Writer: Jason Katims
Grade: A
For a season opener that’s also essentially a reboot, this was pretty smooth. We still have several of the kids we’ve known from the start, which gives viewers an anchor, but there are several new faces to pique curiosity. The Dillon Panthers that we’ve loved and supported for three seasons are now the overconfident West Dillon Panthers, but since the only one we even recognize (JD McCoy) was introduced last season, it’s easier to swallow. Tami and Eric are navigating their “conflict of interest” waters relatively well this early on, but I expect it to get rougher between them at some point. I liked the way race was handled in this episode. It was undeniably and unavoidably present, but it felt real and unforced because no one was calling attention to it directly.
Matt Saracen and Tim Riggins are both trying to make a new start in the same old place, which felt slightly shoe-horned in. Still, I adore both characters, and I do think it’s an important story to tell, so I can get over it. I wanted to smack Tim upside his pretty head for throwing books out of his truck, but I’m probably incapable of actually disliking dim-but-big-hearted Timmy. Matt obviously screwed up by tussling with JD, who is at least three years younger and still in high school, but I still felt like Landry and Julie overreacted a bit. I don’t know where either boy’s story is heading, but I do wonder if they will both last the whole season or be written off midway like Smash and Jason last season.
I’m not sure what to make of this new version of JD yet. I thought he was a sweet kid last year, but he’s clearly taken his cocktail of abuse, talent, and privilege and turned it into justification for acting out. I do hope he’s redeemed rather than stuck in the role of “Matt’s douchey nemesis,” and he probably will be because these writers very rarely paint anyone as a completely unsympathetic cartoon.
I initially wondered if they were setting up JD to hook up with Julie mid-season, when he’s done making an ass out of himself, simply because the JD/Julie interactions were so pointed. Obviously part of it was about her being his rival’s girlfriend, but JD does have a soul in there somewhere, and Julie is very pretty, so surely he does have a genuine crush on her? Still, JD’s nicer teammate Luke, who tried to reign him in from messing with Julie, seems like a stronger candidate for Julie’s new love interest, especially considering that it looks like he and Julie will both end up at East Dillon High. Then again, would they really hook her up with another football player, especially one who physically resembles Matt?
As for the other new kids, I like the ones we’ve met so far. I didn’t catch the bartender’s daughter’s name, but she’s trying way too hard to be spunky and jaded, which I found oddly affecting. I got the impression that Vince stayed on the team not for some newfound love of football (though that will come), but because he saw from their first meeting that Coach Taylor cared about helping him and was worthy of respect.
I had no problem with either of Taylor’s controversial actions. Scolding half the team into quitting? Fine by me. What use is a team with that many players who a) can’t work together, and b) can’t handle having a coach? I also think that forfeiting the game was the right decision, although it’s clear that the players wanted to keep going and he ignored their wishes. The team was so physically decimated that sending them back in may have permanently injured a few of them at worst, and at best rendered them nearly unable to move for a week. At least calling the game means they can recover a bit sooner and start practicing again. I think it’s also important to remember that Coach Taylor probably hasn’t forgotten what happened to Jason Street. These kids are very rough around the edges compared to golden boy Jason, and look what happened to him! I can see Taylor fearing a repeat of the Street tragedy.
Finally, one of the most subtle and genius touches in this episode was Coach Taylor getting the Lions to chant the Panther motto—“Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose”—after which the camera panned up to show the “official” old Lions motto—“Never out of the fight.” What a beautiful metaphor for both the Panthers vs. the Lions and Taylor’s attempt to coach a new team with the same techniques he used on the old team. Methinks the Lions motto is the more appropriate one for the new team. These guys are going to lose, a lot, but they are also going to fight.
Other Stuff
-It’s not worth putting in the quotes section, but the janitor’s plea to Coach Taylor—“Don’t kick my door, por favor.”—made me giggle both times I watched the episode. Because it rhymes.
-I can only hope that the new sycophantic Assistant Coach is gone now that one of the West Dillon coaches defected to East Dillon. He’s even creepier than Buddy Garrity, which is saying a lot.
Quotes
Matt: “The Panthers are bunch of idiots this year anyway.”
Landry: “Yeah but they’re a bunch of talented, fast idiots.”
Matt: “Alright, so on the Panthers you’re a scrub, right? But on the Lions, you might actually get to play in some games—you might even start.”
Landy: “So you’re trying to encourage me by saying that the Lions are bad enough that someone as bad as me might be able to actually see some playing time?”
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