because god damn it, she should be more than tim riggins' girlfriend

[elapses]

So hey, flist, I would like to take a brief moment out of our days to talk about Lyla Garrity.

Because, oh, Lyla, somewhere along the road you became sort of painfully boring? I mean, I guess she started out that way, but remember the end of the first season when she was starting to learn self-reliance and she wrecked her Dad's dealership and told Jason off when he was being twunty and got drunk and snarky in Austin and went out shooting with Waverly? Remember how the first season ended with her throwing away her cheerleading uniform and offering Tyra a ride home? I MISS THAT LYLA DESPERATELY. There's something that is actually incredibly interesting about a girl who bases everything around the men in her life and then has the rug ripped out from under her. And sure, Minka Kelly is one of the weaker links on the show, but LOOK, it's hard to be a super fabulous actress when you have Connie Britton right there to be compared to you. And she's hot, SO LET'S NOT WHINE.

But all that is a moot point, because loving a character in a five-episode season ending arc is hardly the same thing as loving a character in general. So where did Lyla go wrong?

The answer is a) regression (when season two started, the writers were shipping Lyla/Jesus and not Lyla/herself)
and b) lack of diverse storylines:




COLOR CODING KEY:


*Because there are a crapload of football/practice scenes and that means a lot of screentime. Also because sometimes they have those lovely male bonding moments and are collectively "the guys", and... that should be noted.

Also! The dotted lines are supposed to indicate storylines that have sort of tapered off for whatever reason, except looking at it now I forgot to unsolidify Tim/Tyra and possibly other things. Oops.


IN ANY CASE: I feel pretty confident in my assessment that Lyla has less going on than ANY OTHER MAIN CHARACTER. Everyone else gets lots of scenes, Lyla gets to make kissy faces at Tim and occasionally have a moment with her Dad. WHAT ABOUT LYLA AND TAMI? LYLA AND JULIE? LYLA AND SMASH? LYLA AND LANDRY? Some of this show's greatest moments come from the characters you wouldn't think to pair together (I will forever love whichever writer one day thought, "hey, what would happen if we... had some scenes with Tim and Landry together?") (see also: the other two yellow lines).

Anyway that's all. I just wanted to write some kind of love letter to Lylas past in hopes we might get some nice Lylas in the future. YOU CAN ALL MOVE ON NOW.

Although BY THE WAY, I can kind of pretend it makes sense that Tim and Tyra are seniors if I don't think about it too hard (and pretend that Tim got held back?) but THERE IS NO WAY IN THE WORLD LYLA WAS NOT A SENIOR IN SEASON ONE. No 15-year-old would have GOTTEN ENGAGED TO JASON STREET. No one would've let her!

Comments

[torchflame.livejournal.com]

ILU

[elapses.livejournal.com]

♥

[goldenmelisande.livejournal.com]

I LOVED when Lyla's dad had his breakdown or whatever and she was stuck looking after him and she was angry at her mom and angry at everybody and she got obsessed with Jesus. I also liked when she threw that water at Jason in season one. And when she went gun shooting with Waverley. And when she DROVE HER CAR INTO HER DAD'S DEALERSHIP, which was never spoken about again if I remember correctly. And also when her shitty car that she bought herself broke down and Tyra had to give her a ride. But overall her character has been sort of shafted, like the writers just do not know what to do with her. It makes me sad because she was one of my favorites.

[elapses.livejournal.com]

EXACTLY. EXACTLY. Although I was less into the Jesus thing, because the thing with Lyla is that the way she started out, it was actually kind of creepy how absolutely everything was about Jason or her Dad or Tim or just MEN in general, and Jesus was just another thing besides herself for her to fall back on? BUT MAN, ANGRY LYLA IS WONDERFUL.

[goldenmelisande.livejournal.com]

I want her to hang out with female characters! AND GET A REAL STORYLINE. I thought the Jesus thing made sense but it would've made more sense if it had actually led to character development, you know? I just want her to realize that she has to rely on herself and quit relying on men/god/whatever.

