Friday Night Lights: “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”
13 February 2009
by R.A. Porter
It’s when all the scared rats start running away from a sinking market that the true entrepreneurs come in. The true visionaries.
The Smash Williams Farewell Tour complete, it’s time for Six to take his lap around Dillon. And just like Smash, the start of his story places him on a road out of town. I don’t imagine this arc ending with an ebullient Jason Street, relishing a moment of simple pleasure with his friends before heading off on his life’s journey. Instead I imagine him quietly saying his goodbyes – to family, coach, and Lyla – before following Erin and his baby east.
That’s always the way with Street, who’s been given precious few moments of true joy on FNL. He’s been on his back, literally, since the end of the pilot and the writers have never let him off the mat for more than the briefest of moments. Think back on Jason Street’s highlights: Texas forever, but his best friend and girlfriend were cheating on him; kicking ass at the quad rubgy trials, only to be passed over; winning state, from the sidelines. Always bittersweet, always conditional.
We should be thankful the writers don’t seem intent on killing him off as a final, sad coda.
They do the next best thing: partner him with the Riggins boys.
I would have thought seeing Tim sway his idiot brother by parroting Buddy’s smooth line of bull about entrepreneurs would have made Jason and Herc rethink their own decision to flip Buddy’s house, but I guess that line about visionaries really was a powerful motivator.
The return of Tim’s old roommate was a welcome surprise. I was sure it was with the police that Tim and Billy were going to have their problems. Instead, now I expect a bit of good old Texas violence at Billy’s wedding. That, or Herc’s buddy was really an undercover cop, but then I think he’d have made his arrests instead of handing over $20K. Unless – and this is *really* funny to contemplate – he thinks they can lead him to bigger fish.
It wasn’t just Tim and Buddy selling tonight, though. Without Jason’s rousing speech to Buddy, that deal wouldn’t have happened. Something those boys are really going to wish for when they pour good money after bad in this crappy economy.
Jason’s ups and downs in the world of high finance, baby-daddyhood, and love notwithstanding, my heart – as usual – was with Matt tonight. If Zach Gilford doesn’t become a star after he exits FNL, I’ll take it as a personal affront.
Things are tough for Matt all around. On the homefront, he’s got his moms trying to worm her way back into his life. It’s too hard to watch, knowing it’s all going to blow up catastrophically at some point1 when moms turns out to be, I don’t know, dating Tim’s old roommate. Or a drug mule. Or looking to steal money from Lorraine’s mattress. Something. But he doesn’t see it coming.
Matt’s actually a little happy having someone at home he can talk to about his problems on the team, and it’s nice to see him open up to someone without the tentativeness he normally displays. This isn’t like talking to Julie or Landry or anyone else. His mother can be an ever-supportive ear for his complaints. And he needs that now.
In one of the dumber moves Coach has made,2 moving JD McCoy to the starting position alienates his field general, confuses the players who’ve trusted Matt’s guiding hand on the rudder for three years, and casts his lot with a boy just hitting puberty. I get that he’s better. I see that he’s taller, and everyone has been *telling* me he’s the best damn high school quarterback of all time. And anyone who thinks a strong arm and constant paternal influence are all it takes to succeed at quarterback is advised to look at the cautionary tale of Todd Marinovich. Matt Saracen? His dad didn’t push him. His dad didn’t believe in him. Matt Saracen barely believed in himself, but through hard work, dedication, and the efforts of Coach Taylor became a fine, scrappy leader. JD has proved nothing but raw skill, and that’s not in great enough abundance to warrant this errant coaching move.
But goddamn it all if Matt’s not going to stick it out. He’ll sit and stew and practice and study and be ready to step in when JD’s inevitable stumble comes.
Just like Landry’s going to catch Tyra when her rodeo clown star bucks her off with his *shocking* drug addiction. Remember last week, I was happy Tyra was making a stupid choice again because it was real? Damn, but I hate watching people make stupid choices.
A few other thoughts:
- Lyla had zero lines tonight. She’s a series regular and still appeared on camera for one scene, so I don’t know how much money, if any, that actually saved.
- Herc! There can NOT be enough Kevin Rankin. I want someone to give him his own show, and I mean soon. Maybe Judd Apatow can slum on HBO for a while and give us a show about Lucien as an unappreciated middle manager.
