Friday Night Lights – There Goes The Neighborhood

What a breath of fresh air to have an original Friday Night Lights episode again! One hour, once a week is just not enough. We were rewarded for waiting with some great performances namely from Julie (Aimee Teegarden), Riggins (Taylor Kitsch), Landry (Jesse Plemons), Tyra (Adrianne Palicki) and even Buddy (Brad Leland)! I don’t have to mention Eric (Kyle Chandler) and Tami (Connie Britton) right? That’s a given.

This week’s storyline begins at the Taylor house where we find out a bad storm is heading for Dillon. When it’s discovered the Taylor household is out of formula for baby Grace, Riggins heads to the store and Julie asks to tag along. When they reach the store tornado sirens go off and Tim spots a tornado heading right for them. He grabs Julie and shields her as the tornado blows out the store windows, but misses a more direct hit.

It seems Riggins is making himself useful around the Taylor house, in more ways than one, and is finally surrounded by a loving family that could help him get his life back on track. Nothing is ever easy for Tim however because Tami becomes concerned about the length of his stay after she sees her sister Shelly and her daughter Julie ogling Tim as he works out. Rumor has it that Tim and Shelly hook up at some point this season, which would fall right in line with what this episode is setting up.

After the tornado, we find out that division rivals, the Larabee Lions have lost their school (not to mention their practice field) to the tornado and the Dillon Panthers have offered to share their field with them while the damage is being repaired. If you can take yourself back to high school for a minute try and imagine how this is going to turn out. The visiting team unfortunately does not have a coach that feels it’s important to be respectful to the hosting Dillon Panthers. They constantly taunt them and then trash their lockers. Their coach sees this as a harmless prank, but when Coach Taylor catches the team retaliating he never once considers letting it slide, and instead berates them into cleaning everything up. In doing so he teaches the kids a life lesson, as only Coach Taylor can, that he will never let other people define who they are as a team. Eric eventually sets things straight with their coach after he slugs Riggins. I can’t remember having seen any show, or movie that provides a look into the lives of high school students with such clarity.


We get a strong performance from Buddy when he finds out from his daughter Lyla (who assumed he already knew) that her mother (his ex-wife) Pam is getting married. This news hits Buddy like a brick as he ends up later in the episode at her doorstep begging her to take him back, only to be turned down. Pam has moved on, and it’s time for Buddy to do so as well.


Landry continues to try and coax Tyra towards a meaningful relationship now that he has been cleared of the murder. He is unsuccessful at convincing her to attend the Fall Formal with him, as she accepts an invitation from the quarterback of the visiting team. We continue to get gritty performances from these two as Landry shows up at the dance (because he’s not giving up) only to find Tyra sitting alone while her “date” is puking in the bathroom. Tyra tries to explain to Landry that her feelings for him scare her and she needs some time. In a response that showcases why this show is so well written, instead of taking the easy way out, Landry tells Tyra no, it’s not OK, and no he doesn’t understand. The fact that these two were overlooked for supporting roles by the Emmy’s and the Golden Globes is where I say “no it’s not OK, and no I don’t understand!”


As Riggins continues to be thankful to the Taylor’s for taking him in, he begins to adopt the role of older brother (protector) to Julie. He rescues her when Matt and the “nurse” come around and he sees it upsets her. Next, he puts the fear of God into a classmate trying to take advantage of Julie after she’d had a few too many. He sees Julie home safely and carries her to bed, only to be discovered in what appears to be an embrace by Eric. Eric kicks Tim out of the house, not interested in any explanation Riggins tries to spit out. We close the episode with Tim once again sitting in his car, wondering why the world is so unfair.

I am concerned about how they are going to resolve this homeless issue for Riggins. Julie was too drunk to remember in the morning that Tim was taking care of her, not taking advantage. So, if she can’t clear this up for her Dad, I don’t see how it can ever be cleared up? Which begs the questions, Why is the world so unfair to Tim?

That pretty much sums things up. If you still aren’t a believer, you can become one here...