I'm sort of embarassed how much I like this show. But it has its flaws, for sure. It's funny how many of us get worked up over the techical aspects they get wrong. Now I know how doctors feel when the watch ER or Grey's Anatomy or cops and lawyers feel when the watch Law and Order. It's sort of like screaming at the television in frustration because Dr. Shepard detects an aneurism at 5 p.m., books an OR, performs the operation and still has time to make it home to bang Meredith by 8 p.m. Or course it doesn't happen that way. Of course they don't catch the crooks and try them in the same week. That's why it's television.
A quick break down.
Likes:
--That kids actually talk like kids. I like it that Matt trips over his words, and that there is a lot of awkward silence in conversations, especially when guys are talking to girls. Personally, I'm all Dawson's Creek-ed out. It's kind of refreshing to see a high school show where kids don't throw words like "zeigeist" into general conversation and reference Yakuza films. I don't know that it's the best strategy to lure young viewers, because frankly most kids want to feel smarter than they really are, and I still contend that the biggest reason Freaks and Geeks could never have made it is because it was too close to reality and it freaked people out. (Sarazen did name-check Jackson Pollack last episode, but it WAS to impress a girl and at least he didn't try to reference exitentialism or something in his explanation.)
--The Coach. I think he's doing a pretty good job. The interaction with the wife is cool. The script really keeps trying to hit us over the head with the point of how much pressure he's under, but I think he is doing a nice job of keeping it from becoming too much of a cliche'.
--Holy ****, Laila is hot.
--The shaky camera and the music. Especially the music. Whomever the music editor on this show is, they're doing a heck of a job. I like the hand held cameras because it's different. I really like the landscapes and the muted colors too. The show is filmed well.
--The brief shot of the blond high school reporter on the sidelines during the last episode, frantically taking down notes. I appreciate the nice little reference, since probably 98 percent of the audience probably zipped right past it. Hopefully when the DVDs come out, there will be a deleted scene where she frantically tries to find a phone line, but can't, and then some alcoholic janitor is finally willing to open up the teacher's lounge so she can use the phone in there, but it doesn't work because the phones have some complex computer dialing mechanism, so she yanks out the fax line, reboots her labtop after it crashes (because obviously it's running Windows 95) and gets her story in two minutes before deadline.
--The fact that the one time we got to see Smash's mom, she wasn't some foxy, single mom who looks like she may have been a former model, but instead a big 'ol beautiful black woman.
Dislikes:
--As bigpern expertly pointed out, too many cliches and stereotypes. I want to believe that Vodoo will be a more human character two episodes from now, but if I were black and I watched that episode, I would have been pissed. Also, just once in television, I'd like to see a black kid given the role of the plucky underdog who uses brains and heart to overcome a lack of athleticism.
--I don't mind the whole Tyra character, or the storyline where she is willing to **** anyone to get out of Dillon, but do 20-something dudes who work for Los Angeles oil companies really bang high school chicks who work at Applebees like it's no big deal? How about a line, just one line, like "you're in high school, and I'm not sure what to think about that."
--As it has been pointed out, helicopter tackles seem to happen on virtually every play in Texas high school football. And frankly, the only people who get excited about seeing helicopter hits are people who have never watched football before, which I imagine is less than 20 percent of your audience.
--The offensive coordinator being the bad guy. Too easy. Are you really telling me Coach Taylor isn't friends with a single guy on his staff? That there are no adult males he can confide in, and help him make the decision about the quarterback?
--Is high school football, even in Texas, really the subject for serious talk radio debate? I honestly don't know. But it's a little over the top to be calling for the coach's head when he loses on the last play of the game, the game after his star quarterback was paralyzed.
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