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Wow. How this show can continue to be this emotionally wrenching and involving is a mystery. Week after week, Friday Night Lights manages to feel genuine and moving in a way few TV series ever achieve.

Still working hard to pull the Lions up, Eric was planning a pep rally this week – which turned into the "sort of homecoming" of the title. In the meantime, we saw the horrible treatment Tami was still suffering, including constantly being called out on the radio as the source of the Panthers problems, not to mention her car being defaced with the worst words you can imagine in West Dillon: "Panther Hater."

The fact that Tami is the principal of West Dillon while her husband coaches East Dillon is of course a recipe for trouble. But it was interesting to note that Tami volunteered to make dinner for some former East Dillon players Eric was reaching out to only after her car was defaced, hinting that by accusing Tami of secretly trying to help the Lions — and the treatment that was going along with it – a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy was at work.

Once again, there was some terrific material for Buddy Garrity. A scene when he sat drinking with Eric, bemoaning no longer being a Panther was a standout. Let me mention something I don’t think I’ve brought up in my reviews for awhile now – I don’t personally care about football at all. I don’t watch it, and I don’t even really understand the rules. But the thing about Friday Night Lights is you don’t have to love football to still be able to connect to the characters – Buddy’s passion for football and the Panthers feels so genuine that it’s easy to completely invest in him and the misery he’s going through, even if he’s one of the more over the top characters in terms of his Panther-adoration. It sold as completely sincere when Eric asked him to come to his dinner with the former Lions and he earnestly replied, "You can’t fake boosterism. It comes from the heart. That’s the beauty of it."

But Buddy did show up after all, in a joyous moment that completely turned around what had been an uncomfortable meal until that point. Seeing the friendliness between Buddy and three guys who used to be his rivals was a really sweet and poignant scene.

Speaking of rivals, the tension between Luke and Vince got worse and worse – especially after Luke’s wallet disappeared and he believed Vince took it. This led to the two getting into a physical fight, during which J.D. and three other Panther friends of Luke’s cowardly fled, when the police showed up. If they want to make sure we think of J.D. as a weasel these days, mission accomplished.

This week’s awesome "Eric Taylor is not to be f’d with" scene then resulted, as he came to the police station and learned Vince, thanks to being a repeat offender, was going to go to juvenile hall, since he had started the fight. Determined to save Vince and stop the crap between these two kids, Eric came up with a plan where Luke would take the blame, while Vince had to vow to change his ways – which included Eric declaring, in that way only he can, "You are both going to say exactly what I want you to say."

Thankfully, this all led to at least a partial truce between Luke and Vince – which included Vince owning up to Luke by returning the wallet he wouldn’t admit to stealing the whole episode. However, drama involving Vince hardly looks to be over, as we learned he and Jess have a history, just as she and Landry grew closer. I’m guessing that this burgeoning romance won’t be one Vince is happy with, after he vaguely threatened Landry, in the wake of Jess acting as though Landry was her boyfriend to make him jealous.

In the midst of a really great episode, dealing with a ton of storylines, I had one notable issue – which was the bit of revisionist history going on regarding Matt, as he admitted to Tim he stayed in Dillon because of Julie. Wait, he did? All the drama in the Season 3 finale was him deciding to stay because of his grandmother – that’s clearly what was portrayed at the time at least. However, I’ll let it go, because there was still some strong material involving Matt here, as he and Tim finally reconnected, realizing they both were still in Dillon rather than moving on. Matt’s upset feelings upon realizing Julie was likely going to move away to an out of state college the next year, even as he unenthusiastically asked Tim, "Texas forever, right?", were handled well. And while I had some issues with Matt now saying Julie is why he stayed, it was great to see him still refuse to blame Julie, accepting responsibility for making the decision himself.

The show also returned to some material dealing with what it’s like to be gay in a town like Dillon with a nice little subplot involving the lovable Devin – who they should make more use of — wanting to go to a gay bar for the first time ("it’s gay. It’s a gay place", she awkwardly explained), and asking Julie to accompany her for support. At the bar, Devin had her eye on a cute girl – but what caught Julie’s eye was Eric’s assistant coach, Stan. Seeing him act like he didn’t even know what Julie was talking about when she tried to assure him she’d keep his secret a secret said it all about the fear he has regarding anyone else finding out. As always on this show, I’m guessing this won’t be resolved easily either.

