Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Updated 2009-02-14 07:58:43
Game night, in medias res . Slammin' Sammy voice overs that Coach Taylor's wacky plan to switch quarterbacking between J.D. and Matt is a disaster. We watch as the team is in complete chaos as Matt and J.D. run on and off the field. The Panthers are racking up delay of game penalties, unable to cohere without a single quarterback's leadership. The opposing team gets a touchdown, and Slammin' Sammy reminds us that with the lost game to Arnet Mead, if the Panthers lose tonight, their season is pretty much over. On the sidelines, Coach pulls Matt and J.D. over and tells them to both stay calm and composed, that the other team is getting confused and they're going to win this. J.D. heads back out to the field, and a strident rap-rock song plays as he makes a beautiful pass. They're back on! J.D. makes another insanely beautiful however-many-yard pass for a touchdown, and his father in the stands makes his O face. Ugh. Slammin' Sammy voice overs that Matt Saracen has been hanging tough, but J.D. is "on fuego" tonight. The opposing team responds with a touchdown, and the Panthers huddle up on the sidelines. Even though it's Matt's "turn" on the field, Coach, all-business and all-excited, tells J.D. he's going back in. Matt's face goes stunned behind his mask, and the Panthers head out, with only about thirty seconds on the clock and in need of another touchdown. Slammin' Sammy narrates that it looks like the "torch has been passed" when he sees J.D. coming back out on the field. J.D. methodically brings them down the field, one pass, then another, to a first down and a stopped clock. Coach grabs Matt and gives him the play to run, and sends him back out on the field for the final play. The opposing team is all confused by this sudden switch, and they scramble to try to sub for a Saracen defense. The ball is snapped, and Matt runs that favorite play of his -- fakes the handoff -- so that everyone thinks Tim Riggins has the ball, when really Matt does. Matt runs across the field, unnoticed by everyone else, and into the endzone for the touchdown. Panthers win. Panthers win. The crowd rushes the field, and J.D. (after telling Matt "good game") is in the center of the celebration, while Matt slinks off away from all the others. It's too heartbreaking that everyone notices when Matt loses a game, but nobody notices when he wins the game for them.
Credits. Taylor household, everyone buzzing around making dinner. Tami prattles a bit, giving the scene a "mom soundtrack", and then asks Julie in passing, "What is that mess on your leg?" Camera pans down and we see a heart tattooed on her ankle. Julie, fixing the dinner salad, just says "It's a tattoo" and Tami is like "Oh, like a lick 'n' stick tattoo?" and Julie mutters that it's, like, a real tattoo, that lick 'n' stick ones were, like, modeled after? Tami and Coach both sort of pause, not sure they just heard what they heard, and they both kind of orbit over toward her. Tami: "What? What did you just say?" and then it's on. We get a better look at the tattoo -- a kind of glittery lavender heart with a rose in the center -- and we all laugh and laugh at that choice. The Taylors are not at the "laugh about it later" stage yet and they hit the roof. Tami screeches about how Julie has permanently marred her body, her beautiful, beautiful body, her skin is RUINED. Julie is like "Tyra said you guys would freak out" and Tami wants to know what Tyra has to do with anything. I want to know, too, because we haven't seen those two hang out together in like a year and a half. Julie gets super smart-assy with her mom, and screams about how it's just a tiny tattoo, and they're acting like she got a huge dancing Popeye tattooed on her bi-cep. Coach shouts at her to not be a smart-ass, and she just screeches about how "it's done, it's over, it's too late" and storms back to her room.
