The final, fifth season of Friday Night Lights will begin airing on NBC on Apr. 15, but over on DirecTV, we’ve already arrived at the series’ penultimate episode, which aired last night. It was a great episode that saw the return of Adrienne Palicki as Tyra, Zach Gilford as Matt, and some big, fundamental changes in life in Dillon, Tex., so spoilerphobes, you are forewarned. READ FULL STORY »
The return of Tim Riggins — freed from jail last week, with not a little help from Coach Eric Taylor’s character-witness testimony before a parole board — set this week’s Friday Night Lights into emotional motion. What was striking was that, as superb as Taylor Kitsch has always been in this role, FNL has raised a supporting cast during his absence that has risen to the challenge of this terrific series. READ FULL STORY »
Friday Night Lights continued to push our hero Vince into antihero territory this week — that’s what can happen when you start taking your cues from the long-absent father who’s suddenly showering you with attention. Eager for READ FULL STORY »
It’s interesting to see where Friday Night Lights places its emphasis in its final hours, and the biggest surprise in this week’s episode, titled “Swerve,” was the prominent Julie-centric plot. I really thought we’d pretty much waved good-bye to that kid when she left for college, and her smooching-the-married-TA subplot seemed an almost literal kiss-off to a character that had outgrown the show.
But FNL has a way of making dramatic gold out of other shows’ tin cliches. After last week’s college showdown between READ FULL STORY »
We learned a couple of things during this week’s Sarah Palin’s Alaska. Palin can bag a caribou with a rifle, give or take five shots or so, and she’s got a cute, doughty father.
Seventy-two year old Chuck Heath, a genial turtle of a fellow, took his daughter and a family friend out hunting when it was discovered that, in rummaging through the Palin family freezer, the Palins were down to “five packages of moose and three [packages] of caribou” meat. Oh my gosh — they might starve! This bit of READ FULL STORY »
Few dramas can make an absorbing hour out of its characters trying to avoid drama, but Friday Night Lights pulled it off this week.
Those of us clamoring for a Buddy Garrity story line got it this week, although it may not have been the Buddy story we wanted. Picking up on last week’s news from the divorced home-front that Buddy, Jr., had become too much for his mom to handle, the sullen youth was shipped back to Dillon for a paternal tune-up.
Now, I like my Buddy READ FULL STORY »
To everyone who chided me in the Comments section last week for wondering about Buddy Garrity’s occupation, I hope you took note of “Buddy’s Bar and Grill” in this week’s Friday Night Lights — the big man, as I suspected, has moved on from selling cars. But some things remain the same: Buddy’s personal life is a wreck: His ex-wife called from 1,500 miles away to say that “Buddy, Jr.” (stinks to be him) is acting out, possibly taking drugs. Poor Buddy — he can’t even drink his own beer in peace.
Speaking of troubled fathers, Vince’s came home from prison this week. Well, “home” was a matter of contention: Having just settled in with READ FULL STORY »
For anyone who thinks there’s not enough football in Friday Night Lights, this week’s episode, titled “On The Outside Looking In,” had enough for a full season, as far as I was concerned. That’s because I’m one of those FNL fans who has no interest in football, so I usually just appreciate the quick cutting during the games and the helpful sportscaster-voiceovers telling me who’s winning and losing. (Does anyone else watch the show’s football scenes this way?) (And do I need to say SPOILER ALERT to anyone who READ FULL STORY »
“I do not like the way this is starting out,” said Coach Eric Taylor as Friday Night Lights began its run on DirecTV Wednesday night. Make that one of him.
The fifth and final season premiere was energetic with the changes we knew were coming. (SPOILER ALERT if you don’t want to know FNL‘s episode details.) It’s August, and READ FULL STORY »
