Lean On Me

My entertainment of the evening was yet another wonderful episode of Friday Night Lights, so it's time for me to get you all back up to speed with the greatest new show on television!! (If I keep repeating that over and over, maybe it'll start to sink in with some of you, right??)

With the Panthers' playoff hopes hinging on another team's success, the entire town was on edge as they waited to see if they were going to make the post-season. To add to Coach Taylor's stress & anxiety, Jason Street's family served him with papers suing him & the school for negligence regarding Jason's accident on the football field. When the news of the lawsuit hit the local papers, Jason began feeling the effects from his once-adoring public, as they frowned upon him turning against the team. Jason didn't want to turn on the coach and the school in the first place, so it upset him terribly, but his mother tearfully explained that to afford all of the additions to their home to make it wheelchair accessible and to pay for his re-hab, they had no choice but to sue. Jason went to the coach and explained the situation, so at least there's an understanding between them now, and Coach Taylor knows Jason doesn't blame him the same way the rest of his family does.

Meanwhile, Smash was trying to woo the preacher's daughter, Waverly, but he was baffled by her indifference towards him. He's used to being the star and having girls fawn all over him, so when Waverly asked him if he ever talked about anything but himself and football, he didn't understand what her problem was. Matt tried to get him to pull his head out of his ass long enough to show him that not all girls are impressed by having their guy refer to himself in the third person and arm wrestle the entire town, but Smash finally told Waverly that he likes the way he is, and if she's not willing to meet him half-way, then he would just have to pass on the opportunity to be with her. The little grin Waverly gave him as he left would suggest that we haven't heard of the last of her, though.

This week we also got a glimpse into Tyra's life, as a domestic dispute unfolded between her mother and her mother's boyfriend. When he slapped her mom across the face, Tyra leapt to defend her, swinging a fireplace poker at him and forcing him to leave. At the rodeo, he approached her mother again, begging forgiveness, so Tyra issued her mom an ultimatum: "Him or me." Riggins then picked the wrong time to ask Tyra to give him a second chance, and although it was obvious that she wanted to, she told him she would just be a hypocrite if she did. I liked this new angle on Tyra that they presented this week. Up until this point, I just considered her a mischievious little skank, but she showed backbone and integrity this week, and I admired her for it. In the end, her mother kicked the scummy boyfriend to the curb and told Tyra she could never pick a man over her. It was a real Hallmark moment.

Last, but certainly not least, comes the Matt Sarracen Report. With Matt's dad back from Iraq, Matt had hoped things would get easier in dealing with his grandmother; however, Matt's dad hasn't been much help at all. If anything, he has disrupted their lives even more. In an effort to smooth things over with his father and help him settle in, Matt went to Buddy Garrity on his father's behalf looking for a job. Buddy, of course, would do anything for his star QB, so he offered Mr. Sarracen a salesman position. However, this only led to more responsibility being heaped on Matt's shoulders.

When Julie showed up at his house after he missed a study date with her, she finally had that look of helplessness and desperation that I've been feeling everytime they show us what Matt's home life is like. He was trying to clean up the mess, get dinner and make his grandma a cup of tea, all by himself, and he gets so flustered trying to please everyone that it twists my heart up every time. This time, Julie stepped in to help, and after talking to her parents about Matt's situation, she decided to reach out to him as much as possible and support him as best she can. Eventually, Matt encouraged his father to return to Iraq with the military, because now with Julie backing him, he feels he can take care of his grandmother and juggle everything else as well as he did before his dad came home.

Oh, and remember how I said that their spot in the playoffs depended on another team's success? Well, the team that needed to win did, so the Dillon Panthers are headed for the post-season dance. Hugs & kisses all around!!

The sneak peak at next week's episode indicates it's going to be another explosive one, as it appears Smash's steroid use will be discovered, and it looks like Jason might actually break up with Lyla once and for all. Tune in next week for yet another scintillating FNL re-cap!

Have a great day, gang!!