"I think he's leaving"

SPOILER ALERT!! I'm watching "Friday Night Lights" on Direct TV's 101 network so if you're waiting until NBC airs the episodes in 2010, read no further!

By now you all know I have a blatant love affair going with "FNL". This week we had our first fight.

If last week's episode left me dissolved into a brown puddle of tears, this one had me East Dillon red. We all new Matt Saracen's day was coming, but is that really the way he's leaving us? No dramatic buildup? No heartfelt goodbye with Coach Taylor? Every original character has gotten a proper sendoff. Smash, Tyra, Street and Lyla all got the "special episode" treatment. And what does Matt get? He gets to drive off into the proverbial sunset.

To me, Matt Saracen is what "Friday Night Light" is all about. The small-town boy with big city responsibilities; the guy you root for and the guy you pity, all in the same breath. If Coach Taylor is the heart of Dillon, Texas, then Matt Saracen is it's soul. If that really was his last episode, I'll cry for him the way I cried for the rest of them. At least the writers let us know two things: one, that he received a $100,000 death gratuity because his father died in combat and two, we don't have to worry about his grandma because the insurance payments have her set for the rest of her life. Pause it: If Matt is gone does that mean that was the last of his mom and grandmother? Just stick the knife in and twist it, why don't cha?

Around the town

• Coach Taylor and his East Dillon Lions faced off against their toughest opponent yet in their first televised game. The Lions still have milk on their breath, but they are starting to gel as a team. Vince and Luke must've had a really nice talk on that long walk home last week, because their relationship is starting to resemble that of Landry and Saracen. The Lions lost the game in the last seconds, but they gave that undefeated team 4 quarters of football hell.
• Speaking of Landry, he admits to Jess that he enjoyed their kiss and wants to see where things could go, but, oh yeah, he still has feelings for Tyra. She slaps him. No further explaination needed.
• Lyla Garrity stopped by to say hello to Tim. And by 'hello' I mean 'hello'! Lyla will be that girl who goes on to marry well, have 2.5 kids and drive an SUV. But deep down she will always pine for the grease-monkey loser she loved back in high school.