Jason! Street! Jason Street! We cut over to Jason wheeling to the garbage can to toss a few copies of Backside magazine in. We quickly get our bearings when on his way back to the living room we catch a glimpse of a framed photograph of him with a baby on the wall. Herc hears those Backsides slapping the bottom of the trash, and comes out of his room, all "whoa, whoa, whoa" and saying he wasn't done with the magazines. Jason suggests that he could probably tell him how they all end. Herc points out to Jason that you don't need to hide porn from babies. "Babies are not freaked out by boobies." Jason non-funs that there's a lot more than boobies in those magazines, and Herc is like "Like what? Vaginas? Babies loooove vaginas. They just took a big trip through one, it's like looking at a postcard." Wish you were here, indeed. Jason is still fretting over the state of the bachelor pad when Erin -- his one night stand -- comes in with the baby. Everyone's real excited, and when Jason follows her to the door as she leaves, saying that she's working an extra shift tonight so will be a little later than usual, we catch a glimpse of Herc leaning over the sleeping baby and making goofy faces at it. Aw, pornography addict with a heart of gold! Jason says to Erin that ten p.m. is late for her to be coming back and moving "Noah," and then suggests that maybe Noah sleep over that night, or maybe actually she could like move in, so they could all be in the same place all the time. Whoa, Jason. Do these two even have a relationship other than the baby? Erin tells Jason that she wishes things were that easy, that she could just move in, but she can't even think long term at the moment. Jason kind of clumsily exposits that he's still trying to get more hours at the dealership so she can cut back to part-time, and Erin nods that she knows it's not a good time to be a car salesman right now. Hello, recession. How quickly you make it into our popular cultural entertainment these days. Jason promises her that he'll come up with a way to get more money, and she tells him she knows he's working hard, and then takes her leave.
Garrity house. Buddy is bitching his realtor Missy out on the phone while Lyla and Tim pack some straggling items up. The house which appeared so grand in the first episode -- as contrasted against the houses Tim and Matt live in -- looks pretty shabby all depopulated. Buddy tells her that even though it's listed at $250,000, he'll take $220,000. Meaningful cuts to Tim Riggins as he listens to what Buddy's telling Missy. Buddy keeps bitching her out, telling her that he's been a salesman his whole life, so this is what she should do: tell interested but hesitant buyers that "When all the scared rats are leaving the sinking market, that's when a real entrepreneur steps in. A true visionary." Tim is clearly taking this all in, even as he sort of dumbass-ly tries to hoist a huge armoire onto a handtruck.
Coach Taylor's office. Lots of friction in there between various assistant coaches, and they seem to be speaking Swahili here. But anyhow, they're all in disagreement. Coach Taylor steps in and tells them what to do (in Swahili) and Mac is not pleased: "You want to install another set?" Mac points out that means more routes, blocking schemes, more zone reads. Coach tells him that good, fine, that plays to their strengths. Mac lets loose, "No, our strength is J.D. McCoy, Coach." Pause. Coach tells him to go on. Mac tells him that they beat McNulty with their two-quarterback strategy, but that's not going to work again. He tells Coach that all the other assistant coaches are in agreement -- pan around to various fat man heads nodding in agreement -- and that Matt's a tough kid, he'll be alright. "You gotta tell him the truth, Eric." And it's true, Coach should have made up his mind one way or the other: either do what he thinks is right, or do what the town wants him to do.
Jason and Herc are "brain"-storming money-making ideas, while Tim Riggins lays on the couch drinking beer and watching... Top Chef , which is hilarious. Mainly because he clearly just watches for Padma. As Jason encourages Herc to help him think of something that people need but don't know they need -- "Like, Post-Its!" (okay, Romy) -- Tim just languidly says that they could always just flip Buddy's house. Tim monotones that he knows Buddy'll sell for 250, so they just buy it, put 30 grand into it, and then sell it for 350. "It's flippin' houses. It works. I know, I saw it on TV." Ah, yes, Professor TV. Jason points out to Tim that the housing market sucks right now and then Tim says, verbatim, "Yeah, well, it's when all the scared rats are runnin' away from the sinkin' market that the real entrepreneurs come in. The true visionaries." And it WORKS. Jason and Herc hear that line and then are both like "Huh!" Herc pipes up, "You know I'm good with design!" and then Tim is like "Billy and I have some copper wire money, we could all go in on it." And thus the wacky plan is launched, the wackiness somewhat mitigated by the following factors: Tim is going to endure more Buddy-initiated blows to his self-esteem, Jason is going to lose all his money and never get what he wants, they're using money that Billy and Timmy procured rather depressingly, etc, etc.