- The Duke Boys. They really have gotten themselves into a heap of trouble this time.
- Who thought Tami was going to show Julie the little tattoo she got on her backside in high school when she pulled that car over? Just me? Must just be that massive crush I’ve got on Connie Britton.
- How damn inept *are* the Dillon Panthers? I mean, it doesn’t matter who the damn QB is. You learn your plays and when they get called in the huddle you run them. Just like that. No figuring out where to stand or where to run. It’s actually pretty damn easy.
- So, Tim hangs with Street and Herc. Does Lyla come by too? How awkward is that?
What did everyone else think?
- As much as Jason Street is the writers’ whipping boy, Matt Saracen is the broad shoulders on which they just keep piling crap. But he at least gets occasional moments of unfettered joy. [↩]
- I mean, besides having a defense as porous as the Maginot Line. [↩]
posted by R.A. Porter in → Reviews
February 18th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
I'm agreed that it was a stupid, dumbass move for Coach to make JD QB1. The kid needs to wait his freaking turn, for one thing – Saracen has seniority (literally) and experience, which seems like it would be more important than raw, untested talent. The kid is also tiny and scrawny, and he's a freaking freshman, right? He doesn't need that kind of pressure right now, and the team doesn't need a new leader and a totally new approach. Coach said something I think it was last episode about how it was his responsibility to make sure that JD NOT get pushed too hard too soon, and I think that he made the wrong call here. He caved to his own overwhelming pressures, and I think that it is gonna blow up in his face.
I'm still holding out hope that Matt's mom has decent motivations. It may just be that I'm totally in love with that actress, but I really like their dynamic and their tentative trust. I'm sure that it won't be a totally smooth road, but she would be an excellent addition to the cast and I'd love to see further bonding. In terms of the big picture, its interesting to contrast the parental situations with Matt and JD. Matt has had absentee parents, and has been taking care of himself and making his own decisions, and "figuring things out" (wasn't that heartbreaking when he told her "I needed your help ten years ago. I needed it 5 years ago. I don't need it anymore, I've got it figured out now"), with nobody to believe in him. JD obviously has never made a decision for himself in his life, with parents (or at least a father) who are overbearing and controlling in an apparantly tyrannical way – basically the opposite extreme (although Matt's dad is no peach either – but he's not around). They believe in JD, and they push him to achieve, but Matt is the one who has earned a backbone for himself. I'd love to see Matt being strengthened even further by a real relationship with a supportive parent, while JD goes through a (seemingly inevitable?) downward spiral with no real support network and no real sense of self. Or, alternatively, I guess Matt's existing self-reliance would keep him afloat if his mom flakes out again, whereas JD's lack of self reliance hinders his handling of the new pressures. . .
Herc is indeed awesome, I hear that he's doing a guest spot on Lost at some point in the next few weeks. Yay! I'm sure that Jason is so totally headed out east too, I'll be sad to see him go but it makes sense, and would be a good end to his story arc – letting him sacrifice his Dillon life to step up and have a fresh start, getting to be the father that he wants to be. Although I couldn't help (based on my own line of work) wanting to give Jason some legal advice about how he could prevent the removal of his child from the state. . .
February 18th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Nice point, about the strong contrast between Matt building himself up as a man and JD having his every decision made for him.
February 18th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Amen. I'm curious to see if they'll go the Hollywood route with the Matt/JD storyline (have JD crash & burn and reinstate Matt), or if they go the Dillon route and let JD succeed. I think it'll be almost harder on Coach if it's the latter.
I didn't watch this one very closely, so it's possible I missed the part where Coach made the decision, or was it just a sudden flip-flop from the previous week, with no explanation?
February 18th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
The booster pressure, and even pressure from Mack, finally got to him and he relented about installing the spread offense for half the downs. Once that was in place, he needed a QB like JD. It's a stunt offense, to switch back and forth like that and coach knows it.
February 18th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
I think it was the pressure from the other coaches that finally shook him toward a decision. He indicated his intention to continue the quarterback-switching, and they all told him that that's over, and they're past that now, and that JD is the future of the team. So Coach joined the bandwagon. I can see why he made that decision, I just hopes that it bites him in the ass down the line.
March 22nd, 2009 at 5:21 pm
I don’t usually comment on blog posts… but this was a good post.. keep up the good work