Thoughts, theories, and everything I love about Friday Night Lights

Image Courtesy: Luke Burgis – Medium

*This blog post includes spoilers about the BEST show ever made, Peter Berg’s Friday Night Lights*

To end my high school career and begin my college career, I wanted to write a post about my favorite TV show of all-time, Friday Night Lights. I plan on adding more to this post over time but please enjoy some thoughts I have about the show.

Friday Night Lights (the show) is not perfection. But it is pretty darn close. Retconned ages for students at Dillon and East Dillon high schools is a major flaw. How about Landry Clarke, or as Coach Taylor calls him, “Lance” the geek, who joined the football team and killed the attacker of Tyra Collette in season 2? The show sort of forgot that ever happened. Or when Matt Saracen and Julie Taylor broke up in season 2 and seamlessly get back together a year later in season 3?

In season 4, East Dillon High School is reopened, and we are expected to believe there is an entire side of the small town we have not seen yet. In those same seasons, many viewers question what school students at East Dillon came from. Many of the students come from Dillon High School. Season 1-3 staple Landry and his bandmate Devin head there after they are forced to transfer from West Dillon. Other than that we are expected to believe students come in from West Dillon and Kilroy, a town that was not mentioned until season 4, and is not even fully explained in the entire show. Following Coach Taylor’s questionable firing from what would become West Dillon High School (more on that later), new star running back Luke Cafferty is praised as the next Smash Williams, next to star quarterback JD McCoy. Cafferty, however, is zoned for East Dillon and the listed address for him is booster Buddy Garrity’s mailbox that he set up when he became a Dillon high school football booster decades before.

One of the major problems in establishing season 4 is who got to go to which school when redistricting was needed. This was caused by the reopening of East Dillon High for the first time since the 1980s. To note, Panther star running back Luke Cafferty’s address was listed where Buddy Garrity put the mailbox when he first became a booster, at 2268 Oakdale Road. The mailbox was put in an empty field for Dillon Panther football needs throughout the years. Buddy then realizes that Luke is using that address to pass by and attend West Dillon High instead of the lowly East Dillon at the time. Buddy is riddled by the guilt in the part he played in getting Coach Taylor fired from West Dillon. So, he, like many times in the show, asks Eric “If he wants to go for a drink?” Of course, it takes a little nudging by Buddy but then he goes on to tell Eric about the fact that Luke is enrolled illegally at West Dillon. Soon thereafter, Coach lets Tami know and she agrees with Eric that he needs to be sent to the right school. Of course, Tami told Luke following football practice that he needed to attend East Dillon High. But then, new lead West Dillon booster Joe McCoy (the father of then West Dillon QB JD McCoy) and head coach Wade Aikmen (who replaced Coach Taylor) have a major problem with it. A day later Joe and Wade meet Tami in the parking lot to discuss the matter, using the fact that Luke was sent to the team where her “husband coaches” despite the fact that is his the correct district where he should be attending school. Just days before Luke is sent to East Dillon, Julie said she had decided to leave West Dillon High to attend East Dillon with her friends, Landry and Devin. So, Luke can’t rightfully choose to go to West but Julie can go to East even if she is zoned for West? On a Reddit post, one person argued that East is a “downgrade” from West and they were accepting new students because of the reopening of the school. Another reason might be that Julie is allowed to attend East Dillon because her father is an employee there. But, either way, Luke should still have the right to go to West Dillon in my opinion if he chooses if Julie can go to East Dillon. Kilroy, although only mentioned a few times in the later seasons, seems to be a suburb of Dillon. Dillon is a small town, so I do not really know how there could be a town much smaller than Dillon but I guess that is just another Friday Night Lights loophole. Anyway, Kilroy has a middle school that many of the future East Dillon players attend. In season four, episode nine, “The Lights in Carroll Park”, Coach gets the lights fixed and cleans the park up after a boy is shot in the area. Then, there is an impromptu football game between the neighborhood kids and the Lions. Coach finds out there are many potential future Lions on the opposing team, many of who attend Kilroy Middle School. If many or all of them have to attend East Dillon High School after attending Kilroy Middle School, viewers assume there is no Kilroy High School. Yet, when East Dillon student Epyck is kicked out of school in season five, she is sent to Kilroy High, making astute viewers question districting in Dillon once again.

