Friday Night Lights 3/28 "Mud Bowl" Spoilers

[Martha]

Kyle Chandler SO deserves an Emmy!

I loved his scene where he was selling Mrs. Coach on the idea of having the game in the cow field.

And the Tyra/Landry scenes - just wow.

I love this show!

[osterber]

I love this show.

The Tyra scene was.... wow.

-Rick

[modnar]

Another good episode!

The scenes with Tyra and Landry were great, as was most of the rest of the episode. This is one of the best written and acted shows on television right now.

[spikedavis]

I love this show so much.

[analog4]

The scenes with Saracen and Street in the field practicing was really good.

Excellent episode - the end had me on my seat.

And the Landry / Tyra scenes were great, especially the end one.

[mtnagel]

Great episode. The playing in the mud was cool. The football sort of make up for the lack of NFL right now.

The rape scene was a little tough to watch, especially since our almost 12 year old daughter was watching too. It's not like I want to shield her from bad things like that, it was just so unexpected.

[Peter000]

Yeah, the rape scene made was hard to see... but it was cool that they had her fight off her attacker herself instead of being "saved" by Landry. I let out a big "YEAH!" when she smashed the guys hand with the door.

Just everything about this episode was great. Loved the "settlement" scene where Street finally said what was on his mind, and came up with a "fair" offer. Glad to see that whole subplot is over with. And the whole coaching thing in this episode, while cliché, still was well done. Especially with the coach standing there in the rain looking at Street like he was a hero who just found his calling.

It's going to be hard for me to accept what I believe the coach is going to do about his job offer... refuse it. If they do go that route, the writers will really have to earn that in some big way. It shouldn't be an easy thing. Yeah, his kid is "in love," but she's 15! She'll probably break a dozen hearts after Saracen before she's through. He shouldn't give up his dream just because of her crush.

Love this show. To think at the beginning of the season I was reluctant to give it a shot.

[Martha]

It's going to be hard for me to accept what I believe the coach is going to do about his job offer... refuse it. If they do go that route, the writers will really have to earn that in some big way. It shouldn't be an easy thing. Yeah, his kid is "in love," but she's 15! She'll probably break a dozen hearts after Saracen before she's through. He shouldn't give up his dream just because of her crush.



I wonder about this too. Next week is the last episode for this season, right? And they still don't know if it will be renewed yet, so it will be interesting to see how they end the season.

I agree if he stays it has to be for a bigger reason than his 15 year old daughter has a boyfriend.

[Martha]

It occurred to me that Coach will probably get in trouble for the whole players receiving money thing. No way was Saracen the only one that got the cash - the others just didn't turn it in. I'm guessing Buddy Garrity has some big plan to keep coach - give the kids money, turn him in, coach gets turned down for the big job, thus staying in Dillon.

[MasterOfPuppets]

Previews from next week showed that he accepted the TMU job and then later "he can't believe this is happening".
I think it's fairly obvious that he will be staying at Dillon, for the future of the show. It doesn't matter if it's picked up or not...they're not still filming obviously.

My nitpick for this episode is that during the game-winning drive, the announcers were saying that the season was possibly winding down for Dillon...but the score was 8-8...were they planning on just skipping OT and handing the other team the victory?

[marrone]

Speaking of Buddy...has he checked out his dealership lately for a few pieces of broken glass?

So Street made an offer that was accepted. Does Coach actually have to pay anything? I would assume the school would have to pay a lot more than Coach, but maybe that was mentioned (see below for why I might have missed that).

Anyone on DirecTV have audio and "jumping" problems? It was annoying throughout the entire show. (Jericho recording on my other tuner at the same time had no problems)

-Mike

[MasterOfPuppets]

I have DirecTV...no jumping/aduio problems though...bad weather?

I forgot to mention the Garrity smash em/crash em incident. Seems rather odd that they'd just skipped right over that.

[modnar]

I forgot to mention the Garrity smash em/crash em incident. Seems rather odd that they'd just skipped right over that.
I had completely forgotten about it, but, yeah, it seems odd they would skip over it totally. Although, I doubt Buddy would punish Lyla - he want to make sure she is on his side or whatever.

[Martha]

I think it's fairly obvious that he will be staying at Dillon, for the future of the show.

I totally agree that he will stay - my point is what will be the reason? I don't think a teenage romance is a very good reason. Something will happen that causes him to "have" to stay - whether it's somehow Smash's steroid use or Garrity giving the players money or something else....

