Friday Night Lights episode 1.03 “Wind Sprints” – air date 10/17/06

Jason Street is watching the football game (from last week’s episode) with his mother beside him. She uncomfortably asks if he really wants to watch it. He says he does, holding a football in his gnarled fingers.

On the field Matt fakes to Smash and passes to Dolia. Dolia gets tackled and fumbles. Rattlers defense recovers.

Locker room. Coach says they should be beating “these bums” by forty points. Cut to the field and the Panthers getting pummeled. Locker room: Coach is telling Riggins he’s getting his ass handed to him. (hand it to me!) Field: Smash losing yardage. Locker room: Coach telling Smash to quit dancing unless he’s at the prom. When Smash starts to open his huge Smash mouth, Coach’s veins pop out of his skull. Field: fifteen seconds left in the game. Panthers are at the nine yard line. Matt runs the ball toward the end zone and gets tackled. Coach is standing on the sidelines looking unsure as the team celebrates all around him. Then the referee says no score. Saracen didn’t make it past the line.

In the locker room, Coach yells, “Saracen” and Matt lifts his bloody face up to Coach. “Good game,” Taylor tells him. “But not good enough. Not nearly good enough.”

Cut to Jason in his hospital bed. As the camera pans out, we can see that the football field is visible from his window. (*rolls eyes*)

Riggins house. Tim is watching fishing on television and Billy is hitting ping pong balls with a golf club while telling Tim how to play football. To paraphrase beat the crap out of the other guys and go get some tail. Tim grabs a beer. Somebody knocks on the door. Billy says, “Speaking of pieces of tail… Lyla Garrity.” Tim panics and does the hand across the neck thing. Billy opens the door and tells Lyla that Tim isn’t there. Lyla knows, probably by the tone of Billy’s voice, that Tim is, in fact, there. She talks a little louder saying that Jason has been asking for Tim and she goes every day so Tim can go whenever he wants.

Outside Saracen’s house. Somebody has disgraced Matt’s team sign with the word “LOSER” painted largely over top his name. He’s trying to wash it off as Landry is talking about his theories and Matt asks him to help wash the sign because he doesn’t want his grandmother to see it. Landry keeps talking. How did Dillon lose to South Milbank when they hadn’t lost to them in 20 years. He tells Matt it’s not because of him. Maybe an old lady witch. Matt tells Landry he’s retarded because half the time his grandmother can’t remember how to use the telephone. Grandma from the front door tells Matt to go “water the children”. Matt gently asks, “You mean the flowers?” She’s all uhhh yeah, dumbass, that’s what I said, and goes in the house. A car full of assholes drives past and yell “loser” at Matt.

At the hospital. A nurse or whatnot is working on Jason. Trying to see if he can lift his legs. She tells him to take a break and he says he wants to keep trying. “Not today,” she tells him in a soothing voice. Lyla comes in and in her oddly cheerful manner tells him about the pancake supper. He questions her and she tells him it’s the benefit “to help with the cost of the rehab facility”. She kind of says that with a question mark, like, I told you this. Why do you not remember everything I say? He just seems tired and sick of her constant cheerleadery cheerfulness. Lyla, of course, is oblivious to his tiredness and sickness of her and puts on her seductive voice. She leans into him and ignores Jason’s slight but obvious declinations. She starts moving her hand down his body. Rubbing his legs. Jason is smiling now. Suddenly, Lyla pulls back with an almost disgusted and totally surprised look on her face. Jason doesn’t know what’s going on and the nurse tells him, “Jason, it’s your catheter.” Poor Jason is horrified and Lyla just sort of stands there not knowing what to do or how to act. The nurse asks her to leave for a minute.