Meanwhile, Jess’s dad Virgil, after first resisting Eric’s requests – seemingly wanting nothing to do with his former past as an East Dillon football star – gave in to his daughter’s request, and the pep rally was held at his restaurant. And damn if that former Lion turned Deacon speaking wasn’t another tear-jerking scene for this show, as he talked about the word pride going hand in hand with Lions and intoned, "We are the lions and we stand together."

And then, in the midst of everything else going on, a knock at the Saracens door found two soldiers standing there – and the instant realization for viewer and family member alike that this meant Matt’s father had been killed. We haven’t even seen Matt’s dad in years, but it didn’t lessen the impact of this horrible turn of events. And come on, how can your heart not break seeing Grandma losing it like that, discovering her son was dead?

This episode certainly had its ups and downs. There were some strong, poignant moments, but there were others that felt uncharacteristically false for this show – including the off screen character assassination of two original Friday Night Lights characters.
The material with Vince and Luke was very good. After someone reported a gun in Vince’s locker (and I hope the show doesn’t ignore the question of who that might have been), and even though no gun was found, Eric was concerned, knowing Vince’s history. Vince was made quarterback in this episode, and his mother came to thank Eric, in a nice scene that showed how much she loved her son, when she’s actually coherent and able to express herself.

Vince was very resistant to Eric’s attempts to make sure things were okay, harshly, yet effectively, asking, "If I break my ankle, you still going to come and check on me?", letting Coach know he doubted he really cared about him. But look, how can you resist Eric Taylor’s awesomeness? You can’t, and eventually Vince came around and showed up at the Taylors late at night, handing the gun over to Eric – who told Tami he was going to make it disappear.

One of the peripheral Lions, Tinker, got a very strong and touching instant boost in this episode. When he suggested the team could all help Luke build the new fence his dad was insistent he help with – even if it meant missing school – it could have led to an over the top moment where the entire team shows up at Luke’s farm. Instead, it was just Tinker, noting everyone else went to a party. Tink then telling Luke’s dad that Luke holds the team together and what he means to them was a wonderful scene. And lo and behold, I knew I was now firmly invested in Luke when this was followed by Luke’s accident, as he got his leg crushed by cattle pushing open a gate – and I found myself saying a certain colorful word out loud, upset over what happened and concerned for what it means for Luke’s future on the team.

Meanwhile, Julie was understandably upset over Matt having left, but unfortunately, this began the trouble spots for the episode. At least Landry had some very funny bits early on, as he saw Julie joining every school group imaginable – including a dig at Twilight and the statement, "You realize the irony behind the name ‘Academic Smackdown’?"

But then there was the portrayal of Matt – or lack thereof. Julie was incredibly hurt that Matt hadn’t called her since he left, which was only compounded when she found out he had been calling his mother and grandmother. To which I say – seriously? Matt Saracen, kind, caring guy that he is, is just going to fail to call Julie like this? I don’t buy it. And with Matt not on the show anymore, we aren’t getting any good explanation for it. Matt leaving as abruptly as he did was bad enough, but this is just bizarre. And apparently, he’s not calling Landry either? And what was up with Landry saying, "He was my best friend too." Was? Did he stop being his best friend? Well, maybe so, if he has decided to completely sever all ties with Landry and Julie upon leaving Dillon.

It didn’t help matters that Julie’s breakdown during an "Academic Smackdown" event was pretty silly – the way the books she was asked to talk about so easily tied into her perception of Matt was just way too on the nose and obvious for, especially for a show that is great at being subtle.

If that weren’t enough, in the very same episode, Tyra stands up Landry when he goes to a pre-arranged meeting spot. Really? Just when did they make this plan to meet at this random spot on the road? She couldn’t call and tell him she couldn’t make it? Why are these characters we love being jerks off screen? It was just very odd.

Better was Tami’s subplot, which brought back Glenn, her crushing coworker. With Tami receiving so much crap from the Boosters and students, it was nice to see the faculty at least had her back. And Glen’s drunken, attempted kiss was painfully awkward, while his apology – "I mouth raped you!" – was funny and awkwardly sweet.

As for Tim – ay yi yi, he is going to a dark place. He was right about Becky’s father being an abandoning creep, but handled it terribly, telling Becky about her dad’s second family with no tact, and then almost daring the guy to punch him when he taunted that he’d slept with Becky’s mom. And Billy, needing cash, ready to begin "working" with Vince’s criminal pal is not a good sign for the Riggins family… (the stripper fundraiser for Mindy and Billy’s medical funds however was very amusing).