Season 1 of Friday Nights is my favorite season of TV I have ever watched. The reason why season 1 is so good is mainly because of the length of the 22 episode season, the nostalgia, but the main reason I believe this is the case because of the impressive quality of the “Pilot” episode to begin the series. Opening the series with “Good morning west Texas. It is Slammin’ Sammy Meade coming at ya with Panther Football Radio,” those iconic opening words by Sammy truly establish how important football is to everyone in Dillon. Jason Street, Dillon’s QB, was the top QB many had ever seen in the high school ranks according to the local radio station. It is mentioned that Street has the best passer rating of any high school quarterback in the country.

In the first game of the season, Street is paralyzed after making a tackle on the defensive back that picked him off with his head down against Westerby. When the show decided to injure the most important player on the Panthers, it gave viewers a reason to continue watching the show. Matt Saracen is thrown into the game at quarterback and after a few mistakes, he throws the game winning touchdown pass in the final seconds to give them the win over the Chaps. After being convinced by his wife to go to begin molding his new quarterback, Coach Taylor goes to Matt’s house to chat with him. He asks Matt’s grandmother, Lorraine Saracen, if he could take her grandson off of her hands for awhile. In her grandmotherly way, Lorraine offers Eric pie and he drives with Matt to Panther field. Coach Taylor helps Matt practice and asks him how he will play the quarterback position at Dillon. Matt says he will “play it perfectly” and Taylor says “we will see about that”.

The Panthers lose their second game after Saracen took over. With Jason’s injury, Coach Taylor’s job is in question. Tim Riggins left practice because he felt Street’s injury was his fault. Parents that had won state championships in the past with the Panthers spoke out about how Taylor’s hire was reliant on the success of Street. Tailback Smash Williams spoke out in a TV interview against Coach Taylor. This caused Eric to call a special practice. It began to rain as Coach Taylor put his team on the bus to take the team to run up and down the hill in season 1, episode 3 “Wind Sprints”. As the team ran up and down the hill, Coach Taylor exclaimed that winning is not easy and you have to work for everything you get. Offensive coordinator Mac said “I think these guys have had enough” but Coach Taylor says “I’ll say when these guys have had enough”. This led Smash to yell “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose” and the team ran up the hill again. After the practice, Eric made Tim walk home from practice in the pouring down rain. He tells him “You owe me a practice”. Tim begins walking and runs into Lyla. Lyla is struggling with her boyfriend, Jason, struggling with his paralyzation diagnosis. She says that he will never walk again and their shared feelings about Jason’s injury converges with a kiss. This leads to their affair and Jason and Lyla’s eventual breakup in the middle of the season and their eventual official split at the end of the season.

Hurricane Katrina victim Ray “Voodoo” Tatum is recruited by every team in Texas, including the Dillon Panthers when the quarterback is displaced. Buddy eventually gets Eric to get him even after they disagree on “recruiting” him and what it could mean the rest of the season with Matt Saracen as another option at the position. Saracen’s crush on Julie causes him to lose focus on football and Taylor to focus on getting Tatum. In the Panthers’ rivalry game against Arnett Meade, “Voodoo” does not listen to the coaching staff’s playcalls, leading Coach Taylor to yell at him saying that “he is done” as a Panther. Matt takes over in the second half for Tatum and Smash Williams scores the game-winning two point conversion to save Coach Taylor’s job. After joy spreads throughout the town after the huge win over the tigers, members of the athletic administration come to meet with Coach Taylor and Buddy about Voodoo’s eligibility. If Tatum is ruled ineligible, the Panthers would have to forfeit their win against Arnett Meade, which would hurt their playoff chances. After the court rules that Dillon’s win would not be forfeited, Voodoo tells his lawyer that he was recruited after Coach Taylor put him at defensive back during practice. The game was forfeited but through the challenge of Tatum, Taylor found his quarterback Matt Saracen. Saracen began dating Taylor’s daughter Julie and Dillon football was succeeding again while Street moved to a rehab facility.