Tim in his truck. He’s eating chicken wings. Mrs. Street pulls up and sees him. She walks over and he’s his usual taciturn self. She tells him Jason’s been asking about him. When he doesn’t know how to respond, she tells him that he can still come over for dinner on Tuesday night. She reaches out and tucks his hair behind his ear and tells him to, “Get some rest, okay?” This scene is touching for a few reasons. To see somebody show that maternal concern for our boy Timmy. To be shown another sign of the bond that Jason and Tim have. To hear that Jason is asking everybody about Tim and Tim can’t bring himself to go see him. To know that Mrs. Street isn’t some kind of monster. *sniff*

Fast food restaurant. Coach and Julie walk in. Julie is talking about getting a dog and too much dead cow. Coach is ordering as some guy in a Hawaiian shirt asks Julie if she’s Eric Taylor’s girl. She says she is and he asks her if they’ve started packing yet. Coach sees/hears this and asks the guy what the problem is. The guy says he was merely telling Julie what happens when coaches lose. Julie is serving as back up to her dad with her angry eyes. Coach tells the idiot with perfectly executed sarcasm that he appreciates it. The dude shows Coach his championship ring and tells him he’ll never win one. Coach and Julie leave and he’s telling her not to listen to that. Coach raises his fist to the guy in that "well, I oughtta" way. A shame that an evening of burgers and onion rings with the Taylors has to turn into something like that.

Football field. The boys are doing sprints. Coach is telling them they have to be faster because they’re not bigger than the guys they’re playing this week. Smash tells Coach they think Matt needs to practice hand offs because he’s the problem. When he’s finished, Coach tells them all he was going to let them go early but thanks to Smash, they’ll have to run five more. Smash opens his mouth to protest and Coach says they’ll now be doing ten. Again, Smash starts to argue and Coach tells them they’ll be doing fifteen then asks if they want to see how high he can count because he can count “real high”.

Buddy Garrity is in the stands with the black coach, who we now know as Mr. Deets, from the first episode. IBG is talking about a quarterback from Louisiana who is in Texas now. He’s a Katrina victim named Ray Tatom. Mr. Deets calls him “Voodoo” and IBG asks if he knows him. Mr. Deets says he knows of him. Garrity decides they will go check him out.

Lyla is in her room when her mom comes in. Lyla says they have to get to the pancake supper because without anybody telling them what to do the “girls will just “fool around”. Her mom asks her what she wants for her birthday. Lyla tells her she’s having dinner with Jason at the hospital. Mrs. IBG asks if she should maybe not spend all her time at the hospital. Lyla tells her, “well you’d do it for dad”. Mrs. IBG explains that’s because he’s her husband. Lyla responds, “Well, I’m marrying Jason some day.” Her mother suggests she talks to somebody about it.

At the pancake supper. (ohmigawd! Now I have to have pancakes for supper. Sonofabitch I guess I have to go to the freaking store. Mmm… pancakes with lots of syrup and bacon.) Julie tells her friend they should go get a turkey burger. She bumps into Matt and he offers her his “soy sausage”. She declines and offers him her pancakes. Awww… The mayor is telling Tami that the last guidance counselor “killed herself with pills”. Tami’s all, “I’m sorry?” IBG is telling Coach to make a move on the “Katrina kid”. Coach questions whether it’s on the “up and up” and Buddy tells him he’ll take care of it. Tyra walks around the pancake breakfast looking all hot. She runs into Smash and he tries to Smash mouth her. She asks where Tim is to which Smash answers he’s “probably passed out” somewhere.