The show is in a tough spot with Riggins – wanting to keep Taylor Kitsch on the show, but also trying to figure out what to do with Tim, now that he’s graduated. Portraying him as aimless certainly works for now, but hopefully something satisfying can occur for the character in the long run – him eying that piece of land at the end certainly is setting something up. But it remains to be seen whether that will be a triumph or disaster for Tim.

While there was still plenty of angst to behold, "Stay" certainly wasn’t as heavy as "The Son" – and nor would I want it to be. After an episode like that, you need some time to decompress, though on Friday Night Lights, that still means there’s going to be plenty of emotional content.

Eventually, the Lions have to win, right? Will it be when they face the Panthers? There certainly can be some great drama there. In the meantime, I was impressed that the writers didn’t play into expectations and have their losing streak broken in this episode, which raised the stakes as the Lions were facing an undefeated team, on television no less. And Stan’s impulsive "guarantee" to reporters that the Lions would win only put more pressure on them. I must admit, I thought they would pull it out in the end and win – but it was not to be.

It came down to Vince not throwing the ball when he should, in the wake of his proud feeling seeing his mom (in the midst of some rare sober time) coming to see him play for the first time. It was a nice bit of heartbreaking material, as we’re left to ponder if maybe they could have finally won if Vince’s mom wasn’t in those stands. What was great was seeing Eric not dwell on the loss though and rightfully tell the Lions that they’d just won the respect of those in the stands, by keeping the other team on their toes and making it a genuine battle in a way no one expected.

Luke and Vince had a brief, tense encounter with J.D. and his friends here – the first time they were all together since Luke and Vince became friends. While it was fun to see how this one ended, with Stan stepping in and telling the boys to get out of Sears before he does something he regrets, I hope we can finally get back to a more nuanced portrayal of J.D. soon. We got to know this kid in Season 3, leading up to the terrible moment where his constantly overbearing father finally hit him. Sure, we understand why he became the way he is, but is that it for him now? His only scenes are showing up to act like a total dick. Perhaps it’s time to go home with the McCoys again.

Landry had some fun material here, as he attempted to court Jess, in a very embarrassing manner, even daring to evoke Tyra and the fact that he’s not completely over her – though I don’t think it warranted a smack from Jess. We also saw that there is enough of a history between Jess and Vince for her dad to react quite negatively to Vince showing up at his restaurant.

So far, I’m pretty interested in Vince and Jess as new characters, though I run hot and cold on Becky. I get that she’s kind of supposed to be a brat, but it’s still pretty hard to like her when she has scenes like the one in which she treats Luke like crap. However, her interaction with Lyla here did make for some good scenes.

Yes, Lyla was back for a few days – and soon enough, back in Tim’s bed. But what was interesting was how this was pretty much a "for old time’s sake" fling for Lyla, before she went back to school, while Tim was trying to make it into more – even going so far as to imagine a life together where she managed the garage! The most telling scene was when Tim told Lyla he wanted her and she asked, "What else do you want?" – bringing to the surface the fact that Tim is at a very aimless point right now. Again, this show manages to feel genuine, by having Lyla help bring this up to Tim, but not have her magically give him all the answers before she leaves and set him on the right path.

I really enjoyed Lyla’s bemused reaction to Becky. She’d seen it all with Riggins at this point, so rather than have her be angry or accusatory at this young girl showing up knocking on his door, she just smiled and took it all in – throwing Becky into even more insecurity. Having left Dillon behind for college, yet able to come home and have Tim, Lyla pretty much seemed like the ideal to strive for for Becky, who couldn’t help but stammer, "You’re so lucky. So pretty."

Tim trying to get Lyla to stay with him was paralleled with a story about Julie and Matt going off to a musical festival together – and Julie again hinting that maybe Matt shouldn’t stay in Dillon just for her, only to panic when he seemed to finally respond a bit. Aimee Teegarden was really good here, showing Julie’s mix of emotion as she logically knows Matt should do what’s best for him in the long run, but also desperately wanting to keep her boyfriend.

However, the end, with Matt simply driving off was pretty unsatisfying. I get it, artistically – seeing Matt finally leaving Dillon for an unknown future with nothing but potential should be an uplifting, if also melancholy, sight. But I would have liked to have seen some more genuine wrap up to his storyline and to find out where exactly he’s going (which we may still learn of course), and also to see his goodbyes with everyone from Coach to Landry, his mom and grandmother. Matt’s an important part of a lot of people’s lives and I feel we were cheated a bit by jumping past most of his actual departure.

One thing’s for sure though: Matt Saracen is a wonderful TV character and he will be missed dearly by his fellow Dillon residents and by us watching at home.