In episode 15, “Blinders”, Mac answers questions from the media after the Panthers playoff opening win. He answers a question and stereotypes Smash Williams talent versus Matt Saracen’s based on their different races. It takes awhile for Smash to begin to go against Mac’s words but after Mac tells Smash to “go to hell” when talking about his interview. after Coach Taylor asks, Mac apologizes for his racist comments but it does not sound like an apology. An uproar goes across Dillon High with African Americans fighting Caucasians across the school. As the school counselor, Tami attempts to ease these problems with a forum but it only makes things worse.

Smash leads all of the other African American football players off of the team until Mac is fired. Coach Taylor has to make a tough decision on whether to get rid of Mac or not. Mac makes Eric’s decision easier when he resigns. But, Eric keeps him on the staff. Smash’s mom tells her son to play in their second round playoff game and Smash helps get all of the other African American players back on the team. They head to Dunston Valley to play the Cardinals where the officials are on the home team’s side. The Panthers go up 40-24 and a fight breaks out between both teams. Because the fight happened in the third quarter, Dillon is awarded the win. On the bus ride home, officers stop the Dillon bus to say that Smash Williams could be charged for throwing the first punches in the fight. Mac steps up and does not allow the officers to charge Smash without a warrant. Smash and Mac make up and the Panthers make their run to the state championship game.

During their run, Texas Methodist offers Coach Taylor their quarterbacks coach role. He takes a lot of time to think but at a media session before the state championship in Dallas, a reporter asks Coach Taylor if he “is sad to be leaving” in episode 22, “State”. But, Coach Taylor responds, saying to not focus on that but the reporter says everything that needs to be said to get everyone in Dillon talking less than 24 hours until the championship game.

Jason, now helping coach the Panthers, calms the players down ahead of the game. Matt is dumbfounded that not only is his girlfriend’s family is moving to Austin but his mentor that helped him earn the starting quarterback role. Voodoo Tatum pops back up, this time as the West Cambria Mustangs’ quarterback as they face the Panthers for the state championship. The Mustangs dominate in the first half with Tatum’s skills offensively and Saracen is unable to get a clean pocket for most of the half, hurting the offense. After a great halftime speech by Coach Taylor at halftime, Dillon fights back into the game. An injured Smash Williams wills himself into the end zone for the game winning touchdown, winning the state championship. After the game, Tami tells Eric that she is pregnant. Eric wants to tell TMU that he is changed his mind and that he needs to stay at Dillon to help with their new baby. But, Tami does not let him, saying that he has always dreamed of being a college coach so he does not argue. Eric Taylor brought Dillon football something that they thought was impossible after their superstar quarterback Jason Street’s terrible injury the opening game of Panther.

As I mentioned earlier, ages being retconned is the only way that the show could continue normally because high school is only a four year period. In the “Pilot” we are made to think Jason Street is a five-star quarterback entering his senior season, being recruited to play at Notre Dame. Based on the conversations between Jason’s parents and the Notre Dame recruiter ahead of Dillon’s opener with Westerby, his commitment to the Fighting Irish seemed like it would be coming soon. After Street suffers his injury and becomes paralyzed, he is the only student that graduates the spring after season 1. Originally, there were only plans for one season. His best friend Tim and then girlfriend Lyla Garrity are supposed to be seniors too. But, once the show was green-lit for season 2, they were adjusted to sophomores in season 1 who eventually graduated in season 3. Matt Saracen and Tyra Collette joined Riggins and Garrity as season 3 graduates. Saracen’s best friend Landry says in season 4 that he and Matt had been best friends since they were five years old. But, Landry is still in high school at East Dillon High three years after he was driving Matt to football practice in the “Pilot” episode. Matt’s longtime girlfriend Julie graduates with Landry at East Dillon after season 4 as well. These changes were made by the directors and writers so that the show could continue for a five season run.

Season 2 wrapped up in 15 episodes instead of the 22 episode run in season 1 because of a writer’s strike. So, many storylines were not wrapped up and most of them were not continued into season 3. As a result, many Friday Night Lights fans believe this is the weakest season as a result. To fix the abrupt ending of season 2, writers put a montage of how things wrapped up. Season 3, episode 1 “I Knew You When”‘s opening montage includes Tami Taylor taking over as principal at Dillon High, Smash injuring his knee to end his high school career in a loss to rival Arnett Mead in the playoffs, Tim taking over for Smash at tailback, and the introduction of freshman quarterback JD McCoy.

