Friday Night Lights 3x06 Recap

It Ain't Easy Being JD McCoy

By Katherine Keller
March 16, 2009

We open with a little good natured hazing, an old Panther ritual — the Naked Mile. All the freshmen get to strip down to their shoes and socks and run to the water tower. JD McCoy, however, is singled out for a run to the field house. It turns out that Coach is there. He knows exactly what JD's doing and tells him to get dressed and he'll take him home. "Please don't tell my dad," JD begs. "Son, I wouldn't dream of it," Coach replies.

Early the next morning Jason cradles Noah in his arms and says goodbye as Erin puts a few last things in the car. It's an emotionally wrenching scene because Jason's heart is breaking even though he tries to put a brave face on it, and Erin's not happy to leave, it's just she doesn't know what else to do to make ends meet.

While Coach tries to feed Gracie Belle breakfast, Tami reminds him that he's taking her to the dance on Saturday. It's news to him. It's also news to Julie that she's going to the dance. Tami's flabbergasted and exasperated at both of them.

Breakfast at the McMansion (I'm sensing a theme here) is a much more quiet and reserved affair, but it's not a really happy one. Joe picks up his OJ and proposes a toast to JD who's clearly ill at ease. It doesn't get any better when Katie asks if he's got his eye on any cheerleaders. JD jokes that he's got his eye on two of them and will be proposing shortly. Joe cuts in and says that JD's not getting serious about any girls right now because he's too busy. He goes on to say that he's proud of how JD has worked and handled the pressure, but the praise doesn't make JD happy.

As she takes the last bites of breakfast, Grandma Saracen is pissed. Landry and Matt try to get out the door, but she wants to give Coach a piece of her mind and tells Matt to go and talk to Coach and get him to put Matt back to QB1.

Jason rolls into the House of (De)construction and is surprised to find Tim there and not at school. "Did you write 'em a sick note or something?" To which Tim deadpans back, "Yeah, I just told 'em I'm pregnant." I love snarky Tim. Jason, who's used to being in charge, has made up a worklist. Billy doesn't like being ordered around and complains out loud about the fact that he and Tim have to do all the upstairs work.

Crucifictorius lives! Only maybe not. Landry manages to piss off the entire rhythm section of his band and they quit. But it was nice seeing Kurt Castor again, even if it was to hear him tell Landry off and leave in a huff.

Over at Applebee's, Cash asks Tyra to come with him, only she can't. She's working overtime. (She'll cut school, but not work. Talk about priorities.) She has to make decorations for the school dance and she's got to work on all of her college applications. Cash says that college is important and hands her a roll of money to pay for the applications. She reluctantly takes it and asks him to the dance. He laughs and says that no, he's not going to go to the dance but would love to pick her up from it.

JD's not doing so well in practice and Coach overhears several of the players calling him "Naked Gun." It's not the good kind of teasing, either. JD puts a brave face on, but it's clear that he really doesn't have the respect of the rest of the team. So, after practice, Coach calls Tim into his office and explains that JD needs to have the team behind him and that Tim as a team captain needs to step up and get them behind JD. Tim lets out a sigh, but you know he'll do it, because he doesn't want to let Coach down.

"McCoy, get in," Tim says as JD steps out of the locker room. (Shades of Tim and Matt from season one, the way Tim orders his QB to do something.) JD's almost pathetically happy to hop in Tim's truck. And thus begins Tim's ROFL inappropriate (but oh-so-revealing) tour of the underside of Dillon. The Landing Strip. The best place to pick up the rally girls. The street that "Lisa" lives on. The bar that doesn't card. And through it all, JD's face just glows with hero worship. He can't believe that the most popular guy on the team is taking him on a date ... er, spending time like this with him. In fact, as Tim drops him off in front of the McMansion, he asks if Coach put Tim up to this. Tim, bless him, lies.

Oh. My. God. Mindy's wedding dress has little faerie wings on the back. 'Nuff said.

But, while Mindy's been trying on dresses, Tyra's been sitting in the corner, filling out her college applications, and Angela sees that one of them is for San Francisco. How is Tyra going to hang on to her cowboy, she asks? No, really. When Angela finds out that Cash has given Tyra money for the fees she delightedly urges Tyra to work at hanging on to Cash because in her experience, men don't usually "take care of you" right off the bat. While Angela loves Tyra and wants good things for her, this a perfect example of how she fails as a mother.

Coach and Julie are grocery shopping when they run into Grandma and Matt. Oh boy, Grandma has words for Coach. Matt and Julie step off to the side and Matt half-jokingly asks if Julie wants to go grab coffee or even lunch because Grandma can talk about this all day. There's a wonderful shot of their feet shuffling — this is awkward for both of them — but by the end of it, Matt's even joking a bit about how riding the bench isn't all bad. At least he's got Landry to keep him company. As they turn back, Coach and Grandma have come to an understanding and Coach is in Grandma's good graces again.