I guess when I said the part about the show maybe not being renewed, I was thinking they refilm the last part to show him actually leaving Dillon, but that doesn't really make sense - they won't really find out if the show is cancelled until after the season is over. :o

[betativoII]

Another great episode.

I'm wondering what's going to happen w/ Riggins and his neighbor....is this going to get him (or, more specifically, her) in trouble???

The scene with Tyra and Landry was great, and I liked how Lyla let loose with Street...he needs to grow up. Maybe the coaching gig will become a saving grace for him...

[vikingguy]

Another outstanding episode. Coach taylor selling his wife on the idea in the pasture was just great. I liked the interaction of smash and his woman very well done. Riggins brother had the great line of is he calling you daddy yet. I thought the tyra scene while hard to watch was very well done. They did the right thing by letting her escape on her own instead of cheesing out and having landry save the day. I do admit I felt bad for landy when his car would not start. I really liked the scenes with matt and jason very well done. The drills jason were running him though and then helping him during the game were well done. We know coach taylor is great with QBs but since he is head coach now he does not have the time to really tutor matt like he should and jason stepped into that roll.

FNL has climbed to my #2 spot right behind the shield as the best show on TV.

[analog4]

FNL has climbed to my #2 spot right behind the shield as the best show on TV.I think FNL may have surpassed Veronica Mars (for me).

[mwhip]

I think FNL may have surpassed Veronica Mars (for me).

#2 behind The Wire for me.

[Sparty99]

Previews from next week showed that he accepted the TMU job and then later "he can't believe this is happening".
I think it's fairly obvious that he will be staying at Dillon, for the future of the show. It doesn't matter if it's picked up or not...they're not still filming obviously.

My nitpick for this episode is that during the game-winning drive, the announcers were saying that the season was possibly winding down for Dillon...but the score was 8-8...were they planning on just skipping OT and handing the other team the victory?
I'm not certain, but I don't think it was 8-8. When the kicker for the opposing team was attempting the field goal, the announcer said something to the effect of, "This could seal the victory," so I'm guessing the score might've been 11-8 or even 14-8.

The Tyra scene did not go where I thought it would. When Tyra started talking to the guy in the restaurant I thought she was going to hook up with him and then Landry would come in and have his heart broken. Talk about a turnaround.

Here's the one problem I had without the episode. Throughout the series, the outcome of the games have been a genuine unknown. In the book and the movie, the team's run ended in the state semifinals, so it wouldn't have been unheard of for the same to occur here. But the minute they mentioned that there was a possible matchup in the finals against Voodoo Tatum, I knew that Dillon would win. Took a little bit of the suspense out of the game scenes.

[jwehman]

I'm not certain, but I don't think it was 8-8. When the kicker for the opposing team was attempting the field goal, the announcer said something to the effect of, "This could seal the victory," so I'm guessing the score might've been 11-8 or even 14-8.



As the clock expired, they showed the final score on the (battery-powered) scoreboard: 14-8. Which, if the score was tied 8-8 up until that moment of the final touchdown, would make the final score 14-8 (8+6=14).

[Sparty99]

As the clock expired, they showed the final score on the (battery-powered) scoreboard: 14-8. Which, if the score was tied 8-8 up until that moment of the final touchdown, would make the final score 14-8 (8+6=14).
I stand corrected. My bad.

[jsmeeker]

eh... no big deal..

For me, I always assumed that they would go all the way to the state championship. The scores of the games don't really matter all that much. The TV show just isn't tied to the book the way the movie was, so I didn't expect it to be an indentical re-telling of the same story. In fact, I'm glad it's NOT an identical retelling. Makes is fresh and new whiel sticking to the overall theme. Personally, I think it's worked out very, very well.

[mwhip]

The biggest issue I have is at this stage of the playoffs no teams in Texas play on their home turf they always play in localized cities like Austin, San Antonio, Waco, Dallas or Houston. I think the 2A and lower may play locally but I don't think Dillon is a 2A or lower school.

[Sparty99]

eh... no big deal..

For me, I always assumed that they would go all the way to the state championship. The scores of the games don't really matter all that much. The TV show just isn't tied to the book the way the movie was, so I didn't expect it to be an indentical re-telling of the same story. In fact, I'm glad it's NOT an identical retelling. Makes is fresh and new whiel sticking to the overall theme. Personally, I think it's worked out very, very well.
My point in comparing the show to the book and the movie was that neither had a so-called storybook ending. With the quality of this show, it's not unrealistic to think the show would go that similar route, so I wasn't necessarily thinking that they were going to win every game, especially once they got into the playoffs.