But, what if the writers got to end things in season 2? On a Reddit post, I pondered the question, what if season 2 got its proper ending? I believe the writers’ plan was to bring back Coach Bill Mcgregor on a team that eliminated the Panthers deep into the playoffs. A loss deep into the playoffs by Coach Taylor’s team to the coached they fired just months earlier would have explained the disdain the people on the radio had for Taylor to open season 3. Santiago, another victim of the writer’s strike, the juvie boy turned Panther defensive star adopted by Buddy Garrity, is nowhere to be found in season 3. A prolonged season 2 with Santiago could have meant another character important to the Dillon football community with the show not having a quality defensive character until Luke Cafferty in seasons 4 and 5. Lyla’s then boyfriend, Chris, who she met after she got baptized and involved in church after her fallout with Jason Street in season 1, is another character out after season 2.

To open season 3, Lyla is with Tim, who clamored for her the entirety of the year before. Lyla never wanted to date Tim but because of the writer’s strike and thus the elimination of Chris’ character, Lyla fell in love with Riggins. If not for the writer’s strike Lyla would have dated Chris, at least for a few more episodes before her eventual relationship with Tim. Tyra and Landry announce in season 3 that they are taking a break from their relationship after they end up together to end season 2. The couple likely would have split up on screen in a later episode in season 2 if there were more episodes.

Another addition to season 2 might have been the introduction of the McCoy family, earlier than what actually happened in the show, where JD, the freshman quarterback that transferred in from Dallas, was introduced in season 3’s first episode. An early introduction for the McCoys with JD’s skillset seen on screen before McCoy even becomes a Dillon Panther and his dad, Joe, becomes a booster for the Panthers makes his eventual rise to starting quarterback more understandable despite Matt Saracen’s two quality seasons as starting quarterback. Would Smash Williams still go to Whitmore, the HBCU that offered him a scholarship before his injury? In season 3, Smash says that Whitmore is honoring his scholarship but he will not be ready for the season. This leaves Smash’s football future in question because of the writer’s strike.

Following all of the season 2 drama, Coach Eric Taylor is fired by the Dillon Panthers ahead of East Dillon High School’s reopening when the town is set to be redistricted in season 3, episode 11 “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall”. In season 3, episode 8 “New York, New York”, Taylor’s offensive coordinator Mac McGill suffers a stroke on the field. Eric is forced to find another playcaller. Booster Buddy Garrity approaches Taylor after they check on Mac at the hospital with the idea to hire freshman quarterback JD McCoy’s personal quarterback coach, Wade Aikmen. The two bicker about it because Eric does not want to compromise his job security with Joe McCoy, JD’s dad who is clamoring for power in the Dillon football program in season three. After some convincing, Eric decides to hire Aikmen. In season 3, episode 10 “The Giving Tree”, Aikmen leads the Panthers to a playoff win after Taylor is thrown out from the game after he argued with the referees over their terrible officiating. Aikmen’s success caused the Dillon football boosters to turn against their lead booster, Buddy Garrity and his good friend Coach Taylor after he loses the state championship game in season 3, episode 12 “Underdogs”.

The board offers Eric the job to head up the football program for the East Dillon Lions after it reopens. This move by the writers gave the show a new look for seasons 4 and 5 as most of the main characters from the first three seasons have graduated. Then, the new main cast, led by Lion QB Vince Howard, Panther turned Lion running back and linebacker Luke Cafferty, singer Becky Sproles, and the misunderstood Jess Merriweather next to the returning Tim (who drops out of college), Landry, Julie (who both are seniors at East Dillon after they transfer from West Dillon. Coach Taylor has a new challenge with a younger team with less experience and no booster support while Tami has to deal with the politics of her husband being fired and Joe McCoy essentially taking over the Panther football program with Wade Aikmen as the new head coach.