[elapses.livejournal.com]

I do agree with that-- I would've liked the Christianity storyline if it had lead to anything, but it... didn't? And now it just seems like a really dumb aberration. And I seriously think she is the only only only person on the show who lacks a single, solitary friendship storyline. (They should've kept Waverly around.)

[goldenmelisande.livejournal.com]

Ugh yeah, she needs friends who are girls. I find it strange that pretty much every other character on the show is fairly well developed and has mostly interesting storylines, and then there's Lyla. She has so much potential and it's being wasted. They should just make her hang out with Tyra or even Julie, or find a way to make her have some scenes with Mrs. Coach. They had an interesting dynamic in season one, didn't they? In the like, three scenes they had.

[elapses.livejournal.com]

I mean, I kind of understand why they haven't gone for that kind of Julie/Lyla/Tyra girl-bonding-- their personalities don't automatically all mesh together, and "because they're the girls on the show" is a dumb reason to do a friendship storyline. BUT IT COULD ALSO BE AWESOME.

I don't know, man. I thought they really did do a fabulous job with Lyla in the beginning, but then, they did a fabulous job with everyone in season one. They've fixed pretty much everything that went awry in season two, but it's TIME TO GET BACK ON THE LYLA TRAIN, WRITERS.

(LOL YOU AND YOUR ABSURD NUMBER OF JULIE TAYLOR ICONS.)

[goldenmelisande.livejournal.com]

They don't even need to be friends! They just should have scenes together. LOL, GETTING BACK ON THE LYLA TRAIN. But really they should, because she has so much potential and I love her. The beginning really was when she was best, that scene in the third episode? I think? when she first cheats on Jason breaks my heart. I haven't seen season three but I actually liked her with Tim.

LOL SHE IS MY FAVORITE OKAY. ALSO SHE'S PRETTY. ALSO THAT LAST ONE ALSO HAD SARACEN IN IT, SO THERE.

[elapses.livejournal.com]

I don't like Tim/Lyla because I don't like Lyla with Tim, but I absolutely love Tim with Lyla? Does that make sense?

[goldenmelisande.livejournal.com]

Yeah it does and I can kind of see what you mean. I want Lyla to have a lot more sense of self before she gets into a relationship, she uses whatever man is in her life as a crutch.

[stepliana.livejournal.com]

Oh man, this is so true, and your chart is seriously the GREATEST THING EVER. They should revisit that whole 'Lyla and Tyra are friends' thing, it seemed like there could be shenanigans!

[elapses.livejournal.com]

It really, really seemed like that's where they were heading after "State" and then they just... didn't. But seriously, minor Tyra/Lyla hijinks could fix so much.

[puppetoflove.livejournal.com]

Oh Lyla, Lyla, Lyla. I want to love Lyla SO MUCH MORE than I do, and I spent all of S1, excuse the pun, cheerleading her. I found a lot of her stuff in S1 REALLY awesome and here was this girl with her whole future planned out and it got ripped out from under her and she was so. pissed. I think a lot of people missed that, her entire storyline in S1 was about her being SO DAMN MAD at everything and everyone, and everything she did was a direct "FUCK YOU" to that one moment on the field that changed her life.

That's also why I bought the religion storyline in S2, aside from being RIDICULOUSLY well done (I could write you an essay, so I won't) Lyla was trying DESPERATELY to not only find something to hold onto but to find something that would make her feel like herself again, something she could believe in so she could stop being so fucking angry all the time. I don't love Lyla and Tim together, I think that both Lyla and Tim are way too in love with Jason in their own ways to ever be fully in love with each other. Lyla wants to save Tim, Tim wants his perfect ideal of Lyla, it's just not on, basically. But I did love the end of S2 when Lyla was with . . .whats his face and she couldn't do it.

Lyla's entire life so far as been a series of failures in living up to someone else's idea of her. She couldn't be Jason's Lyla anymore because Jason wasn't even Jason anymore. She couldn't be Buddy's Lyla anymore because she fucked Tim Riggins and you can't go back from that once your daddy knows. She couldn't be her own Lyla because she never learned how. She couldn't be God's Lyla anymore because, well, she fucked Tim Riggins and you can't go back from that one Jesus knows. That's why I think so many people love Tim and Lyla, but it's why I can't get behind them. Tim's Lyla and Actual Lyla are two different people, and that's why things can't ever work out for her because she doesn't KNOW who Actual Lyla is, and dammit, show, SO MUCH POTENTIAL. Stop throwing her into storylines that don't so much involve Lyla in relation to Lyla as they do Lyla in relation to Whatever Dude, and let us have some ACTUAL CHARACTER GROWTH.

Also, no fucking WAY is she a senior this year. I mean, let's be honest show, if we're pulling the "people move on, we had no more stories for them" with Smash and Street, um, why is Lyla's ass still around to have one scene a week with Tim Riggins, seriously.

[elapses.livejournal.com]

I thought they started out strong with Lyla's religious storyline, but by the end it felt to me like it all looped back around to Tim, which -- since I completely agree with you about them both being a little too in love with Jason for that to ever be right -- just doesn't quite work for me. I mean, it's Friday Night Lights, it's entirely possible these writers have some trick up their sleeve. But right now it feels like one big wasted opportunity for development to come of a character arc, because I don't even know where Lyla is anymore. She's stagnant.

BUT YEAH, man, getting rid of Lyla would have made so much more sense than getting rid of Street -- she and Smash were, among other things, the least wrapped up in everyone else. It'd be a little bit sad to lose her all unresolved like this, but it's better than wasting her. And she really just needs to break her cycle (your paragraph about her series of failures is spot-on). Ugh, show.

[jenaben.livejournal.com]

ALEX I LOVE THIS POST. It's gotten to the point that I had actually forgotten how AMAZING Lyla was in S1. Or at least late S1, when she was finally pushing back against what her life had become. I miss that so much. Because to be honest? I really couldn't care less about Buddy and/or his disapproval of Tim/Lyla. Probably because I don't buy Tim/Lyla (see puppetoflove's comment above for my EXACT thoughts on them). And because the Tim/Lyla storyline is such a WASTE OF LYLA'S CHARACTER, GEEZ.

So. YES. I would love to see her interacting with the other females on the show, or maybe they could just throw her randomly into scenes and see what happens. As you said, the unusual pairings are generally PURE GOLD on this show. (I will always remember the teeny tiny moment in the pilot when Julie tries to comfort Lyla. And then they like...never interacted ever again.)

[elapses.livejournal.com]

Because to be honest? I really couldn't care less about Buddy and/or his disapproval of Tim/Lyla.
I KNOW, ME EITHER. And I so desperately want to and DO love Lyla but that's more stubbornness than anything else. And I totally agree with you and Regina on Tim/Lyla and how Jason fits into that dynamic-- that's one of the worst things about the fact that they're getting rid of Jason (well, that and everything)? It feels like I'm supposed to feel like they've got something so much bigger than mutual pain over Jason now, and I just DO NOT. Uck.

[afrocurl.livejournal.com]

See, Lyla is not my favorite person in the show, but I AGREE ON LYLA STILL BEING AROUND! IT MAKES NO SENSE! *seethes*

But I love the Yellow lines of FUCKIN' AWESOME AWESOMENESS!!!

I also have a need for Landry and Smash together.

Oh, am I wrong, and have Lyla and Matt now been in a scene together? There was some football Minka and Zach did last season and they mentioned never having worked together.

[elapses.livejournal.com]

I also have a need for Landry and Smash together.
YES. Landry/anyone he usually wouldn't be around is usually hysterical. He's that kind of a guy.

I don't think they have! I remember that spot, though, it was adorable.

[ofadoration.livejournal.com]

Oh, Lyla. :( I inexplicably loved her throughout S1, so when she became awesome it was such a thrill. I didn't even mind the Lyla/Jesus storyline in S2. (This is probably because I watched both seasons of FNL in about a week.) But gosh, I am not a fan of Tim/Lyla, and I hate that the writers think it's this big ~draw~ when it just feels so forced to me. Something about them being portrayed as sort of star-crossed lovers when they were Jason's best friends and he was in the hospital grossed me out. It feels like the writers thinking Tim/Lyla is oh-so-dramatically-interesting is essentially why Tim and Lyla are still around, even if they should have been juniors at least in the first season. I haven't seen more than five minutes of FNL this season because I'm so irritated by the age retconning. All it took was Buddy exclaiming "You're a senior!" to Lyla in the premiere and I was out.

. . . anyway, shutting up now. I hear the rest of the season is great, so I need to catch up on it sometime.

[elapses.livejournal.com]

I TOTALLY AGREE RE: TIM/LYLA. I feel like the writers see (or have come to see) it in a totally different way than I do? Their affair in the first season was interesting in a fucked up way but I just can't understand the continued draw of them. They don't feel like a real love story to me. And it sucks, because they're both fantastic characters outside of each other. There should be more for them than Tim/Lyla.

But, yeah, despite the age mess it has been a pretty damn good season, you should catch up when you can!

[emmanette.livejournal.com]

I never really thought about this but after reading your post I just wanted to say that I totally agree! And I love the explanation for the yellow lines - so true! ;)

[elapses.livejournal.com]

I'm glaaaaaaad, she's so underappreciated by fandom!

[praedial.livejournal.com]

Hi Alex.

I read this and I have no idea why. I had an inkling it was about FNL before I looked at the tag, but I don't watch that.

But you know what?

I DON'T REGRET IT.

Love, me.

[elapses.livejournal.com]

Hi Stephanie! I am in FNL MODE lately. I guess that's how you guessed. I'M GLAD THE MINUTES YOU SPENT ON THIS ENTRY WERE NOT COMPLETELY WASTED.

[allibabab.livejournal.com]

THERE IS NO WAY IN THE WORLD LYLA WAS NOT A SENIOR IN SEASON ONE. No 15-year-old would have GOTTEN ENGAGED TO JASON STREET.

AAAAHAHAHAHA FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, SOMETIMES I HAVE TO NOT THINK TOO HARD TO BELIEVE YOU.

And those yellow lines have created some of the best scenes in the history of that show. LOL LANDRY ALL OF READ OF MICE AND MEN TO TIM. Oh, boys.

Every time I think that maybe that show isn't as awesome as I think it is? I remember how it SO MUCH IS.

[elapses.livejournal.com]

OH GOD I KNOW, Landry and Tim! I kind of want more of them but I also do not ever ever ever want that episode tainted, because it was perfection. I am sure they had funny conversations in the car on the way to drop off Smash, though (god, now I want this as fic).

AND YES. I wish everyone could understand how this show makes me feel. It's sublime.

[luminoso.livejournal.com]

Hahah FNL I love thee. Except for the fact that you have no idea how old your characters are (Umm flashback to The OC anyone?). But yeah Lyla went up in my book towards the end of S1 and now she's just epic fail.

I hate how the Tim/Lyla storyline is so forced, it's ridiculous. But yeah see puppetoflove's thoughts on Lyla, because they're pretty much exactly how I feel.

[elapses.livejournal.com]

Haaaaaaa, it is kind of like the O.C. that way! It's funny how they never think ahead to how they're going to keep people around. Too bad retconning never works the way they think it will.

[superskittles76.livejournal.com]

I NEED THESE (http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/home-entertainment/aed3/?cpg=81H) RIGHT NOW OMFGGG *DROOLS*

You were the only person I could share this with looool :P

[elapses.livejournal.com]

LOOOOOOOL, oh my god I love the world sometimes!