Coach knocks on Matt Saracen's rickety door. He comes out onto the little porch, and you can see in his face he knows what's happening. Coach is direct: "J.D. is going to start Friday. You're going to be QB2." Matt just says "Okay." Coach leans in and tries to get heartfelt with Matt about having to make this decision, but Matt won't meet his eyes, and just then Grandma and Shelby come driving up. Grandma shouts out from the car "Oh, my lord have mercy! It's Coach Taylor!" She shambles up to greet him and then starts in on the "can I fix ya somethin' to eat?" Shelby introduces herself and Matt clarifies, "It's my mother." Coach is taken aback and says he's happy to meet her. She says she's heard a lot about him, and Grandma googly-grins that Coach just walks on water. Maybe not so much with the walking over "water" right now as with the "dreams of the sweetest teen boy there ever was." Grandma goes into the house to fix him something, and Coach takes his leave of Matt, who just sits in silence in the corner of the porch. Shelby asks him if he's okay and he just mutters that he's fine in response
Commercials. Landry and Matt pull up to school, losers once again, blasting Skid Row's "I Remember You." Matt is like "Power ballads? Really? How cliché can you get?" Landry doesn't care what Matt says, he's feeling it. Their first view is of J.D. McCoy surrounded by girls. Then Landry glances to the side to see Tyra making out with Cash, who's dropping her off at school. The music stops as he abruptly shuts the car off and just sighs, "Whelp, let's go."
Tyra is in Tami's office. Tami wants to know what's going on. Tyra doesn't know what she's talking about. Tami says she sees Tyra going off the deep end in her senior year; she's been skipping school, and she just completely screwed up a history test. Tyra is impassive: "Well, you win some, you lose some." Tami takes a breath and then asks her who "that man" is that drops her off at school every day. Tyra snarks that she thinks she's allowed to have a boyfriend, and Tami quickly responds that he doesn't look like a boy to her. Tami says that if the relationship is how she imagines it is, it's a one-way ticket to nowhere. Dude, Tami Taylor just called Tyra a slut, sort of. Tyra tells Tami that it's none of her business, but Tami tells her that it is her business because she's made an investment in her and she cares about her.
The Playgirl Ranch. Billy Riggins is playing the role of The Godfather, Jason Street the role of Frodo. Jason is proposing this stupid plan to Billy, while Herc and Tim sit next to him. Billy is munching obnoxiously on corn chips. They try to sell him on the great return he'd get on his money, and Billy asks whether or not this is a crazy ass risk. Jason sells him, "That's an excellent question, Billy" and then tells him that he's done his research, and that upscale houses are selling. Billy isn't sure, this money is the money he wanted to use to start a new life with Mindy. Jason tells him that there's a lot at stake for all of them, and that it'll work because they'll do it together -- teamwork. Billy is still not convinced. That is, until Tim once again gives his Rat Speech. Jason and Herc look a little quizzical at hearing it again, but then I guess they don't see exactly how they're being reflected in a glass darkly when Billy finally brightens up. It wasn't "research," it wasn't "teamwork" that sold him; nope it was being called an "entrepreneur. A true visionary." Then he proves his visionary-ness by clapping his hands and saying "Wooo!" They're all happy and fist-bumping, and Jason tells them they've got a meeting at the bank tomorrow for the loan; they'll need a check from Tim and Billy, who exchange a panicked look, but smooth it over and say they'll be there with the money.
Tyra and Cash meet over sodas. Tyra is down over her C- on the history test. Cash tells her that his mom would have baked him a cake if he got a C-. Tyra points out that he was trying to be a cowboy, she's trying to get into college. Tyra tells him that Tami doesn't like him much, and he smoothly notes that "Yeah, they usually don't." Tyra continues, trying to probe him by using Tami's words, "She just thinks you're some cowboy that wanders around from town to town." Cash jokes, "Have you met me?" and Tyra tells him that she likes to think that he's more than that, and Cash fixes her with his SEX EYES (this man does smolder in unexpected, blonde ways) and says that "Yeah, I guess sometimes it takes the right woman to make you more'n you are." I'm sold. So sold that it doesn't even bother me when he pops some more pills. Tyra furrows and asks about him having just taken the pills this morning. He says that he did, and then asks her if she's ever been thrown off a horse? "It ain't like the achin' goes away. I only take it if I hurt. And I hurt. A lot." OH LORD WITH THE SWOONING. Sex Eyes, and conversation about how he Hurts? This is like a Perfect Storm of Bad Boy heading for Tyra.
