Friday Night Lights, 2x07, "Pantherama!"

The quality of Friday Night Lights continues to run all over the place. Some moments are genuinely poignant and effective, but there are also plenty of giant WTF moments.

When Tim Riggins had a brief affair with an older woman last season, it worked. For one thing, we got to see Tim with his shirt off, and that's definitely better than a poke in the eye, right? But the storyline also showed us a surprisingly kind, nurturing side of Tim and even avoided villainizing Jackie. And the situation seemed plausible. It happens. We hear about it on the news, and it may be more common than we like to think.

Now, not only is Matt Saracen apparently embarking on an affair with his grandmother’s adult live-in nurse, but Julie’s new Journalism teacher is being presented as a sexually predatory adult, as well—in the same episode! I’m assuming they’re trying to work with a theme about trustworthy adults versus predatory adults, and maybe it will actually play out beautifully if the show is able to run a full season (barring cancellation or a never-ending writer’s strike), but right now, it feels like a re-hash of something we’ve already seen, for the purpose of titillation as opposed to character study. I’m going to guess, or at least hope, that Julie’s teacher isn’t as predatory as he seems, though. He may be completely clueless, or he may be using her crush on him to soften her up to his educational journalism influence. Or something. That’s still kind of fucked up, but not as fucked up as trying to get into a 16-year-old girl’s pants.

Hightlights:

When Santiago was first introduced, I had him pegged as a sort of “Tim Riggins substitute” for Lyla. He’s troubled, he’s cute in the same sullen, full-lipped, big-eyed way that Tim is, and Lyla even offered him a ride, which is exactly how her fling with Tim began. I still wasn’t expecting to actually see the kid get shoved into the Dillon Panthers right after Tim was kicked off the team, though. But Santiago is surprisingly likable. We already know that he can become violent, and yet he seems sincere, quiet, and gentle. Also, Benny Ciaramello is really working that sweet, sad face.

Santiago may also be a way of exploring Buddy Garrity’s character in a way that they couldn’t do with any of the other already-established kids. When he told Tami that he honestly wanted to help the kid out, I was surprised to find that I actually believed him. He seemed as surprised as I was, like he was figuring out his own emotions as he spoke, rather than just feeding Tami his usual BS. Maybe Santiago will help to transition Buddy from a predatory, manipulative adult into a trustworthy adult?

Tim going to see the creepy ferret guy was also awesomely, absurdly random. I felt like I'd fallen into a David Lynch movie or something. Definitely a WTF moment, but a fun one this time.

Best quote of the episode:

Coach Taylor: ‘Athletic director and football coach Eric Taylor had no comment.’ She asked me through the bathroom door—what am I supposed to do? I was busy!

Mission Statement

I've found myself participating in some very detailed discussions about television shows (mostly at Television Without Pity) over the past couple of years, but you can only make your posts so long on a message board without looking like a pompous ass, so I'm going to post some of my pompous assery here.

I've enjoyed every single episode of NBC's new series Chuck, and for such a sweet, fluffy show, it's much more interesting than it has any right to be. If it were possible to marry a television show and still be considered sane, I just might do it. A large portion of my analysis (i.e. rambling) will probably be focused on this particular show.

I also enjoy Friday Night Lights, even though the quality has taken a bit of a nosedive this season.

Same goes for Supernatural, although I always thought the writing was generally mediocre and enjoyed the show more for the acting and the surprisingly interesting brotherly relationship. That, and the absence of 'shipping...

I watch a few other shows and may comment on those, too. The same goes for film and music. I used to enjoy reading, until I decided to go back to school... I guess I still enjoy reading when I have a choice in the matter, but my reading choices won't be my own until summer '08. Blech.

Finally, I created this blog because I've been a college student for 6 years, which means 6 years of writing about what other people tell me to write about. What I feel like writing about is television, so this is my attempt to, y'know, write about something I actually enjoy. I fully expect that the only person who will ever read this is... me. Because I'm just lame like that.