Jason wheels into the House of (De)construction to find Herc taking a sledgehammer to the wall. That's not part of the plan. He goes into full-on meltdown when he discovers that Tim and Billy have spent $1700 on "the Cadillac of Toilets". Also, that wall that Herc is whaling away at? It's a load-bearing wall. Why is nobody sticking to the plan?! The scene ends with Billy accidentally stapling his hand to the wall! The whole thing, especially Billy's request for some pliers, is never not funny.

Tyra's diligently working away on those decorations for the dance when a strange woman (with a toddler in her arms) knocks on the door and asks for Cash. It seems he's $1600 behind on child support.

The Panthers win the football game. JD had an outstanding night and Matt spent the entire time on the bench.

Afterwards, as the team's in the locker room, Tim makes a very public invitation to JD to an after game party. JD's glowing at the inclusion and a few of the guys call him Naked Gun — the good way. But Joe McCoy swoops in, tells JD that they're going to Applebee's, and hustles him out of the room. "Daddy got him on a leash," one of the players jokes. The look on Tim's face speaks volumes; even he feels sorry for JD.

Saturday morning after the game film review, Lyla catches up with Tim and reminds him that he's taking her to the dance that evening. It's news to him. He really doesn't want to go, but teases her and says that he will ... only if she wears something cute.

At the lumber yard, Coach runs into Jason and asks what's up. Jason excitedly explains about the house and the Riggins brothers and has to repeat himself several times because Coach cannot bend his brain around the fact that Jason's trying to flip a house with Tim and Billy as his partners. Jason invites Coach to drop by and see how well it's going. Coach says he will, visions of trainwrecks dancing behind his eyes.

Tyra bitches to Juile about Cash while folding napkins at Applebee's. She feels let down, hurt, and stupid. Well, maybe it's not as bad as it seems, Julie says hopefully. How could it get any worse? "She could be his sister," Julie replies. Even Tyra has to laugh, but just then Cash shows up and an irate Tyra tells him to leave and gives him his money back.

Crucifictorius is back ... sort of. The drummer came back, but not Castor, so they're auditioning new bassists. The first two are bad, but the third, a plucky freshman girl named Devin, clicks. And from the way she looks at Landry, I think she likes him.

"We'll finish in the AM" says the note scrawled on the wall at the House of (De)construction. As he sits in the midst of chaos, Jason looks like he's about to cry — and that's saying a lot. This house is pretty much the only thing keeping Jason going right now. Coach shows up and listens while Jason vents about the state of things. "My dad used to say 'it's always bad before it gets better'," Coach offers. "I don't think it's going to get better, Coach," Jason replies and lays his (broken) heart open. Coach, because he knows Jason so well, comes up with the perfect mix of words that both encourages Jason and kicks him in the pants, too.

Landrymobile in the background, Matt knocks on Julie's door and asks if she wants to go to the lake with him. She accepts. (Yes! They're finally getting back together. I love FNL for taking the path to their reunion nice and slow.) We next see them in the lake as afternoon fades into twilight. As they float in the water, Matt talks to Julie about how he knew he was never pro football material, but that he was hoping that football would help with college, and losing his starting spot in his senior year? That's bad. (It's a wonderful scene of two teens grappling with what the future holds and the fact that Matt's going back down to QB2 wasn't just a matter of pride, but a matter of opportunities in life.)

Tyra's decorations for the dance look fantastic and Tami congratulates her on them. She also mentions that she's a little miffed at Coach for being a no-show. Tami knows him well enough to know that something must have come up, but still .... Tyra mentions that she broke up with Cash. "Sorry," Tami says. Tyra replies, "No, you're not." But Tami is sorry. She didn't want Tyra get hurt and she's sorry that it happened.

Over on the benches, Landry shares some draft lyrics with Devin ... who must have been his date to the dance. (I wonder how he got there, since he loaned his car to Matt?) Devin points out that all of the lyrics seem to be "one song about one girl." Zing! Devin goes on to say that she wants "our band" (!!!) to be "really great" and gently suggests that Landry needs to get over "this girl." Oh yeah, she's got eyes for him!

"Footloose, here we come," Tim drawls as he and Lyla hit the floor. He's making a show of going through the motions, for Lyla's sake. However, he's not above seizing the first opportunity to escape, and that comes in the person of JD, who is overdressed and visibly uncomfortable. Tim asks what he's doing here and JD says that his mother thought it would be good for him to have some fun (which he's not). Turning to Lyla, Tim says, "Tell me you don't want to go somewhere and get a beer." Well, no, she doesn't. Tim goes on to say that the only kind of people who have fun at dances like this are the kind who "look back and have regrets." He doesn't want regrets, and neither does JD who's still desperate for his approval. But, um, JD doesn't drink. His dad made him read this article about how alcohol disrupts protein synthesis and .... (Yes, the biggest beer distributor in the region made his son read an article about the evils of alcohol.) Tim's cool with that; JD will be the designated driver. Um, JD doesn't have a license or a permit. "Fine. You're coming anyways," Tim says as he takes Lyla's hand and heads for the door. I love it when FNL gives us a super-dense scene like that. Not only is there the running joke of Tim ordering his QB around, but it shows the limits of Tim's humoring Lyla, and deals with JD's hero worship vs. his father's control.