Tami and Eric lie in bed, Tami plaintively asking why Julie would get a tattoo. "I mean, it's a rose, in a heart... what does that even mean?" Coach tells her that a lot of kids get tattoos and that it doesn't have to mean anything. Tami thinks it does mean something, and that it doesn't make her feel better that Tyra was involved, since Tyra is off the deep end this year. "A good old-fashioned bad influence." Coach looks suddenly concerned, and asks her what she means. Tami tells him, you know, parties, boys, drugs, she sees it at school every day.
Jason wheels up to Erin's house. She is super thankful to see him; she says Noah has been fussy and Jason just has a certain way with him and she needs to get some sleep. Jason tells her to take a break, and then before going back to Noah, mentions that he's got some irons in the fire and things are looking up.
Cut over to Billy and Tim in the truck. Tim notes that this whole "mile long dirt road" thing feels legit. They pull up and it's Guy Raston -- FERRET GUY! Tim is not happy, but Ferret Guy is kind of psyched to see "The Duke boys." I wonder how this is going to turn out. Well, let's just cut to the chase -- how it goes is like this: the guy with Ferret Guy tries to stiff the Riggins, offering just ten thousand for all three spools. Ferret Guy says he wants two thousand for hooking them all up. Billy tries to leave, but Tim doesn't want to; they need the money. Ferret Guy calls them dumbasses for taking so long to confer; Billy apparently REALLY hates being called a dumbass, but what he hates even more is when Ferret Guy calls him short, and then it's even WORSE when Ferret Guy tells him that Mindy gives one hell of a VIP dance, and so then Billy just has to jump Ferret Guy, who we ALL know has a gun, so Tim has to deck him a little harder, and the two Duke Boys hop in the truck and peel out just in time as Ferret Guy eventually gets up from the dust and fires his gun on them a few times. What the hell show am I recapping here?
Back over at Erin's, Jason sings to a now-calm Noah. I'm feeling like Scott Porter is having a hard time differentiating between playing Jason "sweet" and playing him "simple." He's coming off a bit "frying pan to the head" in the episode. You can call me heartless, because after judging the weird simpleton lip purse he has in the beginning, the scene evolves into him telling Noah about how he bought a house so that he can make some money so they can all live together and I supposed it's all kind of sweet. He leaves Noah to find Erin conked out in bed, goes over to her and covers her with a blanket.
Commercials. Herc and Jason are at the bank, trying to make excuses for Tim and Billy, who are late. The banker says they all have to be present; cut to Herc and Jason rolling out, and running right into Tim and Billy who are sauntering in. Herc and Jason are all gussied up in suits; Tim? In a ratty t-shirt, and Billy in the ever present plaid button-down. Except for Billy's plaid button down is sort of looking like it might be A.P.C. or Built by Wendy, just run through the wash a few times. He must have run down to Marfa to get that. After chastising the Rigginses a bit, Herc declares that no thanks to them, the bank has approved their loan. Everyone grins, Jason quickly explains that they played the crippled football stars card, and then demands to know where the money is. Billy scratches his head, and Tim jumps in to explain that when he said they had "copper wire money" he really meant they just had a lot of copper wire. Jason is doing a spectacular "pissed mom in public whisper," and then ends up calling Billy a dumbass, which we now know is Billy's pet peeve. Another pet peeve? When people call him short, which Herc does in a bit. Billy threatens to walk out and then points out that he can't punch Jason since he's in a wheelchair. Jason suggests that maybe he ask his brother about how Jason can conduct a fight from a wheelchair. Herc tells them all to calm down, they're in public, and then says that he might know a guy to buy the wire from them.