Season 5 is an (almost) perfect way to end. Nothing is or can be perfect but the writers did a phenomenal job. Following Landry’s game-winning kick to give East Dillon a win over West Dillon (eliminating the Panthers from the playoffs) in the first “Big Cat Clash” in many years to end season four, expectations were very high for Vince Howard, Luke Cafferty, and the Lions for a big turn around during the 2010 season. Clarke’s kick sent Panther head coach Wade Aikmen, quarterback JD McCoy, and his rich booster dad Joe McCoy out of Dillon. With all of the political power on the west side of town, the McCoy clan were forced out of Dillon after what was an embarrasing 25-24 loss to the season for West Dillon. So, with the quarterback who many thought would be the next Jason Street out, Coach Taylor’s turnaround season for the Lions was a great season of football and TV to watch.

To begin the season, East Dillon upset the eighth ranked Croft Cowboys in episode 1 of season five, titled “Expectations”. Following this win, Coach Taylor goes back to West Dillon to talk to his former offensive coordinator Mac, who has now taken over the head coaching job for the Panthers, to ask him why the Lions are not ranked. Mac tells Eric that the reason that his team is not ranked because “he is an outsider” now that he is at East Dillon. This ruffles the feathers of the team including Luke and defensive lineman Dallas Tinker, who complain at practice until Coach Taylor stops it. Luke is also suspended for the next game after his hit on the Croft QB sent him out of the game. The athletic administration tells Coach Taylor that the referees should have called a penalty on the play but it was never originally called but they have the right to do that. The athletic administration only tried to prove the point that Eric and his team were outsiders but he already knew that was the case with all of the flack coming him and his team’s way.

The Lions begin their season 6-0 after finishing 2-8 in their first season back as a school. The undefeated record including a 37-7 spanking of in-city rival West Dillon, who released the arrest records of the Lions’ players the week of the game. This caused Vince to listen to his father, Ornette Howard, who had just gotten out of prison, to not listen to the media and play his best football. Ornette brought college recruiters to watch Vince despite Coach Taylor telling all of the parents that all recruitment should go through him. Eric and his staff are infuriated when they call a quarterback kneel but Vince instead runs a pass play that goes for another touchdown in the final seconds. Following this win, Vince loses his leadership of the team and he begins to embellish his skill on his teammates. This causes Jess to break up with him and the Lions to lose against West Cambria.

In episode 10, Vince goes on a visit to Oklahoma Tech and lies to Coach Taylor about the reason he missed school and practice. After Vince doesn’t show up to help Luke learn the playbook, Coach Taylor benches him and makes Luke the starter. It takes Luke awhile to learn his play style but he leads the Lions a win over Fort Hood. When Coach Taylor is offered a collegiate head coaching job at Shane State University, Buddy plans an event at the athletic banquet for all of Taylor’s players to speak about their favorite thing about Eric to make him stay. Vince learns that he made a mistake and says nice words to Coach Taylor in his honor. Eric decides to stay and he makes Vince starting quarterback again. He leads a team that includes Buddy’s son, Buddy Garrity Jr., who has returned to Dillon following leaving his mom in California all the way the state championship.

Amid all of East Dillon’s success, budget cuts are necessary in Dillon so only one football program in the town could remain. In episode 12, at a town hall meeting, it is announced that Dillon High would be the only program for high school residents to participate it. On the other hand, Eric’s wife Tami was up for the dean of admissions job at Braemore College in Philadelphia. In the final episode of the series, titled “Always”, it is revealed that the Lions won the state championship when a ring appears on Vince’s hand at Dillon Panthers’ practice. Luke has graduated and is off to the military but Buddy Jr. and Tinker are there. All of Coach Taylor’s assistants, Billy Riggins, Crowley, Spivey, and Buddy are driving the golf cart around the field, smiling. But, Eric is not there. He gave up the opportunity to coach Vince and the new media billed “super team” that was forming with the two Dillon high school football teams coming back together. He gave up a five-year contract to move to Philadelphia for Tami’s dream of working on a college campus.

