Tag Archives: Kyle Chandler

Friday Night Lights “Eyes Wide Open” Review (1×02)

22 Nov

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“My eyes were wide open, sir. My eyes were wide open.”

The fallout of the Jason Street injury isn’t a pretty sight; although the community can pray together, our characters deal with it in different ways. For example, Lyla’s relentless optimism arises from the seemingly perfect nature of her former situation: she was dating QB1, and she had her whole life mapped out. She was ready to fly around with Jason Street, NFL star, and slide down rainbows while the sun danced in the sky. Now, though, she’s holding on to a sliver of those crushed dreams; she believes she’s doing the right thing (and she does have a bit of point. You can’t wallow in self pity, or you won’t get anywhere, and it’s nice seeing her be the first one to really support him. However, wishful thinking can also be detrimental). Yet, she doesn’t understand that maybe the right thing for Jason isn’t what she’s doing.

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Friday Night Lights “Pilot” Review (1×01)

19 Nov

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“Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.”

So begins the story of the Dillon Panthers. It’s week one of the new football season, and the atmosphere is buzzing with excitement. There’s a new coach in town and a quarterback phenom, both ready to anchor a team expected to win the State Championship. There’s a coach’s wife, a hard-working second string quarterback, a loud-mouthed running back, and a slacker fullback. There’s a bunch of characters that can’t really be defined in one word like I’ve done above, because all of them are unique in their own way. Yes, that sounds cheesy, but it’s true; what the pilot does so well is establish each of their relationships, each of their mindsets, and each of their places in Dillon.

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Friday Night Lights “Tomorrow Blues” Review (3×13)

12 Nov

627-25High school is a transition phase; people have to decide what the first step in their futures should be, and it’s therefore understandable that the process would be ripe with indecision. This episode is just as much about second-guessing as it is about moving forward.

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Friday Night Lights “Underdogs” Review (3×12)

3 Nov

627-19“Gentlemen, you are champions.”

Back in the pilot, Coach gave an episode-ending speech that contained the words “We will all fall”. It’s a simple and honest sentence, but it contains the weight of every Dillon Panther that falls in this championship game. It’s devastating and reassuring all at once, and it applies perfectly here. Yet, for every person that falls, there’s another to take its place: that same person. Matt, Lyla, Tim, and Tyra are all heading off to college, but each is both leaving something behind and taking something from Dillon.

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Friday Night Lights “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” Review (3×11)

31 Oct

627-19Just a few quick thoughts coming up…

-The best part of this episode is easily the Matt-Shelby-Lorraine storyline. It’s not something we haven’t seen before, but it works because a) it’s realistically not something that will go away, and b) all three actors are brilliant. It’s devastating watching Matt lose control of the one thing that’s remained constant for most of his life: his ability to take care of his grandma. I also have to compliment Kim Dickens here for making Shelby likeable; she’s excellent here portraying a woman who not only has to be there for her family, but also has to be willing to take the verbal abuse from Matt. She deserves it, and she knows it.

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Friday Night Lights “New York, New York” Review (3×08)

20 Oct

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“New York, New York” is a tricky episode from a plausibility standpoint, but it’s emotionally affecting in a way that only a show as good as FNL can pull off. It’s all about our characters’ persistence: Matt is determined to switch to WR, Mrs. Coach is determined to buy a new house, Jason is determined to get a job and be accepted by Erin, and Tyra is determined to escape.

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