It was impossible for me to watch the most recent
Friday Night Lights without feeling dread that it could be
the last one ever. This episode wasn't meant to be a finale, season or series; it was just episode number 15 of 22, tying up a few stories and starting others — others that were meant to be finished later and now might never be.
I know I'm sounding doomsday, and to be fair, there's some
vaguely encouraging news about the possibility of FNL moving to another network.
I haven't exactly been shy about the fact that
Friday Night Lights occasionally makes me cry, but the waterworks reached a new level after watching Friday's episode. Part of that was the episode itself, but part of it was the context: This was the next-to-last episode the show finished before the
writers' strike started, and even if the strike ends soon, there's no telling if the show will go back into production. (It's probably safe to say
things don't look good.) As a result, this episode felt very much like the end to me.
This week's
Friday Night Lights wasn't the most subtle episode of the show, with its twin themes of separation and prejudice leaving their mark on almost every story line. But amid the occasional heavy-handed nonsense, there were some interesting developments for Smash, Tami, and even Matt (finally). Want to read my thoughts and add your own.
Friday Night Lights just can't seem to have its characters stop breaking the law this season, can it. Granted, the criminal twist in "Jumping the Gun" seemed more believable than a lot of the Landry/Tyra murder plot, but still, I'm a little surprised. That plot was just a minor part of Friday's packed episode, though, which featured Smash having to make a decision about a college and Coaches Taylor and Dickes facing off in a major game.
Wow, did I go on a rant during the first commercial break of the most recent
Friday Night Lights. First a murder plot, now a horribly fake CGI tornado. What was this show coming to.
But this time, I needn't have worried.
