[dswallow]

Two big bags of suck in a row. This is really making me rethink wishing hard for renewal when there's been a superb season. I sure hope this turns around soon.

 

[Graymalkin]

Is it just the Landry-Tyra story that's got you in a funk? What about the other storylines?

 

[dswallow]

Is it just the Landry-Tyra story that's got you in a funk? What about the other storylines?

No, I can't think of a single second season storyline I think is better than even the worst storyline of the first season.

All I can hope is this doom and gloom feeling of the show is intentionally done for the first few episodes so we can get somewhere important.

 

[AJRitz]

It does look like they're using these first few episodes to tear up a lot of things so that they can build up new storylines. Seems an awfully dangerous way to start the season though.

The Landry-Tyra storyline is actually growing on me, and the Julie-Saracen storyline (though I dont so much "like" it) at least makes some sense.

Bottom line is that I think a lot of this is set up for bringing Tim home.

 

[TIVO_GUY_HERE]

Have to agree. One of the things that hooked me last year was the interaction between coach and his players. Lets get on the field. This show is Friday Night Lights, not Dillon's Crossing.

 

[super dave]

I wish they didn't bring a baby into the show, nothing seems to drag a show down more than that.

 

[Peter000]

Have to agree. One of the things that hooked me last year was the interaction between coach and his players. Lets get on the field. This show is Friday Night Lights, not Dillon's Crossing.

I kind of disagree. The reason I cared, last season, about what happened on the field, was because I cared about the characters off the field.

The reason the stories seem to "suck" is that the characters are in bad places right now. It's harder to watch. But it's still entertaining for me.

 

[madscientist]

Sorry, I'm still loving this show. The things that I liked about it last year (the acting, the Taylor family dynamic, etc.) are still there. Plus I really like the introduction of the college coaching scene, although my guess is they'll resolve the separation issue before we get much out of that unfortunately.

Yes, things are going badly for a lot of the characters, but that's life.

The murder was a bit over the top but not as bad as I feared it would be when I heard about it--somehow I got the idea that they were going to track the guy down and kill him, which would have been completely bogus.

 

[packerfan]

Have to agree. One of the things that hooked me last year was the interaction between coach and his players. Lets get on the field. This show is Friday Night Lights, not Dillon's Crossing.

You can forget about the action on the field. The writers have said this year will have less action on the field than last year and more focus on the character's lives off the field.

 

[modnar]

You can forget about the action on the field. The writers have said this year will have less action on the field than last year and more focus on the character's lives off the field.

And that makes sense. There's only so much they can do with a football season as far as suspense and action goes.

This episode was awesome. Although not the best FNL epsiode ever, it's easily better than a lot of other things on right now.

 

[MasterOfPuppets]

Another very average episode.
I agree that it's fairly obvious that all of the doom and gloom with The Taylors is to set up a return to town for coach.
Those who watched the preview for next week...

Spoiler

See things coming to a head with Tammy hitting Julie, combined with Buddy asking Coach "what if he could come get his job back"

It also appears as though things aren't quite dead yet between Riggins and Lyla, even if Riggins does have a 3-way to get to.

 

[Neenahboy]

Bottom line is that I think a lot of this is set up for bringing Tim home.

Who's that? Riggins is already there, unless you're thinking of Coach, whose first name is Eric.

 

[DreadPirateRob]

The reason the stories seem to "suck" is that the characters are in bad places right now. It's harder to watch. But it's still entertaining for me.

+1

Just because a show is depressing does not mean that it's not good. Especially for a show like FNL, which I admire for presenting as "real" a depiction of life in a small town as I've ever seen. To not have some depressing episodes/story lines would not be very realistic now, would it? Besides, depressing or not, the performances have still been spot on.

Anyway, there was at least one positive happening in this ep - Landry finally popped his cherry (apparently)!

 

[ruexp67]

I still like the show, but some of the changes I don't like. The coaches wife was VERY supportive and understanding last year. She was also strong and authoritative with the children she was mentoring. I realize she just had a baby. I assume she isn't getting much sleep, and they might be setting us up for a postpartum depression arc, but I REALLY didn't like the way she is being depicted. It also looked like they were trying to setup an affair with the boring physics teacher turned counselor.

I liked the mix of on-field, off-field stories. This is too much soap-opera.

The best part of the episode for me was Coach Taylor dealing with Antoine.

 

[Maui]

I liked the mix of on-field, off-field stories. This is too much soap-opera.

The best part of the episode for me was Coach Taylor dealing with Antoine.

That sums it up for me too.

Watching Taylor deal with the primadonna gave me a brief view of the show I liked last season.

 

[TAsunder]

Last season was full of cliches on a constant basis. Last year the show was really good anyway, because they handled the cliches well. So far we have lots of cliches in this season as well. I enjoy it, but without the actual game of football to tie it all together it might not work as well. They need to show a fair amount of it.

I thoguht for sure taylor was going to ruin the team with his antics with the college kid. Admitting that the guy had an iphone and a car, seems like if he did that to the press the school would eventually get suspended for the school year.

What's going on with landry on the practice field? Seems like they are illegally mauling him if he's a WR.

As much as I'd prefer to see taylor stay in austin storywise, looks like they are clearly setting up a coup where buddy somehow sneaks taylor into the coaching job through the back door because they are pushing him out of the football club there.

 

[LacyinTX]

TMU Coach: You must have been one hell of a high school football coach.

That was a backhanded compliment if I ever heard one. I think it was code for: "That's not how we do things here."

I would love to have Eric back in Dillon. Goodness knows his family needs him to come home.

 

[DevdogAZ]

You can forget about the action on the field. The writers have said this year will have less action on the field than last year and more focus on the character's lives off the field.

Thank goodness. I thought the actual game sequences last season were horrible, by far the worst parts of the show. The coaching and the practices, etc. are good, and are essential parts of the show, but the actual "Friday Night Lights" part of it, meaning the true game footage, was really bad.

I'm not hating this season. It's clearly meant to put everyone in an awkward place, and create uneasiness, but it's still interesting, and I want to see how it all shakes out.

What's going on with landry on the practice field? Seems like they are illegally mauling him if he's a WR.

Usually in HS football, players play both ways. It appeared that during practice, Landry was trying to play some LB or DB and tackle the RB (Riggins) coming out of the backfield, but just wasn't having any success. It will be interesting to see the dynamic of Landry wanting to quit the team because he sucks, he's now got Tyra (which is the reason he went out for the team), and because he's dealing with the murder, but not wanting to quit because of how proud his dad is.

 

[sn9ke_eyes]

TMU Coach: You must have been one hell of a high school football coach.

That was a backhanded compliment if I ever heard one. I think it was code for: "That's not how we do things here."

I would love to have Eric back in Dillon. Goodness knows his family needs him to come home.

That's the impression I got too. "you must have been one hell of a high school football coach, BUT...." Shouldn't he know if he hired him ? Maybe it was a genuine compliment and we are reading too much into it.

The Landry/Tyra story grew on me some this week, we'll see if it continues to do so. I do like the in home care lady finding Matt's stash. "Haven't you heard of the internet ?

As far as football action, I think last year it helped build a crescendo (is that the right word ? ) throughout the week so the tension was high at the end of the episode when game time finally arrived. I miss that. Plus, a lot of the story last year dealt with on the team drama.

 

[The Flush]

My biggest complaint this week is the potential romantic temptation for Mrs. Coach. For some reason this seems like the most out of character plot line.

I thought Julie looked really good though.