami listens to callers complain about her while driving in to school. Cut to Coach getting coffee in the depressing East Dillon faculty lounge. Principal Levi is strangely sarcastic about Coach's win on Friday, though you can tell he's just using the sarcasm to keep his "tough talking cop" demeanor in tact. Coach mutters something about how pep rallies boost morale, Levi confirms that it won't cost him any money, and tells Coach to go ahead and plan a pep rally.Matt and Julie are at the diner. Matt is sketching a hand (hands being, so far, the only thing he can draw that doesn't make his mentor puke) and asking Julie about her college applications. Julie remarks that Brown makes you handwrite your essay. Is that true? How "quirky" and "bohemian" of you, Brown. Matt awkwardly asks her about the final list of colleges to which she's applying. "Hmmm, UC Berkeley, UCSB, Brown, Amherst, umm, Mount Holyoke, NYU... UT Austin! Hook 'em horns." Matt is wondering where Dillon Community College is on that list.
Lions practice. After a flailing play, Vince and Luke get into it with each other. Coach calls them over and tells them to keep their personal crap off the field and quit letting everyone down. They "yes, sir" him and go back to practice. play, Luke tosses Vince the ball seemingly setting him up to get walloped by a tackle, which he does. Vince pops up and gets in Luke's face, Luke plays dumb, they flex on each other, the assistants try to keep them apart, on the sidelines Coach paces in exasperation when a sign on the fence catches his attention: East Dillon Lion Football 1983 State Champions.
Credits. Tim busts in the house holding two rifles. Mindy freaks out, or, well, uh, whines at him while continuing to stay seated eating potato chips. Tim asks Billy where the gun cleaner is, and Mindy realizes that they've got a hunting trip planned, which Billy has not told her about. Because being pregnant turns you into a huge black hole of selfishness, Mindy pretends like she's "okay" with them going hunting: "I'll just drive myself to the ultrasound appointment." Mindy! Pregnancy is not a disability! Billy tells her that he's going to stay to be at the ultrasound appointment because he can go hunting with Tim any time. Tim is like, not true! That's why they call it "hunting season!" Billy tells him to shut up and it looks like the Riggins' Gun Play Weekend is off. Deer are relieved, male and female audiences alike disappointed.
Lions practice. They're starting to look like a slightly-better-oiled machine, doing those little tiny-run-drop-to-the-ground exercises TV football players always do. They all head into the locker room where Luke finds that his wallet has gone missing. He tells all those "jokers" to tell him who has his wallet. Vince innocently suggests that he retrace his steps. Luke decides to retrace some steps right over into Vince's face, where he tells him to quit effing around and give him his wallet back. Vince challenges Luke to go ahead and get his wallet out of his locker if he's so sure that's where it is. Luke pauses and then launches toward the locker; Vince jumps up and they start grappling and groping. Oh, boys.
Cut to Vince and Luke, sheepish in Coach Taylor's office. Coach: "I've got a pep rally this week, I've got papers to grade, I've got a family to raise, I've got a wife to love, and then I've got you two bozos." Preach, Coach! Coach asks Luke what makes him so sure that Vince took the wallet. Luke: "It's obvious, Coach." Coach: "You're going to make a damn good lawyer." Coach asks Vince if he knows where the wallet is, and Vince says no. So Coach calls in Assistant Coach Crowley (?) to take the boys to the gym to run stairs for thirty minutes.
Matt is at work at Panther Pizza when Tim Riggins walks in. Tim: "Seven." Matt: "What's up!" Tim: "Slingin' dough rather than 60-yard bombs now, huh?" The team! Getting back together! But how sad, because what are these boys doing with their lives? And they aren't even boys, they totally seem like men, and isn't that a really sad thing sometimes? How boys become men? Also, as much as I like Matt Lauria and Michael B. Jordan and their characters, this right here is the team: Tim Riggins and Matt Saracen. They catch up, Matt tells Tim that he's not in Chicago so that he can take care of his grandmother, fills him in on his art stuff. Matt asks if Tim's going to watch any football this weekend and Tim tells him that he's going hunting, while tearing into a big piece of pizza from the pie he's there to pick up. Tim takes his leave, telling Matt they should go for a beer sometime, but just before he gets out the door Matt asks if he can come along hunting. Tim is surprised that Matt hunts, and Matt says that his father took him a few times. Tim smiles and tells him Thursday morning, 5:15. The Team! Back Together!
