Friday Night Lights "Injury List" Recap

SPOILER ALERT:

The beauty of Friday Night Lights is that it's a show about football, that's not really about football.  It's actually a drama depicting the relationships between the people of a (high-school football crazed) small town.  The danger of a show with a plethora of three-dimensional characters is an overabundance of stories.  Despite being a good episode, "Injury List" is a prime example of this phenomenon.  The one hour episode features interweaving plots that include: an abortion scandal, TWO love triangles, a life-changing injury and a young star witnessing his friend die during a crime (not to mention numerous sub-plots and side-plots like Buddy trying to fake a passion for the Lions where his passion for the Panthers belongs.)  I’ll try to navigate through most of the main stories.

Let's start with the bedrock of the show: Principal Tami Taylor and Coach Eric Taylor.  The palpable chemistry between the two protagonists allows the couple to overcome common marital problems in relatable and admirable ways.  The show depicts them as parental figures to their own children as well as to the other children they teach/coach/guide AND the show offers the relationship as a stable base from which to introduce the town.  In a previous episode, Tami was approached by a student from a different school facing a teen pregnancy.  Tami "followed the guidelines" and presented that teen with options including information about abortions, but Tami mainly encouraged the teen to speak to her parents (which the teen did.)  However, the mother of the boy who impregnated the teen demanded an inquest into Tami’s allegedly improper conduct, which is obviously more serious amidst such a religiously and politically sensitive topic.  Tami struggles with the idea of losing her job and fights for the confidentiality of her teen-interaction.  She ultimately survives the board inquest to keep her job, but the press catches the story and she has yet to feel the implications of this explosive controversy.  A principal from a Texas town involved in a public abortion scandal would be wise to start labeling her office supplies.

But it’s even harder for Tami to deal with her problem because her husband, whom she usually relies on for emotional support, is having difficulties of his own.  Coach is coping with an unprecedented level of professional failure, which includes a loss in a winnable game, along with the loss of one of his two star players for the season.  His coping mechanism thus far this season has been an increasing reliance on alcohol (to be fair, we’ve seen him drink like three times this season, but the show is suggesting he’s drinking a lot more than usual.)  So, while the couple shares a touching moment and manages an in-house date night, both of them are ostensibly handling their problems by themselves.  Neither of these two normally attentive parents even asks about Julie’s drama regarding Matt’s sudden reappearance in her life.  If they ask about her life, she might (whiningly) tell them about how she (annoyingly) closes the book on Matt for ending their 4-year relationship with an abrupt uncharacteristic radio silence.

From Julie’s temporary neglect, we turn to Tim Riggins and his endless bounty of attention.  Sure, the guy is handsome and brooding and is the classic ‘bad-boy turned good,’ but a mother AND daughter… really?  Let’s pretend these people are actually the ages of their characters: he’s 19, the mother is 32 and the daughter is 16.  Considering ONLY the age of the participants, (not including that the mother may be hotter than the daughter,) which of these relationship scenarios is more gross and which is more illegal?  The mother was obviously furious (even though he has not done anything illegal with her… yet,) but isn’t this really a double-robbing the cradle situation?

The other love triangle is more interesting: Landry-Jess-Vince.  Jess is torn between an exciting burgeoning relationship with Landry, with whom she is intellectually compatible (and he’s funnier) vs. a lifelong passionate love/hate relationship with a troubled, but trying Vince.  The Jess-Landry dynamic touches on the issue of race when Landry’s parents (Aaron from 24 and wife) bring up a question about Obama out of nowhere.  By side-stepping the race question and subsequently laughing about it, the duo's connection grows stronger.  But simultaneously, she has her eyes fixed elsewhere as she sees Vince’s life continue to fall apart.

Vince, my favorite new character, (though his mother is my least favorite: what accent is she supposed to have?) continues demonstrating a vulnerable and good-natured disposition amidst accumulating tragedies.  He watches idly as the girl he likes kisses his teammate (even as she continues to demonstrate her feelings for him by visiting his mom at the drug-rehab clinic, encouraging him and nurturing him.)  His effort to handle his mother's drug problem was well-intentioned but foolishly dangerous as he joined a gang of collections thugs to pay for his mother’s treatment.  This week, he manages to avoid beating a man with a pipe, but then watches his friend get gunned down during an assignment.  I’m reluctant to discuss where this plot might go because this show does not handle murder well.  (See Landry, Season 2.)

Finally, we get to Luke who inspired the title for this week’s episode.  I was actually surprised by Luke’s story because when he went scrounging for pain meds, I thought we were headed for another after-school special about drugs.  I was relieved to find that was not the case, but disappointed that he is out for the season.  (Side note: Tinker helped Luke build a gate and tried to keep him from furthering his injury, so in terms of friendship: Tinker=2, Luke=0.)  If this was real life and this otherwise bad Lions team just lost 1 of its 2 great players, they would lose every game for the rest of the season.  Thankfully, this is not real life; it’s just a show about... well, you get the idea.