A book! Someone is reading a book! In Dillon! Who is it? Oh, just Shelby. She of the guitar playing and book reading. Matt shuffles up to find her sitting on the curb in front of his house. He asks if everything is alright, and we pan back to see that her car is steaming, hood propped open. She says it's fine, the car just takes a lot of water. He mutters "as long as you're okay" and then brushes by her to go into the house. She pops up and follows him a bit, saying she wanted to run something by him. She says she stopped by a hair salon in town, and found out that she could rent a chair there, meaning she might be staying in Dillon for a while. She wants to help out, just until he graduates. Matt just says she can do whatever she wants, and heads inside, leaving Shelby outside, literally and figuratively.
The Playgirl Ranch. Herc's "guy" is checking out the copper wire. He offers them twenty thousand; Billy tries to pretend he knows what he's doing and says he needs to "confer with his colleagues"...but Tim is like "Why?" Real smooth. The guy shows them the money and they all grin.
Tyra sits in class, struggling to stay awake when her phone buzzes. She checks it and finds a text reading "Look behind you." She does and sees Cash outside the window beckoning her to come out. Cut to a guitar-strummy music montage of Cash and Tyra driving along the country roads, Tyra smiling at the horses running in the fields. They pull up to a barn and we cut inside. Cash leads Tyra to a stall where we see a mother horse lying on the ground grooming her newborn foal. Tyra gets misty immediately, telling Cash she's never seen anything like that before. Cash, his arm nonchalantly thrown over her shoulder tells her that he figured she hadn't. Tyra can't tell what she's more moved by, the beautiful circle of life in front of her, or the one-two combination of Cash's fine ass and heart.
Julie, in her room doing homework. Tami knocks and asks if she and Eric can come in and talk to her for a second. Eric says that "your mother and I" would like to have a conversation about the tattoo. Tami points out, "Now that everyone's calm." Julie just responds with a "Mmmm hmmmm" and then Coach launches a "WHAT the hell were you thinkin'?!" Tami tries to reign her husband in with a "Now, hun" and then translates Dad-speak into Mom-speak about how they want to just know a little more about her thought process in making that decision. Julie snarks that it's not a big deal, which sets Eric off a little more, and Tami runs more interference, telling Julie that the point is that this is just not like Julie, to do something like that without talking to either of them. Tami wants to know if there is something going on in Julie's life, and wants to know what it all means. Julie, the voice of Samuel Beckett here, repeats that it doesn't mean ANYTHING, and Tami tells her that, fine, if it doesn't mean anything, then they're just going to go ahead and get it removed. This finally gets to Julie, through her teen armor of flippancy, and Tami repeats that she found a place in San Antonio and they are going to go get it removed. Julie tells Tami to have fun going to San Antonio alone, she's not going, and that last she checked the tattoo was on her ankle. Tami starts nodding her head real quick -- anyone who can read mom body language knows this situation has now escalated -- and snaps that until Julie is eighteen, it's not Julie's ankle, it's her ankle. Tami gets up and declares the conversation over.
Buddy's realtor Missy's office. Missy is that same oversexed middle-aged lady who came on to Tim Riggins in the first episode of the series. Awesome! She tells Buddy that she sold his house for him; Buddy claps his hands and rubs them together in glee. Until, that is, he sees the paperwork. "What's this? Tim Riggins? Billy Riggins?" Missy tells him that they're the buyers, and Buddy just stares at her in disbelief.
The Playgirl Ranch. The four stooges celebrate with shots, when the phone rings. Jason answers; it's Missy telling him that Buddy is not going to sell them the house. He was happy with the offer until he saw their names. Jason wonders what he said, and Missy, all pants suit and bluetooth struggling her way into her car, tells him that he said something along the lines of "That house can rot in hell before I sell it to those clown car idiots." Oh, yes! Buddy Garrity, that is a hell of a line. Jason hangs up, while in the background his fellow entrepreneurial visionary stooges slur and knock shit over.