[jsmeeker]

My point in comparing the show to the book and the movie was that neither had a so-called storybook ending. With the quality of this show, it's not unrealistic to think the show would go that similar route, so I wasn't necessarily thinking that they were going to win every game, especially once they got into the playoffs.


sure.. but I still don't see anything wrong with it. Actually, I think it works out better that it IS different and that you were surprised at the outcome.

[jennifer]

Mrs. Taylor - "Where are you going?"

Coach - "To get a blanket "

/swoon

[cut_here]

I think FNL may have surpassed Veronica Mars (for me).
my wife said the same thing a few weeks ago, which was great since I had to talk her into watching the pilot (of both shows actually).

[tarheel82glm]

Agree on the neutral sites once you get to the state semis. Even then, after Dillon backed into the playoffs after getting help, how would they get a home game in the semis?

[jsmeeker]

Agree on the neutral sites once you get to the state semis. Even then, after Dillon backed into the playoffs after getting help, how would they get a home game in the semis?


good question.. But don't dwell on it too much. It's a TV show. They use dramatic license. Without it, there would not have been the scene where Coach convinces Mrs. Coach that the cow pasteur was a good place to hold the game. That was a good scene that everyone liked.

[Stephen Tu]

I like this show a lot, and I suppose this is rather irrelevant to what the show is really about, but I have a hard time believing that a team like this, that drops games during the season & is constantly struggling & having to make last minute comebacks to scrape out wins could make it to a state championship game. Wouldn't a championship caliber team in Texas be one that blows out the other teams routinely during the regular season and undefeated or one loss at most? Seems unrealistic to me especially compared to the realism of the show in general.

[The Flush]

I Wouldn't a championship caliber team in Texas be one that blows out the other teams routinely during the regular season and undefeated or one loss at most? .

Only in a very non-competitive league.

Does Dillon have more than one non-forfeit loss? I can't remember.

High School is different from College because they have a playoff and it's not based on style points. In some states teams with losing records can make the playoff if they win the right games. I know my high school (in Alabama) made the playoffs one year with a 4-7 record because we beat the other 4 teams in our area and only lost games out of area and/or out of classification.

[Sparty99]

Only in a very non-competitive league.

Does Dillon have more than one non-forfeit loss? I can't remember.

High School is different from College because they have a playoff and it's not based on style points. In some states teams with losing records can make the playoff if they win the right games. I know my high school (in Alabama) made the playoffs one year with a 4-7 record because we beat the other 4 teams in our area and only lost games out of area and/or out of classification.
I have to agree with the earlier sentiment and say that it's one that I have to agree with. In high school, yes, it's true, wins matter more than the margin of victory. But it's going to indicate who's the better team, and if I remember correctly, Dillon had one blowout win, one "legitimate" loss, and the rest of the regular season wins have been nail-biters, with one game that was forfeited. With that as the situation, it's hard for me to believe that a team in Texas is going to go to the state finals. Just not buying it.

[The Flush]

I have to agree with the earlier sentiment and say that it's one that I have to agree with. In high school, yes, it's true, wins matter more than the margin of victory. But it's going to indicate who's the better team, and if I remember correctly, Dillon had one blowout win, one "legitimate" loss, and the rest of the regular season wins have been nail-biters, with one game that was forfeited. With that as the situation, it's hard for me to believe that a team in Texas is going to go to the state finals. Just not buying it.

Ohio State barely beat half the teams they played the last year they won the MNC. Why can't that happen in high school? The Cardinals had a relatively poor record compared to the other teams in the MLB playoffs. What about NC State the year they won the NCAA basketball tourney? Less than impressive teams do win it all from time to time.

Maybe Dillon was barely beating some very good teams?

[anom]

I love this show, but if it has a flaw it's that it's getting to be a little too crisis-driven. We had 3 or 4 weeks in a row where the coach's daughter was calling from jail or the hospital or was missing, and it seems not an episode goes by without someone being crippled, arrested, having a manic episode, etc.

The rape scene is what pushed this trend too far for me. I think the dramatic point of the scene was that her life is out of control, but she's still fighting for herself. Great, but the show has been effectively illustrating this all season, and the attempted rape is the kind of device they really haven't needed because of that. Not that I have aproblem with this type of scene in general (it was used very effectively on The Sopranos), but in this case it just seemed to be piling one thing on top of another pointlessly.