Tim's on top of some hill drinking beer and then hitting the empty cans over the hill with a golf club. (he truly is gorgeous) Tyra parks her pick-up next to his. Tyra asks him if he thinks she’s going away. He responds to her in a hurtful way, “you don’t seem to want to get the message.” She looks like a hurt girlfriend for a split second before she screams at him that he thinks he’s such a tough guy but he can’t even go see Jason in the hospital. He says nothing as he lifts the beer can to his mouth. She starts back to her truck. He asks, “How’s Smash?” She starts to go into the defensive girlfriend mode and tell him they didn’t really do anything then she remembers she’s a badass and says he’s slept with half the rally girls. Tim tells her, “We sure do have something special”. Hurtful. He just likes to hurt people. Instead of backing down though, Tyra lashes out some more. Trying to hurt him back, she tells him he’s “just another mediocre football player who’s going to grow up to drink himself to death”. Then she tells him if she gets in her truck she’s never coming back. Tim dismisses her with, “I get it, Tyra”. Now she has the look of a hurt girlfriend and observes that they’re really breaking up and “that’s all you say? That’s great.” Tim goes back to hitting beer cans over the hill with the golf club.

Coaches are watching the tapes of Voodoo. The assistant coach has seen this tape at the Garrity’s at a barbecue. Coach says he “didn’t know y’all were such good friends.” Poor Coach.

Hallway. A rally girl hands Tim his paper on East of Eden and says she misspelled a lot of words so it looks like he wrote it. The rally girl tells him excitedly that she heard he broke up with Tyra. He says, “I guess that’s true,” and simply walks away and then is chased down by Lyla. Oh the horrors of being a tremendously good-looking star high school football player. Getting chased down in the halls by rally girls and cheerleaders. But he broods. He broods because his life isn’t as simple as that. His life isn’t as simple as that because this cheerleader isn’t here because he’s tremendously good-looking. She has chased him down to tell him they’re “having a prayer meeting for Jason later”. He asks her, “What are we praying for, Lyla? A new spine for Jay?” And he walks off. ouch. Hurtful. Lyla keeps herself composed enough to yell out after him, “I know you don’t do anything you don’t want to do and I guess that’s fine but don’t insult me.” Feisty! Tim seems to take notice (uh oh) and appreciate (uh oh) that she didn’t just fall onto the floor sobbing.

Tami’s office. Matt asks to drop pre-calculus so he can go to morning practices. She thinks that’s okay but wants to be sure he will take it. He says he will next semester and she is satisfied. Really? Is it that easy? I did.not know that. They start talking about his grandmother. He says she forgets to take her medicine sometimes. She tells him he has a lot on his plate. Football is a full-time job itself. Matt brings up “this Katrina refugee” he’s hearing about. Tami says, “I never heard anything about that.” Coach will be getting a talking to about this, I bet.

Football practice. Coach isn’t satisfied with Tim’s performance. “You give 110% all.the.time. Not just when you feel like it!” Coach tells him to go again. Tim starts taking off his helmet. Coach pleads, “Don’t do that. Don’t do what I think you’re doing.” Tim walks away, disregarding Coach Taylor. Assistant coach, Mac tells Coach Taylor that Tim has been watching the game tape from when Street got hurt. He thinks Tim blames himself.

After practice, Buddy comments on Tim walking off the field. Nobody would have done that in the old days. Coach asks Buddy what he wants. Buddy starts talking about the “Katrina kid”. And you’re annoyed now because they know the kid’s name. He even has a cool nickname and yet they still keep calling him “Katrina kid”. Which is not a cool nickname. Coach says at least with Matt Saracen they don’t have to worry about recruiting violations. Buddy tries to convince Coach that they are helping Tatom out.

Coach, Buddy, and Mac (the assistant coach) are outside a motel. They run into a coach from a different school before entering the Tatoms’ room. There’s an agent there with them who does all the talking. Buddy wheels and deals in his car salesmanlike manner. Promising housing and funding and jobs. Coach is just kind of there looking at Voodoo. The agent wants assurance that Ray will start. Buddy says that will be part of the deal. Coach steps forward on that note and looks to Voodoo, not his agent, asking if he wants to go all the way. Voodoo says he is “going all the way”. Coach says if that’s what he wants, he needs to be with the number one team in Texas. fancy cars and yadda yadda. Starting positions “aren’t handed out in motel rooms. They’re earned on the field.” Coach wishes Voodoo and his parents good luck and leaves the room.

