COTW:  Another week, another case of the week.   Dr. Danni counsels a bull rider who has some trouble letting go.  We all believe this is because his dad, also a bull rider, was killed by a bull when Cowboy was just 4 and Dad wasn’t even 30.   Cowboy is about to turn 30 so Dr. Danni is convinced it’s a fear of death.  Turns out, it’s a fear of life.  Cowboy has lived his life trying to be his dad and doesn’t know how to go on from where his dad stopped.  Lucky for him, he’s got a wife who loves him and Dr. Danni who will see him once a week (or whatever she does for these COTW people after the week is over).   Now on with the good stuff….

I missed last week (sorry guys!) but it can basically be summed it by saying TK is still abusing painkillers and Dr. Danni and MattyD broke up because she doesn’t want to do the baby thing and he really wants to procreate (and looking like that, he should).

“I’m just doing a little fling cleaning.”
This week, Dr. Danni is sweeping MattyD under the rug or shoving his socks in her drawers instead of returning them.  Ray Jay is happy he’s got decent enough SAT scores to guarantee that he goes to college near Olivia (Dr. Danni was really excited until that last part, she’s still not a fan of tutor girl).  Nothing will bring Ray Jay down though and he runs off to tell his girlfriend they can be together forever (oh to be 17 again)!  Jeanette asks why Dr. Danni doesn’t tell Ray Jay she and MattyD are over and that’s odd… Why should an adult be seeking a teenager’s opinion and sympathy over a break-up?  Anyway, this leads us to Dr. Danni talking about how professional this break up will be and how it won’t be awkward every day at work.  Jeanette and I laugh.

“If only TK had a mute button.”   
Over at Hawks HQ, the Coach is laying down the law about sport training.  TK shows up late, makes a big entrance, and acts more like a dick than team captain.  We all know it’s the pills, but Jesus, this is old.  Turns out, despite TK’s unpredictability, the GM had decided to let another sports network have unlimited access to the team.  Hey remember the last time you did that — TK started dating the reporter and got shot? And that was when he was more stable.  The Coach is worried, but what can we do. The GM wants good press.

Dr. Danni shows up in MattyD’s office to say hey.  Turns out MattyD tore something in his knee, and yes it’s painful, but he’s working through it (nope, no tension here).  Dr. Danni tells MattyD that he’s got stuff at her house, he asks her to bring it to him and she doesn’t like that idea but agrees to it.  You know, for a shrink, Dr. Danni is really bad at voicing her own feelings.

At this moment, Noelle shows up.   Noelle is a lovely young sports reporter, a dark haired Erin Andrews type, here to get the story.  Anyway, she’s hot and the actress does exactly what she’s supposed to do – flirt with the newly single MattyD and get under Dr. Danni’s skin.  Yeah, this isn’t gonna get awkward or unprofessional at all is it?

Noelle wants to talk to TK about the shooting.  TK shoots her down.  MattyD tries to tell her to back off, but Noelle flirty tells him the GM gave her all access to TK and that isn’t happen.  Who sees this ending badly? Just everyone right?  So why is no one calling Nico?

“Olivia, go friend yourself.”
Ray Jay excitedly tells Olivia that he’s planning on going to school near her.  Olivia lets him know that this is her high school romance and she’s not going to be in a relationship while she’s in college.   She honestly wants to break up now (though she was really interested in the gift he gave her before she found out it was just his SAT scores so that’s kinda tacky vegan girl). Ray Jay does not take this well.

While Ray Jay is losing friends, Razer knows the value of them.   When Noelle corners him and starts asking questions about inconsistencies in his high school situation (remember he stole another kid’s identity to play football despite already graduating).  Damon plays dumb and goes straight to Nico (yeah, MattyD was there too but let’s get real, this was about Nico).  Why hasn’t this been straightened already? This came up episodes ago and they agreed to take care of it for him if they drafted him.  I guess after TK’s shooting, Marshall vs. Gabrielle and the case of the week linebacker with sleep eating issues, the PR people went on a much needed vaca? Nico tells Razer to keep his mouth guard in while Noelle’s around and MattyD promises to call PR and get ahead of this.  Sure.

Instead of calling PR, they call Dr. Danni.  She’s worried about his fragile psyche, Nico offers he has unpopular ways of silencing Noelle and Coach wants MattyD to date her to shut her up.  Dr. Danni pretends to be insulted by the “go date the pretty little girl” thing on behalf of sisterhood, but really, she’s irked that MattyD may be dating again, even if it’s a job thing.  They agree again to be professional, in case you missed the anvils they dropped earlier.

Back at home, Ray Jay is cleaning out his fridge.  No more soy jerky and vegan crap.  Oh Ray Jay, we’ve all been here.  Usually we toss photos and letters, but it’s a rite of passage.   Dr. Danni and Jeanette try to tell him that, but Ray Jay shuts them down.  He’s fine, he’s already got a date this week, he’s fine …Jeanette suggests talking to him about MattyD again, Dr. Danni points out how inappropriate that is, they fight over sweets and nothing is settled except the fact that neither Ray Jay nor Dr. Danni like to talk about their feelings.