[Bierboy]

...Love this show. To think at the beginning of the season I was reluctant to give it a shot.That was me too....boy am I glad I gave it a second chance. Just watched this one today....I don't know how, but this show just keeps getting better. I am absolutely AMAZED how they nail the characters so well. ALL of them deserve awards... :up: :up: :up:

[Bierboy]

Previews from next week showed that he accepted the TMU job and then later "he can't believe this is happening"....DAMN IT....how many times do people have to be reminded...posting rules in this forum stipulate previews should be spoilerized. I do not watch the previews, and thanks to an idiot, next week's episode has now been tainted for me.

From the posting rules -- Anything shown on the “previews of next week” is considered a spoiler on this forum, and must be tagged as such, using spoiler tags.

[Sparty99]

DAMN IT....how many times do people have to be reminded...posting rules in this forum stipulate previews should be spoilerized. I do not watch the previews, and thanks to an idiot, next week's episode has now been tainted for me.
And I'm pretty sure the same posting rules indicate that you're not supposed to call people names, so making your point by calling him an idiot might not have been the best way to go.

[dswallow]

DAMN IT....how many times do people have to be reminded...posting rules in this forum stipulate previews should be spoilerized. I do not watch the previews, and thanks to an idiot, next week's episode has now been tainted for me.

From the posting rules --
Rules aside for a moment, when was the last time a preview could be guaranteed to accurately depict the plot of future episodes? They're often chosen more for effect and misdirection than anything else.

[Bierboy]

And I'm pretty sure the same posting rules indicate that you're not supposed to call people names, so making your point by calling him an idiot might not have been the best way to go.Perhaps not, but I stand by my statement.

[Mr. Happypants]

Over-reaction aside, was there no explanation for the lack of mentioning Buddy's showroom being pretty much trashed? Semi-finals or not, I can't believe he'd just ignore it or fial to make any comments at all during the following week(s).

Great episode as always though, gonna miss this one when it goes on break.

[jsmeeker]

Over-reaction aside, was there no explanation for the lack of mentioning Buddy's showroom being pretty much trashed? Semi-finals or not, I can't believe he'd just ignore it or fial to make any comments at all during the following week(s).

Great episode as always though, gonna miss this one when it goes on break.

maybe they will come back to that in a future episode? It's not totally unusual for a TV show to "drop" a story line for an episode to focus on other story lines.

[DevdogAZ]

I can't believe nobody has commented how ludicrous it was for them to hold a football game in a cow pasture. Coach Taylor supposedly wanted to make it all about the game and leave all the peripheral things out of it. Sure, I understand that part. However, by doing what he did, he essentially forced himself and his team to have to deal with far more peripheral stuff than they otherwise would have. Play in the other stadium, all you have to do is show up and play. At this location they had to grade the dirt, remove the rocks, plant grass, paint lines, paint numbers, erect goal posts, rent and set up lights, rent and set up a scoreboard, worry about parking, etc. etc. etc. If all they really wanted was a place to play that was closer to Dillon than to the other teams home town, couldn't they have found a jr. high school with a field, or a community college, or something else? I know it's just a show, but the writers have done a pretty good job throughout the season of grounding it in reality, and this plot point just really seemed over-the-top to me.

[dthmj]

I like this show a lot, and I suppose this is rather irrelevant to what the show is really about, but I have a hard time believing that a team like this, that drops games during the season & is constantly struggling & having to make last minute comebacks to scrape out wins could make it to a state championship game. Wouldn't a championship caliber team in Texas be one that blows out the other teams routinely during the regular season and undefeated or one loss at most? Seems unrealistic to me especially compared to the realism of the show in general.

The school in my town is the three time (back to back to back) Texas state 5A champions. They have not lost a game since the state championship game in 2003, and they were the state champions in 2002. In regular season play, they won most games by a 20+ margin.

So, yeah, it's hard to believe. Our high school football team would make the Dillon Panthers look like pee wees.

However all the politics and high school angst is right on target. We have our fair share of drama around here on a weekly basis (though it revolves around the cheerleaders :eek: )

[Supfreak26]

The school in my town is the three time (back to back to back) Texas state 5A champions. They have not lost a game since the state championship game in 2003, and they were the state champions in 2002. In regular season play, they won most games by a 20+ margin.

So, yeah, it's hard to believe. Our high school football team would make the Dillon Panthers look like pee wees.

However all the politics and high school angst is right on target. We have our fair share of drama around here on a weekly basis (though it revolves around the cheerleaders :eek: )


Offtopic but your team was lucky to get past Euless Trinity (I believe that's who it was.) If not for a HORRIBLE fake punt playcall by Euless' coach, Southlake would've ended their streak there. Great game, though.

Back OT, I enjoyed the show as always but the whole "playing in a cow pasture" thing was a bit too hokey. Loved the game in the mud itself but all that stuff leading up to it was way over the top. It seemed the team spent more time building the field than actually practicing for the game.