Jess and her friends walk down the hall, Jess accosts Landry and Devin. Jess is like "Landry! You have a car!" She suggests that he use that car to bring her and her friends to a party in Kilroy that weekend. Devin rolls her eyes and Landry, good for him, tells Jess that he's going to have to decline: "I've kinda been down that road before? Where a girl asks me to do somethin', and I say yes, and all of a sudden everyone's calling me a word that I don't like to use." What do we think that word is? Boyfriend? Loser? Murderer? Jess clarifies (or backtracks, or saves her own ass) by telling him that he's invited to the party, and so is Devin. Devin dryly thanks her and Landry brightens up and agrees to go along. They part and Devin teases Landry about how he's going to a party now this weekend.
Not Tyra (Becky) is laying the smarm on thick, saying nonsense like such as the Iraq. She's trying out for Miss Texas Daddy Issues and blabbing something or other about giving more than taking and true success, all with a robot smile. Her mom is waiting outside for her to come busting out exclaiming, "Mom, I'm in!" Out in the parking lot, Becky's mom tells her that she makes it look so easy and that tomorrow they're going to have to go get Becky a new gown, with a portrait neckline. Becky, do not trust a mom who wears hooker boots and a string tied denim vest. Becky doesn't take my advice, however, and is goofily happy that her slut-o-mom wants to hang out with her. Has anyone else noticed how incredibly similar the actresses who play Becky's mom and Erin (the mother of Jason Street's baby) look? If I cared at all about them as characters, I might try to and fail to be able to tell them apart.
Julie and Devin leave the Alamo Freeze. Devin tells Julie that she needs to ask her something and she needs Julie to not be weird about it. Devin and Julie! It actually hadn't crossed my mind, and the show certainly hasn't laid the groundwork for this relationship but: whatever! It's Devin and Julie! The coolest on-their-way-to-NYC girls on the show! Devin asks Julie if she'll go with her to this place outside of Dillon called Steers. Julie's like, snerk, "Steers?" snerk. Devin, hesitating, "It's...it's...gay. It's a gay place." A gay place! Can I put this girl in my pocket? Julie asks if Devin is hitting on her and Devin is like "puh-lease, you are not my type." Devin, heartbreakingly sincere, tells her that she just needs her to come along, this is a new experience and she needs a friend. Julie agrees, and then jokes that she wants to see what Devin's type is like.
Tami's in a meeting with the superintendent, telling him that they need to focus all their attention and funds right now on the library. The superintendent tells her that he's all tapped out and Tami reminds him that he promised last year that this was the year of the library (just in time for the demise of print! American Public Schools: always on the cusp!). He tells her that people are not happy about the Luke Cafferty situation and Tami does that thing she does so, so very well: she just restates the absurd thing someone just said to her right back at them (this is what I would call the Sarah Palin defense; no embellishment necessary): "So what you're saying is that because I made sure Luke was going the correct school for his district, that we may not get our library? Well that seems like a shame." The superintendent tells her that the football program brings in a lot of money, which is drying up, and so what she did actually cost the school any chance they had to improve the library. Cut to Tami stomping out to her car in the parking lot, which she finds -- with a gasp -- defaced with spraypainted "Panther Hater" across the hood.
Commercials. Taylor household. Traub and Taylor are at the kitchen table with phones and phone books. Traub strikes out with the first person he tries to call. Tami comes in and asks what they're doing. They're looking up former Lions players to garner some support. Traub apple polishes and tells her that her husband had the inspired idea to make the pep rally sort of like a homecoming. Tami waves Eric into the kitchen and tells him that if he wants to do this, he needs food. "If you want to bring people in, you need food, just like we've always done." Coach plays dumb and asks if she's offering to cook dinner. Tami says "Oh lordy, well perhaps I am, yep, perhaps I am, hun." They kiss and Traub inserts himself into their business: "That's real cute." Tami's on her way out-- because she must bring her awesome to the people-- and Julie comes in and introduces herself to Traub.