The Garritys’. Mr. and Mrs. IBG are discussing Lyla and Jason. Lyla is listening from the balcony. Lyla’s mom asks Buddy for help because Lyla is living in “fantasy land”. Lyla winces. Lyla’s mom continues that she’s put all her eggs in one basket and they let her. Buddy reassures her saying that Lyla will get bored and move on. Nice. He's icky.

The Taylors’. Julie’s watching TV because I guess she’s read all the books in town. Or maybe hanging out with a football player is making her dumber. (I’m kidding!) Tami is pretending to not notice that Coach is looking around the kitchen for some food. She asks him about this Katrina quarterback. Coach dejectedly asks if she wants him to go read Matt a bedtime story and make him some Ovaltine. Julie leaves the room because she knows where this is going. Tami asks him not to be sarcastic and he is irritated because everybody in “this damn town” is telling him how to do his job. Tami just sort of nods at him and then she sees Smash on the news Smashmouthing Coach Taylor. Coach calls Mac (the assistant coach *grin*) and tells him to get the team and meet him in a half hour.

Matt coming out of his bedroom in his boxers. Tim lifting weights (le pant). Smash yelling at his sister to answer the door. Coach Taylor telling Smash to be ready in two minutes. The team getting on the bus. Rain and thunder.

The boys get off the bus and approach a hill. Kind of a little valley that is filling with water from the rain. Coach tells them they are doing, “Wind sprints. Up and down the hill. Let’s go!” The boys, knowing they have no choice, start running. While they’re running, Coach is yelling. “You think you’re champions because you wear the Panther uniform. You’re wrong! You think you’re champions because they give you a piece of pie at the diner. You’re wrong! Champions don’t complain. Champions don’t give up. Champions give 200%.” All the coaches are yelling out to the soaking wet boys who are running down the hill and sloshing through the stream and running up the hill. They’re exhausted. One of them vomits. Mac says he thinks they’ve had enough. Coach says he will say when they’ve had enough. You wonder if maybe Mac, the assistant coach, would’ve kept his mouth shut and maybe not have tried to tell Coach how to do his job, he might have maybe let them be done. Matt, Tim and Smash look about ready to collapse. Coach and Smash eyeball each other and you hold your breath because if Smash doesn’t keep his big Smashmouth closed, something bad is going to happen. But he does. He does open his big Smashmouth. “Clear eyes. Full hearts…” Matt responds alone, “Can’t lose.” Smash starts a little bit louder, “Clear eyes. Full hearts...” This time, the whole team quietly and tiredly respond, “Can’t lose.” And again and again until the boys are in full wind sprint mode again almost knocking Coach over as they bump past him. He’s satisfied.

At the hospital. Lyla is putting away the Tupperware from her dinner with Jason and he asks her “just how depressing, exactly” her birthday was. She tells him it was exactly what she wanted and next year “when you’re better, we’ll go out to dinner”. Jason has reached a limit it seems. “When I’m better.” Lyla starts trying to sweet talk him saying “this is just a hiccup” and that in a year he’ll be back on track. She continues blathering until he yells “Stop!” She pouts and starts talking again. He tells her he can’t even use his hands and wants to know how she can’t see that. And the question we’ve all been waiting for… “What the hell is wrong with you?” He says it kills him that she comes in to see him all happy like nothing is wrong. Every night he dreams he can walk so every day he has to accept it all over again. He tells her it’s over. They’re not getting married. Then he tells her to get out. She pouts. He yells, “Get out!” She gathers her things and tells him she’ll be back tomorrow. More of the not crumpling to the floor thing that maybe I’m beginning to admire. If only I could get past how annoying she is.

