Friday Night Lights (FNL) is one of the greatest television series of this past decade, and possibly all time. Expanding on a book and a film of the same name, the tv series took the themes of small-town communities, sports culture, and relationships and proceeds to tell the story of a town, its high school football team(s), and the family at the center of it. Relying on solid writing, strong acting, and a focus on detail, FNL managed to make every game matter, every fight painful, and every triumph breathtaking.
The show is anchored on the relationship of Eric and Tami Taylor, played masterfully by Kyle Chandler nd Connie Britton. Their on-screen marriage is quite possibly both the most realistic and the best acted example of a television relationship that exists. There is a quiet confidence in the writing and the acting, with neither character ever trying to impose or force the relationship or it's trials on the audience. It feels like we, as the audience, are just in the room with them as they live, not having actors perform for us. Together, the Taylors are the heart of the show, and provide the necessary balance for the teenage characters' drama to play off of. You want to see both of them succeed and be happy, because in short order they become two people whom you feel you've known your whole life, and love dearly.
The show progresses through five consecutive seasons of football in the All-American town of Dillon, Texas. The first episode presents the show as a pseudo-reality show documenting the apparent rise of a football dynasty for the Dillon Panthers with the reunion of Coach Taylor and his star pupil QB. We initially meet the major players on the team via interviews with reporters and camera crews, assuring that the audience at first only sees the stereotypes that these players often represent in our culture. There's the arrogant, loud-mouth running back, the composed and media-trained star quarterback, and the drunk, loser redneck fullback. Oh, and the quiet, unassuming freshman back-up quarterback who is just happy to be on the team so he can have some relief from having to work a demeaning job and care for his infirm grandmother. But, then something happens. In the very first game, a horrible accident occurs that leaves the star QB seriously injured, and the unassuming back-up is thrust into the spotlight. At that moment, the show stops being a pseudo-reality and starts shooting in more traditional format, although the look of a hand-held voyeur camera never completely leaves the show.
As the series progresses, we see how every character subverts, and eventually destroys any kind of stereotype or pre-conceived notion we had of them. Every character undergoes major growth and change, often surprising us in wonderful ways. The best example of this is Tyra, the smoking hot blonde that seems to live for parties and will seemingly follow in her older sister's footsteps all the way to the strip club. She finds confidence in her academic life from an unlikely source and feverishly pursues a way out of the town and culture that claimed her family. And, the show is not afraid to rotate out older characters, as life takes them away from Dillon and it's football team, and then add brand new characters that provide entirely new stories and actively shape our remaining characters in new ways. Vince, not part of the show until season 4, is one of the best characters on the show, and his presence creates opportunity to explore new aspects of modern America and how the line between coach and father can blur.
The show also takes a lot of pride in it's locations. Texas Hill Country provides some of the most beautiful scenery in America, and it is utilized well in the show. The unique culture of Texas in regards to high school football makes for intriguing drama that has roots deep in the identity of America and how it evolves, or in some cases, doesn't. The intimate setting provides little distraction from what's important on the show, the characters. In the end, no matter how many games were won or lost, the characters were what mattered, and made FNL shine. You laugh, cheer, and cry with them as life unfolds, and when the series comes to it's bittersweet end, you feel as though you have lived a bit of your own life with these characters. And that's the best possible thing for a tv show to do.
Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.
