Comments on: Friday Night Lights: “The Giving Tree”

By: kgeltemeyer

kgeltemeyer — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:16:04 +0000

That Tim Riggins is sort of the hero of all time this season. Damn. And the visual of Julie and Tyra together always makes me laugh, even while I love it that Julie always tells her the truth. Ditto Tami — Jesus that was an amazing scene, just spot on dialogue that didn't scream DIALOGUE. Amazing.

By: coyotesqrl

coyotesqrl — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 06:03:56 +0000

Not rude at all. I wrote that; glad you liked it.

Nice catch on that shot of the horizon. I forget how integral the Texas landscape is to the show, almost like another character.

By: mj

mj — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 05:50:02 +0000

Sorry if this sounds horribly rude but did you actually write the first paragraph of your review or is that quoted from somewhere? It's profound and I really enjoyed reading it. Kind of reminded me of a Coach T speech, actually. The episode was top-notch. Like in the generally disliked "Keeping Up Appearances" Episode earlier this season, this ep played strongly to a theme – "The Giving Tree". I liked the way the theme kept bobbing up including Coach deliberately giving himself up for the team to wake up the refs. I completely agree with you on the tantrum – it was a very deliberate strategy on the part of Coach and I thought it didn't actually have that much to do with his feelings about Matt and Julie. Those feelings might have provided motivation for getting to the level of rage that he demonstrated, but from the subsequent bar scene it just doesn't seem like he his loss of control was attributable to an emotional disarray about what he discovered at the Saracen household during the week. A few small but beautiful moments:
- Julie's cheesy grin while Tyra used her to pitch Landry's band to the bar manager.
- Coach sitting rigidly on the edge of the bed, clearly disturbed about how he would break the news to his wife.
- the quiver in Tami's voice as she's about to hug Julie.
- Saracen's tilted head and yes-sirs at the grill-cleaning.
- Landry's snippet of a smile as he's closing the door after Tyra's visit.
- The shot of Tyra with that gorgeous tree and the Texas horizon behind her as Landry leaves her house.
- Buddy's self-proclaimed "world of hurt".
- Lyla's reaction to her father blaming her mother (I thought that was the one very strong note in Minka's performance)
- Riggins calling McCoy by his name rather than by "1-2".
Of course, there are SO many more, especially with Coach.

By: youcandoit

youcandoit — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 02:05:30 +0000

I had such high hopes that Minka Kelly had finally figured out this acting thing. She seemed like she was getting better for a while. But alas, hopes dashed.

By: Mike Olbinski

Mike Olbinski — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:31:00 +0000

Loved the episode. Thought the scene between Julie and Mrs. Taylor was brilliant…well done. They always handle those kinds of big time talks or conversations with such high quality.

Only downer for me was the end and the other coach who called "3" plays and somehow was the savior for the team. A bit contrived for me.