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RSSPossible FinaleWatch: 'Friday Night Lights'
Thanks to the writers strike, Friday (Feb. 8) night's episode of Friday Night Lights is very likely to be the drama's season finale. Thanks to ratings that have never equaled its critical acclaim, it may also have been its series finale. It sure didn't feel like either kind of ending.
[The following recap contains spoilers, plus information about sperm motility in quadriplegics. Consider yourself doubly warned.]
While there have been media reports that Friday Night Lights may at least be shopped to another network, it's hard to imagine Ben Silverman's administration bringing the show back to NBC. Even in an oft-infuriating second season that has fallen far short of its banner first run, Friday Night Lights is probably too... What's the word? Oh yeah... "good" for NBC's current brand, which prioritizes gladiators, '80s retreads and overt product placement over scripted quality.
Friday night's episode, titled "May the Best Man Win," may not have offered an iota of narrative closure, but in one very amusing way, it brought the series full circle with a guest appearance by Peter Berg. The actor-director who helmed both the Friday Night Lights feature film and the show's outstanding pilot popped up as Mo McArnold, Tami Taylor's former flame and Coach Taylor's vanquished nemesis, now a successful real estate mogul.
As much as I've admired many of Berg's directing choices over the years, his presence behind the camera has occasionally caused me to miss the Chicago Hope and The Last Seduction star's presence in front.
Frankly, the Mo McArnold character was just the latest example in the increasingly conventional plotting that has sometimes spoiled this season for me. We've already played the Jealous Coach Taylor arc once this season and the Eric-Mo dynamic would have been better, for my money at least, if they'd resisted the predictable and overblown restaurant brawl and just let these two blustery Alpha Males get embarrassingly drunk as the resolution to their competitive trip down memory lane. The brawl was mostly good for this exchange between Julie and her hungover, bruised father on Sunday morning.
Julie: What happened to you face?
Coach: I was defending your mama's honor.
Julie: With your face?
Coach Taylor dropping the hammer on Mo was meant as a contrast to the end of this week's Dillon football game. Wait. Football? Since we've seen more volleyball played in the past two weeks than football, it was good to see the Panthers out on the field and romping. And everybody seemed to get involved, including Landry, who scored a touchdown, and Santiago, who seemingly anchors the defense and got the signal from Coach to let the opposition score a TD to avoid a humiliating shutout. Coach Taylor knows when to be soft and he knows when to be hard, I guess.
The week's other football-related activity was a bit less plausible. If you'll recall, in addition to his three game suspension, Smash had his TMU scholarship pulled last week. In the real world, this just happened to be Signing Week and college football teams loaded up on recruits, many of whom will arrive on campus with a far longer rapsheet than Smash. In the real world, a Smash Williams would -- worst case scenario -- go to a junior college for two years and then head off to the Big 12 or SEC program. Even that's less likely than a stud running back finding a different Div-I program willing to take his baggage and 4.4 speed with glee.
The piece of Smash's journey that I liked most was when he lied to Coach Taylor about the interest he was getting from Miami and Alabama. That served as a nice counterpoint to the real-life story of Kevin Hart, who fabricated the story of his own bidding war. And I join Mama Smash in being pleased that her boy is going to end up at Whitmore, where the football team may not be good, but at least they're a family.
The episode wasn't just about football, as Jason Street was doubly shocked when the waitress he bedded back in December (after the awful blind date) showed up at Buddy's car dealership pregnant. On one hand, he was shocked because the character hadn't been mentioned in a half-dozen episodes and wasn't even featured in the "Previously on..." montage. But he was even more surprised because apparently people in his condition have only 20 percent sperm motility and it's mighty difficult for them to get women pregnant as part of a traditional manner of intercourse, or so he explained to the bewildered waitress in the middle of her restaurant. The waitress, you see, didn't really want to keep the baby she conceived as part of a one-night stand with a guy she hadn't bothered to call back in the subsequent weeks, but Street decided his "Miracle Baby" deserved to live.
Friday Night Lights has handled Lyla's born-again rediscovery-of-faith with striking respect this season, but the background politics of Jason's desire to have this stranger keep his baby were a little awkward. From Knocked Up to Waitress to Juno, Hollywood had a busy year for women who kept unwanted pregnancies without even a mention of the word "abortion" and tonight's episode seemed mighty tentative in supporting the idea that a 19-year-old woman might be within her rights to consider alternatives. I'm truly sorry to have opened up this political bag of worms, but this is a recap and I'm just sharing my feelings. Street's speech at the end about "being there" was mighty sweet, I guess, but it also seemed creepy to me.
Meanwhile, in the night's final major arc, Lyla was ready to have sex with Not-Logan-Huntzberger, especially after his family welcomed her with far more open arms than the Huntzberger's welcomed poor Rory. I loved the shout-out to the classic "I Think We Should Have Sex" episode with Lyla and Not-Logan getting ready to seal the deal under the approving gaze of a mounted stag trophy. Meanwhile, though, does anybody else figure that Lyla's carnal desires were going to lead her back to Riggins by the next episode?