Matt and Julie are engaged. Tim and Tyra are getting closer again for the first time since they broke up in season 1, episode 3 “Wind Sprints”. Many think Lyla is Tim’s true love, not Tyra and I agree with them. Plus, Tyra never wanted to stay in Dillon. She always wanted to leave and pursue her dreams in a big city. But, Minka Kelley, the actor that plays Lyla, was unable to return for a season five appearance. So, Tim and Tyra having a potential romance is plausible after the series ends but it is not realistic. Tim does not want to move fast on a relationship and Tyra would be returning to Austin for her junior year at the University of Texas in a potential season six. After Coach Taylor is hired by the Pioneers, the journey ends when Eric and Tami walk off the Pemberton High School football field. But is that really where the story ends? Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose

My Top 10 Episodes:
1.”Pilot” (1.1)
2.”Kingdom” (5.5)
3.”State” (1.22)
4.”The Son” (4.5)
5.”Mud Bowl” (1.20)
6.”Full Hearts” (1.9)
7.”Wind Sprints” (1.3)
8.”Thanksgiving” (4.13)
9.”Always” (5.13)
10.”Texas Whatever” (5.12)

My seasonal episode rankings:

Season 1
1.”Pilot” (1.1)
2.”State” (1.22)
3.”Mud Bowl” (1.20)
4.”Full Hearts” (1.9)
5.”Wind Sprints” (1.3)
6.”Eyes Wide Open” (1.2)
7.”Best Laid Plans” (1.21)
8.”Git’Er Done” (1.5)
9.”What to do while your waiting” (1.12)
10.”Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes” (1.19)
11.”Little Girl I Wanna Marry You” (1.13)
12.”Black Eyes and Broken Hearts” (1.16)
13.”Homecoming” (1.7)
14.”Crossing the Line” (1.8)
15.”I Think We Should Have Sex” (1.17)
16.”Blinders” (1.15)
17.”El Accidente” (1.6)
18.”Who’s Your Daddy?” (1.4)
19.”Nevermind” (1.11)
20.”Upping the Ante” (1.14)
21.”Extended Families” (1.18)
22.”It’s Different for Girls” (1.10)

Season 2
1.”The Confession” (2.9)
2.”There Goes the Neighborhood” (2.10)
3.”Pantherama” (2.7)
4.”Who Do You Think You Are?” (2.12)
5.”Jumping the Gun” (2.11)
6.”Bad Ideas” (2.2)
7.”How Did I Get Here” (2.6)
8.”Are You Ready for Friday Night?” (2.3)
9.”Last Days of Summer” (2.1)
10.”Seeing Other People” (2.8)
11.”Leave No One Behind” (2.14)
12.”Backfire” (2.4)
13.”Let’s Get It On” (2.5)
14.”May the Best Man Win” (2.15)
15.”Humble Pie” (2.13)

Season 3
1.”Underdogs” (3.12)
2.”Tomorrow Blues” (3.13)
3.”How the Other Half Lives” (3.3)
4.”New York, New York” (3.8)
5.”Hello, Goodbye” (3.4)
6.”A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” (3.11)
7.”Game of the Week” (3.9)
8.”It Ain’t Easy Being J.D. McCoy” (3.6)
9.”The Giving Tree” (3.10)
10.”Keeping Up Appearances” (3.7)
11.”I Knew You When” (3.1)
12.”Tami Knows Best” (3.2)
13.”Every Rose Has Its Thorn” (3.5)

Season 4
1.”The Son” (4.5)
2.”Thanksgiving” (4.13)
3.”After the Fall” (4.2)
4.”A Sort of Homecoming” (4.4)
5.”Toilet Bowl” (4.8)
6.”The Lights in Caroll Park” (4.9)
7.”I Can’t” (4.10)
8.”East of Dillon” (4.1)
9.”In the Skin of Lion” (4.3)
10.”Stay” (4.6)
11.”Laboring” (4.12)
12.”Injury List” (4.11)
13.”In the Bag” (4.7)

Season 5
1.”Kingdom” (5.5)
2.”Always” (5.13)
3.”Texas Whatever” (5.12)
4.”Don’t Go” (5.10)
5.”The March” (5.11)
6.”The Right Hand of the Father” (5.3)
7.”Perfect Record” (5.7)
8.”On the Outside Looking In” (5.2)
9.”Gut Check” (5.9)
1o.”Expectations” (5.1)
11.”Fracture” (5.8)
12.”Swerve” (5.6)
13.”Keep Looking” (5.4)