The Lions are marching toward state, and this once 2-8 team is now moving right on through the competition. In an interesting stylistic choice, the playoffs are reduced to one episode, partly due to time constraints, but also due to the fact that it simply works. It doesn’t feel rushed at all, and the journey the show takes us on from that early scene in Coach’s yard to that final scene outside of the stadium is thrilling to experience.
“Coach…he’s the best.”
The past is important. The memories you’ve shared with those around you stick with you throughout your life, influencing your decisions and your future relationships. Sometimes, there’s that one moment that fundamentally changes who you become. Maybe, for example, it’s a meeting with a football Coach, someone who takes jail and lying in a ditch somewhere out of the equation.
EPISODE 6–“SWERVE”
Julie’s storyline this season has been pretty disappointing, and the route the show takes to get to this episode is full of swerves (heh); as we see here, it finally comes crashing (I’ll be here all week) down, forcing her parents to face the reality of the situation: their daughter made some bad decisions and is now attempting to run away from her problems by literally running into some bricks.
“We’re getting there.”
This is why I love this show so much. “Kingdom” is an episode ripe with entertainment, laughs, thrills, and small, beautiful moments, and it’s an example of Friday Night Lights‘s ability to not only portray the heartbreak and disappointment ever present in our lives, but also the pure joy that can result from connection and doing something we love.
EPISODE 2– “On the Outside Looking In”
State.
As the title suggests, this episode deals with those on the outside looking in, whether it be someone like Tami, who’s attempting to enact change at East Dillon but is running into unending obstacles, Julie, who’s navigating her first days at college, or Becky, who’s lost and without a stable family. We also see this idea play out in the fact that after the Lions’s win against Croft, people come down hard on the team just because it wasn’t supposed to win.
The final two episodes of season 4 of Friday Night Lights work in tandem to tell the stories of people who fall, people who feel the walls closing in around them and the world out to get them, people who go through a hell of a lot, but are able to find something to hold onto at the end of it all.
“I Can’t”–Season 4, Episode 10
What an episode this is. It’s not every day that you see the topic of abortion handled with the nuance provided here by the writers and the actors, and the situation is heart-wrenching to watch unfold. Becky’s strained relationship with Cheryl is very much on her mind throughout, and she realizes that she’s the product of a situation akin to her own, that her mother harbors resentment for the impact teenage pregnancy had on her life. Yet, that abortion never happened, and while Becky wants to go on to do bigger and better things, she now also wonders about her own child. Enter Tami Taylor.
EPISODE 6– “STAY”
This one’s all about people leaving, but while there’s a sense of melancholy–as is the case whenever you’re separated from someone who’s close to you–there’s also a sense of hope and freedom. Both Lyla and Tim know their relationship is over, but that doesn’t prevent them from enjoying the time they have together in this episode, nor does it take away from the times they shared prior to this. Lyla’s finally taking control of her own life, something we certainly didn’t see when she was still tied to Jason Street.
Here lies Henry Saracen.
Here lies Matt Saracen’s father, the father he hated, the father who wasn’t there for him, the father who’s now in a coffin, buried under the dirt that leaves Matt’s shovel. He wasn’t a monster, but he wasn’t a good father, either. The responsibilities that should’ve been his were taken on by his son at an early age, and Matt’s had to deal with situations that many teenagers have never had to face because there’s always been that one constant in their lives: a supportive family.
Dear Coach Taylor,
I wish I could give you all the money you need for your team, you wonderful man. I don’t know why everyone isn’t already throwing him or herself at your feet, trying to kiss that amazing personality, whether or not they think of you as their dad or their boyfriend or both. Have you ever thought about a job at the Landing Strip? Wear just your cap and your jacket of fatherly goodness, emblazoned with the lives you’ve touched and a “Tami Taylor is always right” sticker that never comes off. She’s always got your back, and you’ve always got hers. Compromise. It’s a beautiful thing, even when you’re lying about that damn personal check.
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