Commercials. Tyra knocks on Tami's office door. She tells Tami that she just wanted to tell her that she knows that she's done so much for her, that she's always been there for her, which means a lot. Tami accepts her thanks. Tyra then tells Tami that she's wrong about Cash, that he's SUCH a good guy. "He really is." I want to tell Tyra to get that hair out of her eyes so she can see more clearly, but I don't think I'd be thinking so straight myself around Cash the Simultaneously Vaguely-Threatening Non-Threatening Male. (Seriously, isn't that his appeal? He's the perfect mix of sort of feminine and totally masculine and it's extremely attractive). Tami tells Tyra that she doesn't care about Cash, she only cares about Tyra. Tyra tells her that she has her priorities straight, and Tami tells her that's all she wants. Tyra leaves and Tami furrows, looking at a picture of Julie, a few years younger, all smiles and lack-of-angst.
Matt, locker room. He sits on the bench in front of his locker, reaches out a hand to shut it, and then starts hauling off punching the locker and knocking helmets around the room. Coach comes around the corner and asks what the hell he's doing. Matt lets loose, shouting that he's done everything Coach has asked, he won them a state championship, got them to 3 and 1 this season, works his ass off at practice. "I DO EVERYTHING THAT YOU SAY." He demands that if it's because J.D. is better than him, Coach needs to tell him. Coach tells him that his job is to field a team that wins games, and right now, that means J.D. McCoy. Matt clenches his mouth, and then tells Coach that he quits. Coach tells him that he is not quitting, that if Matt quits he's going to hate himself. If Matt wants to be pissed, he should go ahead and be pissed, but he's not quitting. Matt comes back at him, though, saying that "Fine. I'll sit on that bench. I'll come to practice and do whatever you tell me to do. But I'm gonna hate it. And you're gonna hate it." Pause. "Good talk, Coach." POW. This kid is speaking THE TRUTH!
Jason is in Buddy's office. Buddy tells him his decision is not about Jason, but about Riggins. He notes that Riggins already has his daughter; that Tim is great on the football field, but Buddy doesn't relish the idea of him being the father of his grandchildren. Buddy shares that he can't talk to Lyla about any of this, and he just can't sell the house to the Riggins. Jason lays it on thick, telling Buddy he's not selling Riggins the house, he's selling Jason the house. He points out that Buddy would have no problem selling him the house. And then the pianos start plinking. Jason says that he has a baby now, and he has a woman that he loves to death -- really? Really? Where is their relationship?-- but that she is keeping him at arm's length until he shows her he can make some money. He needs to buy Buddy's house to take these steps. Next, Jason really leans on Buddy, who is looking more and more amenable to the plan, asking Buddy to remember when he was a sophomore, and they had that last game against Midland. He paints the picture -- they were down by six, four minutes to go. They drive down the field, end up at fourth and goal; Jason stepped back and threw a dart right into the receiver's arms -- touchdown, Panthers went to State. Buddy is like a baby in amniotic fluid remembering. "That guy, that guy is the guy you're selling the house to" Jason concludes.
Commercials. Buddy's house. Herc is insisting they need to put in vaulted ceilings, get rid of all the textured wood crap. Billy thinks he's crazy, he kinda likes the wood. Herc gets all Kelly Wearstler on him, saying he WOULD like the wood and calls Billy an idiot. This gets Billy yelling and so everyone is yelling and somehow Burt Bacharach gets involved, who Billy doesn't even know who he is, and Herc gets all annoyed that Billy isn't even getting the general insult he's trying to make by bringing up Burt Bacharach in conjunction with the textured wood. Thankfully, Erin comes in to release some of this building MASCULINE pressure, asking Jason if she can talk to him a minute. Jason tries to pretend like they aren't all a bunch of idiots and says loudly "Great ideas, guys, keep 'em coming!" and then follows her outside. Outside, Jason tells Erin the plan, that he bought the house to flip so they can have a nest egg. Her mouth gapes, and then she tells him that she's moving back east with her parents. She says it's all too hard and then tells him he can come visit Noah. I understand that this storyline is on fast-forward for a variety of reasons, but they really should not have had it held together by the fact that Jason loves Erin. Because, what? It's so completely unbelievable. Where is their relationship? It obviously doesn't exist. So, how could Jason be SO blind? This is like American Idol rejects level of delusion, which is not how I like to see my Jason Street. Anyway, Erin leaves, despite Jason's protests. Tim watched this whole thing go down from the window, and then comes out to ask Jason if everything is okay. Jason hides his tears and lies that she's really excited about the plan and can't wait to see what they do with the place.
