Burnt Prairie - Cal
Genre: Drama
Director: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast: John Gallagher Jr, Jacob Elordi, Josh Lucas, Diana Silvers, Robert Forster, Aden Young, Molly Ephraim and Timothy Busfield
Plot:At school, the news of Dick Carpenter’s resignation spreads like wildfire. Principle Daldry (Timothy Busfield) meets with local boosters and influential sports figures, including Cal (Josh Lucas). Cal acts shocked at this news, even though he is the one who instigated it. With only three games remaining in the season, they find themselves in a real conundrum. No coach is going to leave their team this late in the year, especially no good ones.
They approach all three of Dick’s assistant coaches but they refuse the job out of solidarity with Coach. They all think he was unreasonably forced out of the position, despite Daldry’s insistance that he resigned on his own accord. This leaves Daldry and the school’s athletic director in a sticky situation.
To cut costs, they decide it is best to hire from within. They look through their roster and decide that the only logical option is Thomas Hilliard, a former player for Coach Carpenter and someone who obviously knows all of the players well since he has them as students. They do not inform Cal or any of the other boosters about this and approach Thomas (John Gallagher Jr.) directly. He is admittedly hesitant but they tell him that this is only temporary, for the rest of the season. He’s never coached before but is bright and remember Coach’s offense. After some deliberation, he accepts.
After school, Thomas holds his first practice. While the students respect him - at times - as their teacher, he finds it to be a much different ballgame when they are athletes. There is a sense that he is underqualified for the position and that this hinders their shot at making it to the state championship. Chris Ford (Jacob Elordi), team captain since Von’s death, is the one leading the charge. Thomas is not dumb and senses this discontent, making him nervous for his first game tomorrow night.
After practice, we get a glimpse of the life of a young professional in a small town. He goes home and tidies up, before going out on his second date with Wendy (Molly Ephraim), a nurse at Burnt Prairie Hospital he met through a personal ad. They get to talking about their upbringings. Wendy isn’t from around here and just took the job out of nursing school. Thomas is from here but his path is untraditional. He actually did leave town and went to college (on a Division 3 basketball scholarship) and ended up gravitating towards education. It just so happens that the job market as a teacher in Indiana led him back here after a few years at other schools. So no, he hasn’t been here his whole life. They get along great and plan to meet for a third date.
The next day in the hours leading up to the game, he is surprised to be interviewed for the local paper by Erin (Diane Silvers), a former student of his. After the interview, she tells him that she decided to stick around a little longer to cover the fallout of the Von story. He tells her he has high hopes for her and thinks she should get back to school soon. She is not so sure. She feels like this is her calling here, to find truth in reality in Burnt Prairie. He says she should think long and hard about what she wants in life. There are times that he regrets coming back, especially when rumors are flying and the town is on edge. But at the same time, he sees her point, and feels like there is something salvageable in this town. It doesn’t have to be a self-isolated community that is resistant to change. And maybe he can play his part in moving it forward.
Thomas’s first game as head coach is against Muirville, a team well below Burnt Prairie’s talent level. Things go well at first, despite some disjointed playcalls. This mainly due to the performance of Chris Ford, who has a chip on his shoulder. However, after halftime, Chris hits a cold streak and he isn’t able to mask the team’s lack of cohesiveness anymore. Muirville takes the lead and never looks back, winning 68-52.
The home crowd is audibly upset, worried that this a sign of things to come and that their championship dreams are over. Thomas can obviously sense this and feels like he has let them, his team, and himself down. He is approached by Alan Carpenter (Aden Young). Alan makes it clear that he is not pleased with how his father’s resignation went down, he is confident that Thomas can right the ship. He was always one of his dad’s favorite players for how much he listened and learned from the directions given to him.
In his post-game speech to the team, he takes off his nice-guy persona and shows a fiercer side. We get a brief flashback of Dick giving Thomas’s team a similar talk 15 years ago. He emphasizes that this will be a one-time occurence. They will get it together to finish the last 2 games strong and live up to expectations in the playoffs.
On his way home, Thomas stops by a house and knocks on the door. Willow (Grace Fulton) answers and Thomas asks if he can see Coach. She retrieves Dick (Robert Forster), who is surprised to see him there. Thomas gives him a long hug before saying he hopes to make him proud. Dick tells him that he knows he has the basketball IQ and is much smarter than Dick ever was - as evidenced by his public interviews. Thomas says that Von was truly a special kid, on and off the court. Dick says he knows that and wishes he wouldn’t have said what he said. As Thomas leaves, Dick tells him that he was listening to the game and to come to him if he ever needs some tips in the coming weeks. Thomas tells him that he will probably be taking him up on that.