Becky comes home to find her mother engaged in a sordid orgy. No, not really. She comes home to find a stack of twenties and a note telling her to buy something fabulous for herself. Becky rushes outside to ba
ng on Tim's door (foreshadowing?!). She tearfully asks if she can borrow Tim's truck. Tim tells her no, she doesn't even have her license. She gives him the furrowed brow and turns around just slow enough to elicit his concern. He asks her what's wrong and she cries that her mom blew her off again.
Matt and Julie are playing Scrabble and joking around on the Taylors' back patio. Matt is surprised there's a gay bar in Dillon and Julie clarifies that it is outside of Dillon. Julie points out that "Mr. Matthew, Z-A is not a word!" Matt tries to claim that it is vernacular for "pizza" and then wants to know what she's going to do in a gay bar. She says she'll dance and, you know, make out with some chicks. Matt busts into a huge grin and says that he KNEW she wanted to experiment! She tells him she's just going to support Devin and he mentions that he's going hunting with Riggins this weekend. Julie is taken aback and asks him why he's doing that-- going to "shoot some poor, defenseless animals." Matt stutters, "well, uh, to eat" but Julie's on a roll, getting shriller the more self-righteous she gets: "You are so much better than that! It's disgusting!" and so on. Matt jumps back in and tells her to "Hold on. Hold. The. Phone." which makes me want to put him in my pocket to Devin. He says that he lives in Dillon and people who live in Dillon go hunting and shoot animals. Julie points out that she lives in Dillon and she doesn't go hunting and Matt mutters, "Well you won't live in Dillon for long." Julie gets quiet and then asks if this is about her college applications, and Matt tells her it's not, it's not even about her: "Why do you think everything's about you?" And there you have a perfectly rendered downward argumentative spiral between two youngsters. The teasing and joking so quickly turns into hurting. Effing teens.
Tim leans over with his hands on his knees surrounded by polyester pageant gowns. And that is one of my favorite sentences I have ever written. Becky flips through the racks, "No, no, no, no." She thinks all of it "says runner up." Tim tells her that he's sure her mom wanted to be there for this, but Becky snarks that she probably picked up some guy. Tim tells her to go easy on her mom but Becky snaps that every time something important comes up her mom isn't there. Tim tries to pause her tirade by saying "Hey, look, this one's pretty!" She looks at the dress and asks "You think that's pretty?" and then "Is that a portrait neckline?" Tim inquiringly says "Yes?" and she slumps off to the couch in the middle of the shop saying that this is a dumb idea, he doesn't know what he's talking about. Tim insists that they're staying: "What's that saying? The dress finds you?" His hair is raked back from his forehead, probably blown back by the force of her raging hormones. He sits down to her on the couch and quietly says he's going to tell her a secret. Pause. "My mother never took me shopping for a pageant gown. And because of that, I never placed at Miss Texas. That's why I got into football." She starts to smile, and he puts his arm around her. He is so clearly in Dad/older brother mode with her-- but she is so clearly kind of confusedly romantically attracted by this mode.
Landry pulls up in front of Jess's dad's barbeque place to pick up the girls, who look hot. Three African-American girls get in the backseat, one of them remarking, "Y'all, look at his shirt!" They ask what music is playing and he tries to sell them on this local band called Crucifictorius. Jess pops into the front seat, looking really pretty, which Landry remarks. With little ado, she switches the radio station to hip-hop and one of the girls in the backseat reaches toward Landry's head telling the others to "Feel his hair! It's like grass!" And right there-- in twenty seconds-- you just got enough fodder to fuel an entire race studies textbook. What is so fantastic here is that young people really can be flexible and moldable. Their parents might not be able to hang out with each other and even try to explain such a fact in neutral terms like "We just like different things" but kids-- you just throw them together-- and they're like-- "DUDE your hair is weird!" Or, "white boys are so weird how they try to be 'indie' like that." And it isn't all overdetermined, but rather just like finding out about each other. And other shows often do this so poorly, like how on Glee last night, Quinn and Mercedes found out that being a pregnant teen is just like being black (or overweight, the analogy was totally unclear), which is like "NO, it's not the same." This FNL scene is so great because it isn't striving to make some Oscar-bait racially sensitive bullshit "We're all the same underneath" point, but rather just showing how kids act when they get thrown together.
