Alright, that's probably overstating things, but bear with me. An acquaintance of mine asked a simple question of the group -- Is Luke Skywalker whiny? And we hemmed and hawed and went back and forth debating this oh so essential question. But another friend came up with the right answer -- you're damn right he is, in the beginning, because he has an arc. He starts out a whiny farm boy craving adventure, and he ends up (at least in the original trilogy) as a self-assured man who's been to the brink and back. For that journey to mean anything, we need Luke to start out some place, and as someone, who we may not necessarily love right out of the gate.
And that's Mindy in this last couple of episode. Obviously her arc is much more abbreviated and a little less grandiose than Luke's, but the same principle applies. In the beginning, Mindy basically seems to resent Becky's very existence. The show never comes right out and says it (though it comes close) but the subtext is clear in Mindy giving Becky the side-eye while working out or telling Becky to evaluate her after she only gets offered the day shift at the Landing Strip. Mindy is insecure about her appearance after her pregnancy, and having a high school girl, even a relatively guileless one like Becky hanging around her house "in her short shorts," is a constant reminder of that insecurity.
So when we initially see Mindy act like a jerk to Becky, it's frustrating, because it just seems like pointless cruelty to someone who is in a tough spot and doing her best. But then we not only see that that resentment comes from Mindy's own difficulty, but we see Mindy slowly understand Becky not as a threat or a rival, but as someone who, if Tyra's protestations are any indication, is going through something Mindy herself likely had to deal with. The scene where Becky, given the opportunity to critique Mindy's appearance, instead chooses to tell her that she's gorgeous and should push back at the manager at The Landing Strip is a little easy, but it's still a solid moment in the arc.
And Becky's return visit home, while feeling like some standard domestic drama at times, gives Mindy a moment of redemption, to come to Becky's rescue and keep her from a destructive situation. I still don't care for Becky's Dad and Stepmom as character; they feel too much like stock bad parents for the story to work as well as it needs to, but I appreciate them as fodder for Mindy sticking up for "Becks," and keeping her from a bad living situation. It's not quite the same thing as facing down Darth Vader, but its a bit of growth for the character, and a nice story at that.
It may seem silly to talk about tertiary character Mindy Riggins so much in an episode with major developments for Vince with his Dad, Jess's role on the team, and Buddy's with his son, but it's a story that features two especially notable things about this show. I really like Friday Night Lights, but the truth of the matter is that it is a show that is only intermittently subtle and intermittently realistic. That's not a bad thing necessarily. Shows are allowed to be more bold and aspirational than they are true to life. But this is the kind of story that has enough of each of those things to make it stand out. Sure, Mindy isn't a subtle character to begin with, and Becky's confrontation with her stepmom is pretty broadly-pitched drama, but even in Mindy's closing scene with Billy where he professes his confusion over the whole situation the show never comes and states what the characters' motivations are or the theme of the storyline (a la the Deacon's "I believe a man can change"). Instead, it trusts the audience to pick up on how Becky and Mindy are feeling, and what motivates the change of heart without having to spell it out for us.
At the same time, Billy and Mindy are not nearly as admirable a couple as Coach and Tami Taylor, but in some ways I appreciate them more because they feel so real. Don't get me wrong, Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton give consistently great performances that lend Coach and Tami a lived-in feel as characters, and their interactions are so natural that you completely buy them as a longtime married couple. But they're both just so damn good. Again, that's not a flaw, but they are almost preternaturally decent, caring, and kind individuals. Sure, they have their faults, but in some ways they're practically angels. Billy and Mindy aren't. They're selfish and foolish, and do things like lash out at one 16 year old girl and steal another 16 year old's idea on the football field. But they still do their best and end up, on balance, doing good for the people they care about at the end of the day. That feels more true to life, and it makes the time we spend with the new Riggins family an unexpected treat.
Again, I'm probably giving the short shrift to the rest of the episode, which feels almost like a direct sequel to the prior one. We get a continuation of the prior episodes two major themes -- how fathers relate to their sons, and how young women are expected to act and behave. As to the former, Michael B. Jordan is so effortlessly good in his scenes that I think I take the storyline for granted. The moment between him and his mother where she's dressing up for her date with his dad is tremendous. Despite the fact that I think they lay the whole "a man can change" bit on a little thick, I appreciate how Vince is suspicious of his dad, not just for not being there for him, but because he blames his dad, and the drug dealer life he led, for what happened to his mom, and Vince is as deathly afraid of him leading her back there as he is about being hurt by his dad again. Buddy's story with Buddy Jr. is a little more stock, though Buddy Jr. plays a perfect little shit. Buddy outsourcing the task of molding his son to Coach via the football team is a bit of a cop out, but it also feels like something Buddy would do -- believe in the healing power of football and his best friend above all else -- so the beat works.
Jess's storyline is probably the most interesting to me though, because I'm anxious to see the show explore how someone like Jess has incredible strategic insight and coaching abilities, but is limited in her ways to break into the football-industrial complex given her gender. And I also again appreciate Vince's discomfort with it. For however much he cares about his mom and worries about his dad's influence on her, he also has a traditional view of gender roles and can't just shake that even if he loves and respects Jess. That's realistic too, and I'm interested to see where they're going with it. (Hopefully not sending her into the waiting arms of Ruckle.) I was expecting Jess to be upset rather than happy at Billy spouting her idea in the Coach's room, but it's a testament to how on the outside she is, that even her idea making it into the room is enough.
Otherwise, Tami is learing quid pro quo; Julie is sleeping with her TA again; and Luke's going on a visit to TMU. Huzzah!
