(Note there are mild spoilers if you haven’t ever seen Friday Night Lights. I have tried to not spoil the last season though, in case UK viewers want to try and track it down.)
A few weeks ago, NBC aired the last episode of Friday Night Lights. That this happened in 2011 and not 2007, should pretty much be considered a TV miracle. After criminally low ratings for two seasons and the Writers Strike of late 2007/early 2008, typical (revenue-driven) wisdom would say it should have been cancelled. But, on the back of critical praise, a small but dedicated fan base, and the fact that in 2008 NBC was suffering from a true lack of quality TV, an innovative deal was struck to keep Friday Night Lights (or FNL to those in the know) on the air. Three 13 episode seasons would be shown first on Direct TV (a satellite provider) and then re-aired on NBC. Nothing like this had really been tried before, and the deal saved what has certainly been one of the best shows in recent memory, and one of the best family dramas ever.
FNL has a lot of strengths, including strong writing, staying away from melodrama (usually), and strong acting anchored by its leads Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler. These two play Tami and (Coach) Eric Taylor and their marriage has been the heart of the show. One of FNL’s biggest assets is its ability to bring the drama of everyday life to the viewers in respectful way. Simply put: it does “simple” well.
The Taylor’s marriage is one of the most realistic portrayals of marriage that has been seen, and shows how much storytelling you can get out of a happily married couple. When watching, you never feel that the show was making fun of small-town Texas life; those of us from fly-over country (of which I include the South) are used to being portrayed as simple-minded, blindly religious, and naive. In FNL, it was easy to see ourselves and our lives reflected back to us and for those not from small towns to understand why they aren’t so bad. Okay, except that everyone was really pretty, but it is TV after all. Football* was important for the show, as a backdrop and as a vehicle for storytelling, but I hesitate to call it a ‘football show.’ I will always maintain that you don’t have to enjoy football to enjoy this show; not all agree with me on this, but I will hold the line on this one.
Of course the show wasn’t perfect. Shows never really are, and it is easy to get bogged down in that second season that most want to forget-though I am not actually one of them. Whilst I believe the Tyra/Landry storyline (where they murder someone who was attacking Tyra) was ill-conceived the actors themselves did brilliant work to try and pull it off. And they almost did, but we were all glad when it was resolved. East Dillon, the rough side of town that became the focus for seasons four and five, came out of nowhere. ( We did grow to love it though, I think.) Julie seemed to get a lot of her worth and storylines from boys and I wasn’t crazy about her arc in the last season, although it did get her to where she needed to be by the end. The show also still had a mostly white cast, but at least its minority characters were not just someone’s best friend, which in the land of Hollywood is pretty big.
The second season also suffered from the aforementioned writers’ strike and they dropped at least one character completely and without explanation. The shorter seasons (which is still not the norm in the US) also meant there were times when a plot point wasn’t really explored after being introduced, such as the one about a gay assistant coach, which would have been really interesting. Characters were underused and we sometimes got from A to B a little to quickly and easily. The writers had some problems writing for its female characters if they weren’t attached to a male in some way. See Lyla’s born-again storyline. Although, I would prefer they try and create well-rounded characters even if they fail at it.
So, two (small) paragraphs of missteps and lost opportunities. I could fill two pages of what they got right, starting with the awesome Tami and Eric. Of the generally respectful handling of Jason Street’s injury (in my non-disabled opinion, backed up by reading up on it to be sure). He was depressed deeply, tried out denial and almost had life threatening surgery, then moved on to acceptance. He came to understand that he still had a full happy life to live. One that was different than planned, one without walking, but still good. (He even gets to have sex!) Or I could mention the Tim Riggins character growth of selfish screw-up to a man willing to make sacrifices for those he loves. How Lyla played a role in the process, even if they weren’t destined to be together forever. Tyra going from a bit of a stock popular girl to a college student. Matt Saracen’s puppy dog eyes, his grandmother’s dementia, his and Julie’s ‘one true pairing.’ Of Smash making it when he thought he lost it, and his relationship with his mother. The promise of a college education for Vince and the understandable draw of big time football. Of Landry’s dry humour, that was always welcome, or Jess’ unflappable drive to become a female football coach. The role race and class play in friendships and in Dillon Football, how it shows who the have’s and have nots are (clue, it’s not always connected to winning) and how a white middle class coach fits in East Dillon. Of a real abortion storyline, where the girl doesn’t miscarry as a convenient way around it.
FNL did a good job with phasing out old characters as they graduated and moved on, and introduced new characters. As in real life, each year a class graduates, and even if they stay in town, they aren’t really part of high school any more. And you miss them, but you find some Freshmen (or first years) that you like too. And when they brought them back, well, it made sense too, and it happened like it might in real life. The show incorporated a lot of local actors, made Buddy Garrity loveable, and well, made me cry on a regular basis.
And when the end came, the writers and creators, did one heckuva job. Those responsible for this finale knew this time it was the end for sure, and frankly they knocked it out of the park. Or scored a touchdown if we don’t want to mix up our sporting metaphors. The finale ensured closure and surely gave us long-time viewers satisfaction. The last 20 minutes were pure TV joy, that provided a brilliant scene between Eric and Tami that encapsulates everything great about the show (here, 1:24 in if you don’t mind spoilers), and which I watched through tears. Of course.
I will certainly miss this show. But unlike others that I miss it is the rare one that I feel almost fully satisfied with. It’s not Arrested Development only getting a 13 episode order, or Veronica Mars not knowing for sure where it stood as it ended. And it’s not Lost where the viewers feel a bit like suckers for buying into the mythology only to find out it really wasn’t that complicated. It was in fact, practically perfect in every way, and why we can say good-bye knowing that clear eyes and full hearts really can’t lose.
*Football, in the American sense for this posting
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