Cut to the party, mainly attended by black kids. Jess goes to refill her drink when Vince sidles up to her and tells her how good she looks. Jess isn't interested and tells him that she sees how he treats girls like they're disposable. Vince tells her that he only treats girls the way they let themselves be treated (Oh, Vince, no you did NOT just say that!) and maybe he's been talking to the wrong girls. He thinks she can't even front that she doesn't think about him, but she retorts that he wishes she thought about him. "I have a boyfriend." She winds back through the crowd with Vince watching as she rejoins Landry who's goofing off on the dance floor. She lets him dance behind her while she's looking back toward Vince. Bad Gold Chain kid comes out of nowhere and is like "She's with that weird Opie-lookin' kid from practice?!"
Coach and Buddy sit in a bar, Buddy bemoaning how he's no longer a Panther and he feels ill about it. Buddy apologizes to Coach for being part of the series of events that led to Coach also being a "former" Panther. Coach invites Buddy to join him and Tami for dinner with some former Lions players, but Buddy tells Eric that you can't fake boosterism. "It comes from the heart, that's the beauty of it." Less beautiful is the return of a truly Sweaty Buddy Garrity. Damn, that bar needs some air conditioning!
Outside of school, Vince tells Landry that he was surprised to see him at the party and Landry babbles about how it was fun even though someone spilled something on his shoes. Vince keeps fishing, asking Landry if he had a good time with Jess. Landry gets the gist of what Vince is asking and says that he was just her ride. Vince tells him that Jess said Landry was her boyfriend; Landry is horri-pleased-fused at this news and tells Vince that that is news to him. Vince kind of threateningly asks, "You're not lying to me, are you?" and Landry assures him that he knows nothing of this boyfriend business. Vince pats him on the shoulder and tells him he's good. As Vince leaves, Landry calls out, like a special kid, "OKAY!"
Coach walks into the Merriweather BBQ restaurant. Jess's dad asks him what it'll be. Coach asks if he is by any chance Virgil Merriweather, state championship quarterback, East Dillon Lions. Virgil, no recognition: "What'll it be." Coach orders some brisket and introduces himself. Virgil: "Eight fifty." Coach keeps trying, asking whether he rents the place out for events ever. Virgil: "No." Jess has appeared in the background, eavesdropping while sweeping. Coach then invites Virgil over for dinner with some other former Lions and Virgil cuts him off: "Nope." But Coach doesn't give up, telling Virgil that his kids could really use some words from a guy like him. Virgil just tells Coach that his brisket will be out in a few.
J.D. is driving Luke and some other rich kids around in his fancy S.U.V. They're listening to rap music and bitching about how Luke's wallet is still missing and Luke isn't doing anything to get it back. J.D. smarms that he knows East Dillon is like a prison, but he never thought Luke would become someone's bitch. Conveniently, they drive right past Vince walking on the side of the road. Luke tells J.D. to stop the car, and gets out. Vince shit talks a bit until Luke reaches out and knocks the paper plate out of his hands and Luke snaps into action and punches the shit out of Luke. They're on the ground grappling for a while when a police siren sounds and the S.U.V. boys all run back to the car and take off. Vince and Luke keep going at it (in front of a shack-y taqueria -- making everyone wonder once again where the Latinos are on this show about TEXAS) until the policemen drag them apart.
