Pretty much everything I know about Texas high school football I learned from this show, but do games really get played in such awful conditions? I could barely see what was going on, and I can't imagine trying to actually PLAY. That said, those game scenes were just shot beautifully. I know some people hate the shaky-cam stuff, and I've read that they've tried to cut down on that but I really love the camera work on this show. I found it slightly cheesy that they started the game off so badly but ended up winning and going to the state championships, but on the other hand I'm sort of weirdly invested in this fictional team and was obviously "rooting" for them to win.
Other things that made me happy: Jason coaching Matt and Matt finding his confidence to kick ass on the field. I still find Lyla to be somewhat irritating in general but her smackdown of Jason was definitely what he needed. I'm also really glad that the lawsuit is resolved, because that whole plotline just seemed kind of unnecessary to me.
How awesome is Landry?? A couple of episodes I would have agreed with everyone on the show and said that he had absolutely no chance with Tyra, but their chemistry was just so strangely believable. Also loved Matt snarking on Landry for once...that barber shop scene was classic.
But where that whole thing went...I was pretty shocked, because it was really completely unexpected and out of the blue. When Landry's car didn't start, I thought that it was going to turn out badly for him, not Tyra. I thought that Tyra was going to end up hanging out with that other guy when Landry showed up and then Landry would have his dreams crushed. But what happened instead...wow. I kind of wish the writers hadn't gone there...I don't want Tyra to become one of those interminably tragic characters for whom nothing goes right (e.g. Marissa Cooper on the OC). I mean, she was just starting to get her life on track. But they did go there, and it was very raw. Cut in with the muddy football scenes, the effect was just extremely intense.
So my random thought of the week: this show kind of has a lot of weird similarities with Degrassi: the Next Generation. Angel mentioned the connection during the TVGuide Talk podcast last week, about how on Degrassi, Jimmy, the star basketball player who gets injured and confined to a wheelchair also starts coaching. Jimmy also did the whole using drugs to help his athletic performance, like Smash. And now with Waverly being bipolar...Craig is bipolar! And Tyra's attempted rape reminded me of Paige. I even used the phrase "go there" a few times in the previous paragraph...that's Degrassi's motto! I guess the similarities aren't so weird when you consider that both shows aim to portray high school realistically but then again it's also interesting how different the resulting shows are. Degrassi, despite its heavy subject material, still maintains a sort of silly, afterschool special air about it, while Friday Night Lights feels more like a movie or even a documentary. Regardless, I love both shows. What is it with me and teen TV??
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