For the recaplet, compliments of Television Without Pity, click here.

SPOILERS AHEAD!! Consider yourself forewarned.

What a great episode! This show always plucks my heartstrings in the most unexpected ways. At the beginning, when Coach Mac is kinda just mad that his statements have made him some enemies, I was just like, "Dude, man up and apologize for reals!" That scene where Coach Taylor rips into him and says that the problem with Mac's public apology was that he didn't seem to believe it, himself and that Mac SHOULD be worried because "you know what's on my desk right now? Your termination, that's what." Brilliant. I applaud you, Kyle Chandler!!!

Anyway, at that point, I was just like, "this dude needs to grow up and take some responsibility."

And ANY scene between Coach and his wife (played by Connie Britton) is excellent, but this particular one was super-excellent: Coach comes in and wants to talk to "not my wife, but the guidance counselor, the one who works for this school and cares about the kids." And when she tells him that she thinks Mac's comments were a terminatable offense, he wants to talk to his wife, who also knows him and cares about his team and knows that they need Coach Mac. And then he asks if there's anyone else he can talk to, and she says that, as his friend, she doesn't think this is about Mac, but about him. And, as he leaves, he says, "You scare me, all three of you." Hahaha!!!

Then Mac turns out to actually be a decent guy: he loves the team and doesn't want his controversy to stand in their way, so he resigns. He's willing to take one for the team! He's finally willing to admit that he was wrong and man up and take the consequences!!

Then, he sticks up for Smash and, later, when Smash asks him what happened with the cops, he just says, "They made a mistake, son. Just like I made a mistake." And that right there was all the apology Smash ever needed.

Oh, and talk about cute: That scene where Matt gives Julie an amethyst necklace (her birthstone! He remembered!) officially asks Julie to be his girlfriend! How sweet was that???

I love this show so much! It's about so much more than football!!