Commercials. The Taylors. Three black ex-football players are at the table. Tami makes conversation with Deacon about how long he's been at Bethel Baptist, when Deacon cuts the shit and asks Coach why they are there. The man to him moans that he's just trying to enjoy his meal, but Coach -- with his "trust me, I've got this" hair on his head-- tells him that it's a good question. He starts to explain that he's been coaching at the school, which he imagines they think of as their high school, and that he's facing a lot of challenges and problems. Deacon doesn't let him go any further than that and tells Coach that with all due respect, "people from your part of town pretty frequently tell us about our problems." PREACH! He gives us all a quick lesson in how those problems came about: in the 80s, the west side got all the money, malls, and development, while the east side got forgotten. He tells Coach that he's going to pass on the lecture about their problems right now. Tami and Eric stare wide-eyed for a moment before Tami starts trying to smooth things over: "I'm sure nobody needs a lecture here!" she smiles. She tells them all she wanted was to get to know them and have them know her husband and how much he loves football and those kids. Coach just says that it's been hard playing football when nobody's in the stands to appreciate the effort. Deacon cracks, "You like losing with everybody watching?" and Coach tells him that that's what they're trying to fix. The doorbell rings, and moments after Tami goes to answer it, Eric realizes that it's Buddy Garrity. This does not seem good, right? Buddy Garrity? Symbol of white privilege? You see all that flit across Eric's face for a moment before one of the guests exclaims, "Is that Buddy Garrity?!?!" Buddy comes in to cheers all around; the former East Dillon players recall him fondly -- nobody could hit harder than Buddy Garrity! -- and they all clasp hands and greet heartily. Tami codes a comment to her husband, "Hunny, Buddy Garrity is here!" like "can you believe this shit?" and Eric is like, "I surely cannot!"
At Steers, the kind of sparsely populated gay bar outside of Dillon. I have been to my share of small town gay bars, having lived in a few small towns in my time, and they're getting this one just right. The not-full space, the slightly 80s vibe of the blue "nightclub" light, the patrons of all ages (when there's only one in town, oldsters and youngsters alike have to use it). Julie and Devin are sitting at the bar drinking sodas. Julie asks Devin if this is what she expected. Devin says she doesn't really know, but she does really like the lighting in there. Heh. Devin wonders aloud, and adorably, how anyone ever meets anyone. Julie tells her that she's asking the wrong person, which surprised Devin, since Julie's "got the forever boyfriend, though." Julie starts blabbering about her hetero-problems with Matt, how they're always snapping at each other, blah blah blah, and ten seconds in you can see Devin tune out because she's locked eyes with a dark brown bangs girl across the way. I really love when gay people tune out hetero people's problems; it's always one of my favorite parts of any given episode of The Real World, when whatever vapid straight girl thinks her new bestie gayboy friend cares a lick about the problems she's having with some flip-flops-and-jeans-wearing mofo but you can see the gayboy like mentally plucking his eyebrows as she goes on and on. Julie realizes that Devin's tuned out and turns to see what she's looking at. Devin: "Don't look!" Julie: "That's your type?!" Devin gets up to go to the bathroom, leaving Julie there on her own. Julie turns around at the sound of a voice behind her-- which on first viewing sounded like a harassing one saying "Almost a boy, huh?" like about Devin, but which on subsequent viewings I really don't think that's what happened -- but anyway Julie turns around -- and way to bury the headline Drunken Bee -- and sees Traub behind her playing pool. She just waves at him, because to her, it's no biggie, he's gay, straight, whatever, but Traub nearly goes white underneath his football field tan, turns on his heel and walks away. Oh, Traub! You just go so much more interesting! And your enthusiasm! Is gay enthusiasm, which is not nearly so annoying as apple polishing enthusiasm!
Coach cuddles up with a stuffed bear behind his head on the couch, sleepily telling Tami that he meant to get back up and help with the dishes but he got stuck to the couch. Oh no, mister. If she did the cooking, you do the cleaning! Isn't that, like the third commandment or something? How else do relationships last? This is probably why Al and Tipper have broken up!! Anyhow, Tami comes over and they get cozy on the couch together loving on each other and basking in the success of their near-miss of a dinner party. Coach sweetly tells Tami that she is good at what she does, "You wear a lot of hats," which is something she probably needs to hear about now. The phone rings and Coach picks it up with the always worrisome immediate "Yes, sir?"