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-08-20T19:10:07Z
Mindy Riggins is Luke Skywalker.
Alright, that's probably overstating things, but bear with me. An acquaintance of mine asked a simple question of the group -- Is Luke Skywalker whiny? And we hemmed and hawed and went back and forth debating this oh so essential question. But another friend came up with the right answer -- you're damn right he is, in the beginning, because he has an arc. He starts out a whiny farm boy craving adventure, and he ends up (at least in the original trilogy) as a self-assured man who's been to the brink and back. For that journey to mean anything, we need Luke to start out some place, and as someone, who we may not necessarily love right out of the gate.
And that's Mindy in this last couple of episode. Obviously her arc is much more abbreviated and a little less grandiose than Luke's, but the same principle applies. In the beginning, Mindy basically seems to resent Becky's very existence. The show never comes right out and says it (though it comes close) but the subtext is clear in Mindy giving Becky the side-eye while working out or telling Becky to evaluate her after she only gets offered the day shift at the Landing Strip. Mindy is insecure about her appearance after her pregnancy, and having a high school girl, even a relatively guileless one like Becky hanging around her house "in her short shorts," is a constant reminder of that insecurity.
So when we initially see Mindy act like a jerk to Becky, it's frustrating, because it just seems like pointless cruelty to someone who is in a tough spot and doing her best. But then we not only see that that resentment comes from Mindy's own difficulty, but we see Mindy slowly understand Becky not as a threat or a rival, but as someone who, if Tyra's protestations are any indication, is going through something Mindy herself likely had to deal with. The scene where Becky, given the opportunity to critique Mindy's appearance, instead chooses to tell her that she's gorgeous and should push back at the manager at The Landing Strip is a little easy, but it's still a solid moment in the arc.
And Becky's return visit home, while feeling like some standard domestic drama at times, gives Mindy a moment of redemption, to come to Becky's rescue and keep her from a destructive situation. I still don't care for Becky's Dad and Stepmom as character; they feel too much like stock bad parents for the story to work as well as it needs to, but I appreciate them as fodder for Mindy sticking up for "Becks," and keeping her from a bad living situation. It's not quite the same thing as facing down Darth Vader, but its a bit of growth for the character, and a nice story at that.
It may seem silly to talk about tertiary character Mindy Riggins so much in an episode with major developments for Vince with his Dad, Jess's role on the team, and Buddy's with his son, but it's a story that features two especially notable things about this show. I really like Friday Night Lights, but the truth of the matter is that it is a show that is only intermittently subtle and intermittently realistic. That's not a bad thing necessarily. Shows are allowed to be more bold and aspirational than they are true to life. But this is the kind of story that has enough of each of those things to make it stand out. Sure, Mindy isn't a subtle character to begin with, and Becky's confrontation with her stepmom is pretty broadly-pitched drama, but even in Mindy's closing scene with Billy where he professes his confusion over the whole situation the show never comes and states what the characters' motivations are or the theme of the storyline (a la the Deacon's "I believe a man can change"). Instead, it trusts the audience to pick up on how Becky and Mindy are feeling, and what motivates the change of heart without having to spell it out for us.
At the same time, Billy and Mindy are not nearly as admirable a couple as Coach and Tami Taylor, but in some ways I appreciate them more because they feel so real. Don't get me wrong, Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton give consistently great performances that lend Coach and Tami a lived-in feel as characters, and their interactions are so natural that you completely buy them as a longtime married couple. But they're both just so damn good. Again, that's not a flaw, but they are almost preternaturally decent, caring, and kind individuals. Sure, they have their faults, but in some ways they're practically angels. Billy and Mindy aren't. They're selfish and foolish, and do things like lash out at one 16 year old girl and steal another 16 year old's idea on the football field. But they still do their best and end up, on balance, doing good for the people they care about at the end of the day. That feels more true to life, and it makes the time we spend with the new Riggins family an unexpected treat.
Again, I'm probably giving the short shrift to the rest of the episode, which feels almost like a direct sequel to the prior one. We get a continuation of the prior episodes two major themes -- how fathers relate to their sons, and how young women are expected to act and behave. As to the former, Michael B. Jordan is so effortlessly good in his scenes that I think I take the storyline for granted. The moment between him and his mother where she's dressing up for her date with his dad is tremendous. Despite the fact that I think they lay the whole "a man can change" bit on a little thick, I appreciate how Vince is suspicious of his dad, not just for not being there for him, but because he blames his dad, and the drug dealer life he led, for what happened to his mom, and Vince is as deathly afraid of him leading her back there as he is about being hurt by his dad again. Buddy's story with Buddy Jr. is a little more stock, though Buddy Jr. plays a perfect little shit. Buddy outsourcing the task of molding his son to Coach via the football team is a bit of a cop out, but it also feels like something Buddy would do -- believe in the healing power of football and his best friend above all else -- so the beat works.
Jess's storyline is probably the most interesting to me though, because I'm anxious to see the show explore how someone like Jess has incredible strategic insight and coaching abilities, but is limited in her ways to break into the football-industrial complex given her gender. And I also again appreciate Vince's discomfort with it. For however much he cares about his mom and worries about his dad's influence on her, he also has a traditional view of gender roles and can't just shake that even if he loves and respects Jess. That's realistic too, and I'm interested to see where they're going with it. (Hopefully not sending her into the waiting arms of Ruckle.) I was expecting Jess to be upset rather than happy at Billy spouting her idea in the Coach's room, but it's a testament to how on the outside she is, that even her idea making it into the room is enough.
Otherwise, Tami is learing quid pro quo; Julie is sleeping with her TA again; and Luke's going on a visit to TMU. Huzzah!