Strange bedfellows on 'Friday Night Lights'

In the last month or so, as the stockpile of original programming ran thin, I kind of liked the freedom it afforded me. Sure, the TV was still on, but I was exploring the further reaches of the dial, watching shows like Mythbusters and Top Gear.

And that was all fine, as was the extra free time. But I didn't realize how much I'd missed quality scripted programming until I flipped on this week's Friday Night Lights.

The problems that the show was having before its year-end hiatus remain -- the Incident is in the background, but it makes enjoying Funny Landry a little more difficult to be comfortable watching. And a couple of tonight's situations felt too TV-contrived for what the show does best. But the dialogue sang, there were several laugh-out-loud lines, and I'm generally left with a nice, warm feeling.

(If I didn't tell you spoilers were coming, Coach would make me run stairs. So: Spoilers coming.)

Tonight's theme was the discomfort caused by emergency cohabitation, both in the Taylor household, where wayward boy Tim Riggins is now staying, and at Dillon High, which has opened its doors -- and football facilities -- to the tornado-displaced students of rival Laribee (did we really need the subpar tornado FX? Wouldn't a few blown-out windows in the grocery have been sufficient?).

At school, it was not hard to see that the uneasy locker-room sharing would progress to pranks and then a fight between the two teams. The unexpected bit was that Landry started it after the arrogant Laribee QB, Chip -- of course his name's Chip, and dear lord he tried the "Let's get you out of these wet clothes" pickup line -- asked Tyra to the dance, then acted like an asshat when Landry tried to talk to her in the cafeteria.

Landry then unleashed a lovely string of smack on Chip and his boys, which of course led to the brawl. Which led to the entire Panther squad running stadium steps in full pads. The smug Laribee coach, meanwhile, was getting under Eric's skin but good, until one last incident led the guy to put his hands on Riggins. Kyle Chandler plays barely-controlled rage about as well as anyone, and his verbal beatdown of the other coach was both exhilarating and a little scary.

Oh, and the two teams are scheduled to play each other next week. That should be fun.

The Landry-Tyra "thing," as they've both taken to calling it, got both more human-sized and a little more awkward tonight. With the Incident now apparently behind them, Landry wants to move on and be a regular couple, something Tyra isn't so sure about doing -- thus, Chip. Landry makes a last-ditch play for his girl at the Dillon fall formal, delivering a long speech about how she's better than she knows, and doesn't deserve to have her d-bag of a date be off puking in the bathroom, but he can't do anymore to make her realize that.

All of which, by the way, is true: Tyra does deserve better than the lot she's been dealt thus far. And fortunately, the show stays out of John Hughes territory by letting Tyra remain conflicted about her feelings. Her line about feeling more for Landry than she ever had, and being a little scared by that, rang pretty true.

The night's major source of comedy was Riggins at the Taylor household. Shelley has to remind herself at the top of the episode that he's jailbait (yes, Shelley! Don't be this season's Jackie!), but proceeds to flirt with him throughout the hour. Which also leads to another good blowup between her and sister Tami, this time about Shelley's alleged refusal to grow up.

And I have to say, though Tami is on the right side of things maybe 90 percent of the time, she was awfully self-righteous in this case. Shelley's more grown up than Tami gives her credit for being, and regardless, if you're going to dish it out, you have to be willing to take it.

Alas, the Riggins experiment did not end well, as Coach threw him out after catching him in a not-what-it-looks-like moment with Julie the night of the dance. It's an understandable reaction on his part -- although not a fair one, but he's a dad, after all -- but Tim was playing the good guy this time. And even if you saw it coming, the tension in that scene was expertly played by Chandler and Taylor Kitsch.

Other highlights and observations:

• Buddy's plea to get his wife back didn't amount to a whole lot, but I do so enjoy watching Brad Leland. The look on his face as Pam closed the door on him was just about priceless.
• Eric's two food requests, for a post ping-pong breakfast sandwich and for lasagna on the night of the dance, had me rolling on the floor. Especially his incredulous "Why can't I have lasagna?" after Tami informs him she won't be cooking.
• Even Julie's friend Lois has a thing for Riggins, apparently: "What did he smell like?" Julie: "Really? That's pathetic. Here's pathetic, and here's you. You're going below yourself."
• The Tami moment of the night, for me, was her slow burn over Tim grabbing a beer, then offering to pay Shelley to do his homework. Just great stuff.

Happy to have Friday Night Lights back? What's it going to take for Tyra to realize she deserves good things?

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