Tami and Julie are in the car, presumably on their way to San Antone. Tami pulls over into a rest stop looking area and asks Julie to get out of the car. She comes around to the passenger side, and with a toss of her hair asks her daughter if she's ever mentioned that she almost dropped out of high school. Julie giggles at this news and Tami says "Yeaaaah. Your momma was a bit of a wild child back in the day." Julie asks her what happened, and Tami tells her that what happened was that Julie's dad happened. Tami says that they were lucky to have each other, but that she knows how easy it is to go down that road, and so when she sees Julie getting a tattoo, it just makes her worried. Connie Britton's delivery is perfection, she brushes her hair behind her ear, brings her hand to her chin, and sort of swallows the word "worried" in a way that indicates just how worried she is. Tami tells Julie that she is independent, and smart, and beautiful, and she doesn't need any guy to pull her out of some hole, but that she just feels like she needs Julie to promise her that that's all true. Julie tells her that she promises, she's not going down that road, and Tami pulls her close and hugs her. The camera swings around and gives us Julie's eyes, closing as she sinks into the hug -- and that always gets me; she did the same thing when Tami hugged her the night she stayed out past curfew and almost had sex with Matt. It's such a beautiful detail about how hard it is to be a teenager, stuck between being your own person and being your mom's. Tami tells her that "Alright, now, let's go home" and Julie is surprised. "So I can keep the tattoo?" Tami tells her that she guarantees by the time she's thirty, she'll be taking it off herself. "And, I'm not gonna pay for it then."
Saracen's. Grandma is pulling items out of grocery bags and yelling at Shelby. "TWO PERCENT? We don't drink that! We don't use grape jelly! We like strawberry!" Oh, that "we" is too sweet, even if it is coming in a crazy old lady tirade. Shelby takes it all, even when Grandma yells at her for not buying her her Vanilla Creme cookies. Matt comes in just as Grandma really gets going: "Well, listen! Young lady, if you ever do go buy somethin' I might want to eat, RIGHT THERE is where I like to keep 'em!" -- thumping on the cabinet behind. Grandma then storms off into her bedroom and Matt deadpans, "She's pretty serious about her cookies." Shelby asks Matt if he likes grape jelly and he tells her that nobody likes grape jelly, which is SO TRUE. Matt opens the Vanilla Wafers (WRONG COOKIES!) and starts munching when Shelby asks Matt if she could come to his game on Friday. Matt slumps into the chair, and Shelby quickly says that if he doesn't want her to go, she doesn't have to. He takes a breath and then tells her what's going on, that after playing quarterback since sophomore year, there's a new freshman this year that everyone thinks is the next Peyton Manning so... "I got replaced." Shelby tells him that she's sorry and that he doesn't deserve that. Then Matt loosens up and tells her that he didn't even deserve the job in the first place, that the only reason he was starting was because their quarterback Jason Street got paralyzed in the middle of a game. They marvel over how horrible that was, and then Matt continues, telling Shelby and us about what happened. Oh, Matt. Tell me what happened. Come over to my house and tell me what's happened. He says that he stepped up and worked his ass off, but it wasn't enough. Shelby says that it sounds like he did a great job, and then asks if he's thought of taking a break. He tells her "you can't quit the team" and she wonders what they would do, "Shoot ya?" and then Matt laughs and says "Probably. We do live in Texas." He smiles and offers her a cookie, all languid and boyish at the table. Oh, Matt, go to college and become an English major! IT'S YOUR DESTINY!
Practice. J.D. is in; Matt hangs behind, his fingers hooked in his face mask, totally impassive. Coach gives him a quick glance, and we end on his face, empty of emotion.
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