Back at the wind sprints. The boys are getting back on the bus. Coach stops Tim and tells him that what happened to Jason wasn’t his fault. Tim says, “I didn’t even try…” and Coach says, “It is not your fault. I want you to let yourself off the hook.” If this scene didn’t remind me again of Good Will Hunting (that's twice now, Kyle Chandler.) and make me start sobbing again, I might be irritated that Coach interrupted Tim as he was finally letting out what he’s been wanting to let out since the accident. Tim says, “yes sir” obediently and starts to get on the bus. Coach grabs his shirt and says he owes him a practice. Tim affirms and starts to get on the bus again. Coach tells him he can walk home and they’ll “call it even”. Coach gets on the bus and they pull away. Poor, tired, wet, smoking hot Tim starts walking in the rain to Pearl Jam (uh oh).

Lyla is driving and sees Tim walking along the road. She pulls up and asks if he wants a ride. He asks if it isn’t past her bedtime and keeps walking. Hurtful. She drives past him, pulls the car over and gets out. It’s pouring down rain. Pearl Jam is playing. Tim is walking. Lyla tried to get him in the car. Oh you know what’s next. You know what’s coming. You hold your breath. This is where Taylor Kitsch starts to really blossom into an actor deserving to be surrounded by such amazing actors on an unbelievably well-written show. It’s a standard kind of scene and it’s kind of hard to believe that this is how they chose to make this happen but it’s easy to forgive because of how great this show is. It’s such a joy to watch Taylor develop into more than tremendously good looks. Being a fan of this show makes me feel like part of a secret little society. I feel honored watching it. It’s hard to explain, I guess, but not really. It’s hard to understand for people removed of this secret little society. It isn’t a show you can watch in passing. It isn’t a show you can watch while you’re writing out bills or painting your nails or giving your dogs their pills or anything. You have to drop everything. You have to commit yourself to watching this show. You have to pay attention to it to appreciate it as wholly as it deserves. Taylor Kitsch is blowing Minka Kelly right out of the water in this scene. Her inferiority is really distracting sometimes. But not here because I'm too busy appreciating Taylor's progress to notice how terrible she is. Where was I? oh yes. Typical rain/fight/yadda yadda scene.

Lyla asks him if he’s drunk to which he answers agonizingly, “Soon enough, Lyla. Soon enough.” She’s reached a limit it seems. “You can walk! You can walk on your own two feet and get another glass of beer if that’s what you want!” (glass of beer? I admit that isn't her fault. That has to be a writing glitch. Or maybe it's just a show of how naive the Lyla character is? hmmm...) She’s clenching her teeth. “What is wrong with you?” she asks him and then slaps him across the face. She keeps hitting him and he keeps taking it as she just lets it all out. “Why don’t you go see him? Why won’t you help me?” He grabs her arm and she kind of groans (bravo to her on the groan. That was well exectued.) and then wails, “He’s never gonna walk again,” and sobs into his shoulder. She starts to move her face from his shoulder to his face and uh oh. There it is. Hot and heavy make out in the rain.

Eric crawls into bed with Tami all exhausted and at least a little bit vindicated. (Maybe as a foreshadow of somebody else crawling into bed?)

At the hospital, the nurses are dressing Jason and Mrs. Street takes down the banner and wonders aloud where she is. Lyla bops into the room and hugs Jason’s parents before leaning down to Jason. He apologizes for yelling and wants to pretend it never happened. She kisses him. They wheel him out of his room. He’s clutching that football awkwardly in his gnarly hands again.

Football field. The Dillon Panthers are giving 200% at practice just like Coach said he wanted them to do. Mac says to never underestimate the power of a good spanking. Buddy walks to the field with Voodoo. All the boys ogle. “We got ourselves a quarterback, Coach,” IBG tells him. Taylor pauses a moment and shakes Voodoo’s hand and tells him to go get suited up. Matt watches this shadowed in humiliation and insult and hurt. This kid has the whole world on his shoulders! *sob* Pan to Voodoo who doesn’t look happy, yet for some reason chose the Dillon Panthers over new cars and guaranteed starts.