They approach all three of Dick’s assistant coaches but they refuse the job out of solidarity with Coach. They all think he was unreasonably forced out of the position, despite Daldry’s insistance that he resigned on his own accord. This leaves Daldry and the school’s athletic director in a sticky situation.
To cut costs, they decide it is best to hire from within. They look through their roster and decide that the only logical option is Thomas Hilliard, a former player for Coach Carpenter and someone who obviously knows all of the players well since he has them as students. They do not inform Cal or any of the other boosters about this and approach Thomas (John Gallagher Jr.) directly. He is admittedly hesitant but they tell him that this is only temporary, for the rest of the season. He’s never coached before but is bright and remember Coach’s offense. After some deliberation, he accepts.
After school, Thomas holds his first practice. While the students respect him - at times - as their teacher, he finds it to be a much different ballgame when they are athletes. There is a sense that he is underqualified for the position and that this hinders their shot at making it to the state championship. Chris Ford (Jacob Elordi), team captain since Von’s death, is the one leading the charge. Thomas is not dumb and senses this discontent, making him nervous for his first game tomorrow night.
After practice, we get a glimpse of the life of a young professional in a small town. He goes home and tidies up, before going out on his second date with Wendy (Molly Ephraim), a nurse at Burnt Prairie Hospital he met through a personal ad. They get to talking about their upbringings. Wendy isn’t from around here and just took the job out of nursing school. Thomas is from here but his path is untraditional. He actually did leave town and went to college (on a Division 3 basketball scholarship) and ended up gravitating towards education. It just so happens that the job market as a teacher in Indiana led him back here after a few years at other schools. So no, he hasn’t been here his whole life. They get along great and plan to meet for a third date.
The next day in the hours leading up to the game, he is surprised to be interviewed for the local paper by Erin (Diane Silvers), a former student of his. After the interview, she tells him that she decided to stick around a little longer to cover the fallout of the Von story. He tells her he has high hopes for her and thinks she should get back to school soon. She is not so sure. She feels like this is her calling here, to find truth in reality in Burnt Prairie. He says she should think long and hard about what she wants in life. There are times that he regrets coming back, especially when rumors are flying and the town is on edge. But at the same time, he sees her point, and feels like there is something salvageable in this town. It doesn’t have to be a self-isolated community that is resistant to change. And maybe he can play his part in moving it forward.
Thomas’s first game as head coach is against Muirville, a team well below Burnt Prairie’s talent level. Things go well at first, despite some disjointed playcalls. This mainly due to the performance of Chris Ford, who has a chip on his shoulder. However, after halftime, Chris hits a cold streak and he isn’t able to mask the team’s lack of cohesiveness anymore. Muirville takes the lead and never looks back, winning 68-52.
The home crowd is audibly upset, worried that this a sign of things to come and that their championship dreams are over. Thomas can obviously sense this and feels like he has let them, his team, and himself down. He is approached by Alan Carpenter (Aden Young). Alan makes it clear that he is not pleased with how his father’s resignation went down, he is confident that Thomas can right the ship. He was always one of his dad’s favorite players for how much he listened and learned from the directions given to him.
In his post-game speech to the team, he takes off his nice-guy persona and shows a fiercer side. We get a brief flashback of Dick giving Thomas’s team a similar talk 15 years ago. He emphasizes that this will be a one-time occurence. They will get it together to finish the last 2 games strong and live up to expectations in the playoffs.
On his way home, Thomas stops by a house and knocks on the door. Willow (Grace Fulton) answers and Thomas asks if he can see Coach. She retrieves Dick (Robert Forster), who is surprised to see him there. Thomas gives him a long hug before saying he hopes to make him proud. Dick tells him that he knows he has the basketball IQ and is much smarter than Dick ever was - as evidenced by his public interviews. Thomas says that Von was truly a special kid, on and off the court. Dick says he knows that and wishes he wouldn’t have said what he said. As Thomas leaves, Dick tells him that he was listening to the game and to come to him if he ever needs some tips in the coming weeks. Thomas tells him that he will probably be taking him up on that.
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