Friday Night Lights - Episode 119 - Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Ch-ch-ch-ch-cherubs could sing me to sleep while Taylor Kitsch himself feeds me peeled grapes and throatily murmurs, "Friends?" in my ear, and it still couldn't match the LOVE I have for this episode. I think they hit a season high, and since the season was pretty damn high to begin with, that's quite an accomplishment. Clear eyes! Full hearts! Can't lose! TEXAS FOREVER!!

"WE'RE MOVING AGAIN, AREN'T WE?" -- As Eric and Tami mull over the TMU coaching offer and all the details inherent in a move (we get the impression that Tami's thrilled to the point of hiccups at the idea of living in Austin), Julie comes in. When she susses out the potential move, she says flat-out that she's not going. The footstomp and the "so there!" are implied. She even refuses to go to the Daddy-Daughter dance as a gesture of her discontent. But as in so many families, if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy, and Tami says...well, here, it's better if she tells you: "No, y'all are going to Father-Daughter Dance. I'm gonna pull out my camera and take a picture of you both, and you're going to look real happy and I'm going to cherish it for the rest of my life. So y'all stop being a pain in the ass and make me happy! For once!" Heee. You tell 'em, Tami. Later, as she helps Eric put his tie on (and trust me, it's incredibly sexy and intimate and I can't believe they're not really married!), Tami tells him that it's not Dillon, or school, or Austin, or anything like that that's got Julie twisted up -- it's Matt. "I think our little girl's in love," she says, while Eric looks like he's still thinking castration by shoulder pad might a reasonable option for Matt. Julie grudgingly gets dressed up, but says she'll only stay for one song. Outside the dance, Eric and Julie sit in the car for awhile, until he gets her to open up to him about how she feels about the impending move. It all comes down to feeling like she's home in Dillon, with Matt, and she can't bear the thought of losing that, or him. She knows her dad has dreams about being a college coach, but she has dreams, too, and they're coming true right there in Dillon. "I hear you," Eric says, and that's all any of us really want -- even quasi-rebellious love-struck teenagers -- we just want to be heard. Julie hugs him, and he whispers, "I love you," to her while I blow my nose noisily and reach for the phone to call my dad.

"IF YOU COULD SEE YOUR TERRIFIED FACE RIGHT NOW" -- So, yeah, in case the catatonic kitchen sprawl didn't spell it out for you, Waverly's bipolar, and she wasn't in Africa; she was in an outreach program in Dallas. Smash takes this news like a man by "avoiding her calls, ducking out, hiding in the bushes." I'd chide him for his "Crazy Wavy" talk, but it's Smash; his mouth's always on auto-pilot. I'll watch his actions, not his words, and I bet he'll step up when it counts.

"IT'S A CHAMPIONSHIP, QB, NOT THERAPY" -- Jason, despite showing impressive raw skills (And biceps! Lord have mercy! *fans self*), does not make the national quad rugby team, and therefore the only trip he's making is back to Dillon. Jason's bummed, to say the least. He'd invested a lot in that dream (not to mention the equipment; wonder how that lawsuit's coming?). Since Herc made the team, he has to stay longer in Austin, so Suzy Q finds a way to offer Jason a ride. Oh, and she takes him to Dillon in her truck, too. They stop on the way at Stonehenge II and sit close enough together to count each other's nose hairs, so it's no big surprise when their lips lock. She's sympathetic without being maudlin, and he's had a big disappointment, so it's not a bad thing...except for that part where he's still engaged to Lyla. Oh, yeah, and as soon as she sees him, Lyla totally figures out 1) where Jason's been, 2) what he's been doing and 3) who he's been doing it with. They rehash her "affair," as she calls it, which is cute and a little quaint. She gets a little shrill and asks him if he wants to be engaged. Somehow I don't think Jason's muttered, "I don't know," is what she hoped to hear. And speaking of rehashing old affairs...

"LYLA, YOUR DAD'S A SINNER" -- Well, well, well. St. Satan rears his ugly head again when he tries to pull Lyla to his side by getting her to help him put together a memory album for Pam – something he saw on Dr. Phil. He says there's no use living without his family. Lyla ends up in the middle whether she wants to be there or not when Pam rejects Buddy's love offering. Lyla tries the "one mistake" excuse for Buddy (hey, it worked pretty well for her!), but Pam airs a few more hampersful of dirty laundry when she tells Lyla that Angela Collette was just one of Buddy's many, many indiscretions. "He has been unfaithful to me for our entire marriage!" Pam screams. I think her daddy's rampant ho-ery might have been the last straw for Lyla, who throttles her pet unicorn, stomps on a pixie, then takes the keys to a brand new car and caroms it around the parking lot at Buddy's dealership before Thelmaing it through the plate glass window, shattering the window into a bazillion pieces. Wow, metaphor much, Lyla girl? How're all those Lylaworld dreams looking now?