“Hot or not, I can shut you down.”  “But you won’t.  Not when I have a sexual harassment case in my pocket.”
Nico tries to get Noelle to lay off Razer, who is totally blowing camp because of his nerves, but she counters with I’ll sue you for sexual harassment and Nico appears to be stumped.  Please, I can’t believe that’s the first time Nico’s heard that (not that I believe women use that often; Nico’s just always dealing with unsavory people and unsavory people (men and women) grasp what’s in front of them to get out of trouble).

I honestly thought they were going to have Noelle claim Nico sexually harassed her, but no.  She’s talking about TK and his behavior when she tried to interview him earlier in the men’s locker room.

Nico and MattyD ask TK if he invited Noelle into the shower.   Now, TK sexually harasses a lot of the women on this show (most of them, actually), but he swears she’s lying and I believe him.  TK is pretty honest about being an entitled ass because he’s got no shame.  If he says he didn’t do it, he probably didn’t.

They decide to sacrifice Razer to save TK and poor Razer’s puking up his guts in the locker room.  TK gives him some gentle ribbing (for TK) and Damon lets him know how pissed he is to be sacrificed for TK.  TK needs to be filled in because he’s clueless.  Who can blame him? No one is telling TK anything or trusting him.

‘Cept Dr. Danni who tells MattyD to trust TK.   MattyD claims Noelle has no reason to lie and has it all on tape.  Why haven’t we demanded to see this tape?  Dr. Danni doesn’t ask that and instead lets MattyD have a moment.  He whines about Razer needing to man up; there’s always a camera crew around in the pros and MattyD put his neck out for him.  Dr. Danni calls him on his tantrum, still doesn’t mention requesting to watch the tape, but it works and MattyD admits that he’s angry at everything (but mainly at not getting any from Dr. Danni anymore).

After Dr. Danni leaves, MattyD goes to workout his leg injury and Noelle shows up.  She insists she’s not the bad guy, she just wants her story.  MattyD is about to take that anger out on her with some snappy comments, but TK shows up and offers to do a tell all if she forgets the name Damon Razer.  He went from being an ass to being a good captain in less than an hour.  Way too much character growth here; something’s going to hit the fan.

“Roses are red, violets are blue.  Seriously, who dumps me for this dumbass?”
Oh Ray Jay.   Our poet laureate gets punched in the face after he catches Olivia with another guy (she moves fast) and he creates a scene at the high school hang out.  You know, for someone so against jocks when we first met her, she really jumped into something with another guy who’s ready to use his fists awfully fast.  I think Olivia is right, she needs some alone time in college.  She’s confused about what she wants and who she is.

But we don’t care about her anyway.  We care about Ray Jay.  So does Dr. Danni when she sees him on the couch with an icepack on his face. Ray Jay admits he made a fool out of himself and he’ll never live this down (esp. since he has another year of high school left).  He, of course, thinks Dr. Danni doesn’t understand any of this so she’s forced to admit that she and MattyD are done.  Ray Jay is upset she didn’t tell him and she’s forced to tell him she was embarrassed.  This leads poor Ray Jay to thinking MattyD dumped Dr. Danni and broke her heart, so he’s off the couch and offering to kill him.   It sounds cliché, but it’s adorable and really the reason why I like Ray Jay (nice to be reminded after many episodes of teenage tantrums).  They have a heart to heart about how break ups build character and give you character.  It’s total crap.  Break ups suck.  That character you get from them is called baggage and is used against you in later relationships. But I guess that isn’t fair to saddle a 17-year-old with, so Dr. Danni lies until Olivia shows up, despondent because she doesn’t know how to do this.   Ray Jay doesn’t throw her out and they talk (which we are spared, thankfully).    Dr. Danni and Jeanette worry about Ray Jay, but Jeanette points out that Ray Jay will be fine, he has Dr. Danni.  She also helped Dr. Danni realize what was wrong with case of the week. Jeanette’s really earning her keep.

“Ghetto fairytale in the flesh.”
Noelle gets her interview with TK.  No pre-screened questions, all real reactions, no spin.  He suits up and Noelle nails him on everything, but TK doesn’t react (or get the month of his shooting right).  Coach is thrilled, MattyD is relieved.  Dr. Danni worries and asks Nico about Noelle’s footage. Nico has it, but didn’t watch it which makes no sense, but Dr. Danni wants to know who lied.  And so do I.

Dr. Danni goes to return MattyD’s socks, they realize they can’t be professional and go for a round of break-up or make-up sex.

Nico finally watches the tape.  Oh TK, he totally drops his towel and invites Noelle into the shower.  Noelle should have smacked him and now I regret my annoyance toward her.  TK’s definitely forgotten this little incident because of the happy pills, but it’s not buying him much sympathy from Nico.

Jeanette catches Dr. Danni in the hallway and instead of coming clean, Dr. Danni acts like she’s going to bed alone.  Shocker, MattyD is in her bed.  It’s not that complicated, Dr. D.  He’s a honey.  Go for it.

Well guys, what did you think?  Are you happy Dr. Danni and MattyD are back in the sheets? Worried about TK and the painkillers?