Cut to the police station where an officer tells Coach that "the white kid" can go because he doesn't have a record, but "the black kid" is going to juvie. Coach is like "His name is Vince" and tells the officer that he'll vouch for Vince being a good kid, albeit one prone to mistakes. The officer says that Vince has used up his mistakes but lets Coach in to go talk with them. Coach enters the room to the boys both talking about how they can explain. Coach tells them to "Shhhh. Just listen." And then he tells the boys that they are at a crossroads. Luke is going to admit that everything is his fault-- Luke starts to protest but Coach immediately shuts him up. Then he tells Vince that he is going to cut the tough guy crap. They are both going to say exactly what Coach tells them to, and they are going to fix this. American pragmatism at work! Work with what you've got, not with moral absolutes! I can get behind that shit.
Cut to the boys in the back of Coach's SUV. Coach pulls over in some desolate industrial part of town and tells the kids that they get one chance in life. "You either take advantage of it, or you piss it away. You do the latter and you're going to regret it the rest of your lives. Get out. Get out of the car." They obey and he pulls off. The boys are like "Uh, okay" and start wandering. Luke turns Vince around to go the right direction; they walk to each other, staring straight ahead. Vince simply says "Thanks" to Luke and then hands him his wallet.
Commercials. Jess and her three little brothers leave the house, Jess encouraging the boys to "Go, go!" as they take off down the road. They run down to the restaurant, where they are greeted by their father holding out their lunches for the day. Barbeque for lunch every day?! I would think I'd died and gone to heaven. Jess and her dad talk logistics about getting the boys to and from Pop Warner. Her dad shoos her off, but Jess tells her father that she overheard Coach Taylor talking to him the other day. Her dad tells her this is none of her business, but she reminds him that she loves football, all the boys love football, Darius loves it so much that he throws up from nerves before his games. Uh, okay. She tells him that it's fine that it's not her father's thing anymore, but that it's still "in us." He doesn't want to hear it, but all she is asking is if they can hold the pep rally there at the restaurant. He tells her to go on to school and she "Yes, sirs" him with disappointment.
Tim and Matt are hunting, apparently in my tiny backyard in Brooklyn. The setting is really not screaming "wilderness" to me. Tim is whispering and talking about light feet and Matt excitedly asking what he thinks they're going to get when Matt drops to his knees and fires two shots. Tim yells at him to stop and scream-asks what it was. Matt gets up and stutters that he doesn't know what he was shooting at and Tim grabs the gun away from him: "No gun! No gun!"
Tami is driving, listening to football radio again, where Slammin' Sammy declares the show the "Slammin' Tami" show today. Lots of callers complaining and calling for her resignation. She pulls the car over and starts yelling at the radio, "C'mon y'all! I just did what was right! I'm sorry I ruined football for everybody!" She gets out of the car and stalks off with purpose, with quite a scowl on her face. Damn, though, if she could see the BODY that her hair has as it bounces up and down while she walks, she probably wouldn't be scowling so hard. The camera pulls away and shows that she's stopped at Lamme's Candies shop and we hear, in voiceover, Tami saying that she needs some chocolate. I guess I can't begrudge her a brief Cathy moment.
Landry approaches Jess at her locker and asks if he's her boyfriend, because Vince told Landry that Jess said....oh, you know the drill. She says she only told Vince that she had a boyfriend, not that it was Landry. So, that's all settled. And here is the perfect place to use that old phrase: "Not."
Matt and Tim are shooting the shit around the campfire. Tim tells Matt what college was like: "7 a.m. mandatory wake-ups. Then these fantastic one-on-ones with a robotic coach who tells you what you're doing wrong every single day. Nothing like Coach Taylor." Aw. But then he goes on to talk about how it was boring and he had a curfew every night. Dude, was this college, or was this a work camp? I suddenly feel as if my college experience was rather... carefree in comparison. I guess the hard work is being done by... the football players? Matt asks Tim if he misses Lyla and Tim tries to cover by saying he thinks they had different paths. Matt translates: "So that means yeah?" Tim: "Yep." Matt says for himself, Dillon isn't as bad as he thought it would be, he's spending time with his grandmothers, he's making more money delivering pizzas than he used to at the Alamo Freeze. Tim says "So basically you stayed in Dillon because of Jules?" and Matt confesses that's true, and now that she's applying to colleges -- which he knew would happen but didn't realize that every place she'd apply would be on the other side of the country. And now he's been getting mad at her for no reason, like he resents her, but she never asked him to stay, he made that decision. Oof, you guys. And if this glimpse into young adulthood isn't terrifying and heartwrenching enough, Matt brings it home by raising his beer to Tim: "Well. Texas forever, right?" God, there are just so many dreams in the world waiting to be crushed.