Megan Fox in "Jonah Hex"

It’s a challenge to take a comic-book adaptation that stars Josh Brolin, John Malkovich and Megan Fox and drain nearly all the fun out of it. "Jonah Hex" is one of those movies that combines a certain amount of being ridiculous on purpose with a great deal of pseudo-profound silliness. As the eponymous undead ex-Confederate drifter, Brolin has a grotesquely scarred face that makes him dribble whiskey like a toddler drinking cranapple juice, a hooker girlfriend (Fox) with a spray-on tan and an impressively corseted wasp waist, and an ability to reanimate the dead temporarily, mostly just to torture them.

Don’t get me wrong; those are the good-silly things about "Jonah Hex." Director Jimmy Hayward, whose only previous film was the bastardized Hollywood version of Dr. Seuss’ "Horton Hears a Who," turns the long-running DC Comics saga — which began as the story of an Eastwood-esque Western loner, before venturing into quasi-spiritual weirdness — into a complete stereotype of what movies made for the ADHD/gamer-addict population are like. (The screenplay was written by a two-man team that calls itself simply "Neveldine & Taylor," perhaps hoping that the next time they go up for a big movie gig they can claim to be the other guys named Neveldine and Taylor.)

Jonah’s back-story, which involves his long-running blood feud with Quentin Turnbull, a rogue Confederate general played by Malkovich, is cut up and scattered throughout the movie in random recycled bits and pieces that might be memories and might be, I don’t know, visions from hell. Meanwhile, the narrative’s forward motion — consider that entire phrase ironic — is told in little staccato bursts, disconnected violent tableaux accompanied by yowling faux-metal guitar. It isn’t just that no effort is expended on old-fogey ideas like character development; it’s more that Hayward doesn’t even try to make individual scenes make sense.

The movie goes like this: Jonah shows up someplace, apparently teleporting from Nevada mining camps to New Orleans to rural Georgia (journeys that would take weeks in the 1870s). He mutters incomprehensibly at someone out of the corner of his disfigured mouth and then starts shooting people with his Gatling gun, or his automatic crossbow, or his dynamite revolver. (OK, that one is kind of cool.) How-de-dow-de-dow, go the guitars.

Then he gets badly hurt, or pretty nearly kilt, and the Crow Indian medicine men, muttering "Not this guy again!" in their native tongue, have to dance around and chant and rub oregano on his wounds, causing Jonah to barf up an actual, living crow. (Get it? Get it? Oh, you’re right, there’s nothing to get.) Then it’s back to sultry Megan in the New Orleans whorehouse, although all they do is smooch a little in artfully backlit shots, possibly because this is a PG-13 title and possibly because sexual intercourse might cause her to snap in half at that architecturally improbable 20-inch waist.

Malkovich, who seems to take pride in doing the best he can with silly roles in bad movies, is impressively lugubrious as Turnbull, a shaggy and deracinated Southern gentleman who prepares a mint julep while also preparing to launch a 19th-century precursor to the atom bomb. This whole story is a little bit the alternate-history genre known as steampunk and a little bit "Wild Wild West" — but then, wasn’t that TV series steampunk before there was a word for it? When Turnbull brands his initials on Jonah’s face in a scene that I guess is meant to be terrifying, it’s hard to suppress the giggles — it appears that Jonah has become the property of Quentin Tarantino.

But this movie’s set-pieces are so restrictive and meaningless that Malkovich doesn’t really have much to do, and the same goes for Fox and even Brolin, who never gets beyond a tough-guy growl and a few wisecracks. Only Irish actor Michael Fassbender, playing a villainous lieutenant of Turnbull’s who strongly resembles the Lucky Charms leprechaun, seems to be enjoying himself. Aidan Quinn plays President Ulysses S. Grant (is that random casting or what?), who in real life was too busy drinking and taking bribes to pay attention to anything else, but here fulfills the awkward role an old friend of mine calls Mr. Exposition. You know: "Turnbull has the weapon? You don’t say! Where will he attack next? I want you to bring me Jonah Hex — he was a hero once!"

If I had to guess, I’d speculate that "Jonah Hex" is barely 80 minutes long because Hayward came in with an unholy mess of incoherent footage, and this was as close as the editing team could come to something resembling a movie. On the other hand, Hayward and his producers may genuinely believe that, hey, this is what the kids want these days. Which might be even worse. I’ve seen stupider movies than "Jonah Hex" (arguably I’ve seen some this month), but fans of the comic book’s spooky, dense melodrama deserve a lot better.