"I WANT TO BREAK THE MOLD, THE COLLETTE MOLD" -- Tami's working on Project Tyra, encouraging Trouble to knuckle down and focus on academics instead of...TimConnorPrickMindyLunchmeatCoolerSexTimPartiesBoozeDickShopliftingTasmanianDevil
TimApplebeesMamaPedicuresMorePartiesTim...Trouble doesn't get any help at all at first from Double, who appears threatened by the idea of anyone bearing the Collette name succeeding at anything, but she comes around eventually and drags Trouble off to the Daddy-Daughter Dance, where she breaks the mold herself by having a little Mama-Daughter time and offering Trouble her support.

"HEY, YOU CAME. THAT ROCKED" -- Okay, a better person than me wouldn't make that filthy pun, especially since it came from the mouth of a fourth grader, but...well, I'm not a better person, and I can't seem to think of Tim Riggins without thinking of S-E-X. Apparently, once again, I am not the only one. The MILF asks a sleepy, tousled, sweatpant-wearing Tim if he'll pick Bo up from school, somehow managing not to jump him right there on the front porch in broad daylight. She tells him to be on time, since Bo has "trust issues." Of course, Tim's late, and when he arrives at school, Bo's getting the crap beat out of him by four kids twice his size. Tim puts the fear of God into the little fuckers, then teaches Bo some self-defense, over his pacifist mom's objections. Milfie wants to be independent, handle things herself. She even calls Tim on fixing her gutter, saying she'd have taken care of it, but Tim slides under her defenses with his genuine sweetness towards Bo. She invites Tim to watch a movie with them (leading to a totally adorable exchange of thumbs-ups between Tim and Bo), then she and Bo both fall asleep on Tim's big, broad, brawny shoulders, which is just. GUH. It kills with the sexy cute!!! Tim carries Bo to bed (again with the GUH and the SEXY and the CUTE), and when he comes back in the room, Milfie smiles drowsily at him, saying, "You're so..." I think she was going to say "good with him," but Tim, accustomed to women smiling at him and saying, "You're so..." right before they trip him and beat him to the floor, just licks his lips and lays one on her. YUM. But Milfie pushes him away, and Tim says he's sorry, he misunderstood the situation, ma'am...but he didn't, really. It just takes her a day or so to come around to The Glory That Is Tim Riggins. When he gets home from his Texas Forever night on the field (more on that in a minute), she's waiting for him, and takes his hand, pulling him into the house (and presumably her bed), saying into his mouth, "Bo can never know." Okay! I'll never tell him! Promise! Now, can I watch?

"THAT IS SO BROKEBACK, MAN" -- Aaaaaaaaaaaah! *sniff* Okay, okay, I'm pulling myself together enough to write about Jason and Tim.*sniff* Ack. No, I'm not...*sniff* I can't watch these scenes without keeling over. I've tried, but I keep tearing up as soon as I hear the music start and it's damn hard to type when you can't see the keyboard. This, right here, is why I love this show so much. How many shows are patient enough to drag out antipathy between friends for almost a whole season? It makes the reconciliation payoff that much stronger. These scenes with Jason and Tim, and with the two of them plus Matt and Smash on the football field, are among my favorite scenes ever. Seriously. I love all four of those boys, and never more than when they're together. They're drinking beer. Running plays. They're coaching, inspiring, teasing, encouraging, giving each other shit, laughing. They're teammates and friends and mentors and in the end, it's love. *sigh*

What, you need more? Okay, fine: Tim comes upon Jason trying, without success, to buy beer at a liquor store. Tim gets his, of course, ("Appreciate your business, Sergeant Riggins"), and buys Jason's, too, and outside the store, Matt and Smash (still in their Alamo Freeze uniforms!) invite Jason to come with them to the field. After some girltalk, Coach Street and his two star receivers help Matt nudge his game up a notch or twelve, building his confidence and cementing his position as an honest-to-God Dillon Panther QB1. "You want to play big, think big, all right?" Jason tells Matt. "I'm gonna show you how." *gasp* Oh, it's SO. GOOD. So they run this complicated play that will lead Matt to not just respect but fear from his opponents, and Lord, the smile on Matt's face when he works it out, y'all...it's like sunshine on a cloudy day. Then Smash and Matt fall asleep sprawled out on the field with their hands touching (leading Tim to say my paragraph header), while Jason and Tim sit together in peaceful contentment watching the sunrise. "Friends?" Tim asks. Jason nods. "Yeah," he says. "Always. Texas forever." Tim blinks sweetly at him and says, "Texas forever, man." GOD, I love my bromance!

No game this week; tune in next week for the "Mud Bowl" and watch as all our favorite gorgeous teenagers (and adults!) get down and dirty! And wet! See you there!