8.5/10. There are two main thematic threads running through this episode, and both of them are pretty interesting. The first has to do with father and sons, and the second has to do with how young women relate to young men, and the thorny path they have to walk down.
The former tends to work better than the latter, but maybe that's just because it's mostly a Vince-focused story, and with the departure of all of the original young characters (sans Julie), Vince has quickly become the best part of that contingent of the show. He has to deal with the return of his father from prison, something he has mixed feelings about, to say the least. The scene where he's called into talk to Coach, a man who, as with Saracen, Tim, and Smash, has become something of a father figure to the members of his team who need one, is a great bit of acting from Michael B. Jordan. He conveys the difficulty and frustration of having to "be better," whether it's for Coach or for his mom or for the father who wasn't there for him. Coach's understanding and calm, telling him that character is about trying, not necessarily being, is a powerful, goosebump-worthy moment that thrives from letting two of the best actors on the show play off one another. The echo of that scene, where Vince's dad tells him that watching him play is the first time Vince's dad has felt pride, and that he's sorry he wasn't there, is well-played by both actors. Vince's Dad communicates the real joy and regret he feels about his son, and in a mostly-worldless performance, we still understand how Vince wants to tell his father to stay, but can't quite open himself up to potentially being hurt like that again just yet.
The other slice of this story is pretty straightforward. We finally touch base with Pam in California, and she wants Buddy to take his son back because he's getting into trouble. Buddy is bitter about Buddy Jr. being taken away from him in the first place, and is frustrated about Pam only coming to him when there's trouble. But as Coach astutely points out, it's not about Buddy or Pam; it's about their son. So Buddy sets aside his pride and offers to take Buddy Jr. in. Again, it's not a very groundbreaking story, but it features some nice emotional and character beats. (Let's hope Buddy bringing in his son goes better than when he took in Santiago, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances between seasons.)
The other side of the episode, that explores the tricky path for young women in navigating their sexuality and the expectations at that age is a bit more uneven. There's a realism to the dismissive response Tami and the East Dillon principal get for their program to teach the young women at the school about the risks of alcohol and lectures about self-respect. At the same time, the red-headed student's attitude feels a bit too caricatured, and it's unclear what the show is going for here, beyond the way young people reduce each other to simple, often damaging narratives and mutually shrug it off when it can come back to haunt them later.
But the bright spot, as usual, is Jess. While I'm still hoping she'll take over as the team's kicker in Landry's absence, I like the idea that she doesn't want to fall into the gender stereotype and be a rally girl, and that becoming an equipment manager is a way she can be a part of the team, something that motivates a lot of the behavior Tami finds objectionable, without having to give into what's normally expected of football player girlfriends. I also appreciate how they don't make Vince perfect, but rather show him having unease with it. Again, there's a verisimilitude there, and it's appreciated.
Lastly, we get Julie hooking up with her T.A. I'm tempted to reserve judgment on this one to a degree. It's a kind of uncomfortable story, since it's clear how the TA was priming her, playing her, and then totally using her. You'd like to think Julie is too smart to fall for that sort of thing, but she's shown a propensity to have romantic attraction to authority figures in the past, so maybe this is a blindspot. Either way, it's pretty icky, but in a kind of predictable, Dawson's Creek sort of way.
Overall, it's a good episode, mostly carried by the Vince storyline, but with a lot of nice moments apart from that as well.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-08-19T22:02:41Z
8.5/10. There are two main thematic threads running through this episode, and both of them are pretty interesting. The first has to do with father and sons, and the second has to do with how young women relate to young men, and the thorny path they have to walk down.
The former tends to work better than the latter, but maybe that's just because it's mostly a Vince-focused story, and with the departure of all of the original young characters (sans Julie), Vince has quickly become the best part of that contingent of the show. He has to deal with the return of his father from prison, something he has mixed feelings about, to say the least. The scene where he's called into talk to Coach, a man who, as with Saracen, Tim, and Smash, has become something of a father figure to the members of his team who need one, is a great bit of acting from Michael B. Jordan. He conveys the difficulty and frustration of having to "be better," whether it's for Coach or for his mom or for the father who wasn't there for him. Coach's understanding and calm, telling him that character is about trying, not necessarily being, is a powerful, goosebump-worthy moment that thrives from letting two of the best actors on the show play off one another. The echo of that scene, where Vince's dad tells him that watching him play is the first time Vince's dad has felt pride, and that he's sorry he wasn't there, is well-played by both actors. Vince's Dad communicates the real joy and regret he feels about his son, and in a mostly-worldless performance, we still understand how Vince wants to tell his father to stay, but can't quite open himself up to potentially being hurt like that again just yet.
The other slice of this story is pretty straightforward. We finally touch base with Pam in California, and she wants Buddy to take his son back because he's getting into trouble. Buddy is bitter about Buddy Jr. being taken away from him in the first place, and is frustrated about Pam only coming to him when there's trouble. But as Coach astutely points out, it's not about Buddy or Pam; it's about their son. So Buddy sets aside his pride and offers to take Buddy Jr. in. Again, it's not a very groundbreaking story, but it features some nice emotional and character beats. (Let's hope Buddy bringing in his son goes better than when he took in Santiago, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances between seasons.)
The other side of the episode, that explores the tricky path for young women in navigating their sexuality and the expectations at that age is a bit more uneven. There's a realism to the dismissive response Tami and the East Dillon principal get for their program to teach the young women at the school about the risks of alcohol and lectures about self-respect. At the same time, the red-headed student's attitude feels a bit too caricatured, and it's unclear what the show is going for here, beyond the way young people reduce each other to simple, often damaging narratives and mutually shrug it off when it can come back to haunt them later.
But the bright spot, as usual, is Jess. While I'm still hoping she'll take over as the team's kicker in Landry's absence, I like the idea that she doesn't want to fall into the gender stereotype and be a rally girl, and that becoming an equipment manager is a way she can be a part of the team, something that motivates a lot of the behavior Tami finds objectionable, without having to give into what's normally expected of football player girlfriends. I also appreciate how they don't make Vince perfect, but rather show him having unease with it. Again, there's a verisimilitude there, and it's appreciated.
Lastly, we get Julie hooking up with her T.A. I'm tempted to reserve judgment on this one to a degree. It's a kind of uncomfortable story, since it's clear how the TA was priming her, playing her, and then totally using her. You'd like to think Julie is too smart to fall for that sort of thing, but she's shown a propensity to have romantic attraction to authority figures in the past, so maybe this is a blindspot. Either way, it's pretty icky, but in a kind of predictable, Dawson's Creek sort of way.
Overall, it's a good episode, mostly carried by the Vince storyline, but with a lot of nice moments apart from that as well.