Our regular man in Dillon, Scott Tobias, is celebrating the birth of his very own Baby Gracie this Friday night. Let's give him a week of paternity leave before the wrenching scene where he drops the helpless infant off at the Chainlink Fence & Pea Gravel daycare, whaddya say?
As rites of passage go, the driver's test is right up there with leaving the baby in the hands of a stranger, and there's a lot of potential in the conflict between Eric and Tami over how to handle their daughter's growing up and out of their control. Mrs. Taylor takes over the driving lessons, but because of her involvement with the volleyball team, the few moments between road hazards are about the only quality time she's spending with Julie. And that's the theme of this episode: what kids need from grownups.
Of course, some of the kids feel like they've earned their majority already, at least in suffering. Saracen has reached the end of his rope, what with the departure of his Guatemalan girlfriend, the breakdown of his junker, and the continued stress of taking care of grandma. His avenues of rebellion? Calling the art teacher a bitch, playing hooky, and window-shopping for motorcycles. Oh, and drinking in the middle of the day. Thanks a lot, Riggins. I know Saracen's a cute mascot and all, but really, why decide to make him your best buddy now? Of course, the "even keel" Saracen professes to admire about his new role model isn't so stable; Riggins is still raw enough over Lyla to flaunt his beer in front of her new beau, the preacher, at Applebee's. (Does the chain want their in-show advertising to imply that they serve underage patrons?) When they up the ante at the strip club, Saracen gets a call from the hospital during his lap dance and has to get a stripper to drive him to his injured grandma. Saracen, it is clear, needs a dad — but not to tell him to shape up. As he screams at Coach Taylor during their confrontation, "there's something wrong with me"; he needs somebody to commit to him rather than threaten to leave him behind.
Smash reaches his low ebb when TMU revokes his scholarship because of the "questionable character" he exhibited during the racial incident and its aftermath. He needs somebody to fight for him — or does he? The whole subplot has been designed to showcase his maturing character, the convictions that lead him to work for something larger than his own advancement, whether that be his sister, a sense of justice, or at the end of this episode, the team that gave him the opportunity to become great and in which his greatness might have already reached its highest point. In an unexpected but moving turn of events, Smash doesn't wait for anyone to stand up for him. Instead, he inspires the team to stand up for itself. There may not have been any on-the-field action tonight (except for Saracen's football-in-the-face practice follies), but surely the end of that locker-room scene is enough football magic to keep us all going until the playoffs.