Will we ever see that next episode? Will we find out if Dillon could win out to make the post-season? Will Matt ever stop moping over Carlotta? Will Tyra lead the the volleyball team to glory? Will Landry realize as talented as Tyra is in the boudoir, Jean was perfect for him? Will Smash and Noel ever consummate their relationship? Will we ever see another scene between Lyla and Santiago?
I'd still kind of like to find out...
What'd you think of this week's episode, y'all?
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Zap2it Twitter Talk 
Please, pretty pretty pretty pretty please bring this show back! Do you think The Riggs Show has a podcast?
Please bring this show back! I love Tim Riggins, not because he's super gorgeous, but he makes me laugh!!! Matt Saracen too he's been getting so pushed back this season...bring him back!!!! Bring this entire awesome show back NBC please!!!!
I love this show, but the ratings would be ok on a network like the CW. For being a Friday night show, it doesn't do poorly. I have gotten some friends to watch the show, but I guess very few people did the same.
I forgot to mention, you have to watch the show when it airs or in a certain amount of hours on your Tivo or DVR for you to be counted. People seem to just download the episodes and complain when the show gets cancelled. Tv networks get paid by ads shown during the episodes, if people don't watch, networks have to find something people feel is must watch that night.
Joe, you don't get "counted" no matter when you watch it unless you have a Nielsen box or are sending in a Nielsen diary. A very small number of people decide what the rest of us watch. I have no idea why nobody has offered up the networks a better - and statistically significant - way to measure what people watch.
You would think the satellite companies could provide that aggregate data on the usage of their systems without compromising our privacy. Then at least my choices would count.
I love Friday Night Lights, especially Coach & Mrs Taylor!!
DANIEL: That was a great review about a wonderful TV show. Unfortunately, I have to agree with you that NBC might not renew FNL for a third season. NBC doesn't need FNL that much, since they can get higher ratings from reality shows like American Gladiators and Deal or No Deal. Maybe we should start a "Save Friday Night Lights" campaign now. :-)
I'm glad that the writers gave us some kind of resolution to Smash's signing dilemma. In real life, most colleges would overlook a player's high school suspension as long as he still had the potential to win them games. I noticed that the coach from Alabama acted coldly toward Smash, but the Whitmore coach seemed like a father figure, just like Coach Taylor (Yay!). Although I could do without his pushy girlfriend Noelle (even Smash's Mom doesn't like her).
The big shocker for me was the waitress who said that Jason was the father of her unborn baby. Do we need to bring this couple on The Maury Povich Show or what? ;-)
I was surprised that the writers gave the teenage pregnancy storyline to Jason. I was really expecting them to tell us that Carlotta was pregnant with Matt's baby, and that is why she wanted to leave her job. I don't blame the waitress for being freaked out when Jason announced that he wanted to keep the baby. After all he was never her husband or even a boyfriend. Jason wanted to believe that the "miracle" baby was his second chance at a normal life, but she thought he might be a control freak. :-0
I don't care that much if Not-Logan and Lyla stay together, since I think the writers are ultimately going to bring Tim and her back together anyway. It seems like the writers go out of their way to show that Tim is the desirable Bad Boy, while Not-Logan is the bland Goody-Two-Shoes (his family talking about Princeton over dinner).
I'm more interested in finding out if Landry will ever come to his senses and seek out Jean. All of Landry's friends believed that Jean and Landry were a perfect match, and that they had a lot in common. I liked Jean from what little screen time she was given, but I hope they don't turn her into a Landry stalker or something!
the fact that promos for American Gladiators and Deal or No Deal ran over the credits was like adding insult to injury.
I've heard the show is relatively inexpensive to produce so fingers crossed that another channel might pick it up if NBC doesn't.
FNL is an amazing show and I will be very mad a NBC if they cancel it. Maybe if they gave as much promotion and a sweet time slot like they do all of the stupid reality and night time game shows, it might do better. Quality TV like this does not come around very often these days. It would be a shame to see it go away. The characters and story lines are so well developed and realistic. Do everyone a favor and find a friend to watch this show...if it returns...or lets start a campaign to keep it on the air
Best (delivered) line of the night, Tami's to Eric as her husband and old flame Mo are drunkenly trying to punch one another's eye closed on the floor of the restaurant: a breezy "I'll see ya at home later, honey," as she exits.
Bored with the Smash story-line... he's not an engaging or very sympathetic character, and in his fade-out, it appears that he's having major second thoughts about keeping his commitment to Coach Deeks and Whitmore College.
Funny moment: Noelle's sexual carrot to Smash if he seals the deal with Alabama. "Really," the incredulous football player says. "No," the teasing young woman shoots back.
To all those post-pubescent young women out there mooning over Tim Riggins, he's a train wreck and church-going isn't likely to help him 'cause it's all in service to resuming his relationship with Lyla.
I think that if this show does come back now, ***uming Mr. Fienberg's ***essment of the current NBC regime (and last night's shot of an Appleby's facade tends to support his view) is right, then it'll probably be with a slimmed-down cast on cables Bravo or USA.