"No regrets, let's do this," Tim says as they get out of the truck at the party. He pitches the keys to Lyla — "Safety first." "Let me know when you and your date need a ride home," she quips back. Hee! JD's mancrush on Tim is glow-in-the-dark at this point. (Let the bromance begin!)

Cash knocks on Tyra's door and begs her to listen. Eventually she opens the door and he explains that yes, he did hook up with Ally five years ago, and that she's been stalking him ever since and that no, he's not the father of the toddler in her arms. He's sorry that Ally came to Dillon and harassed Tyra, but really, if the kid was his, he'd man up and take responsibility. He would never lie to her. (Yeah, right.) She relents and lets him in.

"How many girlfriends do you have?" JD asks after he sees Tim get a couple of hellos. "Just the one, McCoy," Tim replies, giving a meaningful look at Lyla. (It's a sea-change moment for Tim, who never made any pretense of being monogamous before.) "God, she's so pretty," JD gasps. "Yeah, she's pretty special," Tim says and starts to head her way except that JD stops him and asks what he's supposed to do. Tim, the best bad mentor, ever, tells him that if he gets in a spot of trouble that he should just act like he's looking for someone, and to relax and have fun.

As JD wanders into the kitchen, one of the other players teasingly calls him Naked Gun and jokes about how he has the "cutest buns in Dillon" — but it's not mean, just mostly chop busting. But then one of them offers him a drink and JD hesitates, which prompts another player to mockingly say that oh no, since there's no sodas or candy for JD, there's no way his father (who "runs a tight little ship") would let him have a beer. Seeing that his acceptance hangs in the balance, JD takes the cup.

Cut to a reeling drunk JD, viewed through the screen on somebody's camera phone. Seriously, if there were a lampshade in the room, JD would have it on his head. Tim comes in and he and Lyla haul JD out of the party. Before they can pour him into the truck, JD tells Lyla that she's "the prettiest girl I have ever seen in my life." Which is more than a little tacky considering that he's got his other arm slung over her boyfriend's shoulder. But, JD's also got the loving words for Tim who is "like, the last American Dude." And is totally awesome because he "doesn't listen to my dad" or "anybody's dad".

At the dance, Tami stands in the corner, the dutiful chaperone, when Coach finally shows up. Tami busts his chops about being so late and where was he? He was getting ready for the dance. As she pulls him close she notices a certain discrepancy in his grooming. "Why do you have paint in your hair?" (Oh, Coach, you did, didn't you?) He blows that off and she goes back to teasing him, threatening to fire him. He mocks back by pointing out all the paperwork and procedure it would take to fire him, plus the Boosters would have something to say. It's a wonderful scene of them bantering back and forth.

I'm glad that Julie thinks the veggie hotdogs Matt got for her are amazing, but I really must ask: since Coach and Tami are at the dance and Julie is at the lake, who's watching Gracie Belle? Also, why isn't Tami flipping out over Julie not coming to the dance? However, the whole thing with Matt and Julie being alone together at the lake is a wonderful reference to the first time they spent time together alone at the lake, only this time, they're both ready, and it's for the right reasons. So yes, Julie has her first time with Matt.

As the sun rises, Matt drives Julie home, they kiss and she slips through the door. There is a wonderful little "now I know" look in her eyes and a smile on her face, and the way that she and Matt look at each other in the car mirrors the looks that Coach and Tami give each other. However, I am reaching for my "suspenders of disbelief" that Coach and Tami weren't waiting up all night long for Julie (like they did on several occasions in the first two seasons). Don't get me wrong, it's a sweet and beautiful scene, but I don't like it when the writing staff is so into "let's have this wonderful character moment" that they forget the logical framework to support the scene.

And Julie's gotten away clean because we see her later on, dressed and in church where she and Matt share a few sly glances. The McCoys are there, too.

After church, as Katie McCoy coos over Gracie Belle, Joe (JD in tow) pulls Coach aside to have a few words with him. Coach is clearly wondering what's up, but Joe explains — in great detail — that JD went to a party and got drunk and let the team down and this is not the kind of son he's raising and JD is here to apologize to Coach for letting him and the team down. Coach has a perfectly polite yet utterly blank look on his face because he clearly cannot believe that Joe would shame his son this way, and yet, he really can't do anything about it. Joe asks if there's anything else that JD's done that he should know about. Reading the look of utter misery in JD's eyes, Coach replies, "No, he works hard."

Over at the House of (De)construction, things are looking much better and everybody's working when Jason's phone rings. It's Erin, just taking a break and calling to say hi. Jason asks her to put Noah on and he sings to him over the phone. The expressions on Herc's, Billy's, and Tim's faces as they pause working are a mixture of WTF?, amusement, and love.

Cut to black.

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I have to say that it's really hard at this point to get me to buy a "poor little rich boy" story, but FNL somehow manages to make me feel very sorry for JD McCoy, who's a sweet kid saddled with a "freakshow" of a father.

Father-son relationships are a recurring theme in FNL and through Tim and Matt we've seen hurt caused by the absence of fathers, but in JD's case we start seeing the damage that can be caused by the presence of an overbearing father. And I'm looking forward to seeing how the show explores that.

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