Writer: Brent Fletcher
Director: Chris Eyre
Grade: A-
This was far from being a bad episode, but it wasn’t particularly interesting, either, at least for me. I generally don’t feel like there are “filler episodes” on this show the way I would in a genre show, but still, this felt a bit filler-esque.
Part of that is probably because I find Landry’s band storyline boring, nor did I care about the story of a football player I’ve never even seen before (or at least not in a fore-grounded way). If that particular football player begins to ease into the show after this, then I will certainly admire what they’re doing, which is tie up the old characters’ stories while introducing new characters.
The storyline between Buddy and Lyla was very sweet (I’m still not hating her character, which feels a little strange). Still, as much as I love Buddy and the fact that they were able to make him sympathetic even as he made mistakes with his children, and as nice as it is to see Lyla’s love for him, I have no idea what they’re actually doing with Lyla.
It’s great that I don’t hate her, but she’s basically gone from being a cheerleader for the Panthers to being a cheerleader for everyone else in her life—Tim, Buddy, even Jason in this episode. I like that symbolism, but unless she’s going to take over Tami’s old guidance counselor job, I’m not sure what it means for her future. What is she doing for herself? What does she do all day when she’s not with Tim or her dad? Does she have a job, is she going to community college, or is she just a little housewife daughter for Buddy? Considering that they’ve tied up Smash’s story, are about to do the same for Jason, and are working on Tim, I’d like to see Lyla’s story gain some momentum.
I also enjoyed the slightly more complex view of JD’s dad, although I’m not sure if we’re supposed to see him as emotionally abusive or not. I think Coach does, and JD certainly seems to fear him at times, but JD being able to joke with him easily at the beginning of the episode indicates that their relationship is not completely horrible. Katie McCoy also acknowledged Joe’s flaws to JD in a very open, non “abused wife” sort of way. What I’m getting so far is that Joe has emotionally abusive qualities, but he is not irredeemable.
As for Landry, he learned that lightning doesn’t strike twice. Or thrice, rather. I didn’t have a problem with Tyra falling for him, ill-advised murder plot aside, but then there was another pretty girl after that, and if this new girl had pursued him, as well, I would have been rolling my eyes. This is high school. It’s brutal. Unattractive guys like Landry don’t get lots of pretty girls, no matter how funny they are, unless they’re very wealthy or they’re a star jock. Obviously, Landry is neither. And while I’m glad pretty girl number three isn’t into Landry, or into guys at all, I really hope we’re not heading for some kind of Boys Don’t Cry storyline…
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