Writer: Kerry Ehrin
Director: Jason Katims
Grade: A-
I loved that they opened with the game. They’ve done it before, and it really shakes up the structure and makes the beginning of the episode feel like the climax.
While it was nice of Coach to let Matt get that winning touchdown, it was obvious from the beginning that Matt wouldn’t be fooled by the gesture. But as long as Coach Taylor is actually right that McCoy will win games that Matt can’t, I think he made the right call. He needed to try with Matt, and as a viewer, I needed to see him try, but in the end, it’s not fair to sacrifice the dreams of the entire team (and the town of Dillon) for the sake of one player, no matter how awesome he is in the personal sense.
J.D. McCoy is still little more than a foil for Matt, but at least he’s never been rude. He was sincere in congratulating Matt after the game, and he seems to take no malicious joy from usurping Matt’s position as QB 1. I have a feeling that any nasty personal conflict between those two is going to have more to do with Matt's bruised ego and Daddy McCoy being a manipulative bully.
I still love Matt’s mom, but she’s suffering from the same “Saint Shelby” characterization element that sometimes plagues her son. I’m waiting for a reason to hate this woman… My current spec is that she has another child back in Oklahoma, meaning she abandoned this child to go help the one she abandoned years ago. It’s kind of drama for drama’s sake, but she can’t stay this perfect, can she? Because don’t get me wrong, she screwed up royally in the past, but right now, she’s doing everything within her power to make up for her mistakes.
I couldn’t care less about Julie and her stupid little stamp-sized tattoo. I did want to smack Tami for flipping out about Julie marring her “beautiful, beautiful body.” What is it with tattoos being seen as a sign of impending doom on this show? Are they really that bad?
Also, because it’s funny, Tim overhears Buddy’s idea of a sales pitch to entice morons to buy his house, complete with instruction to the realtor to “Say it just like that.” Tim somehow buys the line himself (?!!!) and manages to convince three other morons by parroting not only Buddy’s words, but his diction, too? Bwah!
Jason’s speech to Buddy to convince him to let them buy the house seemed very moving at first, but when I remembered Jason’s earlier comment about playing the “crippled town football star” card to get the bank loan, it became a little less touching and a little more ominous. I think what he did was fine, in this context, but I’m curious as to whether the writers will take him further down this road.
Tyra’s new guy Cash may very well be a pill-popping bad influence, but he does care about her. He remembered to ask about her meeting with Tami, for one thing. And though he got her to skip school (bad!), he did so to show her a newborn horse (aw!). I’m sure he’s a playboy, and hell, he may have even used the baby horse move on other girls, but that shouldn’t have to mean he doesn’t care for her.
I'm really loving this season so far--what a vast improvement over Season 2.
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