I did like that the kids wanted to play in the mud. Also liked the trash-talking between coaches when they were negotiating where to play. Funny stuff.

The rape scene caught me way off guard. Really shocked me. I think this will help lead to the unusual pairing of Landry and Tyra. Go Landry!! :)

Loved the short conversation between Riggins and his brother. His brother is right but I can't blame Riggins for blowing him off.

I think the Coach stays in Dillon and not for his daughter's romance. I think he stays because he loves his daughter and realizes that all the moving his really hurting her. They sure are bringing up a lot red flags that could hurt him though. The money and steroid could both kill his career. But both could end his high school career as well so I'm betting neither is an issue.

I can't wait until the DVD's come out so I can get my wife into this show. That is if they bring it back!

[JETarpon]

I loved it when Tyra pulled the Tess Carlisle maneuver.

[Sparty99]

maybe they will come back to that in a future episode? It's not totally unusual for a TV show to "drop" a story line for an episode to focus on other story lines.
But in a really linear storyline type show like Friday Nights, the smashing of the car dealership in such a small town is a huge event to not even mention. I'm guessing you're right and that they will go back to it at some point, but it should've been brought up.

[footballdude]

The money and steroid could both kill his career. But both could end his high school career as well so I'm betting neither is an issue.

Winning coaches always get a pass on stuff like that. If if came out there would be controversy, the school and the team would be punished, coach would be fired, and six months later he'd be the head coach at a better school.

[jsmeeker]

But in a really linear storyline type show like Friday Nights, the smashing of the car dealership in such a small town is a huge event to not even mention. I'm guessing you're right and that they will go back to it at some point, but it should've been brought up.


lots of TV shows have linear story lines, but don't deal with every story line in every episode. Give it a chance. I don't think this is the first time the show has dropped a story line for an episode. I'm pretty sure there have been instances where we didn't see much or any of Steet. Hell, there was a recent episode that made essentially no reference to the playoffs.

[sn9ke_eyes]

Actually I think in some of the lower rounds of the playoffs the schools get to decide on a home/away game or a neutral site. The home team is picked based on a coin flip. You rarely see it used because the downside is if you lose the coin flip, the other guy has a home field. Neutral site is easier to agree on and easier to keep your job if you lose the coin flip and the game.

[marrone]

lots of TV shows have linear story lines, but don't deal with every story line in every episode. Give it a chance. I don't think this is the first time the show has dropped a story line for an episode. I'm pretty sure there have been instances where we didn't see much or any of Steet. Hell, there was a recent episode that made essentially no reference to the playoffs.
The problem there, though, is that time would have to pass. I don't know how much time passed between Lyla's demolition derby stint, and this episode, but by the time of the game, it had to have been a few days. To tackle this problem even next episode would make too much time pass for it to be given much of any airtime. Unless the dealership was shut down for a week or so (highly unlikely).

Perhaps they were going to address it, but then ran out of time and decided to focus more on building the field.

They COULD do a flashback for it, but I don't think that would make much sense.

-Mike

[Bierboy]

The problem there, though, is that time would have to pass. I don't know how much time passed between Lyla's demolition derby stint, and this episode, but by the time of the game, it had to have been a few days. To tackle this problem even next episode would make too much time pass for it to be given much of any airtime. Unless the dealership was shut down for a week or so (highly unlikely).

Perhaps they were going to address it, but then ran out of time and decided to focus more on building the field.

They COULD do a flashback for it, but I don't think that would make much sense.

-MikeI really don't even think the incident needs to be addressed in any episode; it pretty much spoke for itself!

[DreadPirateRob]

I love this show, but if it has a flaw it's that it's getting to be a little too crisis-driven. We had 3 or 4 weeks in a row where the coach's daughter was calling from jail or the hospital or was missing, and it seems not an episode goes by without someone being crippled, arrested, having a manic episode, etc.


I think you're being swayed too much by the promos, which make the events of the upcoming episode seem like they are going to be more of a crisis than they eventually turn out to be. Julie calling from the hospital and the jail turned out to be much ado about nothing, and Street being crippled is the pre-eminent plotline of the season. The genius and beauty of this show is how it derives compelling storylines out of the daily lives of its characters.

[AccidenT]

I really don't even think the incident needs to be addressed in any episode; it pretty much spoke for itself!

Sure, we know who did it, but it would be pretty entertaining to see Buddy try and figure out which of the 3 females he pissed off was responsible :D

I bet Lyla wouldn't be the prime suspect.