Rewatch Review: Friday Night Lights "Who's Your Daddy?"

"let me tell you something, Your dads not able to see what I see"
　
　
With every passing episode in the first season of Friday Night Lights, we get more in depth on a character that we may not have seen much of in the past. In the episode " Who’s Your Daddy" we get an in depth look at my favorite non coach Taylor character, Matt Saracen. The study of this kid thrust into the spotlight makes for a very strong episode

Matt has so much on his plate that is not football related. His grandma is rapidly losing her battle to dementia. As a person whose own grandmother suffers from dementia, I was so moved by the scene where the cops had to bring home grandma Saracen because she wandered over to a neighbors house. Now for a kid Matt’s age, high school and caring for you sick grandmother is a full load in itself, but it doesn’t stop there. We get our first look at Matt’s father via a webcam. While the work that he is doing in Iraq may be noble, we is doing at the cost of his family back home. But Matt never lets him know this. He puts on a brave face for their conversation and never once complains about the unfair load that has been put in his place

We talk about all these things on Saracen’s plate and have not even mentioned the new thing on his plate, being QB 1 for the Dillon Panthers. Or is he? That is the big question in this episode. Going back to episode 2, Gilford and Kyle Chandler have fantastic chemistry and that is on display heavily in this episode again. Coach Taylor is the closest thing Matt has to a dad in Dillon. You can see in Chandler’s interactions and facial expressions that we would want nothing more then to start Saracen at quarterback. He is everything that embodies a good teammate and person, basically the opposite of his other option Voodoo Tatum. Voodoo does not try to fit in with the team, and immediately turns the team against him by showing up Smash at a party. The bottom line is though, that coach can not just start Saracen. While Matt may be the better person, Voodoo is the much more talented of the 2.

Some other thoughts...

- I was really starting to get tired of the Tim/Street/Lyla story but then 2 things happened this week. The first being that Street’s roommate Herc took a more prominent role. Herc is played wonderfully by Kevin Rankin and really breathes fresh air in to this story with his prospective as a person who has gone through everything Jason is going through.

- The 2 thing that got me re excited for this storyline was the fact they they are not dropping the whole Tim and Lyla thing. Most shows would be to scared to allow them to continue with the affair because of how much hate it might but on the 2 characters, but Friday Night Lights does not show away from it.

- Coach Taylor tells Saracen to get a girl he likes into the back seat of his car, not realizing that that girl may very well be his own daughter. In the scene where he realizes this, Kyle Chandler is brilliant

- How loyal is Saracen? He refuses to rat out the rest of the team even as he is getting his ass kicked by four players from Arnette Mead.

- I wanted to punch Scumbag Buddy Garrity right in the face as he was singing "I’ve got my Voodoo Workin"

- Looks like Julie Taylor may be slowly falling for Saracen’s dorky charm
　
　
Very Strong episode that really sets up the rest of the stories for season 1 nicely. I give it a 9 out 10. Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose.