Saracen never really belonged in Dillon. He was ordinary, and that made him something of an oddity. A regular guy dealing with hardship after hardship, Saracen took it all in stride. Saracen was reserved — perhaps repressed is a better word — and though he become a brief football hero, there was always something slightly tragic about his dalliances with football.

For some in Dillon, football is the only way out. For others, it’s a crutch. But Saracen never really needed the sport. If anything, early on in Seasons 1 and 2, it risked serving as a distraction for the character, a potential stumbling block on his path out of Dillon and onto bigger and better things.

When writers had him temporarily delay admittance to the Art Institute of Chicago, it may have been a win for fans of the series, but it didn’t ring entirely true. As one of the few characters who always understood that there was life beyond Dillon, Saracen always seemed a strong enough character to bully through whatever doubts he may be having about heading to college. That’s why it was utterly heartbreaking to see him fighting back the frustration week after week as a pizza delivery boy.

His girlfriend, Aimee Teegarden’s Julie Taylor, isn’t all that different. She’s a fellow A-student with designs on more than Dillon has to offer. She stops short of telling Matt he needs to leave, but the younger character comes to the realization first. What’s striking about the Julie-Matt relationship in this episode is the way it transfers some very adult issues to teenage characters, a rarity in television, film, music or any form or mass pop culture.

Real-life stresses have a way of derailing even the most fairy tale of romances. With the risk of sounding like a cynic, issues such as money and career have an effect in any relationship, and though Matt and Julie have neither, she recognizes she’s keeping him from both. “Maybe I should have left already,” Matt yells to her, speaking over the Heartless Bastards at Emo’s in Austin, Texas. “Do you even want me to stay?”

Of course she does, just as any fan of the series does. But when Teegarden’s character breaks down, and resorts to shouting “I love you” over and over, Matt knows that’s not an answer to his question. It’s a fall-back response when the truth is far more difficult — and nuanced — to articulate.

He takes the only proper course of action, and eventually learns that he has to get on with his life. The episode ends with Matt on the road, most likely on I-35 north to Chicago. An understated, likable and all-around good guy (Matt panics when he realizes that Julie is in Austin with him without her parents’ permission), Gilford’s character will be missed.

On the bright side, he’ll be back for at least two episodes this season, and will remain, like other major characters who left, part of the Dillon narrative. But there won’t be any time to sulk. Life, as “Friday Night Lights” continues to illustrate, will get in the way.

College life: The only major plot this week was the return, as mentioned and pictured above, of Kelly’s Lyla Garrity. Her up-and-down relationship with Taylor Kitsch’s Tim Riggins was one of the few story lines that grew a little tired — a little predictable — in Season 3. That’s why I wasn’t elated when she arrived in town for the funeral of Matt’s father last week, but as a college girl not yet ready to leg go of her Texas roots, Kelly was on point.

As Riggins, Kitsch is the bad boy with a heart of gold. Though living in a trailer this year, there’s something that’s always felt a little worn and lived-in about his character. He’s making a young man’s mistakes, but carrying himself with a carefree, seen-it-all attitude. But he’s never quite looked as downright young and vulnerable as he did tonight.

After a reunion with Lyla, Riggins makes a plea for her to give up college and work with him and his brother. She doesn’t entertain it, of course, wondering herself why she’s even sticking around in Dillon for a few days. Throughout their relationship, Riggins has always gotten the best of Lyla, persuading her, against her better judgment, to stick with him.

That ended tonight. She asks Riggins what he wants out of life, and his response is that he wants her. She repeats the question: “What else do you want?”

The camera lingers on Riggins’ heartbroken face as he fails to find an answer, cutting briefly back to Lyla for her look of disappointment. Any and all tough-guy exterior is gone, and for once, someone may have finally persuaded Riggins to take a long look at his life.

The night’s best line: It was delivered by Jesse Plemons’ Landry Clarke. The East Dillon Lions had a moral victory tonight, coming close to upsetting one of the best in the conference. Expected to get walloped, the press was interviewing the team before the game, and Landry offered a quote we only wish we could hear a professional athlete say: “I scored a perfect math score on my SAT, so if the pressure’s on, I’m the guy to go to.”

–Todd Martens

“Friday Night Lights” airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on DirecTV’s The 101 Network.
source: latimesblogs.latimes.com

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• 004: 1.15 – Help Me, Rhonda Episode Stills
• 094: Daily 10 – February 3rd, 2009 Captures
• 003: The Perfect Age of Rock’n'Roll Production Stills

THE CSIs MAKE A SHOCKING DISCOVERY ABOUT THEIR MURDER VICTIM, WHILE HORATIO TRIES TO SAVE HIS SON FROM JULIA’S ERRATIC BEHAVIOR, ON “CSI: MIAMI,” MONDAY, MARCH 9

Elizabeth Berkley (”The L Word”) Returns as Julia Winston

“Divorce Party” – The CSIs make a shocking discovery about their murder victim, while Horatio tries to save his son from Julia’s erratic behavior, on CSI: MIAMI, Monday, March 9 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

SERIES REGULARS:
Horatio Caine……………………….. David Caruso
Calleigh Duquesne………………….. Emily Procter
Eric Delko……………………….. Adam Rodriguez
Ryan Wolfe…………………………. Jonathan Togo
Det. Frank Tripp………………………….. Rex Linn
Natalia Boa Vista……………………… Eva La Rue
Dr. Tara Price…………… Megalyn Echikunwoke
Kyle Harmon……………………….. Evan Ellingson

RECURRING CAST:
Julia Winston……………………. Elizabeth Berkley
Michael Travers……………………. Chris Redman

GUEST CAST:
Amy Lansing…………………………. Christa Miller
Heath Lansing……………… Andrew James Allen
Roger Lansing……………………… Bruce Thomas
Katherine Faber……………………… Kelly Rowan
Brianna Faber………………….. Aimee Teegarden
Glenn Wagner………………………….. Peter Paige
Dave Benton…………………………. Wes Ramsey
Walter Pipkin………………………. Cliff Weissman
Melia……………………………………… Jennie Ford

WRITTEN BY: Corey Evett & Matt Partney
DIRECTED BY: Karen Gaviola [Source: CBS]

Spoiler alert! If you have not watched Tuesday’s episode of ‘90210,’ do not read any further.

Rhonda! You sneaky girl, you!

When Ethan hit the shy band girl with his car in last week’s episode, I admit I cheered; I thought Rhonda was sweet, charming — unlike Annie — and smarter than I was giving her credit for. Faking her injury to get closer to Ethan? Annie won’t know what hit her.

Alas, gentle viewer, the resolution to the budding love triangle won’t arrive until March 31. “90210” is taking a hiatus and will return in a new timeslot: Tuesdays at 9.

Luckily, 19-year-old actress Aimee Teegarden, who plays Rhonda and is best known for her role on the critically beloved “Friday Night Lights,” graciously agreed to weigh in on Rhonda’s recent about-face:

How did you react when you found out that Rhonda puts the moves on Ethan?
It was surprising. I read that they kiss and thought, ‘What are they talking about?’ It was a little weird. I don’t know. I think kissing is totally weird on stage or in front of cameras. I wasn’t quite expecting it so fast. Like, dang, Rhonda gets down to business! She gets the come-hither look in her eyes. It was kind of shocking originally, but then I kind of enjoyed the fact that she becomes so upfront about it, more so than I would be.

Do you think Ethan is attracted to her?

I think Ethan is very attracted to Rhonda. I think Rhonda’s kind of amazing! (Laughs)

Yeah! Take that, Annie! But seriously, at first Rhonda’s this poor sweet thing and then she’s on the prowl! What do you make of that?
I think she’s been hiding in the shadows and all of a sudden she has this opportunity. I’m sure she’s had a crush on Ethan for years and years, sitting behind him every day, and now she finally has this opportunity to just really talk to him. It’s escalated because they’re both going through new things, new beginnings, and really opening their eyes to the world.

Before you started to shoot, what were your first impressions of Rhonda?
I thought she was a typical band geek. I was only told that she was a character who was going to shake things up after she gets into a car crash. That was it. But then I got to know more about her. There are a lot of layers there to explore if I come back for more episodes.

What were your impressions of the new “90210″? How did you get involved?
I had seen part of an episode, but not the whole series. It just seemed kind of fun. I was literally driving home from Texas — I had just finished up “Friday Night Lights” — and my agent called me while I was somewhere in the middle of Texas and Arizona. He said, “So, there’s an offer to do ‘90210.’ Do you want to do it?” and I said definitely. It would be something really different, going from the small town of Dillon, Texas, to shooting in Beverly Hills.

What were the big differences?
The thing about ‘Friday Night Lights’ is that we shoot very differently from every other show. We do three cameras all the time, it’s all [handheld cameras]. There’s no rehearsing…I’m sure the editors must have a field day, but we don’t have to say the same lines over and over. We can change them up as long as it’s in the same vein of where the scene’s heading. We have a lot of short days. We shoot a lot of scenes very fast.

Coming on to ‘90210,’ everything is different about it. There’s pieces of tape on the floor where you’re supposed to hit your mark. There are certain ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ you have to make sure are in there. It’s a lot glossier than ‘Friday Night Lights.’ The first day on ‘90210′ I cried. It was like, ‘I don’t know my lines.’ It was bad. Anyone who was there on my first day, when we shot all the hospital scenes, would have said so. The second day I was fine and I was with it. But the first day was a big shock.

All of your scenes were with Dustin Milligan. Did he help you or try to make you feel more comfortable?
I kept saying, “I’m so sorry. I keep messing up your scene.” And he’d be like, “Ah, no problem. We mess them up all the time. Just take your time. Enjoy it.” He was really cool.

I’d be remiss not to ask you about what’s going on with “Friday Night Lights.” How’s the waiting for a renewal going?
It’s always a waiting game in TV, but I’m optimistic. I wholeheartedly believe the third season is one of the best things on TV right now. I think it’s amazing. I think we scared some people off in the second season, but I think the third season more than makes up for it.

Anything you can tell us about what happens when “90210″ returns next month?
Ethan acts out like a typical guy where he backtracks after making all of these advances on Rhonda. Afterward there’s a fall out between the two of them. But there are also issues with him and Annie. So in the next episode, he’s kind of stuck in between the two girls. It’s a bit of a love triangle. There’s a lot of room for Rhonda to come back. It all ends in a cliffhanger. So there’s space — if “Friday Night Lights” doesn’t work out.

Well, we don’t want that to happen!
I know! No, it would be nice, though, to go from one set to the other, year-round, right?

Source: Los Angeles Times

For the last few years, Aimee Teegarden has been a familiar face on FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS. Now she’s expanding her horizons, traveling west from Texas to Beverly Hills for a stint on 90210. See what Aimee has to say about both shows! ]]> http://www.aimee-teegarden.net/index.php/2009/02/tv-guide-interview-90210-aimee-teegarden/feed/ 0 http://www.aimee-teegarden.net/index.php/2009/02/aimee-teegarden-theres-a-showdown-coming/ http://www.aimee-teegarden.net/index.php/2009/02/aimee-teegarden-theres-a-showdown-coming/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 18:44:52 +0000 Annika http://www.aimee-teegarden.net/?p=77

Aimee Teegarden has survived quite a bit as Julie Taylor on “Friday Night Lights” — not least of which were those bangs she rocked back in season one. So you’d think that a quick trip to “90210″ would be a walk in the park, right?

Yeah, not so much. In the first of her three episodes (starting tonight) her character Rhonda is involved in a car accident. As the weeks progress, she will start a flirt-mance with Ethan, which leads to a climactic showdown with Annie.

Needless to say things move at a much faster pace in Beverly Hills’ zip code than they do in Dillon, Texas’.

PopWrap: So who is Rhonda?
Aimee Teegarden: You get introduced to Rhonda because she gets into a car accident with Ethan. Now, it’s totally his fault because Rhonda is an amazing driver. [laughs] Maybe she is, I have no idea. But, she ends up in the hospital while he’s fine. Ethan comes to visit because he feels badly, they get to talking and he asks what school she goes to. Rhonda tells him, “I sit behind you in English.”

PW: Ouch
Aimee: Yeah, he feels super bad. From that point on they have a relationship based upon opening his eyes to the rest of the world and not being so pretentious.

PW: Does that put a crimp in his relationship with Annie?
Aimee: It does. She gets jealous because we’re spending time together and she assumes it’s something more than it is. There’s a standoff coming with Rhonda and Annie!

PW: I know on “FNL” there’s a lot of improv — is that a tough habit to break coming on to another show?
Aimee: It was really crazy. I’m sure everyone thought I was an absolutely horrible actress the first day. I almost cried actually. It’s just a very different process — with “FNL” the script is more of a blueprint — you don’t have to say what’s written as long as you have the right emotions for the scene. On “90210″ every if, and, or but is intentionally put into the script there by the writers to carry out the Beverly Hills vision. So it was a very interesting first day.

PW: As for Miss Taylor, we’re a few episodes in to the third season and I have to say; she’s much more, um, tolerable this year.
Aimee: Yeah, the third season is more like the first season for Julie. Last year she was very crazy and whiny and rebelling. This year she’s got the job, her and Matt are on- again/off-again but mostly on.

PW: Is their relationship the thing most fans bring up to you?
Aimee: People come up to me all the time and say, “You and Matt have to be together. I don’t care what else happens on the show as long as you two are together.” There’s also some really interesting stuff coming up for Julie — it’s a great season.

PW: Obviously an unconventional season as well (it first aired on DirecTV in October) how did the writers approach the last of the 13 episodes — as a season or series finale?
Aimee: When we did the pilot we all assumed that would be it. Then we got the first 13 episodes and we thought that would be it. Then we got the back nine — so we’ve always been the little show that could. We keep squeaking by. But I don’t think anyone thinks of this as the last year, you know? It just always feels like we’re wrapping up the season and we just hope and pray it comes back next year.

PW: You’ve finished filming the third season — tell me, does it end with cliffhangers that fans will need a fourth season to have resolved?
Aimee: Well, we lose two of our cast members this year — Gaius Charles’ Brian “Smash” Williams and Scott Porter’s Jason Street graduated — so fans can feel closure in having their story lines wrapped up. But at the same time there are definitely some big cliffhangers coming at the end of these 13 episodes, so hopefully we can come back for a fourth season.

PW: What about Rhonda, have we seen the last of her?
Aimee: Well, Rhonda doesn’t die — so if you’re not dead, I guess you can always come back!

Aimee kicks off her stint in the nine-oh on tonight’s “90210,” 8 pm on The CW.

Source: Popwrap

Here is a preview for next week’s episode and Aimee is quite a bit in it. Her character definitely seems to screw things up for the group (the quality of the trailer is not very good but hopefully there’ll be a better version soon).

IT’S VALENTINE’S DAY AND AIMEE TEEGARDEN (”FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS”) AND MATT LANTER (”HEROES”) GUEST STAR Naomi (AnnaLynne McCord), comfortable with her new living situation, is immediately taken by Liam (guest star Matt Lanter, “Heroes”), a hot bartender at her hotel. Sparks begin to fly between the two but Naomi is confused by the mystery that surrounds Liam. Silver (Jessica Stroup) gets extremely upset when her surprise Valentine’s Day dinner for Dixon (Tristan Wilds) doesn’t go as planned, but the two find a way to make the date a moment to remember. Annie (Shenae Grimes) becomes increasingly jealous of Ethan (Dustin Milligan) and Rhonda’s (Aimee Teegarden) close connection and takes advantage of information about Rhonda’s past in order to benefit herself, causing Ethan to confront her about her terrible actions. Adrianna (Jessica Lowndes) doesn’t have a date for the dance and decides to spend the night loading up on chocolate, until she hears a surprise knock on her door. Rob Estes, Lori Loughlin, Michael Steger and Ryan Eggold also star. Miller Tobin directed the episode written by Sean Reycraft (#116).

Source: CW