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Friday Night Lights, Season 3

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Week 6: All the Boys on This Show Have Gone Soft

From: Hanna Rosin
To: Emily Bazelon and Meghan O'RourkePosted Monday, Feb. 23, 2009, at 4:09 PM ET

You're right to distinguish between Julie and Matt's roll in the hay and Riggins' drinking. But let's forget about his bad habit for a moment and concentrate on what he was trying to accomplish that night with J.D. The way J.D. and his dad are operating, J.D. is a menace to the team. His dad is in it only for his son and does not want him to be contaminated by the rest of them. This is ugly, mercenary behavior and the worst of football. It's the opposite of what Coach Taylor wants for the team. So Riggins was subverting Mr. McCoy's influence in the only way he knows how. And there's precedent in Riggins' humanitarian party missions—remember the time he saved Julie from that skeazy guy at a party? Once again, Riggins is sacrificing himself for someone else's sake and getting no credit.

As for Smash and Riggins—you are absolutely right. This is more proof of the point Meghan has made. Riggins used to have a dangerous, almost racist edge. Now he's gone soft, as have all the boys on the show. Matty kicking those boxes is the most male aggression we've gotten this season.

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Week 6: All the Boys on This Show Have Gone Soft

From: Hanna Rosin
To: Emily Bazelon and Meghan O'RourkePosted Monday, Feb. 23, 2009, at 4:09 PM ET

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Emily Bazelon is a Slate senior editor. Meghan O'Rourke is Slate's culture critic and the author of Halflife, a collection of poetry. Hanna Rosin is the author of God's Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission To Save the Nation and a contributing editor at the Atlantic. She can be reached at . Emily, Hanna, and Meghan are helping Slate launch a new women's Web site this spring, Double X. David Plotz is Slate's editor.

Stills from Friday Night Lights © 2008 NBC Universal Inc. All rights reserved.
Stills in:
Entry 10 and Entry 15 by Bill Records/NBC Photo.
Entry 18 by Mitchell Haaseth/NBC Photo.
Entries 22 and 23: Stills of Jesse Plemons as Landry Clarke and Stephanie Hunt as Devin Corrigan by Bill Records/NBC Photo.
Entry 31: Still of Minka Kelly as Lyla Garrity by Mitchell Haaseth.
Entry 32: Still of Taylor Kitsch as Tim Riggins and Scott Porter as Jason Street by Virginia Sherwood/NBC Photo.
Entry 33: Still of Adrianne Palicki as Tyra Collette and Zach Roerig as Cash by Bill Records/NBC Photo.
Entry 36: Derek Phillips as Billy Riggins by Bill Records/NBC Photo.
Entry 37: Kim Dickens as Shelby Saracen by Bill Records/NBC Photo.
Entry 38: Adrianne Palicki as Tyra Collette and Zach Roerig as Cash by Bill Records/NBC Photo. Entry 43: Still of Brad Leland as Buddy Garrity and Kyle Chandler as Eric Taylor by Bill Records/NBC Photo.
Entry 44: Still of D.W. Moffett as Joe McCoy Sr. by Bill Records/NBC Photo.
Entry 45: Still of Jesse Plemons and Tyra Collette by Bill Records/NBC Photo.
Entry 46: Still of Taylor Kitsch as Tim Riggins and Adrianne Palicki as Tyra Collette by Bill Records/NBC Photo.
Entry 48: Still by Bill Records/NBC Photo.
Entry 49: Still of Connie Britton as Tami Taylor by Bill Records/NBC Photo.
Entry 50: Still of Kyle Chandler as Eric Taylor and Connie Britton as Tami Taylor by Bill Records/NBC Photo.
Entry 52: Still from Friday Night Lights by Bill Records/NBC Photo.
Entry 55: Still from Friday Night Lights by Bill Records/NBC Photo.
On the Slate home page: Zach Gilford as Matt Saracen by Michael Muller/NBC Photo.

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