Commercials. Coach, Tami, and Grace, bedecked in red, get out of the car, Coach exposit-wondering why "he changed his mind." Tami thinks it's going to be a great pep rally, and they all walk over to Ray's Barb B-Q where lots of Lions players and families and fans are milling about listening to a band play, watching the dance team -- which Jess is on-- and just generally hanging out in that positive community way all us big city folks envy. Landry watches Jess dance longingly. Julie approaches Traub and says "Hey!" He greets her warmly and wonders where her brisket is. She tells him she doesn't eat meat, and then says that she just wanted to tell him that she isn't going to tell anybody about the other night. And he looks her straight in the eyes and says "Tell anybody what?" Julie is speechless for a moment until her father gets on the mike and introduces the state champion Lions old-timers, who march in wearing their old jerseys to lots of applause while Virgil looks on from the back of the crowd. Deacon leads them all in a prayer, in which he talks about how a group of Lions is a pride and they stand there before God as his pride, and they all need pride, and what do we have here? What do we have here? PRIDE! Everyone shouts. And somehow the prayer turned into a chant, which is actually one of the scarier possibilities with how prayer might work; that it turns from a personal conversation into a militaristic mob-type thing. Oh well. The scene is sweet, though, of course, because these are all relatively decent people, which is how I like to think of the world.
Landry helps Jess clean up later in the kitchen. She's fussing around when he just approaches her, grabs the side of her head and kisses her. Like really kisses her. Then he says "We're not dating right?" and she, dazed and confused, agrees, "Definitely... not." He walks out, leaving her wanting more. Landry Clark! You devil! You've learned how to get with the ladies! Meanwhile, Jose Gonzalez's cover of that Massive Attack song "Teardrop" has started in the background, and I nearly instinctively get into protective fetal position. Something about melodic guitar-picking and the last two minutes of the show make me think something absolutely devastating this way comes.
We cut to Tim and Matt driving home at twilight, Matt looking pensively out the window, probably -- if he is anything like I was as a teen -- imagining that his life is set to a Jose Gonzalez song. Then cut to Grandma Saracen and Matt's mom Shelby in Grandma's house. Shel
by is cleaning out the fridge for Grandma, who is sitting in her rocking chair, when there is a knock at the door. Shelby opens the door to find two soldiers who greet her, "Mrs. Saracen." And part of me wonders if there is a literary term for this, when the very existence of something like this -- two men in uniform at your door -- communicates everything you need to know. You know, like synecdoche? Or metonymy? One thing standing for another thing? But really, the only term we need to know is sorrow, or pain, or heartbreak, because that's what goes down on the screen right in front of us. The men's explanation is muted, the camera catches Grandma at first from behind, her head blurred but shaking back and forth, but then from the front, just the quickest glimpse of her on the bottom left of your television screen, in her rocking chair, her face crumpled and hurt, hurt, hurt like a wounded animal. Matt and Tim pull up in Tim's truck, in front of the Taylors'. Matt walks up to the front door and knocks on the door. Julie answers and Matt, looking down, immediately starts to apologize for stopping by unannounced. But he looks up and is greeted by Julie's face, streaked with tears. She asks, "Have you talked to your mom?" Matt thinks something happened with Grandma, but Julie says "I'm sorry. It's your dad. He was killed." Matt's eyes go blank, his mouth sort of searches for some kind of shape to take, and Julie leans forward to embrace him. His face, above her left shoulder, is blank.
Once again, this show: 275. Me, not crying: 0.
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